MCPS versus Northern Virginia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have taught in both systems- they both think they are superior, they both think they're fabulous. Neither seems to have the high standards of NYS and CA. School is what your child makes of it.

California???? Are you serious???? Are you really holding California schools as superior to any of the school districts in this area?

No music, no art, no PE, no computers, no foreign languages (elementary), pay to play sports, furloughed teachers, only 175 required days/year in 2012 (one of the shortest school years in the country), LOW standards, rock solid teachers unions where a teacher can not be fired short of injuring/molesting a student, disheartened quality teachers, standing room only in the overcrowded classrooms (40+ kids/elementary classroom)...

The list goes on and on. And this just represents the "good" districts.

Start adding the troubles with the inner city and poor rural districts, and your statement is absolutely laughable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No brainer - Virginia. MoCo is sliding downhill with its now curriculum that has brought ultra low standards. Bored kids, little learning, high taxes, speed cameras galore, and yeah, those bizzaro social programs.

Well would you invite the people that voted for those things down to va?

No, not enough high rises near the school or free lunch subsidies. Plus subsidizing Baltimore. Problem with MoCo is it is a huge county, with Bethesda subsidizing the other 90%.
Besides, as the companies move to Virginia offices, so do the workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you should disregard the school district, buy a less expensive house, and spend your money on an elite private school if you child is really that advanced.

I have come to think that choosing a home based on the reputation of a school district too often leads to living somewhere you don't want to live so a child can go to a school that's not right for them anyway.

Elite private schools do not, by and large, serve the needs of the highly gifted very well.

Do you mean a school like say, Sidwell would not be a good fit for highly gifted? If so, why?

[Anonymous]

I have no experience with VA schools - but I went into their forum last night and was semi-amused to see that they have some of the exact same complaints as the parents of MCPS kids. There is a thread there about how K-2 is just too easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no experience with VA schools - but I went into their forum last night and was semi-amused to see that they have some of the exact same complaints as the parents of MCPS kids. There is a thread there about how K-2 is just too easy.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/265262.page

[Anonymous]

Do you expect your child to go to a magnet high school? If so Thomas Jefferson is head and shoulders above Blair by a number of measures. But that's just MHO. Here's how I break it down.

First of all, all of TJ is in the magnet program. Blair magnet kids are on the same campus as non magnet kids and play on the same sports teams, etc. which is good in some ways but bad in others as it sets up a divided school. And you Blair moms don't take this the wrong way but the Blair magnet students, at least the ones in the science math program, tend to be less well rounded. Admissions is based a lot on test scores. TJ's admission process emphasizes lots of of things. This can also be bad as there has been a bit of an outcrcy recently about kids getting into the program not doing well in basic math! Disclaimer: I am a Blair mom and my niece is at TJ so I am familiar with both schools to some extent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you expect your child to go to a magnet high school? If so Thomas Jefferson is head and shoulders above Blair by a number of measures. But that's just MHO. Here's how I break it down.

First of all, all of TJ is in the magnet program. Blair magnet kids are on the same campus as non magnet kids and play on the same sports teams, etc. which is good in some ways but bad in others as it sets up a divided school. And you Blair moms don't take this the wrong way but the Blair magnet students, at least the ones in the science math program, tend to be less well rounded. Admissions is based a lot on test scores. TJ's admission process emphasizes lots of of things. This can also be bad as there has been a bit of an outcrcy recently about kids getting into the program not doing well in basic math! Disclaimer: I am a Blair mom and my niece is at TJ so I am familiar with both schools to some extent.

Any TJ kid will excel at basic math. The issue is that more TJ students are requiring extra help to succeed with the accelerated math courses that TJ students are expected to take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you expect your child to go to a magnet high school? If so Thomas Jefferson is head and shoulders above Blair by a number of measures. But that's just MHO. Here's how I break it down.

First of all, all of TJ is in the magnet program. Blair magnet kids are on the same campus as non magnet kids and play on the same sports teams, etc. which is good in some ways but bad in others as it sets up a divided school. And you Blair moms don't take this the wrong way but the Blair magnet students, at least the ones in the science math program, tend to be less well rounded. Admissions is based a lot on test scores. TJ's admission process emphasizes lots of of things. This can also be bad as there has been a bit of an outcrcy recently about kids getting into the program not doing well in basic math! Disclaimer: I am a Blair mom and my niece is at TJ so I am familiar with both schools to some extent.

What do you mean, TJ's admission process emphasizes lots of things? Like what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have taught in both systems- they both think they are superior, they both think they're fabulous. Neither seems to have the high standards of NYS and CA. School is what your child makes of it.

California?!