Getting into private from mcps elementary, with new 2.0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year we applied our 3rd grader to competitive privates (big 3 - 5) coming out of MCPS. Her grade was the guinea pig grade for 2.0 so she had 2.0 for second and third, and the new report card for 3rd. I made an appointment with the admissions offices to discuss the new report card and talked about the inconsistencies in use of Ps, ES, etc. across our school. The privates definitely got that the new report card was a hot mess. My daughter had almost all Ps, but strong WISC IV testing and recommendations. She was accepted into several top privates for 4th. And, YES, she had major gaps going into her 4th grade private math, as did several other MCPS 2.0 students. The school has been very supportive in getting her caught up, but there definitely was catch up required (even though she had been receiving enrichment in the 2.0 curriculum).

W

Would you share with MCPS school your DD went to previously?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, it's not so much the lack of letter grades that concerns me. It's the unlikelihood of getting the highest grade. When we were in school, if you got the answers right, you got an A. Now, if your kid forgets to show their work, even if they got the answer right, it's an I. That's just an example, but one that illustrates how I fear it may tank chances to get into selective privates.

If a "selective" private school can't figure out that a child is intelligent, then do you really want to send your kid there? Our (probably not what is considered "selective") private school does their own testing when kids come to visit. But of course there is more to getting accepted anywhere than just a child being smart enough.

Yes, I hope that the private schools are savvy/open/flexible enough to figure out that the MCPS grades are silly, but I can't really count on that when they have lots of other kids to pick and choose from. The testing, then, becomes SUPER important, which is kind of scary when it's one day and you can't retake it if you just had a bad day.

You hit the nail on the head! The report card reveals so little information, it becomes useless/irrelevant. So, the real result is that standardized testing becomes the only real information a school can use to judge an child's qualifications. Thanks MCPS for not only "teaching to the test" now you have also made the standardized test the "king" when it comes to evaluating kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year we applied our 3rd grader to competitive privates (big 3 - 5) coming out of MCPS. Her grade was the guinea pig grade for 2.0 so she had 2.0 for second and third, and the new report card for 3rd. I made an appointment with the admissions offices to discuss the new report card and talked about the inconsistencies in use of Ps, ES, etc. across our school. The privates definitely got that the new report card was a hot mess. My daughter had almost all Ps, but strong WISC IV testing and recommendations. She was accepted into several top privates for 4th. And, YES, she had major gaps going into her 4th grade private math, as did several other MCPS 2.0 students. The school has been very supportive in getting her caught up, but there definitely was catch up required (even though she had been receiving enrichment in the 2.0 curriculum).

W

Would you share with MCPS school your DD went to previously?

The "W" Cluster o elementary schools... notorious for total inconsistency in how ES and Ps are distributed. Has been a topic of discussion in many school wide report card meetings in these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You hit the nail on the head! The report card reveals so little information, it becomes useless/irrelevant. So, the real result is that standardized testing becomes the only real information a school can use to judge an child's qualifications. Thanks MCPS for not only "teaching to the test" now you have also made the standardized test the "king" when it comes to evaluating kids.

It's the fault of MCPS that, when you decided to apply to private school, the private school decided to evaluate your child based on a standardized test?

I'm going to have to think about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year we applied our 3rd grader to competitive privates (big 3 - 5) coming out of MCPS. Her grade was the guinea pig grade for 2.0 so she had 2.0 for second and third, and the new report card for 3rd. I made an appointment with the admissions offices to discuss the new report card and talked about the inconsistencies in use of Ps, ES, etc. across our school. The privates definitely got that the new report card was a hot mess. My daughter had almost all Ps, but strong WISC IV testing and recommendations. She was accepted into several top privates for 4th. And, YES, she had major gaps going into her 4th grade private math, as did several other MCPS 2.0 students. The school has been very supportive in getting her caught up, but there definitely was catch up required (even though she had been receiving enrichment in the 2.0 curriculum).

W

Would you share with MCPS school your DD went to previously?

The "W" Cluster o elementary schools... notorious for total inconsistency in how ES and Ps are distributed. Has been a topic of discussion in many school wide report card meetings in these schools.

The more I hear about the problems in W schools on DCUM, the more I'm thinking that the W schools are not actually the best schools in the county. They do have the most expensive real estate, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year we applied our 3rd grader to competitive privates (big 3 - 5) coming out of MCPS. Her grade was the guinea pig grade for 2.0 so she had 2.0 for second and third, and the new report card for 3rd. I made an appointment with the admissions offices to discuss the new report card and talked about the inconsistencies in use of Ps, ES, etc. across our school. The privates definitely got that the new report card was a hot mess. My daughter had almost all Ps, but strong WISC IV testing and recommendations. She was accepted into several top privates for 4th. And, YES, she had major gaps going into her 4th grade private math, as did several other MCPS 2.0 students. The school has been very supportive in getting her caught up, but there definitely was catch up required (even though she had been receiving enrichment in the 2.0 curriculum).

W

Would you share with MCPS school your DD went to previously?

The "W" Cluster o elementary schools... notorious for total inconsistency in how ES and Ps are distributed. Has been a topic of discussion in many school wide report card meetings in these schools.

The more I hear about the problems in W schools on DCUM, the more I'm thinking that the W schools are not actually the best schools in the county. They do have the most expensive real estate, though.

Ehh, no. They are still the best. The issues you have here is that the parents (generally) of kids at the W school have very high expectations. They want the best for their kids. When something like the new curriculum is rolled out they will of course be the ones to point out the deficiencies and to complain until those are fixed. This isn't a bad thing as it benefits all kids throughout the system. Don't be fooled by folks who claim "my title 1 school is better b/c class size is lower" or "b/c the new curriculum is better." Those clusters simply don't have the demanding parents of the W system. W parent and private school parents are interchangeable in many ways. Their high standards are what keeps the system strong for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year we applied our 3rd grader to competitive privates (big 3 - 5) coming out of MCPS. Her grade was the guinea pig grade for 2.0 so she had 2.0 for second and third, and the new report card for 3rd. I made an appointment with the admissions offices to discuss the new report card and talked about the inconsistencies in use of Ps, ES, etc. across our school. The privates definitely got that the new report card was a hot mess. My daughter had almost all Ps, but strong WISC IV testing and recommendations. She was accepted into several top privates for 4th. And, YES, she had major gaps going into her 4th grade private math, as did several other MCPS 2.0 students. The school has been very supportive in getting her caught up, but there definitely was catch up required (even though she had been receiving enrichment in the 2.0 curriculum).

W

Would you share with MCPS school your DD went to previously?

The "W" Cluster o elementary schools... notorious for total inconsistency in how ES and Ps are distributed. Has been a topic of discussion in many school wide report card meetings in these schools.

The more I hear about the problems in W schools on DCUM, the more I'm thinking that the W schools are not actually the best schools in the county. They do have the most expensive real estate, though.

Ehh, no. They are still the best. The issues you have here is that the parents (generally) of kids at the W school have very high expectations. They want the best for their kids. When something like the new curriculum is rolled out they will of course be the ones to point out the deficiencies and to complain until those are fixed. This isn't a bad thing as it benefits all kids throughout the system. Don't be fooled by folks who claim "my title 1 school is better b/c class size is lower" or "b/c the new curriculum is better." Those clusters simply don't have the demanding parents of the W system. W parent and private school parents are interchangeable in many ways. Their high standards are what keeps the system strong for everyone.

Oh, now I get it. It's not that my non-W school is good; it's that I'm too ignorant to know that it's bad. (Plus I don't want the best for my kids.) And yet my undeserving kids get to benefit from the selfless efforts of the parents at the W schools! How grateful I am. Thank you very much for explaining this to me.

[Anonymous]

To PP's who transferred to private and their DC's needed math tutoring to catch up to the private school kids - exactly how far behind was your dc when they started at the private? how much tutoring was involved? did your kid catch up ok and is now doing fine, or do they still seem generally behind?

I am wondering because we are moving from one "top" private in this area to another in another metro area (moving) and the new one thinks dc needs to do catch up work over the summer. Wondering if this is a sign that she will be behind the other kids and always trying to catch up.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain to me why a family may choose to transition to private at 3rd grade?

Is there a specific intellectual development milestone at 3rd grade that I don't understand?

Is it social? Kids are become tweens and parents want to steer them toward friendships in their SES?

Is it to avoid embarrassment or disappointment for the child who didn't get into a HGC?

A combination?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me why a family may choose to transition to private at 3rd grade?

Is there a specific intellectual development milestone at 3rd grade that I don't understand?

Is it social? Kids are become tweens and parents want to steer them toward friendships in their SES?

Is it to avoid embarrassment or disappointment for the child who didn't get into a HGC?

A combination?

Because some schools start at 3rd grade, e.g., Holton or Bullis (although I think Bullis recently added 2nd grade IIRC)