Mount Rainier or Moco?

[Anonymous]

To be honest, I wouldn't send my kids to Mt. Rainier ES or Hyattsville MS. I would consider the specialty program at Northwestern HS. Most of the kids I know in Mt Rainier go private or charter/specialty program until high school. I know families who have been absolutely miserable at Hyattsville MS and either stayed because they couldn't afford private or left for private. Hyattsville ES is a step up but that's a different zip code. We live in Hyattsville and have done private for elementary and public specialty program for middle and high school. If we had to do it again, we would because we really enjoy our community.

[Anonymous]

I'm a local. I like Mt. Rainier a lot. My child went to Mt. Rainier Elementary. We threw our hat into the specialty program lottery, but would have been OK with him staying at MRE. This was many years ago when Jan Reed was principal, so take this with a grain of salt. He went to Glenarden Woods and then Greenbelt Middle, but some of his friends went to Hyattsville MS and had great experiences (honors band, etc). He's going to Roosevelt for HS. Some of his friends are going with him, some are going to Northwestern either in the comprehensive program or the performing arts program, some are going to the IB program at Parkdale.

Hope this is helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have kids in any of the local ones? It seems like a lot of people moving into the neighborhood are sending their kids to private schools...

Doesn't that tell you all you need to know?

This doesn't tell you much, necessarily. No school is a panecea, but people often don't even give the local public a look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a local. I like Mt. Rainier a lot. My child went to Mt. Rainier Elementary. We threw our hat into the specialty program lottery, but would have been OK with him staying at MRE. This was many years ago when Jan Reed was principal, so take this with a grain of salt. He went to Glenarden Woods and then Greenbelt Middle, but some of his friends went to Hyattsville MS and had great experiences (honors band, etc). He's going to Roosevelt for HS. Some of his friends are going with him, some are going to Northwestern either in the comprehensive program or the performing arts program, some are going to the IB program at Parkdale.

Hope this is helpful.

Remember pp that Glenarden Woods is now an all-TAG school, so I don't know where the kids that would have been zoned to GW would go now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a local. I like Mt. Rainier a lot. My child went to Mt. Rainier Elementary. We threw our hat into the specialty program lottery, but would have been OK with him staying at MRE. This was many years ago when Jan Reed was principal, so take this with a grain of salt. He went to Glenarden Woods and then Greenbelt Middle, but some of his friends went to Hyattsville MS and had great experiences (honors band, etc). He's going to Roosevelt for HS. Some of his friends are going with him, some are going to Northwestern either in the comprehensive program or the performing arts program, some are going to the IB program at Parkdale.

Hope this is helpful.

Remember pp that Glenarden Woods is now an all-TAG school, so I don't know where the kids that would have been zoned to GW would go now.

PP you're quoting. The comprehensive students that used to be at Glenarden Woods went to Sylvania Woods. I went to an info night there before the boundaries were switched up a bit (forgot to mention that my son did a year at Oakcrest before the rezoning sent him to GW), and some of the comprehensive parents were understandably angry about it.

[Anonymous]

A lot of friends send their kids to MRE (we're in Hyattsville so not us). It's an up and coming school in an up and coming area. And while you can't count on lottery for expanded options, there are many opportunities through the lottery and specialty programs. Everyone around here seems to make it work. Our kids and community are smart, vibrant and happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of friends send their kids to MRE (we're in Hyattsville so not us). It's an up and coming school in an up and coming area. And while you can't count on lottery for expanded options, there are many opportunities through the lottery and specialty programs. Everyone around here seems to make it work. Our kids and community are smart, vibrant and happy.

I answered upthread- do NOT make your plans based on whether a school, or an area, is up-and-coming. It may be, but things may not move fast enough to benefit your children. When you move somewhere you need to be accepting of what it is NOW, not some imaginary progress you have not seen yet. And DO NOT make any assumptions about specialty schools or programs. Those are quite literally winning a lottery. Make your plans with private school in mind in PG. Don't hope or bet on an up and coming area or specialty schools. I made this mistake. Don't make it too.

[Anonymous]

Pp, do you live in the area? If not, STFU.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks to everyone who provided insight good and bad. I think we are going to try to stay in the area. We know it's a risk but we looked around Moco this weekend and it just didn't feel right. I get why folks like it- but not for us - not right now, anyway. We know it's a "risk" but we're ready to go private or move if it comes to it.

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp, do you live in the area? If not, STFU.

YES, I do live in the area. In fact, the elementary school I am zoned for has much better test scores than MR, and I still have big reservations about sending my children there. And after a lot of fantasizing about specialty schools and getting a lottery number over 100, I guess I am going to shell out for private. So I guess I don't need to "STFU."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of friends send their kids to MRE (we're in Hyattsville so not us). It's an up and coming school in an up and coming area. And while you can't count on lottery for expanded options, there are many opportunities through the lottery and specialty programs. Everyone around here seems to make it work. Our kids and community are smart, vibrant and happy.

I answered upthread- do NOT make your plans based on whether a school, or an area, is up-and-coming. It may be, but things may not move fast enough to benefit your children. When you move somewhere you need to be accepting of what it is NOW, not some imaginary progress you have not seen yet. And DO NOT make any assumptions about specialty schools or programs. Those are quite literally winning a lottery. Make your plans with private school in mind in PG. Don't hope or bet on an up and coming area or specialty schools. I made this mistake. Don't make it too.

My point in calling it "up and coming" wasn't "it will get better." My point was "it's better than you may have heard."
There's a lot of vibrancy in our community right now. Lots of energy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of friends send their kids to MRE (we're in Hyattsville so not us). It's an up and coming school in an up and coming area. And while you can't count on lottery for expanded options, there are many opportunities through the lottery and specialty programs. Everyone around here seems to make it work. Our kids and community are smart, vibrant and happy.

I answered upthread- do NOT make your plans based on whether a school, or an area, is up-and-coming. It may be, but things may not move fast enough to benefit your children. When you move somewhere you need to be accepting of what it is NOW, not some imaginary progress you have not seen yet. And DO NOT make any assumptions about specialty schools or programs. Those are quite literally winning a lottery. Make your plans with private school in mind in PG. Don't hope or bet on an up and coming area or specialty schools. I made this mistake. Don't make it too.

My point in calling it "up and coming" wasn't "it will get better." My point was "it's better than you may have heard."
There's a lot of vibrancy in our community right now. Lots of energy!

I don't know what you mean by "vibrancy" and "energy." I think there are a lot of positive things happening in PG county right now. I live here, and I have never had any real negative experiences in terms of crime or my community. However, this is a separate issue from the schools. If a school is weak, that's not good. It's not magically going to become better right before your children enroll. You can move here, but you have to keep that in mind.

[Anonymous]

I have lived in MtR for nearly 5 years and have a preschooler and can't get a straight answer on the schools. Some people send their kids to public all the way through college and have a fine experience. Some, like the pp, do not have a good experience at all. It seems to me that it depends on the kid and is highly individual. We are prepared to take a chance on the local elementary but know in the back of our minds that we may have to have a backup plan in place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have lived in MtR for nearly 5 years and have a preschooler and can't get a straight answer on the schools. Some people send their kids to public all the way through college and have a fine experience. Some, like the pp, do not have a good experience at all. It seems to me that it depends on the kid and is highly individual. We are prepared to take a chance on the local elementary but know in the back of our minds that we may have to have a backup plan in place.

This is my experience. If you get lucky and have a motivated, organized kid who naturally wants to be friends with other similar kids, you will do fine. If your kid, though, is not motivated, is disorganized, or is in any way not perfect, it will train them for a nice job at Burger King. It is hard to know in advance what kind your kid will be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have lived in MtR for nearly 5 years and have a preschooler and can't get a straight answer on the schools. Some people send their kids to public all the way through college and have a fine experience. Some, like the pp, do not have a good experience at all. It seems to me that it depends on the kid and is highly individual. We are prepared to take a chance on the local elementary but know in the back of our minds that we may have to have a backup plan in place.

This is my experience. If you get lucky and have a motivated, organized kid who naturally wants to be friends with other similar kids, you will do fine. If your kid, though, is not motivated, is disorganized, or is in any way not perfect, it will train them for a nice job at Burger King. It is hard to know in advance what kind your kid will be.

Local poster with the high schooler again. I COMPLETELY agree that it depends on the kid...and the teacher, and the principal, the PTO that year, and a whole host of other things. But I think it's not quite as black and white as you put it. There's a range between fabulous and terrible. FWIW, I have had very good experiences with local public school staff really paying attention and addressing needs when problems arise, and a couple not so great experiences.