MoCo question

[Anonymous]

How many times do I need to say I am looking at experiences as they relate to specific schools?

[Anonymous]

I would look at the schools that are less crowded, but that means going farther out. E.g. Bannockburn, Carderock, Seven Locks. No public schools are perfect, but these are smaller and have a nice neighborhood community feel. The fact that the test scores are so high might also relate to the smaller size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many times do I need to say I am looking at experiences as they relate to specific schools?

Unless you get the same exact teacher With the same principal at the school your child will may have a vastly different experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many times do I need to say I am looking at experiences as they relate to specific schools?

I have an idea. Why don't you just stay where you are? They can have you....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am asking for actual schools and experiences.

Our child is at Bradley Hills. 4th grade with 24 kids in her homeroom- the classes rotate for different subjects but most if the 4th grade rooms have 24 kids. Of the three teachers she encounters for academic subjects, two are very nuturing, encouraging, kind and enthusiastic. The third is ok but still a bit green. He art, music and PE teachers are all great.

As a BCC cluster ES parent, we know other families at Bradley Hills and have openly wondered if we didn't make a massive mistake. Our DC is in a class with 30 kids. It was 29 but a new kid arrived just last week.

OP, the biggest issue with MCPS is overcrowding. We have ESs the size of most HSs in other places and HSs the size of small colleges. My advice would be to stay away from the BCC cluster, except for Westbrook ES. Most ESs in the Whitman cluster are fine, except for Wood Acres. Definitely stay away from that one. I would also stay away from the WJ cluster, the whole thing is basically overcrowded and there is a bruising boundary study coming up for a new HS.

In terms of quality of education, it is 100% the parents. Some teachers are better than others, but if you are not actively engaged as a parent and really pushing your child with extracurriculars you may find that your child will stagnate. This was not how my public school experience was growing up, but it seems pretty consistent with the current mood of "no child left behind" in many jurisdictions in the area and the focus on testing. I guess it is just the way it is nowadays unless you foot the bill for a good private. We have considered private, however I am not so sure that many privates are essentially any better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many times do I need to say I am looking at experiences as they relate to specific schools?

Unless you get the same exact teacher With the same principal at the school your child will may have a vastly different experience.

I am usually very against the put downs, judgementalism and other crap that goes on in DCUM, but really the OP here is just precious. There are three HSs in Bethesda with over 6,000 students. There are 4 MSs and then all of the ESs. She wants a detailed report on all of them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many times do I need to say I am looking at experiences as they relate to specific schools?

Unless you get the same exact teacher With the same principal at the school your child will may have a vastly different experience.

I am usually very against the put downs, judgementalism and other crap that goes on in DCUM, but really the OP here is just precious. There are three HSs in Bethesda with over 6,000 students. There are 4 MSs and then all of the ESs. She wants a detailed report on all of them?

Not all of them. Just specific schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many times do I need to say I am looking at experiences as they relate to specific schools?

I dunno, how many times do people need to say that there's no point in asking for that information because what you are looking for is really teacher-specific, not school-specific?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

We have kids in the Walter Johnson and BCC cluster and have friends in other Bethesda MCPS schools.

You have to realize that there are structural limitations in MCPS due to rapid demographic changes which bring overcrowding and, in some schools, many children who do not speak English as a first language, but this is not a pressing issue in the Bethesda-area schools. Certain Bethesda schools which are not in the immediate downtown have very affluent families with children who for the most part have always lived a very comfortable lifestyle and thus may have a skewed perception of reality.

Every teacher is supposed to follow the same curriculum HOWEVER some schools or teacher teams in certain grades implement extra add-ons, for example the Lucy Calkins writing program, which could be considered an enrichment. We have found that each teacher has a lot of leeway in what he or she does in the class.

So your question is really too large. By the time your child hits certain grades at a certain school, that teacher might not be teaching there anymore and her approach might not be implemented by the current teacher!

As a European who studied at various private schools in the UK, France and Germany, and who did a stint in a Japanese school, here's what I've noticed:
1. The MCPS curriculum, as well as many private school curriculae, are "a mile wide and an inch thick", meaning that the students are introduced to a wide variety of concepts without having the time to go in-depth and develop critical thinking skills to answer complex problems in each. This is particularly problematic in writing development and math thinking.
2. There are no textbooks so review and reading ahead are difficult.
3. Certain MCPS schools are excellent at caring for special needs, particularly the Bethesda Elementary School, some of them are terrible, it depends on the attitude of each school administration, but none except selective magnets are adept at challenging advanced students. Magnets at the elementary school level (Highly Gifted Centers) will be close to you, but in middle and high school have been deliberately chosen to be far away from Bethesda, to revive other downtowns such as Silver Spring, Takoma Park or Wheaton. This poses a transportation issue for Bethesda-area students.

OP,

I'm the above poster. We don't really know what knowledge base you're starting from, and what your expectations are, so perhaps you should visit a handful of schools to get an idea yourself.
At the Bethesda Elementary school in downtown Bethesda, coming from a Montessori preschool experience, we found that socialization was the important learning experience, and that academics took a back seat, even in the supposedly "advanced" math and reading groups. The academic level is about the same in all elementary schools. Teachers were mostly caring and nurturing, particularly the K and 1st grade ones, within limits since classes are large (29 in my 1st grader's classroom). Some teachers in upper grades yelled or were quite cold, but that didn't mean they were terrible teachers! Every teacher my kids have ever had, had some good points and some bad points. The worst ones were actually the "warm and fuzzy" variety because they couldn't keep order in their classroom and no learning could happen. I'm a fan of no nonsense teachers
And as I said, the special needs team at BE is excellent compared to the surrounding schools. We are grateful for their support for one of our children.
The Lucy Calkins writing program challenges the students more than the usual curriculum, which is abysmal.
The new addition built last year is ALREADY above capacity, which exemplifies the type of planning done by MCPS.

I have heard good things about Kensington Parkwood and Bradley Hills, and mixed feelings about Wyngate (good but a bit chaotic) and Woodacres (difficult period during building but maybe it's better now) and Somerset (narrow minded principal and disastrous SN services but that was some years ago). Bear in mind this is from my friends' comments, not personal experience.

As for middle and high schools, the whole area is in flux because of overcrowding. BCC cluster will have a new middle school in Kensington by 2017-2018.
Walter Johnson is trying to solve its high school overcrowding problem by relocating its high school or possible eliminating a feeder elementary.
Haven't heard from Walt Whitman.

[Anonymous]

OP, you sounds like a jerk and your expectations for information are obnoxious. Why don't you visit every school and find out for yourself???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many times do I need to say I am looking at experiences as they relate to specific schools?

Unless you get the same exact teacher With the same principal at the school your child will may have a vastly different experience.

I am usually very against the put downs, judgementalism and other crap that goes on in DCUM, but really the OP here is just precious. There are three HSs in Bethesda with over 6,000 students. There are 4 MSs and then all of the ESs. She wants a detailed report on all of them?

Not all of them. Just specific schools.

Good grief. This forum has threads on each school everywhere in MCPS. If you want info on "specific schools" try using the power of Google. In the search bar just type "[name of school] site:dcurbanmom.com". That will yield you every result where that school is mentioned. YOU need to do your research first, then if you have specific questions come back and people will be glad to answer. In the meantime, sincerely just eff off.

[Anonymous]

Use the search function for the many specific schools (what, about two dozen?) you want specific information about.

[Anonymous]

Where is the Beverly Farms poster when we need her?

[Anonymous]

Why is everyone giving the op a hard time? She asked a specific question, which many of us have been able to answer in detail and posters are getting angry that their long, excruciatingly dull posts are going unheeded? Pah, what time wasters youbare.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you're looking for small class sizes and nurturing environment, I would recommend looking at options outside of Bethesda. You can find class size information for each school on the MCPS website. We managed to find a school with small class sizes (22 or less so far, in 4 years) in a non-focus school.