S/O - Avoid Focus School

[Anonymous]

Our focus school uses Class Dojo, google classroom and has I think two carts of Chromebooks. We are not technologically lacking and the parents are very tech-savvy.

[Anonymous]

Are you really having serious second thoughts because of a random comment by a friend without looking at the school itself?

My kids are in a Focus school. There are pluses and minuses. On the plus side - smaller classes and more support staff. I think my children have benefited from the diversity of the school. They have friends of all different backgrounds. My above grade level kid has been accelerated. My at the bubble of at and below grade level kid has been supported, for the most part - the support falls off when the below reaches at, which causes a cycle of stagnating for a while. Communication with teachers has for the most part been fine. Some use Dojo, some don't, but for the most part every responds via email pretty quickly and the administration is responsive when they need to be. The minuses I've seen are more on the social side. It was hard to get RSVPs to Birthday parties in the invite the whole class years. Playdates and other outside of school socializing hasn't been that high. It took a few years for my kids to find their social groups. There aren't as many after school clubs and while we have a strong PTA, it is a small group of us that keep it going. Overall, I like where we live and have been satisfied with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you really having serious second thoughts because of a random comment by a friend without looking at the school itself?

My kids are in a Focus school. There are pluses and minuses. On the plus side - smaller classes and more support staff. I think my children have benefited from the diversity of the school. They have friends of all different backgrounds. My above grade level kid has been accelerated. My at the bubble of at and below grade level kid has been supported, for the most part - the support falls off when the below reaches at, which causes a cycle of stagnating for a while. Communication with teachers has for the most part been fine. Some use Dojo, some don't, but for the most part every responds via email pretty quickly and the administration is responsive when they need to be. The minuses I've seen are more on the social side. It was hard to get RSVPs to Birthday parties in the invite the whole class years. Playdates and other outside of school socializing hasn't been that high. It took a few years for my kids to find their social groups. There aren't as many after school clubs and while we have a strong PTA, it is a small group of us that keep it going. Overall, I like where we live and have been satisfied with the school.

Our experience has been very different but its school/teacher specific. We are at a very closed school. Our classroom does not allow for parent volunteers. Smaller class sizes are great. Most of the kids are very nice, good kids. I don't notice huge disparities in the kids as most aren't dressed in fancy clothing (exception is mainly jackets). Agree with outside socialization. School has lots of after school things through the PTA but we never do them so cannot speak to the quality. Teachers good about responding to email but do not always answer the question. They do not communicate with parents about what is going (i.e. weekly newsletter) and the only feedback is the report card and it doesn't seem like most of the kids can get past a "p" no matter how hard they work. There is no acceleration and if anything kids are held back in "groups" below what they are capable of doing. Strong PTA but its a closed PTA. They say they want new members but when you go to meetings, they aren't exactly welcoming and no matter how many times I try to get involved when they say they need a volunteer, I never hear back from them. School is fine but I wouldn't rave about it like others do.

[Anonymous]

If you only care what your friends who clearly don't have kids at a focus on title I school think, then it probably makes sense for you to move or go private.

[Anonymous]

We love our focus school! The teachers are top notch as are the staff and admin. It's a great community overall. The only downside I see is that there's low PTA participation (and no, we aren't turning anyone away!) but I'll take that and deal with it for the low class sizes and lack of pretentious attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you really having serious second thoughts because of a random comment by a friend without looking at the school itself?

My kids are in a Focus school. There are pluses and minuses. On the plus side - smaller classes and more support staff. I think my children have benefited from the diversity of the school. They have friends of all different backgrounds. My above grade level kid has been accelerated. My at the bubble of at and below grade level kid has been supported, for the most part - the support falls off when the below reaches at, which causes a cycle of stagnating for a while. Communication with teachers has for the most part been fine. Some use Dojo, some don't, but for the most part every responds via email pretty quickly and the administration is responsive when they need to be. The minuses I've seen are more on the social side. It was hard to get RSVPs to Birthday parties in the invite the whole class years. Playdates and other outside of school socializing hasn't been that high. It took a few years for my kids to find their social groups. There aren't as many after school clubs and while we have a strong PTA, it is a small group of us that keep it going. Overall, I like where we live and have been satisfied with the school.

Our experience has been very different but its school/teacher specific. We are at a very closed school. Our classroom does not allow for parent volunteers. Smaller class sizes are great. Most of the kids are very nice, good kids. I don't notice huge disparities in the kids as most aren't dressed in fancy clothing (exception is mainly jackets). Agree with outside socialization. School has lots of after school things through the PTA but we never do them so cannot speak to the quality. Teachers good about responding to email but do not always answer the question. They do not communicate with parents about what is going (i.e. weekly newsletter) and the only feedback is the report card and it doesn't seem like most of the kids can get past a "p" no matter how hard they work. There is no acceleration and if anything kids are held back in "groups" below what they are capable of doing. Strong PTA but its a closed PTA. They say they want new members but when you go to meetings, they aren't exactly welcoming and no matter how many times I try to get involved when they say they need a volunteer, I never hear back from them. School is fine but I wouldn't rave about it like others do.

This is absolutely been our experience! I wonder if we are at the same school PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, unless your "friend" has first-hand experience with a Title I or Focus School, you can probably blow off their opinion as uninformed at best and racist/classist at worst.

+1 I agree my (white) kids are at a Title 1 school and we love it! I love the smaller class sizes. I will say the parent involvement is lacking, that's the only downside. Other than that, my kids are getting a good education and I couldn't be happier.

[Anonymous]

Would any of you care to share what schools you're referring to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would any of you care to share what schools you're referring to?

Yes, please! My kid is slated to start at a Focus school next year and I'm very worried because it's like a 2 or a 3 on Great Schools.

[Anonymous]

I think the 21:55 poster who was worried about being flamed raises a lot of accurate points on the kinds of things that tend to be different in wealth vs. non-wealthy schools. But I know lots of upper middle class, educated families at Flora Singer and they are happy there, as happy as anyone else at a non-W MCPS school. The Focus part need not worry you too much. My kid went to a school just like Flora Singer and it was fine academically, sometimes quite good depending on the teacher, and a great community and atmosphere. I think middle school is where you see more differences in academics and extra-curricular offerings in a way that might start to matter, because many schools have mixed classes rather than separating out kids at different levels. And then high school gets better again, at least academically, because of Honors and AP classes providing differentiation.

[Anonymous]

You can't lump these schools together. It really depends on the school.

One suggestion is to look at the school itself. Usually things like extracurricular activities are on the website. If not, contact the school. Another thought- is there a PTA listserv? If so you can join it now and see if it is active.

We are zoned for a focus school that has an excellent sense of community, etc. However, after a number of years at the school, my child moved to another school for an HGC program. At that school there was almost no parental involvement and almost no extracurricular activities. In fact, every year there was a serious risk that there would not be a PTA because they couldn't get anyone to step up to be president, etc. That PTA listserv was pretty dead (it existed but very few posts). The home school was extremely active.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Focus schools have smaller classs sizes and other perks. Many of us are at focus schools.

What perks exactly? Compared to wealthier schools? Other than smaller class sizes, which are only for K-2, I don't know of any 'perks' our Ficus school has as compared to Bells Mill or Wyngate. Not a single one.

And, class sizes go right back up in 3rd grade, so that benefit only applies for a short time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, unless your "friend" has first-hand experience with a Title I or Focus School, you can probably blow off their opinion as uninformed at best and racist/classist at worst.

+1

My children went to a Title I school, and they had a great experience. I appreciated the small class sizes and the staff was very dedicated to making the school a warm and caring learning environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which Focus School is it? Maybe that makes a difference.

I'll go against all the other posters and say that we don't love our Focus School.

Before I get flamed completely, I feel like I need to say that we are a minority/mixed-race family so people don't automatically come on here and tell that I am racist.

There have been several things that we have not liked, especially when we compare our experience with that of friends/families at non-FOCUS elementary schools in MoCo.

First off, the wealthier schools seem to have a MUCH better sense of community. The kids play together on a soccer team / parents all know each other / do piano recitals together. Our school offers piano lessons but there is not enough demand for it (expensive) so they will probably axe the program next year.

Which leads me to the second issue. Lack of before/after school enrichments. My nephews school offers anything and everything under the son - Scouts, dance, language, drama, science, you name it. Our school has maybe half (if that) the offerings that they do.

Part of the reason there seems to be less of a sense of community is the language. My DD's best friend in 1st grade was a little girl whose parents did not speak English. That is completely fine (I am a kid of immigrants) but it was really tough to forge a relationship with the family. It is much easier to forge relationships with people when you speak the same language. The family is very friendly with other families who speak their language (rightfully so) but there seems to be a decent amount of self-segregation. You see it especially at the school events, like International Night (ironically enough).

Communication is the other big difference we have noticed. Wealthier schools seem to use apps like Class Dojo to let parents know what is going on. We have never had a teacher use that. There are no 'room moms' or weekly emails from teachers. Not sure if the teachers are just more overwhelmed or if it is school specific or what.

There is more, and I'm sure people are going to tear up my post but I wanted to put another POV out there. We can't afford to move so we're here for the long term. If we were able to afford a non-Focus school, I would move in a heartbeat.

DD attended a focus school that had lots of after school enrichment and a strong sense of community. Lots of kids in scouts together, belong to the same pool, play on the neighborhood, etc.

I'll point out that you mentioned a pool. That right there is an example of self-segregation. How many of the lower-income families are members at that pool? I'm going to guess not that many because it can be pretty expensive. So your kid's friends who are also at the pool are just part of the Focus school who are at the same SES level as you. So, yay for diversity, but your kid is really just hanging out with kids who are at the same 'level' as him/her.

This is what ends up happening and why you might feel like you have your own sense of community, even if the school doesn't have that same sense of community as a whole.

Maybe the posters who love their Focus schools have found a group of like-minded families and are fine with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which Focus School is it? Maybe that makes a difference.

I'll go against all the other posters and say that we don't love our Focus School.

Before I get flamed completely, I feel like I need to say that we are a minority/mixed-race family so people don't automatically come on here and tell that I am racist.

There have been several things that we have not liked, especially when we compare our experience with that of friends/families at non-FOCUS elementary schools in MoCo.

First off, the wealthier schools seem to have a MUCH better sense of community. The kids play together on a soccer team / parents all know each other / do piano recitals together. Our school offers piano lessons but there is not enough demand for it (expensive) so they will probably axe the program next year.

Which leads me to the second issue. Lack of before/after school enrichments. My nephews school offers anything and everything under the son - Scouts, dance, language, drama, science, you name it. Our school has maybe half (if that) the offerings that they do.

Part of the reason there seems to be less of a sense of community is the language. My DD's best friend in 1st grade was a little girl whose parents did not speak English. That is completely fine (I am a kid of immigrants) but it was really tough to forge a relationship with the family. It is much easier to forge relationships with people when you speak the same language. The family is very friendly with other families who speak their language (rightfully so) but there seems to be a decent amount of self-segregation. You see it especially at the school events, like International Night (ironically enough).

Communication is the other big difference we have noticed. Wealthier schools seem to use apps like Class Dojo to let parents know what is going on. We have never had a teacher use that. There are no 'room moms' or weekly emails from teachers. Not sure if the teachers are just more overwhelmed or if it is school specific or what.

There is more, and I'm sure people are going to tear up my post but I wanted to put another POV out there. We can't afford to move so we're here for the long term. If we were able to afford a non-Focus school, I would move in a heartbeat.

DD attended a focus school that had lots of after school enrichment and a strong sense of community. Lots of kids in scouts together, belong to the same pool, play on the neighborhood, etc.

I'll point out that you mentioned a pool. That right there is an example of self-segregation. How many of the lower-income families are members at that pool? I'm going to guess not that many because it can be pretty expensive. So your kid's friends who are also at the pool are just part of the Focus school who are at the same SES level as you. So, yay for diversity, but your kid is really just hanging out with kids who are at the same 'level' as him/her.

This is what ends up happening and why you might feel like you have your own sense of community, even if the school doesn't have that same sense of community as a whole.

Maybe the posters who love their Focus schools have found a group of like-minded families and are fine with that.

A couple of points.
One of the pools I was referring to , in fact the one we go to, is at the YMCA.
DD has friends across the economic spectrum, and of all ethnicities. (Btw, we are not white). Sometimes I have to pay for her friends to join us at activities. I have no problem with that. She also has friends with more money than us.
DD is an advanced student, and has always had acDemic peers and enrichment or acceleration.
She never had more than 22 students in her class all through elementary school.