University Park Elementary School: Brutally honest opinions from current parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I've noticed, parents decide against UPES because they're uncomfortable with diversity, despite their lawn signs noting otherwise. It's a do as I say, not as I do scenario. This is disappointing and their views on the school are terribly misguided and usually based on anecdotes from parents whose kids didn't even attend the school. UPES is a good, solid school. Does it have all the latest gadgets and an awesome gym? No. But our children are doing well and building genuine relationships with children from all over the world.

And the note about parents with higher SES sending their kids to private is not accurate or fair. As with the students, the level of parents' education is similarly mixed. As with me, many of the parents I know have postdoctorate degrees.

PP here.....I did not mean to imply that ALL higher SES families choose private...just that families with higher SES know how to navigate the system and get into magnets or can afford privates. Generally speaking lower SES children are under represented in magnet schools. In UP and Cheverly the student population does not mirror the SES of the boundary area of the school. My child's class had at least 2 families with parents with doctoral degrees so it is not universal but there is definitely the trend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've noticed, parents decide against UPES because they're uncomfortable with diversity, despite their lawn signs noting otherwise. It's a do as I say, not as I do scenario. This is disappointing and their views on the school are terribly misguided and usually based on anecdotes from parents whose kids didn't even attend the school. UPES is a good, solid school. Does it have all the latest gadgets and an awesome gym? No. But our children are doing well and building genuine relationships with children from all over the world.

And the note about parents with higher SES sending their kids to private is not accurate or fair. As with the students, the level of parents' education is similarly mixed. As with me, many of the parents I know have postdoctorate degrees.

I think this poster nailed it.

What percentage of kids in UP go to the elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Everyone knows UP is terrible. It is better than 99% of PG publics but that is not saying much. At the end of the day, what is worth more to you? Vacations and cars or your child's well being and education? Even if UP is "not so bad" why is that acceptable for your child? Why would you not want the very best for your child? What is more important to invest your money in then your own child? Bottom line is if you live in PG you need to send your know kids to private.

[Anonymous]

I sent my DS to UP. We are white and have PhDs. I think the worst thing about the school is that it is not very pretty. Also, it would be nice if they had more aids to help the teachers with the students who primarily speak spanish. But, but DS got a great education and now thrives at Saint Anselm's middle school. The teachers are very dedicated, knowledgable, and hard working. The PTA is the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows UP is terrible. It is better than 99% of PG publics but that is not saying much. At the end of the day, what is worth more to you? Vacations and cars or your child's well being and education? Even if UP is "not so bad" why is that acceptable for your child? Why would you not want the very best for your child? What is more important to invest your money in then your own child? Bottom line is if you live in PG you need to send your know kids to private.

This is an extreme view. Can you provide some context to your perspective? How are you informed? That is, do you live in UP? Do you have elementary age children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows UP is terrible. It is better than 99% of PG publics but that is not saying much. At the end of the day, what is worth more to you? Vacations and cars or your child's well being and education? Even if UP is "not so bad" why is that acceptable for your child? Why would you not want the very best for your child? What is more important to invest your money in then your own child? Bottom line is if you live in PG you need to send your know kids to private.

I want a community and the opportunity for my kid to go to school with many of his neighbors. I want a diverse social experience and learning to communicate and build friendships with people from different backgrounds. I want teachers with decades of experience. I want a walking drop-off, walking to play dates after school, and not a slog of a commute.

Why do you get to define what makes a school "acceptable" for us? Test scores will always look a certain way for low-income students. Does that mean I want to separate my high-income student from them entirely because I can afford to? What am I trading for those good test scores (or presumably the "better" education without any test scores to compare) at the private school?

Take your preachy, one-sided and ill-informed message somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

I have no complaints about our experience at UPES. Great community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows UP is terrible. It is better than 99% of PG publics but that is not saying much. At the end of the day, what is worth more to you? Vacations and cars or your child's well being and education? Even if UP is "not so bad" why is that acceptable for your child? Why would you not want the very best for your child? What is more important to invest your money in then your own child? Bottom line is if you live in PG you need to send your know kids to private.

This is somewhat ridiculous. I have plenty of friends who live in Montgomery County, DC and NOVA, I can promise you, my kids in PG county aren't getting any worse of an education than theirs are. For the most part, their educational experiences have been just as "diverse" as other kids' in this area only in PG county, "diverse" means lots of black kids (AA and African) with a smattering of everything else. In other places it usually means lots of white kids with a smattering of everything else. UP has more white kids than a lot of other PG county schools because richer whites tend to be the ones who can and choose to move to UP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no complaints about our experience at UPES. Great community.

+1 - we love it. Wish the building had more windows, but such was the era of school buildings when it was established.

[Anonymous]

We have had a pretty good experience there, but I really dislike the principal. It’s gotten to a point where we are considering going private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have had a pretty good experience there, but I really dislike the principal. It’s gotten to a point where we are considering going private.

What are your specific concerns?

[Anonymous]

What non-religious private schools do UP families consider? (Vast majority seem to go Catholic or to the Friends school in College Park.)

Do any families send their kid to the more "elite" private schools in DC or Montgomery County, and use the provided bus transportation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have had a pretty good experience there, but I really dislike the principal. It’s gotten to a point where we are considering going private.

What are your specific concerns?

I would be interested in this as well. Please elaborate, PP. I'll be sending kids to elem school in a couple of yrs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What non-religious private schools do UP families consider? (Vast majority seem to go Catholic or to the Friends school in College Park.)

Do any families send their kid to the more "elite" private schools in DC or Montgomery County, and use the provided bus transportation?

We're non-religious and send our kids to Friends Community School. We've found no conflict between our secular values and those of the school. There are a good number of atheists and agnostics among the teachers, students, parents (many of whom work in the sciences), and administration. FCS is a comfortable, diverse, respectful, and welcoming community.

We know some families nearby (in Hyattsville) who send their kids to Sidwell and Maret. The commute sounds dreadful, though, and only seems to work because a parent works near the school destination.

[Anonymous]

All of the old, good teachers are leaving because the new principal is so bad.