Is the 2.0 debacle worth opting out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD will start K in fall 2019. We are districted to a good non-W ES in QO cluster. DD is our only child and we can afford private. However we want her to have the benefit of a neighborhood school, so we are torn. Should we apply to local privates or try our ES out and see how it goes? All this talk of 2.0 problems has really freaked us out.

OP, my advice to you is: do not make any decisions based on what you read on DCUM. Really. It's not an accurate reflection of reality. At BEST, it's a fun-house reflection of reality, or reality-TV "reality". And sometimes it's just completely bananas.

Your child will almost certainly be fine at the elementary school you're zoned for, and if she isn't, it won't be because of Curriculum 2.0.

[phone]

Another who agrees. Leaving your neighborhood public and making a massive and potentially unnecessary financial commitment because of what you read on here about 2.0 (which will be gone anyway) is beyond short-sighted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD will start K in fall 2019. We are districted to a good non-W ES in QO cluster. DD is our only child and we can afford private. However we want her to have the benefit of a neighborhood school, so we are torn. Should we apply to local privates or try our ES out and see how it goes? All this talk of 2.0 problems has really freaked us out.

OP, my advice to you is: do not make any decisions based on what you read on DCUM. Really. It's not an accurate reflection of reality. At BEST, it's a fun-house reflection of reality, or reality-TV "reality". And sometimes it's just completely bananas.

Your child will almost certainly be fine at the elementary school you're zoned for, and if she isn't, it won't be because of Curriculum 2.0.

[phone]

Another who agrees. Leaving your neighborhood public and making a massive and potentially unnecessary financial commitment because of what you read on here about 2.0 (which will be gone anyway) is beyond short-sighted.

So what I’m confused about it is that, unless we’re a pilot school, 2.0 could be around for about 2 years at our school before the new curriculum is phased in, right? We would certainly not base our decision solely on what we read here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2.0 is/was a failed experiment and think how many students are/were guinea pigs under it. Read the report published by Hopkins. I don't trust the system's ability to fix it because of the current debacle with the vendors, etc. Time to abandon ship!

OP should abandon ship because MCPS is replacing a bad curriculum?

How about that.

OP here. I know DCUM exaggerates a lot, but I did read the Hopkins report and it seemed pretty scathing. I guess our concern is that, even though MCPS is replacing the curriculum, depending on whether our school is a pilot school, we could still be looking at several years of 2.0, right?

I guess our biggest concern is whether the problems with the curriculum (and technology use) are big enough to sacrifice the social benefits of going to a neighborhood school. Our neighborhood is particularly socially cohesive and it seems like opting out of the public school would really be isolating. I know academics are the most important, but we also worry about our daughter feeling like the odd kid out.

I don't know OP. If you have plenty of money, then sure, go private. We don't and our child finished K having a learned a ton. We use the money we saved by not going private by supplementing with other learning activities (high quality camps/extracurriculars, tutors etc.)

You hired tutors for a five-year-old?

[Anonymous]

You have time to decide. Send your child to public for K. If all goes well, 1st. And so on. You're involved parents concerned about the issue, so you can keep track of how you're child's doing. If by mid or upper elementary you think the curriculum is failing your kid, then change schools.

[Anonymous]

Don't be freaked out.

What private schools will you be looking at? Are you talking Primary Day/Holton or Seneca Academy or Mary of Nazareth? If Seneca or Mary of Nazareth (or Barnesville/Christ Episcopal), what do you plan to do for high school? QO or a Holton at that point?

If you are referring to a Holton caliber private school and you easily can afford it, then yes, send your daughter there.

Are you involved middle class/umc parents? Does your daughter have any special needs? If she has special needs, I can see how a private would work better. But if you are your run of the mill middle class/umc parents, your child will be absolutely fine in your local elementary school. You can use the money to supplement in any areas you think she is lacking.

Reassess your decision for middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2.0 is/was a failed experiment and think how many students are/were guinea pigs under it. Read the report published by Hopkins. I don't trust the system's ability to fix it because of the current debacle with the vendors, etc. Time to abandon ship!

OP should abandon ship because MCPS is replacing a bad curriculum?

How about that.

OP here. I know DCUM exaggerates a lot, but I did read the Hopkins report and it seemed pretty scathing. I guess our concern is that, even though MCPS is replacing the curriculum, depending on whether our school is a pilot school, we could still be looking at several years of 2.0, right?

I guess our biggest concern is whether the problems with the curriculum (and technology use) are big enough to sacrifice the social benefits of going to a neighborhood school. Our neighborhood is particularly socially cohesive and it seems like opting out of the public school would really be isolating. I know academics are the most important, but we also worry about our daughter feeling like the odd kid out.

I don't know OP. If you have plenty of money, then sure, go private. We don't and our child finished K having a learned a ton. We use the money we saved by not going private by supplementing with other learning activities (high quality camps/extracurriculars, tutors etc.)

You hired tutors for a five-year-old?

yup. for a foreign language. not having to pay 40K for tuition can buy you a lot of stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't be freaked out.

What private schools will you be looking at? Are you talking Primary Day/Holton or Seneca Academy or Mary of Nazareth? If Seneca or Mary of Nazareth (or Barnesville/Christ Episcopal), what do you plan to do for high school? QO or a Holton at that point?

If you are referring to a Holton caliber private school and you easily can afford it, then yes, send your daughter there.

Are you involved middle class/umc parents? Does your daughter have any special needs? If she has special needs, I can see how a private would work better. But if you are your run of the mill middle class/umc parents, your child will be absolutely fine in your local elementary school. You can use the money to supplement in any areas you think she is lacking.

Reassess your decision for middle school.

Are private schools, as a group, well-known for their accommodation of children who have special needs?

[Anonymous]

The next curriculum will be better. If your child is in a high quality preschool, K won't matter much except for the social aspect that you appear to value. As others have said, get to know the school and your child's strengths and weaknesses before jumping to private. Many privates are not that strong academically, and those that are are a large financial commitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be freaked out.

What private schools will you be looking at? Are you talking Primary Day/Holton or Seneca Academy or Mary of Nazareth? If Seneca or Mary of Nazareth (or Barnesville/Christ Episcopal), what do you plan to do for high school? QO or a Holton at that point?

If you are referring to a Holton caliber private school and you easily can afford it, then yes, send your daughter there.

Are you involved middle class/umc parents? Does your daughter have any special needs? If she has special needs, I can see how a private would work better. But if you are your run of the mill middle class/umc parents, your child will be absolutely fine in your local elementary school. You can use the money to supplement in any areas you think she is lacking.

Reassess your decision for middle school.

Are private schools, as a group, well-known for their accommodation of children who have special needs?

why would anyone look at private schools "as a group"? there are special needs privates, religious privates, privates that are known for their focus on sports etc. hardly a homogenous group. parents pay for ability to get the kind of education for their child that they value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't be freaked out.

What private schools will you be looking at? Are you talking Primary Day/Holton or Seneca Academy or Mary of Nazareth? If Seneca or Mary of Nazareth (or Barnesville/Christ Episcopal), what do you plan to do for high school? QO or a Holton at that point?

If you are referring to a Holton caliber private school and you easily can afford it, then yes, send your daughter there.

Are you involved middle class/umc parents? Does your daughter have any special needs? If she has special needs, I can see how a private would work better. But if you are your run of the mill middle class/umc parents, your child will be absolutely fine in your local elementary school. You can use the money to supplement in any areas you think she is lacking.

Reassess your decision for middle school.

We would likely be looking at Barnesville if we went the private school route. She does not have any special needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

why would anyone look at private schools "as a group"? there are special needs privates, religious privates, privates that are known for their focus on sports etc. hardly a homogenous group. parents pay for ability to get the kind of education for their child that they value.

Ask the OP.

DD will start K in fall 2019. We are districted to a good non-W ES in QO cluster. DD is our only child and we can afford private. However we want her to have the benefit of a neighborhood school, so we are torn. Should we apply to local privates or try our ES out and see how it goes? All this talk of 2.0 problems has really freaked us out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD will start K in fall 2019. We are districted to a good non-W ES in QO cluster. DD is our only child and we can afford private. However we want her to have the benefit of a neighborhood school, so we are torn. Should we apply to local privates or try our ES out and see how it goes? All this talk of 2.0 problems has really freaked us out.

OP, my advice to you is: do not make any decisions based on what you read on DCUM. Really. It's not an accurate reflection of reality. At BEST, it's a fun-house reflection of reality, or reality-TV "reality". And sometimes it's just completely bananas.

Your child will almost certainly be fine at the elementary school you're zoned for, and if she isn't, it won't be because of Curriculum 2.0.

[phone]

Another who agrees. Leaving your neighborhood public and making a massive and potentially unnecessary financial commitment because of what you read on here about 2.0 (which will be gone anyway) is beyond short-sighted.

So what I’m confused about it is that, unless we’re a pilot school, 2.0 could be around for about 2 years at our school before the new curriculum is phased in, right? We would certainly not base our decision solely on what we read here.

I don't know, but I have a kid who is going into 2nd and we haven't noticed any issues in K or 1st with curriculum. The bigger issues come later, so I hear.

[Anonymous]

The private schools are succeeding because the are using curriculums that have been tested and vetted before using them in the classroom. I agree with the teachers on this post. If you can afford a good private, go there. The foundations built will be instrumental in the long run. MCPS teachers need a curriculum that works and that will not happen till central office gets cracking on how to fix this mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The private schools are succeeding because the are using curriculums that have been tested and vetted before using them in the classroom. I agree with the teachers on this post. If you can afford a good private, go there. The foundations built will be instrumental in the long run. MCPS teachers need a curriculum that works and that will not happen till central office gets cracking on how to fix this mess.

Another poster who is looking at private schools as a group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be freaked out.

What private schools will you be looking at? Are you talking Primary Day/Holton or Seneca Academy or Mary of Nazareth? If Seneca or Mary of Nazareth (or Barnesville/Christ Episcopal), what do you plan to do for high school? QO or a Holton at that point?

If you are referring to a Holton caliber private school and you easily can afford it, then yes, send your daughter there.

Are you involved middle class/umc parents? Does your daughter have any special needs? If she has special needs, I can see how a private would work better. But if you are your run of the mill middle class/umc parents, your child will be absolutely fine in your local elementary school. You can use the money to supplement in any areas you think she is lacking.

Reassess your decision for middle school.

We would likely be looking at Barnesville if we went the private school route. She does not have any special needs.

So go ask people on the private school forum about Barnesville. Ask your neighbors about your local school. Compare. Make a decision. The End.