Low Performing Bowie-Mitchellville schools

[Anonymous]

I wonder the same, so many middle and upper class African Americans yet schools that are undesirable. I really do not get it.

My child attends a charter school and it's still low ranked and some of the specialty schools are also ranked low or mediocre so I reject the idea that they are hoarding all of the smart kids. I haven't heard anything about PG having excellent private schools either, most of what I hear is that they are mediocre so what gives???

[Anonymous]

PGCPS got us into this mess years ago by starting all these specialty programs. Students shouldn't go to TAG magnets in second grade. All research shows that those magnet programs work best if they start in 4th grade or higher. I think that starting the Performing Arts schools and TAG magnets at middle school levels would make a lot more sense.

BUT at this point changing that would cause a huge bruhahaha that no one in the Administration wants to deal with. People seem to think that they have a right to specialty programs. The vast majority of elementary schools in PGCPS are perfectly fine and if folks weren't so biased against them they would thrive.

Bussing all these kids around the county costs hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be spent on neighborhood schools. There was a proposal to charge a fee to families who choose to send their kids to these schools and I think that it should be revisited. Sliding scale based on income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder the same, so many middle and upper class African Americans yet schools that are undesirable. I really do not get it.

My child attends a charter school and it's still low ranked and some of the specialty schools are also ranked low or mediocre so I reject the idea that they are hoarding all of the smart kids. I haven't heard anything about PG having excellent private schools either, most of what I hear is that they are mediocre so what gives???

You are noticing the achievement gap which is racial and not SES based. Statistics tell us that black students can achieve at the top levels individually but systemically as a group they lag behind most other demographic blocks. If you have a system that is majority AA it will reflect the trend and then be weighed against the other groups and be deemed to be lagging behind because the gap isn't as diluted as it is in other more diverse areas.

Now the reason for the AA learning or achievement gap has a lot of theories such as language, low historical education engagement, generational resources, systemic racism, nutrition

[Anonymous]

No regrets here either. Took our 2 kids out of PGCPS and went private. Best. Decision. Ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PGCPS got us into this mess years ago by starting all these specialty programs. Students shouldn't go to TAG magnets in second grade. All research shows that those magnet programs work best if they start in 4th grade or higher. I think that starting the Performing Arts schools and TAG magnets at middle school levels would make a lot more sense.

BUT at this point changing that would cause a huge bruhahaha that no one in the Administration wants to deal with. People seem to think that they have a right to specialty programs. The vast majority of elementary schools in PGCPS are perfectly fine and if folks weren't so biased against them they would thrive.

Bussing all these kids around the county costs hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be spent on neighborhood schools. There was a proposal to charge a fee to families who choose to send their kids to these schools and I think that it should be revisited. Sliding scale based on income.

They were started as an alternative to court ordered busing. I agree with you that magnet programs other than immersion shouldn't start so early, but it's not fair to just blame PGCPS for this bruhaha.

[Anonymous]

I am also confused why we have so many low performing elementary schools in the area. It's so great to hear that other parents are upset about this as well. We live in a middle class neighborhood with high taxes and the schools should equitable across the board. I have worked as an educator in DC for 12 years and the students begin school at the age of 3, which helps them to be Kindergarten ready. DC defintely has its share of issues but the one thing that is a constant is universal Pre-K. PGCPS should have this in all areas of the county not just in some areas. While most parents will have to continue to pay out of pocket, which is simply not right. Also, my daughter will be zoned to Rockledge ES which has a rating of 4, which is completely unacceptable. When viewing the PGCPS website to look into transfers all of the schools with a rating of 8 or better do not accept transfers due to over population. I find this very convenient! All schools should have a lottery system and accept a specific amount of students each year. This would allow the schools to not be viewed as biased and discriminatory. I have already contacted the District 5 school board representaive, Raaheela Ahem and she has yet to respond. I will be starting a parent coalition to hopefully make changes in the District 5 area. If anyone is interested please feel free to contact me [e-mail].

[Anonymous]

We used to live in the Northview zoned neighborhoods. I was also surprised by the scores. There were a few things that I thought might be possible causes:
1) the school seemed over-zoned from the start. It was built too large and things like recess areas were already crowded when it opened, plus the kids felt lost.
2) many of our neighbors went private, including many to religious schools, including some conservative evangelical schools.
3) while middle class, the neighborhood tended to have more dual income families with parents who had less flexible jobs (eg feds who have to account for leave time) so there may have been less parental volunteerism in the school than you see if many middle class neighborhoods where they are free-riding on moms’ unpaid labor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am also confused why we have so many low performing elementary schools in the area. It's so great to hear that other parents are upset about this as well. We live in a middle class neighborhood with high taxes and the schools should equitable across the board. I have worked as an educator in DC for 12 years and the students begin school at the age of 3, which helps them to be Kindergarten ready. DC defintely has its share of issues but the one thing that is a constant is universal Pre-K. PGCPS should have this in all areas of the county not just in some areas. While most parents will have to continue to pay out of pocket, which is simply not right. Also, my daughter will be zoned to Rockledge ES which has a rating of 4, which is completely unacceptable. When viewing the PGCPS website to look into transfers all of the schools with a rating of 8 or better do not accept transfers due to over population. I find this very convenient! All schools should have a lottery system and accept a specific amount of students each year. This would allow the schools to not be viewed as biased and discriminatory. I have already contacted the District 5 school board representaive, Raaheela Ahem and she has yet to respond. I will be starting a parent coalition to hopefully make changes in the District 5 area. If anyone is interested please feel free to contact me [e-mail].

This is bonkers. The "lottery" system is only making things worse, not better. It's bad enough with the magnet schools, you don't want to deal with it for everyone too. How would everybody even be transported? You are just mad you are in a lower rated neighborhood. Why did you move there and do you understand that test scores are not the end-all and be-all? My daughter's school has gone up and down over the years from 5 to 7 and back to 5 and it is the same place regardless and has been an excellent school for her.

Work on making your neighborhood school better instead of having a hissy fit over test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also confused why we have so many low performing elementary schools in the area. It's so great to hear that other parents are upset about this as well. We live in a middle class neighborhood with high taxes and the schools should equitable across the board. I have worked as an educator in DC for 12 years and the students begin school at the age of 3, which helps them to be Kindergarten ready. DC defintely has its share of issues but the one thing that is a constant is universal Pre-K. PGCPS should have this in all areas of the county not just in some areas. While most parents will have to continue to pay out of pocket, which is simply not right. Also, my daughter will be zoned to Rockledge ES which has a rating of 4, which is completely unacceptable. When viewing the PGCPS website to look into transfers all of the schools with a rating of 8 or better do not accept transfers due to over population. I find this very convenient! All schools should have a lottery system and accept a specific amount of students each year. This would allow the schools to not be viewed as biased and discriminatory. I have already contacted the District 5 school board representaive, Raaheela Ahem and she has yet to respond. I will be starting a parent coalition to hopefully make changes in the District 5 area. If anyone is interested please feel free to contact me [e-mail].

This is bonkers. The "lottery" system is only making things worse, not better. It's bad enough with the magnet schools, you don't want to deal with it for everyone too. How would everybody even be transported? You are just mad you are in a lower rated neighborhood. Why did you move there and do you understand that test scores are not the end-all and be-all? My daughter's school has gone up and down over the years from 5 to 7 and back to 5 and it is the same place regardless and has been an excellent school for her.

Work on making your neighborhood school better instead of having a hissy fit over test scores.

+1

And universal Pre-K is a FANTASTIC idea....but what no one is addressing is where all those children are going to go to school. Some PGCPS schools are already over enrolled. Where are they going to put 50-70 more 4 year olds....and another 60-90 children if they want to do Pre-K 3. Schools like Adelphi elementary would need to add 80 more slots for Pre-K 4....they are already overenrolled by 300 students.

I don't know of any areas of PGCPS that has universal Pre-K so I'm not sure what you are talking about above. You only have Pre-K if you 1) Are eligible based on an IEP, 2) Meet income levels, 3) hit the lottery with Montessori

And transfer requests are based on school enrollment, not race or ethnicity. You can accept a transfer student(s) if a school is already overenrolled. There are only 2 non-magnet ES that have a GS score over 8 so your sample size is sort of small to suggest a conspiracy.

I'm surprised that someone who has been an educator for 12 years doesn't understand how a school district works.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Explain Northview, Kingsford, Perrywood, and the like. How can they be surrounded by middle class suburbs with educated people but still be so low performing for their test scores? Even if people are pulling i out their kids for privates, what explains it? [b]These schools can't be as bad ase the schools in Capital Heights or Temple Hills, so what gives?

Why not? Each of the schools you listed has 40%+ students who are eligible for free or reduced price lunch.

The data I've seen says closer to 30 percent, which is not nearly as high as schools in the inter loop. Either way, the schools are surrounded by middle class, barely any apartments, home owners. So who are the kids there exactly?

[/b]The kids are African American. Nothing more needs to be said. African Americans are at a disadvantage when it comes to resources for their school. [b]My son attends kingsford. They are still using chalkboards. A/c and heat is constantly out, the front office staff is “hood,” etc.

Absolutely not! It is a fact that SES is a more accurate predictor of school success than race. I think the negative attitude towards PGCPS stems from the mindset that if it’s nit white, then it’ not right. As the poster above noted, the specialty programs are hoarding high achieving students. Therefore, there is not an even distribution of these students across the schools, which leads to the perception that neighborhood schools are low performing. If you stick these same kids back in the neighborhood school, then voila, total school scores goes back up.

I have a tag identified child. I don’t want my child back in the same neighborhood school just to boost scores. I want my child around other students that are on his level, where there is parent involvement and the child and family values education. Go tag or go private.

Exactly! It's not up to the well-performing kids to drag along those struggling. And TAG kids placed back in regular schools likely won't do well because the teachers will spend too much time going over rudimentary concepts or tending to behavior issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Explain Northview, Kingsford, Perrywood, and the like. How can they be surrounded by middle class suburbs with educated people but still be so low performing for their test scores? Even if people are pulling i out their kids for privates, what explains it? [b]These schools can't be as bad ase the schools in Capital Heights or Temple Hills, so what gives?

Why not? Each of the schools you listed has 40%+ students who are eligible for free or reduced price lunch.

The data I've seen says closer to 30 percent, which is not nearly as high as schools in the inter loop. Either way, the schools are surrounded by middle class, barely any apartments, home owners. So who are the kids there exactly?

[/b]The kids are African American. Nothing more needs to be said. African Americans are at a disadvantage when it comes to resources for their school. [b]My son attends kingsford. They are still using chalkboards. A/c and heat is constantly out, the front office staff is “hood,” etc.

Absolutely not! It is a fact that SES is a more accurate predictor of school success than race. I think the negative attitude towards PGCPS stems from the mindset that if it’s nit white, then it’ not right. As the poster above noted, the specialty programs are hoarding high achieving students. Therefore, there is not an even distribution of these students across the schools, which leads to the perception that neighborhood schools are low performing. If you stick these same kids back in the neighborhood school, then voila, total school scores goes back up.

I have a tag identified child. I don’t want my child back in the same neighborhood school just to boost scores. I want my child around other students that are on his level, where there is parent involvement and the child and family values education. Go tag or go private.

Exactly! It's not up to the well-performing kids to drag along those struggling. And TAG kids placed back in regular schools likely won't do well because the teachers will spend too much time going over rudimentary concepts or tending to behavior issues.

My TAG students in the neighborhood elementary school are doing very well. Their school clusters the TAG students so that the teacher can differentiate the curriculum for the abilities of the students.
And if you think that behavior issues aren't a problem in TAG centers then you are completely misinformed.

[Anonymous]

I’d be curious to hear from teachers. I’ve heard that teachers prefer to commute to MCPS or other counties rather than teach in PGCS. I don’t know if that’s true—my sense is that MCPS pays a bit higher. Obviously if the best teachers are attracted elsewhere, that’s going to be a big part of it. It’s so easy around here for people to just commute to a higher paying County for work but live in the County with the lower COL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry Not Sorry - No one wants their kid to be the sacrificial lamb!

Sacrificial lamb? How disgusting.

You are directly CAUSING the problems in the school system that other children are having but participating in extreme racial and economic segregation and then acting like your responsibility is some sort of sacrifice. All of you parents that are greedily and selfishly causing other people's kids to sink deeper into intergenerational poverty and redirecting resources from their neighborhoods and schools are creating the problems you claim you are "running away" from. You are actively compounding the legacy of Jim Crow and pretending like you are doing "what's best for my child." You're not doing what's best for your child. You're tearing other children down and devaluing them so that your "lamb" can be at the top of some hierarchy that YOU and your parents/grandparents created.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d be curious to hear from teachers. I’ve heard that teachers prefer to commute to MCPS or other counties rather than teach in PGCS. I don’t know if that’s true—my sense is that MCPS pays a bit higher. Obviously if the best teachers are attracted elsewhere, that’s going to be a big part of it. It’s so easy around here for people to just commute to a higher paying County for work but live in the County with the lower COL.

Not a teacher, but I just checked the salary scales and MCPS is only a smidge higher for teachers with a bachelors. They give a bump for teachers with a masters and it doesn't appear that PGPS does -- most of the young teachers I know graduating now get masters before they even start working (you can do it in 5 years combined at many schools), so that may be part of it. I assume there are probably other benefits to working in MCPS over PGPS, but base salary does not seem to be a big part of it, at least for those with just a bachelor's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry Not Sorry - No one wants their kid to be the sacrificial lamb!

Sacrificial lamb? How disgusting.

You are directly CAUSING the problems in the school system that other children are having but participating in extreme racial and economic segregation and then acting like your responsibility is some sort of sacrifice. All of you parents that are greedily and selfishly causing other people's kids to sink deeper into intergenerational poverty and redirecting resources from their neighborhoods and schools are creating the problems you claim you are "running away" from. You are actively compounding the legacy of Jim Crow and pretending like you are doing "what's best for my child." You're not doing what's best for your child. You're tearing other children down and devaluing them so that your "lamb" can be at the top of some hierarchy that YOU and your parents/grandparents created.

I totally agree with what you are saying but PGCPS needs to step it up and improve the situation at the middle schools. We send our kids to the local ES (GS rating of 4 if that matters) and feel good about that decision. We didn't even enter the lottery.
For middle school, we decided not to give our in bounds middle school a chance and our child is in the TAG program based out of Kenmoor. Our in bounds school has terrible reviews. I know subs who refuse to teach there. My child would likely be the only white kid in the grade, they identify as LGTBQ and have anxiety. I want to be part of the solution but I can't put my kid in an unsafe (physically and mentally) environment.

I have less of an issue with TAG programs compared to immersion/performing arts programs because most are located in neighborhood schools. Kids who are not in the TAG program can get access to the more advance academic course work if the teachers think they would benefit from it. Kenmoor is pretty racially and economically diverse compared to other specialty schools.
Maybe these are just justifications that I use to reduce my guilt.