Moving into Bethesda and we like BCC - and trying to asses Middle Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are whites no longer the minority at Silver Creek?

Silver Creek current year numbers (from the CIP):

47.7% White
21.4% Black
19.5% Hispanic
6.3% Asian
5.1% Two or more

24.2% FARMS

[Anonymous]

I don’t know much about Silver Creek, but Westland has always had a pretty toxic privileged atmosphere. I can’t imagine it’s gotten any better now that it’s all pretty much all white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are whites no longer the minority at Silver Creek?

Silver Creek current year numbers (from the CIP):

47.7% White
21.4% Black
19.5% Hispanic
6.3% Asian
5.1% Two or more

24.2% FARMS

I think using a term like "the minority" in this situation is deceptive. I don't think any group is "the minority" when it is the largest plurality of a given school/organization. There's a difference between "not the majority" (which is true - it's under 50%) and "the minority" when no other group is more than 50% either. "White" is still a very large plurality at Silver Creek.

[Anonymous]

I would think that if you absolutely want to be at BCC, a "sure bet" (as sure as anything is) would be to rent/buy in the neighborhood surrounding BCC (called "East Bethesda").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’re all good. The larger issues are:

1. overcrowding at the elementary and high school level (BCC not currently overcrowded but projected to be).

2. Boundary changes in the next few years. This is causing great angst because people are worried their property values might decrease if their street is reassigned to a lower performing school. The Silver Spring and Wheaton area are considered less performing than Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac areas.

Buy west of downtown. You’ll be in the BCC cluster (or Whitman) and won’t be at risk of being reassigned to a Silver Spring school.

Oh the horror of your children going to school with my children here in Silver Spring! (For many of us this is a generational community -- our parents, and us, and now our children -- attend school in our close-knit Silver Spring communities.)

Once again, there is another post on DCUM for our neighborhood listserv to discuss.

I believe many DCUM readers in our neighborhood will be reporting such posts as these as racist and unfit for discussion, though I disagree with that decision. We really need to see that we are living next to snob racists who pretend to be liberals. Many of you will protest this "label", but believe those of us who have lived our lives thriving in Silver Spring, that is how you come off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’re all good. The larger issues are:

1. overcrowding at the elementary and high school level (BCC not currently overcrowded but projected to be).

2. Boundary changes in the next few years. This is causing great angst because people are worried their property values might decrease if their street is reassigned to a lower performing school. The Silver Spring and Wheaton area are considered less performing than Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac areas.

Buy west of downtown. You’ll be in the BCC cluster (or Whitman) and won’t be at risk of being reassigned to a Silver Spring school.

Silver Spring and Wheaton are lower income, but not necessarily lower performance. We know many Einstein HS IB kids going to Ivy League colleges. Blair has a terrific CAP and Magnet programs, which are application programs, but Blair is also a good school outside the magnet. Takoma Park is a great middle school inside and outside the magnet. There are many strong elementary schools in Silver Spring.

FWIW, I grew up in ChCh and consider the school atmosphere to not be all that "high performing". My neighbors are pretty anti-intellectual, preferring to focus on Larlo's friends and soccer team. Of course, they can afford to do that because Larlo will benefit from their wealth and connections when applying to college.

[Anonymous]

we have chosen Silver Creek (going to contract on a house and moving to start next fall) instead of the others, even though Pyle would have been an easier fit academically. For us, from a mixed race family, coming from the District,the racial and economic diversity made it very similar to the school we are leaving. The neighborhood we're living in because of commute and just what came on the market is much less diverse so it is great the school has more diversity. Plus when we visited the parents we met were much less focused on driving hard for top things for their child and more in a community mode. The counselor we met with took us on a tour and more than one kid came up to talk with her and some gave her hugs. Just a really nice feel to the school. We're not there yet, obviously, but we'll see. Re the swastika thing, that is bad, but having grown up as a minority in a white neighborhood you know that there is a lot of race-based and other bullying all the time in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we have chosen Silver Creek (going to contract on a house and moving to start next fall) instead of the others, even though Pyle would have been an easier fit academically. For us, from a mixed race family, coming from the District,the racial and economic diversity made it very similar to the school we are leaving. The neighborhood we're living in because of commute and just what came on the market is much less diverse so it is great the school has more diversity. Plus when we visited the parents we met were much less focused on driving hard for top things for their child and more in a community mode. The counselor we met with took us on a tour and more than one kid came up to talk with her and some gave her hugs. Just a really nice feel to the school. We're not there yet, obviously, but we'll see. Re the swastika thing, that is bad, but having grown up as a minority in a white neighborhood you know that there is a lot of race-based and other bullying all the time in middle school.

Are you joining with a 6th-grade boy or girl? We are doing this same and would love if our kid could meet some kids before school begins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re all good. The larger issues are:

1. overcrowding at the elementary and high school level (BCC not currently overcrowded but projected to be).

2. Boundary changes in the next few years. This is causing great angst because people are worried their property values might decrease if their street is reassigned to a lower performing school. The Silver Spring and Wheaton area are considered less performing than Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac areas.

Buy west of downtown. You’ll be in the BCC cluster (or Whitman) and won’t be at risk of being reassigned to a Silver Spring school.

Oh the horror of your children going to school with my children here in Silver Spring! (For many of us this is a generational community -- our parents, and us, and now our children -- attend school in our close-knit Silver Spring communities.)

Once again, there is another post on DCUM for our neighborhood listserv to discuss.

I believe many DCUM readers in our neighborhood will be reporting such posts as these as racist and unfit for discussion, though I disagree with that decision. We really need to see that we are living next to snob racists who pretend to be liberals. Many of you will protest this "label", but believe those of us who have lived our lives thriving in Silver Spring, that is how you come off.

PP you replied to. Don't be stupid. I am not white. I and several other African American families moved FROM Silver Spring TO Bethesda for the better schools. If your child isn't in a magnet program, the academic standard of the Silver Spring/ Wheaton schools are not at the level of some of their western counterparts, and that is a simple statement of fact.

People like you constantly try to play the race card in a complex situation that is socio-economic dependent. We all know non-white ethnicities are disproportionately affected by restricted opportunities in all areas of life, but that is not the same as saying that people who seek better schools for their kids are racist. You're so busy trying to find something to be outraged about you can't see that glaring difference. Too bad for you.

[Anonymous]

There's that eternal tension on DCUM:

The schools in Bethesda are the best; also, there shouldn't be any boundary changes affecting schools in Bethesda because they'd be pointless because the schools in the rest of the county are just as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's that eternal tension on DCUM:

The schools in Bethesda are the best; also, there shouldn't be any boundary changes affecting schools in Bethesda because they'd be pointless because the schools in the rest of the county are just as good.

The schools maybe but the kids aren’t the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's that eternal tension on DCUM:

The schools in Bethesda are the best; also, there shouldn't be any boundary changes affecting schools in Bethesda because they'd be pointless because the schools in the rest of the county are just as good.

The schools maybe but the kids aren’t the same.

So you're saying the KIDS in Bethesda are the best? How about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we have chosen Silver Creek (going to contract on a house and moving to start next fall) instead of the others, even though Pyle would have been an easier fit academically. For us, from a mixed race family, coming from the District,the racial and economic diversity made it very similar to the school we are leaving. The neighborhood we're living in because of commute and just what came on the market is much less diverse so it is great the school has more diversity. Plus when we visited the parents we met were much less focused on driving hard for top things for their child and more in a community mode. The counselor we met with took us on a tour and more than one kid came up to talk with her and some gave her hugs. Just a really nice feel to the school. We're not there yet, obviously, but we'll see. Re the swastika thing, that is bad, but having grown up as a minority in a white neighborhood you know that there is a lot of race-based and other bullying all the time in middle school.

Are you joining with a 6th-grade boy or girl? We are doing this same and would love if our kid could meet some kids before school begins!

PP here, We are, actually. you can message me at dcwriter at gmail dot com.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we have chosen Silver Creek (going to contract on a house and moving to start next fall) instead of the others, even though Pyle would have been an easier fit academically. For us, from a mixed race family, coming from the District,the racial and economic diversity made it very similar to the school we are leaving. The neighborhood we're living in because of commute and just what came on the market is much less diverse so it is great the school has more diversity. Plus when we visited the parents we met were much less focused on driving hard for top things for their child and more in a community mode. The counselor we met with took us on a tour and more than one kid came up to talk with her and some gave her hugs. Just a really nice feel to the school. We're not there yet, obviously, but we'll see. Re the swastika thing, that is bad, but having grown up as a minority in a white neighborhood you know that there is a lot of race-based and other bullying all the time in middle school.

The school has a fantastic resource counselor. Kids love her and she’s very experienced and lovely with parents, too. Great admin at Silver Creek. I’m so impressed.

[Anonymous]

We have been very happy at Silver Creek - we currently have both our kids there.