Is anyone happy with MCPS?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I would be interested in hearing from the large number of people that came from DC to MCPS. This is mostly because we have comparison points whereas others may not. I can say that even the best schools in DC (and many of them are charters) offer far less than MCPS.

OP here. I would be interested to hear from former DCPS parents whose kids switched to MCPS, too, for comparison.

I read the DCPS forum sometimes and it does feel like those parents (in WOTP and CH schools) are happier overall than MCPS parents, aside from MCPS parents in “W” school pyramids.

OP, did you post in the DC forum as well? I think I see a very similar question. I would keep in mind that there are a lot more MCPS families and therefore, likely more complaints!

I'm a previous PP with a child in upper ES that's a focus school. We switched to MCPS from DC (charter school though) but did so for other factors as well, not just schools. I am happy that my child may have access to more options/pathways in MCPS (CES, magnet programs) that were not available in DC, but I also recognize that these programs are not guaranteed to exist when my child gets to high school. We were hoping to eventually use the DCC but now that's going away. I personally wouldn't take into much consideration what parents of much older children are saying here since so much can change between now and then, but I do think MCPS overall has more resources.

My child is several years older than yours, and I remember the stress of trying to decide what to do for kindergarten and reading through these forums. Now, we take it the school experience year by year and try to anticipate/plan for needs 2-3 years in the future. Every year has brought us better understanding of not just what our child needs but what we, as parents, expect and want from a school. I personally would not change school districts for just kindergarten (unless of course there were other factors involved) but would instead use that first year as time to learn and refine your family's priorities.

Hello! 👋. Yes, I did post in this and the DCPS channel. Thank you so much for your response.

We are considering the reverse move you did – moving from MCP into DCPS before our older starts kindergarten - because it does seem like DC WOTP and CH elementary schools are generally stronger and smaller than MCPS ES (with a few exceptions in Bethesda).

Our local K is not a valid option for us (personal preference) so we have decided to either move or go private.

You're the Rosemary Hills-area parent? Is your concern that you don't want your kid to be around any lower-income kids, or what's the issue?

Yes, we are in the RHPS watershed. No, that's not our concern. We like that RHPS is so multi-cultural, in fact. My concerns with RHPS are threefold:

1. It's very large (8 gen ed classes + 3 autism classes = 11 classes per grade!!), and parents describe lunch & recess as chaos, with too few adults supervising.
2. 2024 teacher survey responses. They're a bit concerning. Take a look. Bethesda ES and DC school (JKLM + Hearst + Mann) teacher survey responses are much better. RHPS teachers mostly feel under supported by school leadership & report safety concerns.
3. Neighbor feedback: My neighbors have been mixed on the experience. Most feel like it's "good enough" but wish they had a better option, and they're just waiting it out for a better experience at CCES / NCC for 3-5 in a couple of years. A handful of our neighbors do love it. Two others with kids in K are applying to privates now, hoping to transfer for 1st. Each is worried about bad behavior from a couple of other kids on the classroom (the parents suspect undiagnosed special needs) and feel the school leadership has not been communicative or responsive enough, saying "there's a process" we have to go through to get those kids assigned to more supportive environments.

I ask MCPS generally because our friends in DCPS are happier with their public ES schools (every one of them loves their zoned-to- public), so we're trying to figure out whether to move to Bethesda, move to DCPS, or go private.