Silver Springs schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+3! We moved to silver spring (20910) four years ago and count our lucky stars every day. We love it. My favorite thing is my neighbors - so many down-to-earth, friendly families.

+4!!!!!

+5 Love my SS neighborhood! We moved here from Arlington 14 years ago because we were priced out of it. But now I wouldn't live anywhere else in the area.

We were renting in Arlington and bought in Silver Spring (Four Corners) ourselves. Love it.

[Anonymous]

To 07:46 - or, perhaps some of us actually lived in SS and experienced a school and then traded up? That's me. I'm not denigrating all schools in SS...some are actually fantastic from what I've heard from family and friends. But some are lousy...and it's okay for folks to point that out. Wouldn't you want to know about a lousy school? Also: some folks have shared experiences related to a variety of issues at title I and focus schools...that's helpful IMHO for a parent who has never set foot in a title I or focus school. Now some of these issues might not bother each and every parent, but they might bother some...or might prompt further research. That's all good. Saying that anyone who posts anything remotely negative about a school is a racist isn't fair or accurate.

[Anonymous]

We are zoned for Rock View - Newport Mill - Einstein. Love it and have no intentions of moving. One at Rock View and one at Newport Mill.

[Anonymous]

We are at Flora Singer and think it's fantastic. We have experience with other SS schools that were not as good. As others have pointed out, SS is huge. The schools cannot be lumped together as all good or all bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 07:46 - or, perhaps some of us actually lived in SS and experienced a school and then traded up? That's me. I'm not denigrating all schools in SS...some are actually fantastic from what I've heard from family and friends. But some are lousy...and it's okay for folks to point that out. Wouldn't you want to know about a lousy school? Also: some folks have shared experiences related to a variety of issues at title I and focus schools...that's helpful IMHO for a parent who has never set foot in a title I or focus school. Now some of these issues might not bother each and every parent, but they might bother some...or might prompt further research. That's all good. Saying that anyone who posts anything remotely negative about a school is a racist isn't fair or accurate.

As you say, there is a difference between "This school in Silver Spring, which my kids went to recently, was not good because [reasons]" and "Silver Spring is a hellhole".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+3! We moved to silver spring (20910) four years ago and count our lucky stars every day. We love it. My favorite thing is my neighbors - so many down-to-earth, friendly families.

+4!!!!!

+5 Love my SS neighborhood! We moved here from Arlington 14 years ago because we were priced out of it. But now I wouldn't live anywhere else in the area.

+6

[Anonymous]

While a lot has to do with how a school is run, a lot also has to do with the student and family support. Growing upon Moco schools (graduated 13 years ago) I know a lot of people that went to "bad schools" but were extremely successful and I know a lot of people who went to "good" schools and were total F ups. Even the best schools in the county have problems with kids who aren't there to learn. The ones that do well are the ones that have family support at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 07:46 - or, perhaps some of us actually lived in SS and experienced a school and then traded up? That's me. I'm not denigrating all schools in SS...some are actually fantastic from what I've heard from family and friends. But some are lousy...and it's okay for folks to point that out. Wouldn't you want to know about a lousy school? Also: some folks have shared experiences related to a variety of issues at title I and focus schools...that's helpful IMHO for a parent who has never set foot in a title I or focus school. Now some of these issues might not bother each and every parent, but they might bother some...or might prompt further research. That's all good. Saying that anyone who posts anything remotely negative about a school is a racist isn't fair or accurate.

Posting about things with which you have no DIRECT, PERSONAL experience is not fair or accurate either is it?
Telling people what momma n'em and cousin ray-ray and miss Sadie 's 3rd cousin's neighbor said means absolutely nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at Flora Singer and think it's fantastic. We have experience with other SS schools that were not as good. As others have pointed out, SS is huge. The schools cannot be lumped together as all good or all bad.

We love Flora Singer!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can some on speak to northwood?

I have a friend who is a teacher at Northwood. Earlier this year he was out for two days after he was punched in the face by a student.

Really? Is that allowed here in Maryland? Why are the students violent towards teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can some on speak to northwood?

I have a friend who is a teacher at Northwood. Earlier this year he was out for two days after he was punched in the face by a student.

Really? Is that allowed here in Maryland? Why are the students violent towards teachers?

It's the Silver Spring water, it breeds violence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 07:46 - or, perhaps some of us actually lived in SS and experienced a school and then traded up? That's me. I'm not denigrating all schools in SS...some are actually fantastic from what I've heard from family and friends. But some are lousy...and it's okay for folks to point that out. Wouldn't you want to know about a lousy school? Also: some folks have shared experiences related to a variety of issues at title I and focus schools...that's helpful IMHO for a parent who has never set foot in a title I or focus school. Now some of these issues might not bother each and every parent, but they might bother some...or might prompt further research. That's all good. Saying that anyone who posts anything remotely negative about a school is a racist isn't fair or accurate.

Sure, although the way you're phrasing it, "trading up" doesn't sound very nice, and you recognize that right? Maybe you just mean you "traded up" in terms of your house. But the attitude of "trading up" in terms of a neighborhood, as if just living in a higher socio-economic area is "trading up" in terms of school quality and people...you can see how that would be offensive to people who live in SS?

And I don't know if there are "lousy" schools in SS...but there are lousy teachers and students and families (and thus school experiences) everywhere, including in your "trade up" neighborhood. If people confined their remarks to their experiences with specific schools it would not only be less offensive it would be more accurate. Instead they say things like SS is a "shit hole" and stay away from the schools (started early in the thread). When you dig a little deeper they usually have no experience sending their own child to a SS school.

[Anonymous]

hey - good to know you're happy

I have 2 acres in a quiet little corner of the world. My kids are happy and most importantly, they're not ignored in school or pushed aside b/c others have more pressing needs. And no, not everyone looks like us in my 'hood, as my children are mixed race.

I am the fair-skinned one in the family. So don't generalize. While you may live in a diverse environment, not every person of color likes SS. And not every "open-minded" neighbor sends his/her kids to the local schools. Where there's money, private's always an option.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Einstein? Compare its test scores to Sherwood's. There is no comparison academically.
.

Welcome back sherwood booster. You're wrong on many levels, but it doesn't make sense arguing on every little item. And I won't generalize about Silver Spring, since it is a huge area, but concentrate on the active, thriving neighborhoods that feed into Einstein and Blair.

Yes, there are more lower income communities that feed into these schools. Mostly that is because as you get closer to the core, you get denser and denser populations, and more lower-income housing. There is nothing particularly shocking about this. Silver Spring borders Washington. Sherwood is 20 miles away.

So once upon a time you lived somewhere in Silver Spring, and growing up you seem to have had a bad elementary school experience. Clearly you have issues with people who don't look like you. I feel sorry for you, but I'm guessing you get that a lot. Today, if you go into any one of the neighborhood schools, you will see sometimes crowded classrooms full of kids who live in these neighborhoods. We go to a Fourth of July parade a couple of neighborhoods away, and there are usually 1000 kids under the age of 12 there. All shapes, colors, sizes, languages, etc. Kids here play in their front yards, pickup baseball and street hockey are common, there is a neighborhood block party monthly spring-fall. We have neighbors who will pick up our kids in a pinch, we can go away on vacation and call upon a dozen people to keep an eye on our house. This isn't unique to Silver Spring, but it highlights how the community works.

And schools. So clearly your experience with Blair is old. The magnet programs (yes, there are 2, not 1) are not a walled off school within a school. There are kids in our neighborhood who went magnet, and who didn't. Those that didn't still could take magnet level classes. They went to Stanford, UNC, Duke, Penn, top level state schools, and SLACs. A bunch went to UMD. A bunch went to Montgomery College...so basically, it's the same list for virtually every MoCo HS.

I know you're not going to hide in your wine cellar in Brookville and stop bashing Silver Spring. Yes, the higher population density leads to higher crime rates. Yes, my 1,500 SF home cost $650,000. I know I could buy 1/2 acre and 3 car garage elsewhere for that. Yes, there are kids who go to my zoned HS who will not go to college. Yes, my local park doesn't have 15 perfectly manicured soccer fields. I have to drive 20 minutes for my huge local indoor pool. But I - like the majority of the families who live here - enjoy living in Silver Spring. And while once upon a time things may have been different, the way they are today work well for a lot of similarly minded people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 07:46 - or, perhaps some of us actually lived in SS and experienced a school and then traded up? That's me. I'm not denigrating all schools in SS...some are actually fantastic from what I've heard from family and friends. But some are lousy...and it's okay for folks to point that out. Wouldn't you want to know about a lousy school? Also: some folks have shared experiences related to a variety of issues at title I and focus schools...that's helpful IMHO for a parent who has never set foot in a title I or focus school. Now some of these issues might not bother each and every parent, but they might bother some...or might prompt further research. That's all good. Saying that anyone who posts anything remotely negative about a school is a racist isn't fair or accurate.

Sure, although the way you're phrasing it, "trading up" doesn't sound very nice, and you recognize that right? Maybe you just mean you "traded up" in terms of your house. But the attitude of "trading up" in terms of a neighborhood, as if just living in a higher socio-economic area is "trading up" in terms of school quality and people...you can see how that would be offensive to people who live in SS?

And I don't know if there are "lousy" schools in SS...but there are lousy teachers and students and families (and thus school experiences) everywhere, including in your "trade up" neighborhood. If people confined their remarks to their experiences with specific schools it would not only be less offensive it would be more accurate. Instead they say things like SS is a "shit hole" and stay away from the schools (started early in the thread). When you dig a little deeper they usually have no experience sending their own child to a SS school.

I find it offensive to people in general - as if people who live in more expensive houses are superior to others.

It says it all about PP's attitude in general, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If public school is important, then scratch SS off your list period. And I am born and raised from SS. It's a shit hole. Don't listen to all of the hippy posters on here who talk about how diverse or international or wonderful or la la la it is. It's not. Move farther west in Montgomery County if a decent school is important to you.

FYI, for "decent" read "white" or "affluent," because that's what this poster means. This is actually one of her less offensive posts.

Not true. Don't talk about what you don't know about. I am from SS. Enough said. And btw, DD's school isn't even 1/2 white. But it's got excellent scores - 90th percentiles, 9/10 greatschools etc. Why is everything about race to you? Oh I know, probably because you aren't from a very diverse area originally so it's fascinating to bring up race all the time even though it's very tacky.

Okay, now tell me where are the diverse middle and high schools with 9 and 10's in Montgomery County? There are plenty at the elementary level, but not at the middle and high school levels.

BCC