Did you waste your money buying a house to get access to MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Isn't there already a Montgomery County Council of PTA's that links PTA's up across the county?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't there already a Montgomery County Council of PTA's that links PTA's up across the county?

Yes, there is. MCCPTA.

http://www.mccpta.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DP with a kid who will be in K next year. I seriously hope the bolded statement is right. DH and I have been having long conversations about whether we should consider private school. We *really* want to make public school work, but we are so demoralized by what we're seeing. I've lived in the area for the past 15 years and promised DH that MCPS was good ... that's always been the reputation. Now I feel like an idiot for advocating it when we were figuring out where to go to raise our kid (we were in the District before and couldn't afford upper NW).

Beyond the curriculum issues, the overcrowding and Chromebook ineptitude seriously worry me. I just keep hoping that somehow it'll get better. We'll see.

PP, please don't base your impression about MCPS on the stuff you read on DCUM. People who are unhappy post their complaints on DCUM; people who are happy do not post their lack of complaints on DCUM.

(Where I come from, people don't "want to make public school work". They "send their children to school" - and "school" means public school.)

The kind of parent beloved of MCPS...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

my child did not learn foundational skills in reading, writing, and math in school. we have had to spend hours upon hours supplementing. I am very concerned about my child's preparation for middle school and high school.

if you actually read the audit, you would see that Johns Hopkins concluded the curriculum does not teach foundational skills. That has shown itself to be true with my child, and many others. MCPS teachers have almost universally said the same thing. I'm sorry if you're in denial, but education experts, teachers, and many parents disagree with you.

What didn't your child learn?

you really don't want to accept the truth, do you?

we had to teach her how to edit her written work. we had to teach her the rules of grammar and proper spelling. etc. etc. etc.



I’m a NP and have two kids in a MCPS elementary school and I can honestly say our experience hasn’t been similar to yours. Our children are being taught writing/grammar, spelling and math at a level DH and I find acceptable. DH and I both have advanced degrees from reputable schools so we know what to look and I can assure you we are not in denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

my child did not learn foundational skills in reading, writing, and math in school. we have had to spend hours upon hours supplementing. I am very concerned about my child's preparation for middle school and high school.

if you actually read the audit, you would see that Johns Hopkins concluded the curriculum does not teach foundational skills. That has shown itself to be true with my child, and many others. MCPS teachers have almost universally said the same thing. I'm sorry if you're in denial, but education experts, teachers, and many parents disagree with you.

What didn't your child learn?

you really don't want to accept the truth, do you?

we had to teach her how to edit her written work. we had to teach her the rules of grammar and proper spelling. etc. etc. etc.



I’m a NP and have two kids in a MCPS elementary school and I can honestly say our experience hasn’t been similar to yours. Our children are being taught writing/grammar, spelling and math at a level DH and I find acceptable. DH and I both have advanced degrees from reputable schools so we know what to look and I can assure you we are not in denial.

Its very teacher specific/school. Our child has not had any grammar or spelling at school. Math is a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

my child did not learn foundational skills in reading, writing, and math in school. we have had to spend hours upon hours supplementing. I am very concerned about my child's preparation for middle school and high school.

if you actually read the audit, you would see that Johns Hopkins concluded the curriculum does not teach foundational skills. That has shown itself to be true with my child, and many others. MCPS teachers have almost universally said the same thing. I'm sorry if you're in denial, but education experts, teachers, and many parents disagree with you.

What didn't your child learn?

you really don't want to accept the truth, do you?

we had to teach her how to edit her written work. we had to teach her the rules of grammar and proper spelling. etc. etc. etc.



I’m a NP and have two kids in a MCPS elementary school and I can honestly say our experience hasn’t been similar to yours. Our children are being taught writing/grammar, spelling and math at a level DH and I find acceptable. DH and I both have advanced degrees from reputable schools so we know what to look and I can assure you we are not in denial.

Man I hope we are soon starting at your k ES. What school were you referring to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

my child did not learn foundational skills in reading, writing, and math in school. we have had to spend hours upon hours supplementing. I am very concerned about my child's preparation for middle school and high school.

if you actually read the audit, you would see that Johns Hopkins concluded the curriculum does not teach foundational skills. That has shown itself to be true with my child, and many others. MCPS teachers have almost universally said the same thing. I'm sorry if you're in denial, but education experts, teachers, and many parents disagree with you.

What didn't your child learn?

you really don't want to accept the truth, do you?

we had to teach her how to edit her written work. we had to teach her the rules of grammar and proper spelling. etc. etc. etc.



I’m a NP and have two kids in a MCPS elementary school and I can honestly say our experience hasn’t been similar to yours. Our children are being taught writing/grammar, spelling and math at a level DH and I find acceptable. DH and I both have advanced degrees from reputable schools so we know what to look and I can assure you we are not in denial.

Man I hope we are soon starting at your k ES. What school were you referring to?

Does..."we had to teach her how to edit her written work" mean that you helped review written HW assignments (which I consider normal parent involvement in education) or were you using a home curriculum/tutoring after school and on weekends? I have two kids in MCPS and I don't know anyone that really provides more than the HW help category outside of kids with LDs etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the people who complain that hold the school accountable. If it is all up to those who are always self satisfied, we will never see any improvement.

Oh yea, complaining on DCUM is the only thing that will improve the school system.
Insert giant eye roll !!

This forum is monitored by the system, as is the Parents' Coalition.

People are paid (in part) to scan forums.

ARE YOU FOR FREAKING REAL?

It may be not an official job duty, but I've known specific cases where people were asked to scan sites. And I know of one case where a person was reprimanded for posting something unflattering.

Look - there is no use in complaining unless you're going to make waves. So if there are issues resurrected on these threads about which you feel passionate, make some waves. But do so with civility - and more importantly, evidence to back you up. Multiple people complaining en masse is also very helpful.

In this cass, grass roots' effort is the key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the people who complain that hold the school accountable. If it is all up to those who are always self satisfied, we will never see any improvement.

Oh yea, complaining on DCUM is the only thing that will improve the school system.
Insert giant eye roll !!

This forum is monitored by the system, as is the Parents' Coalition.

People are paid (in part) to scan forums.

ARE YOU FOR FREAKING REAL?

It may be not an official job duty, but I've known specific cases where people were asked to scan sites. And I know of one case where a person was reprimanded for posting something unflattering.

Look - there is no use in complaining unless you're going to make waves. So if there are issues resurrected on these threads about which you feel passionate, make some waves. But do so with civility - and more importantly, evidence to back you up. Multiple people complaining en masse is also very helpful.

In this cass, grass roots' effort is the key.

This is an extremely popular forum -- probably the most popular forum for the issues it covers in the DC area. I know of at least one case in which the forum was used for a specific purpose: apparently, awhile back, there was an organized effort to bash Landon to support a lawsuit against the school. Schools (public and private) know about this site. It's like DC's dirty little secret -- lots of people read this site, and few would admit it.

[Anonymous]

No. Moved to a low COL area in MCPS with all conveniences and low real estate costs because of schools. Sent kids to MCPS but supplemented heavily at home. Kids were in magnets, and we continued supplementing at home. We are frugal, UMC and are kids are doing very well. We did not pay huge amounts for the house, for private schools. for tutoring. All supplementation came from free online resources and 2nd hand textbooks that we bought from Amazon. Good curriculum is available.

Were people really that blindsided by the substandard MCPS curriculum? Probably. You see, most parents were so worried about race, SES that they did not realize that the curriculum itself was messed up. Going forward, be involved with the education of your child. Don't let MCPS academics to interfere with your kids education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the people who complain that hold the school accountable. If it is all up to those who are always self satisfied, we will never see any improvement.

Oh yea, complaining on DCUM is the only thing that will improve the school system.
Insert giant eye roll !!

This forum is monitored by the system, as is the Parents' Coalition.

People are paid (in part) to scan forums.

ARE YOU FOR FREAKING REAL?

It may be not an official job duty, but I've known specific cases where people were asked to scan sites. And I know of one case where a person was reprimanded for posting something unflattering.

Look - there is no use in complaining unless you're going to make waves. So if there are issues resurrected on these threads about which you feel passionate, make some waves. But do so with civility - and more importantly, evidence to back you up. Multiple people complaining en masse is also very helpful.

In this cass, grass roots' effort is the key.

Except DCUM is not a grassroots effort, it is an anonymous message board . Complaining is not making waves, it's making complaints.
And starting 2800000 threads about how bad MCPS is going to get nothing accomplished except teaching people how to complain 2800000 different ways on a message board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the people who complain that hold the school accountable. If it is all up to those who are always self satisfied, we will never see any improvement.

Oh yea, complaining on DCUM is the only thing that will improve the school system.
Insert giant eye roll !!

This forum is monitored by the system, as is the Parents' Coalition.

People are paid (in part) to scan forums.

ARE YOU FOR FREAKING REAL?

It may be not an official job duty, but I've known specific cases where people were asked to scan sites. And I know of one case where a person was reprimanded for posting something unflattering.

Look - there is no use in complaining unless you're going to make waves. So if there are issues resurrected on these threads about which you feel passionate, make some waves. But do so with civility - and more importantly, evidence to back you up. Multiple people complaining en masse is also very helpful.

In this cass, grass roots' effort is the key.

This is an extremely popular forum -- probably the most popular forum for the issues it covers in the DC area. I know of at least one case in which the forum was used for a specific purpose: apparently, awhile back, there was an organized effort to bash Landon to support a lawsuit against the school. Schools (public and private) know about this site. It's like DC's dirty little secret -- lots of people read this site, and few would admit it.

Reading this site and actually using it to devise, plan and implement educational policy are two different things . SMDH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I INVESTED money in land near downtown Bethesda, which has appreciated and will continue to do so. The schools are good as well!

for how much longer?

I've been in the system for over 20 years as a teacher. born in Mo Co - spent my entire lifetime in this county

Don't depend on Bethesda "holding out" for much longer.

Long enough. My oldest who needs lots of help, has indeed received lots of help from MCPS, for which we are incredibly grateful, and will be out in a few years. My youngest can deal with whatever they throw at her

My son received services early on, but through Infants and Toddlers. So 2.0 wasn't a factor. However, as a rising 4th grader, he was part of the 2.0 roll out. You really don't know the effects until you move into another system, which is happening shortly for us.

So while you say your youngest can deal, I think that's a very sad statement to make about educating your child.

Learning isn't about "dealing." It's about being challenged to master material that will help a person to function in society.

We moved from having total autonomy over guides and instructional practices to having no control over what to present to a classroom of children each learning at a different pace.

Someone mentioned that "ignorance is bliss" with regard to parental awareness. I should be amazed at this lack of awareness, but I'm not, as I do realize that many parents barely touch the surface when conversing with their own children. Superficial discussions at best . . .

how sad

Ha ha ha! You don't me, and yet you assume so much? I have probably thought more about educating my children than you. We prioritize education and work a lot at home. My youngest is not only a hard worker, but very competent. MCPS can go downhill, it will not affect her.

I have criticized MCPS for years on these boards, over specific things (overuse of tech in primary years, absence of textbooks, poor writing preparation in middle and high school, less-than-rigorous selection of electives instructors, etc), but overall, I take exception to painting this public school system in he disastrous light that some do. It's not a lost cause. It's actually a good system. As a scientist, I appreciate the STEM emphasis and the wealth of possible coursework in high school, I find writing to be quite ambitious at the elementary school level, and I love how American schools in general encourage public speaking and personal growth. As a foreigner, I can tell you that it's quite different from other education philosophies (rote, head down, listen to the teacher destroy your self-esteem).

No system will be perfect. MCPS works fine, as long as you remember that education ALWAYS begins at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I INVESTED money in land near downtown Bethesda, which has appreciated and will continue to do so. The schools are good as well!

for how much longer?

I've been in the system for over 20 years as a teacher. born in Mo Co - spent my entire lifetime in this county

Don't depend on Bethesda "holding out" for much longer.

Long enough. My oldest who needs lots of help, has indeed received lots of help from MCPS, for which we are incredibly grateful, and will be out in a few years. My youngest can deal with whatever they throw at her

My son received services early on, but through Infants and Toddlers. So 2.0 wasn't a factor. However, as a rising 4th grader, he was part of the 2.0 roll out. You really don't know the effects until you move into another system, which is happening shortly for us.

So while you say your youngest can deal, I think that's a very sad statement to make about educating your child.

Learning isn't about "dealing." It's about being challenged to master material that will help a person to function in society.

We moved from having total autonomy over guides and instructional practices to having no control over what to present to a classroom of children each learning at a different pace.

Someone mentioned that "ignorance is bliss" with regard to parental awareness. I should be amazed at this lack of awareness, but I'm not, as I do realize that many parents barely touch the surface when conversing with their own children. Superficial discussions at best . . .

how sad

Ha ha ha! You don't me, and yet you assume so much? I have probably thought more about educating my children than you. We prioritize education and work a lot at home. My youngest is not only a hard worker, but very competent. MCPS can go downhill, it will not affect her.

I have criticized MCPS for years on these boards, over specific things (overuse of tech in primary years, absence of textbooks, poor writing preparation in middle and high school, less-than-rigorous selection of electives instructors, etc), but overall, I take exception to painting this public school system in he disastrous light that some do. It's not a lost cause. It's actually a good system. As a scientist, I appreciate the STEM emphasis and the wealth of possible coursework in high school, I find writing to be quite ambitious at the elementary school level, and I love how American schools in general encourage public speaking and personal growth. As a foreigner, I can tell you that it's quite different from other education philosophies (rote, head down, listen to the teacher destroy your self-esteem).

No system will be perfect. MCPS works fine, as long as you remember that education ALWAYS begins at home.

+1 especially the bolded. I know, I know, there's no grammar "instruction" - actually, there is, just maybe not as much as some people want. But, the "critical writing" aspect in the early grades is pretty challenging, and many kids struggle with it. Maybe it's too hard. I think Common Core standards are actually pretty rigorous, and yes, 2.0 wasn't great, but I think 2.0 tried to implement a more rigorous critical reading/writing curriculum, which is a good thing.

We moved from a different state and landed in MCPS when they were rolling out 2.0, so my DC in 2nd grade at the time was a guinea pig. DC had a really hard time with the writing because back in our other district (wealthy one), there wasn't much emphasis on writing. DC is now in 7th and doing really well. My younger DC started MCPS a couple of years after 2.0 was implemented, and I think this DC's writing is better than the older one's at the same age.

2.0 definitely has problems, but it had a few good parts to it. And both of my kids' writing assignments do have corrections by the teacher, and often times they do mark up grammar mistakes. One thing I will say I despise about the MS draft edits, though, are the peer edits. DC is probably the strongest writer in the class, so DC never gets good input from peer edits. But that isn't a 2.0 issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Moved to a low COL area in MCPS with all conveniences and low real estate costs because of schools. Sent kids to MCPS but supplemented heavily at home. Kids were in magnets, and we continued supplementing at home. We are frugal, UMC and are kids are doing very well. We did not pay huge amounts for the house, for private schools. for tutoring. All supplementation came from free online resources and 2nd hand textbooks that we bought from Amazon. Good curriculum is available.

Were people really that blindsided by the substandard MCPS curriculum? Probably. You see, most parents were so worried about race, SES that they did not realize that the curriculum itself was messed up. Going forward, be involved with the education of your child. Don't let MCPS academics to interfere with your kids education.

+1 for the most realistic and rationale post on this thread.