Oakland Terrace

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Issues as of January 2022 outlined here:

https://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CN6PC563EA00/$file/Alison%20Pflepsen%20-%20Oakland%20Terrace%20ES.pdf.

Bad link

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at OTES and we are in no way FARMS, nor are most of our neighbors. I guess some families are, but their finances are none of my business.

We play the Spanish version of TV shows, dubbed films, Spanish language radio, etc for at-home backup. But we have done this since they were toddlers.

DH and I speak decent French, and Spanish is very easy to learn compared to French. We love OT; not sure what middle school will bring.

It was farms till a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't speak to the immersion (my kids just missed it, which is a shame because now my older child is learning spanish in middle school and would have been much farther along), but I can talk about sending two kids through.

First, the admin. The principal is great. She is a very strong leader and provides a vision in the school. She doesn't just put out a fire, she puts it out and comes up with a plan to prevent them in the future (or already had a plan to prevent them). Having an experience with admin that just addresses the problem in front of him/her, I appreciate the strategic vision. As she has strong opinions, parents don't always get what they want. I have asked for things and been turned down. I have asked for things and it has been considered and offered in a way that satisfied my need but was not exactly what I requested. I have come away feeling heard, but also know the admin is not going to do something just to make me happy. I can imagine some parents would be frustrated so it really just comes down to the request. At the end of the day, my kids had a great experience. They left to go to the magnet so we have comparative experience with different elementary school leaders. I admire the OTES principal.

In terms of volunteering, I have volunteered throughout the years. It depends on the teacher. Some have you in classroom, some have you do copying and some don't want you at all. When I haven't been in the classroom, I have volunteered for recess or lunch. I have to take off from work to do it, and this year was super busy so I did not do it last year. So, unless some policy changed in the last year and I didn't know about it, you can volunteer.

I don't remember my kids working on handwriting. My older child's handwriting is awful and we are working on him writing more legibly for his middle school teachers. But he types most of his stuff in the chrome book so no complaints. I do remember spelling homework coming home in second grade but not third (but there was a spelling notebook). There is a standard curriculum so OTES is following it. My kids came out with a solid foundation of the basics and were more than prepared for the magnet and now middle school. There are parents who supplement (I am one of them, because I am type A) but I also found that when my kid went to middle school with the kids who stayed at OTES without supplementation, he was in the advanced math with plenty of kids who just took the OTES curriculum and were getting the same grades as him.

We're now learning that this is part of the problem:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/11/1250529661/handwriting-cursive-typing-schools-learning-brain

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^we’ve also had a very positive experience with Newport Mill and know lots of older kids who’ve thrived at Einstein, Blair, Wheaton, etc.

I've heard mixed things about Newport. Einstein is good but they don't have a lot of advanced AP classes which is an issue as they push the kids to IB. Or, you have to do MC.

PP you're quoting: You'll have to provide a more reliable, valid source than what you've "heard" about Newport. Come on.

If you don't have kid(s) there, and don't know many, many kids who have gone through there, your perspective is incomplete, at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at OTES and we are in no way FARMS, nor are most of our neighbors. I guess some families are, but their finances are none of my business.

We play the Spanish version of TV shows, dubbed films, Spanish language radio, etc for at-home backup. But we have done this since they were toddlers.

DH and I speak decent French, and Spanish is very easy to learn compared to French. We love OT; not sure what middle school will bring.

It was farms till a few years ago.

What are you talking about? The farms rate has gone up and down somewhat but it has generally stayed at around a third of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, looks like this link doesn’t work ((

I’ll try a different way then:

“Testimony to the Board of Education from Oakland Terrace E.S. Families
January 17, 2023
My name is Alison Pflepsen and I am the parent of a kindergartener and a third grader at Oakland Terrace, a two-way Spanish-English immersion school with more than 500 students.1 I am also the President of the school’s PTA. Tonight I am speaking on behalf of more than 100
parents who have signed this testimony.2
I am here to express families’ concerns regarding large class sizes at our school, and to request action be taken in the FY2024 budget to rectify this situation. At Oakland Terrace, teachers instruct twice as many students as their colleagues at most other elementary schools.
Our TWI teachers teach two groups of students every day: a cohort of students in their homeroom class, as well as a cohort in their co-teacher’s class. This is because one teacher provides instruction in English and the other in Spanish.
As a result of our school losing Focus status this year, we have seen individual class
sizes balloon to unacceptable levels for a dual-language program.3 For example, the number of children in each kindergarten class jumped from approximately 16 last year to 26 this
year, with similar increases in other grades. This means that teachers are responsible for
teaching, grading, managing and supporting more than 50 students every day—a workload that is unacceptable and unsustainable.
Our teachers, school leadership, and support staff are doing everything they can in the face of this adversity. But the only way to solve this problem and to reduce class sizes is for MCPS to provide funding for more teachers. This is critical because smaller TWI class sizes
are essential to: (1) provide the highest quality dual-language instruction; (2) enable teachers to differentiate instruction; and (3) avoid challenges recruiting and retaining teachers for this unique program.
Oakland Terrace, and all TWI schools, need to have the requisite human and other resources to implement the program well. Importantly, this funding should not be contingent on Focus
or Title I status, but should be based on what is needed to successfully implement the
program.
Secondly … need to develop strategic plan for TWI.
TWI needs to identify curricular materials
For all subjects.
TWI needs to be comprehensively evaluated “.

Class sizes ballooned 22-23 SY but went back to 15-18 per class for 23-24. They're expected to remain small for 24-25.

[Anonymous]

OTES parent here. We are VERY happy. Teachers are generally very good, administration responsive, and the school is diverse socioeconomically and ethnically/racially.

Fwiw I think the farms rate is due to subsidized apartments being in bounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, looks like this link doesn’t work ((

I’ll try a different way then:

“Testimony to the Board of Education from Oakland Terrace E.S. Families
January 17, 2023
My name is Alison Pflepsen and I am the parent of a kindergartener and a third grader at Oakland Terrace, a two-way Spanish-English immersion school with more than 500 students.1 I am also the President of the school’s PTA. Tonight I am speaking on behalf of more than 100
parents who have signed this testimony.2
I am here to express families’ concerns regarding large class sizes at our school, and to request action be taken in the FY2024 budget to rectify this situation. At Oakland Terrace, teachers instruct twice as many students as their colleagues at most other elementary schools.
Our TWI teachers teach two groups of students every day: a cohort of students in their homeroom class, as well as a cohort in their co-teacher’s class. This is because one teacher provides instruction in English and the other in Spanish.
As a result of our school losing Focus status this year, we have seen individual class
sizes balloon to unacceptable levels for a dual-language program.3 For example, the number of children in each kindergarten class jumped from approximately 16 last year to 26 this
year, with similar increases in other grades. This means that teachers are responsible for
teaching, grading, managing and supporting more than 50 students every day—a workload that is unacceptable and unsustainable.
Our teachers, school leadership, and support staff are doing everything they can in the face of this adversity. But the only way to solve this problem and to reduce class sizes is for MCPS to provide funding for more teachers. This is critical because smaller TWI class sizes
are essential to: (1) provide the highest quality dual-language instruction; (2) enable teachers to differentiate instruction; and (3) avoid challenges recruiting and retaining teachers for this unique program.
Oakland Terrace, and all TWI schools, need to have the requisite human and other resources to implement the program well. Importantly, this funding should not be contingent on Focus
or Title I status, but should be based on what is needed to successfully implement the
program.
Secondly … need to develop strategic plan for TWI.
TWI needs to identify curricular materials
For all subjects.
TWI needs to be comprehensively evaluated “.

Class sizes ballooned 22-23 SY but went back to 15-18 per class for 23-24. They're expected to remain small for 24-25.

DP - agreed.

Also, the above was one parent's complaint and very specific to class sizes. If that's the main "issue" at OTES, that's a huge win. As I've posted, we're generally very happy with the school overall and, specifically, the TWI program and how they've addressed one of our kid's SN/IEP.

[Anonymous]

What about kids who have difficulty with TWI knowing zero Spanish and English is their second language. Would they get extra help if needed? Some ESs support all the kids and provide help to make sure all the students are up to expected levels. Other ESs provide additional support to an advanced students to get them ahead. What is OT approach in this regard? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^we’ve also had a very positive experience with Newport Mill and know lots of older kids who’ve thrived at Einstein, Blair, Wheaton, etc.

I've heard mixed things about Newport. Einstein is good but they don't have a lot of advanced AP classes which is an issue as they push the kids to IB. Or, you have to do MC.

PP you're quoting: You'll have to provide a more reliable, valid source than what you've "heard" about Newport. Come on.

If you don't have kid(s) there, and don't know many, many kids who have gone through there, your perspective is incomplete, at best.

We had our child there for 6 months. It was not a good expeience. HS has been fine. They were not nice to us or our child at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about kids who have difficulty with TWI knowing zero Spanish and English is their second language. Would they get extra help if needed? Some ESs support all the kids and provide help to make sure all the students are up to expected levels. Other ESs provide additional support to an advanced students to get them ahead. What is OT approach in this regard? Thank you!

There is no extra help, its a 1/2 day in each. It works for some kids, not others. There is no extra support for advanced kids. If you don't like it you can request a COSA out. The problem is a lot of the kids aren't strong in either language, especially english. It would have been better to just have spanish classes a few days a week. I suspect they did it as years ago, at least there was a heavy ESOL population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^we’ve also had a very positive experience with Newport Mill and know lots of older kids who’ve thrived at Einstein, Blair, Wheaton, etc.

I've heard mixed things about Newport. Einstein is good but they don't have a lot of advanced AP classes which is an issue as they push the kids to IB. Or, you have to do MC.

PP you're quoting: You'll have to provide a more reliable, valid source than what you've "heard" about Newport. Come on.

If you don't have kid(s) there, and don't know many, many kids who have gone through there, your perspective is incomplete, at best.

We had our child there for 6 months. It was not a good expeience. HS has been fine. They were not nice to us or our child at all.

What specifically wasn’t a good experience? Who do you mean by “they”? Care to elaborate?

[Anonymous]

I have lived in Kensington, zoned for Oakland Terrace, for nearly 25 years. It has always been a beloved neighborhood school.

If you are not lucky enough to be able to live here, then Flora Singer is the next ES over and I think is even more highly regarded by parents than OTES. Either one, they are wonderful schools in a wonderful neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Newport Mill and SSIMS are similar- FINE, but nothing special. Go to Sligo or TPMS if you can swing it in that cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OTES parent here. We are VERY happy. Teachers are generally very good, administration responsive, and the school is diverse socioeconomically and ethnically/racially.

Fwiw I think the farms rate is due to subsidized apartments being in bounds.

I am an OTES parent and I am not aware of any apartments in the zoning area. Can you say where they are?