Anyone have any positive experiences at their Title I school?

[Anonymous]

We live in downcounty MoCo and our local elementary school (Glen Haven) is Title I and, unfortunately, fairly poor performing. It's terribly disheartening, particularly as we don't have an option to go to privates or to move - we just can't afford it. We will certainly try for special programs (immersion, etc), but that seems like a total shot in the dark. The reality is that my DD will likely have to attend our local ES.

Any parents have positive experiences if faced with a similarly poor performing school? How did you make it work? Did you find that the quality of education was pretty good? Do you feel like your child has been sufficiently challenged and able to reach his/her potential?

My fear - and this is based on conversations I've had with parents from similar schools in the area - is that much of the classroom time is devoted to getting kids up to grade level and those kids who are proficient or relatively advanced are left to fend for themselves and underchallenged. Further, at our local school, there are a lot of ESOL kids which is fine, but again, I worry about classroom time spent to get these kids up to speed with language skills while kids who are English proficient are sidelined.

I'd appreciate hearing from parents with any experiences here. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

My child attends a Title I school in Silver Spring. All through pre-school the teachers said that my child was exceptionally bright, in both mathematical and verbal skills. Things have gone downhill ever since starting kindergarten, and we are now in third grade. My child has exhibited all the signs of being bored in a non-challenging environment, including behavioral issues which were non-existent just before kindergarten and then started soon after beginning at the school. I have tried to get my child into the magnet, immersion, and the highly gifted center (HGC). On the HGC test, my child scored at the median or one or two points below the median but was not selected. I am at the end of my rope and am planning to move, probably out of state because this school system is ridiculously frustrating.

[Anonymous]

My nephew attends a Title I school in Silver Spring and he is thriving. He's a super-smartypants 1st grader reading at above-average 2nd grade level and doing advanced 2nd grade math. I suggest you go and speak with the principal to ask questions and find out more about how the school operates. FWIW, I've never put much thought into test scores b/c they reflect how other students are doing --- not how my little one is doing (I really only care about my son's test scores). At a Title I school, you need to assume that many of those kids aren't going to do as well on tests for a variety of legitimate reasons that have very little to do with the teaching or the classroom environment or the principal. Kids who barely speak English must take those tests and their scores are factored into the average. Your child just might be the star student in the class who the teacher pushes to excell (that's how it is with my nephew). I know families who pulled their kids out of Catholic schools to send them to their neighborhood Title I school to have them challenged more and to get them on the track for a middle school magnet program. They met with the principal and essentially put the burden on her to convince them to enroll their child --- and she had to pitch a plan to get him into the magnet program as well. True story.

[Anonymous]

"I suggest you go and speak with the principal to ask questions and find out more about how the school operates....They met with the principal and essentially put the burden on her to convince them to enroll their child --- and she had to pitch a plan to get him into the magnet program as well. True story."

I agree. I am a signle parent and can not afford expensive house either. My kids are doing well in school. Besides above suggested idea, I also buy above grade level homework book for my kids to work on at home everyday. I check the answers to make sure they understand.

[Anonymous]

OP, your fear is valid. It happens and not just in Title 1 schools. My daughter went thru the same thing at her school. To many kids needed to be brought up to grade level.
You have to make it your mission to make sure your child doesn't fall thru the cracks and gets the educations she deserves.
This is taken directly from MCPS's core values: "Every student is a unique learner and MCPS will tailor instruction to meet the learning needs of each student."
You have to be your child's best advocate and don't be afraid to speak up and demand what your child needs!

[Anonymous]

We have had an excellent experience at our Silver Spring elementary, which was a Title I school until last year. Still lots and lots of ESOL kids and FARMS kids (more than 50%). DS has a kindergarten class of just 19 students. There's a plus for a Title I/Red Zone school--smaller class size. For us, it has NOT been true that DS is being deprived of challenging work b/c the teacher is busy getting others up to grade level. DS entered kindergarten not reading, and is now at 2nd grade level. The principal actually called me at work a few months ago to say DS would be in a special reading group 2x/week outside class. and beyond that, in the classroom, they do a lot of group/differentiated learning. Maybe what is key is having a small group of peers at DD's level (2 kids are higher level readers in her class), and some T1 schools might not have that. Anyway, I know some have obviously had bad experiences in T1 schools, but we have had a terrific experience. I hope you do, too!

[Anonymous]

I agree with the poster who suggested you talk with your principal. Our down-county school, which we love, just lost its Title I funding despite more than 60 percent of kids on FARMS. The Title I funding paid for a lot of extra help, including a GT teacher who pulled my kids out of class 2x a week for extra attention. Also, if you're able, volunteer in class occasionally. Doing that helped me understand more what the teachers are facing and how to help advocate for my child.

[Anonymous]

If you don't have kids in school yet, how can you find out if/when a school loses its Title I funding? I am worried about that with our neighborhood school (which otherwise I hear good things about).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have kids in school yet, how can you find out if/when a school loses its Title I funding? I am worried about that with our neighborhood school (which otherwise I hear good things about).

I've found that it's difficult to get clear information on this because the county has some latitude in how they apply their Title I funding. Some school districts choose to spend more of the money on fewer schools. It was my understanding that MoCo had lower criteria in past years than the average school district. So, for example, I believe that at one point if your school was 40% FARMS it was receiving some Title I money, while nationally many schools were not Title I unless they had a much higher FARMS rate. MCPS has been raising the FARMS level for qualifying as a Title I school. I would go to the school's next PTA meeting and ask the principal for specifics. I'm not sure when the final decisions are made for next school year, but it should happen before the end of the current year.