Moved to MCPS; counselor unhelpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m pretty sure we heard from this poster a few days ago. I think they want their kid in calculus in ninth grade or something. I think the counselor is understandably Unsure as to where to place them. Studying over the summer does not constitute curriculum. But I would take the advice here and reach out to the resource counselor and see if there’s a placement test that is available for your child.

No, not me. Not pursuing some lightning speed track. DC is placed on the second slowest track. We've already met several average children on faster tracks.

Studying over summer doesn't equate a full year of math, but if the child is only missing two chapters to have a complete coverage of a MCPS curriculum surely it makes sense to fill it in instead of wasting a whole year?

Personally I'd take the slower track. DC has to take math every single year no matter what. The higher they start the higher they have to go. If they're not a future engineer, I'd take the easy A and save the energy for other subjects.

[Anonymous]

OP go to the Assistant principal, explain you need help and that perhaps contacting the counselor was the wrong person (gentle approach works better than aggressive, critical approach). Ask if THEY can help you or direct you to someone who can.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I actually agree with going through math more slowly. I don't like that MCPS accelerates so much. The kids' learning is superficial, in most cases, and likely to cause problems down the road.

The problem is, so many kids are accelerated, my kid will look dumb if they aren't. Furthermore, slow tracks are still very superficial. It's not like they are doing contest level problems and becoming true masters of the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I actually agree with going through math more slowly. I don't like that MCPS accelerates so much. The kids' learning is superficial, in most cases, and likely to cause problems down the road.

The problem is, so many kids are accelerated, my kid will look dumb if they aren't. Furthermore, slow tracks are still very superficial. It's not like they are doing contest level problems and becoming true masters of the material.

Only the folks here on DCUM think this. MCPS staff nor do colleges assume a kid is dumb just because they took the slower math track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved to MCPS and have just engage a counselor at one of the schools. The counselor is very unhelpful. What can we do to help our child? She would contact teachers directly or go to the principal?

Counselors? Who are they?:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1184905.page#27327367

[Anonymous]

I’m a school counselor. The math department chair makes the call, not the counselor. The counseling office may supervise the child taking the placement test. They also implement the recommendations of the math department. In the summer, counselors have some but not many paid days. They typically staff the office in shifts. Your child’s counselor may not even be in or reading emails. Call the counseling office and talk to the counselor who is there. The resource counselor has the most paid summer days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a school counselor. The math department chair makes the call, not the counselor. The counseling office may supervise the child taking the placement test. They also implement the recommendations of the math department. In the summer, counselors have some but not many paid days. They typically staff the office in shifts. Your child’s counselor may not even be in or reading emails. Call the counseling office and talk to the counselor who is there. The resource counselor has the most paid summer days.

I said this up thread, but no one seems to have read that post.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, this is helpful, and it makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved to MCPS and have just engage a counselor at one of the schools. The counselor is very unhelpful. What can we do to help our child? She would contact teachers directly or go to the principal?

Responses above are all from MCPS staff.

Call the principal. It is her/his job.

Depending on the school, the principal has responsibility for 600 to 3600 kids. They cannot get involved in individual cases, including whatever placement OP is trying to get for her kid. Before you go to the principal, work the chain of command. If there is a resource counselor listed, cc them in. If there isn't, then cc the AP.

Contacting the principal should be a last resort, because otherwise you are going to be "that parent" for the entirety of your time in the school.

I think it's pretty clear OP IS "that parent."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved to MCPS and have just engage a counselor at one of the schools. The counselor is very unhelpful. What can we do to help our child? She would contact teachers directly or go to the principal?

Responses above are all from MCPS staff.

Call the principal. It is her/his job.

Depending on the school, the principal has responsibility for 600 to 3600 kids. They cannot get involved in individual cases, including whatever placement OP is trying to get for her kid. Before you go to the principal, work the chain of command. If there is a resource counselor listed, cc them in. If there isn't, then cc the AP.

Contacting the principal should be a last resort, because otherwise you are going to be "that parent" for the entirety of your time in the school.

I think it's pretty clear OP IS "that parent."

I'm the person you quoted, and I started out thinking that, but the op's response is coming back have made me think she has a point. She still needs to work the system before going to the principal, but she seems to have received that feedback with some grace and I know from experience that this stuff feels really really important if you don't know that kids add and drop classes into the new year.

[Anonymous]

If this is high school you can simply tell them which classes you would like to enroll in, then give second choices for electives. You don’t need permission, unless there is a specific prerequisite.
Our child started at MCPS a couple years ago from an independent school. They wanted to take AP comp sci as a freshman. The counselor said “are you sure?” We pushed for that and the other higher level options for 9th available to my child. I could tell the counselor thought it was too hard of a schedule. My kid did just fine. Sometimes you or your child just need to say what you want. I would simply email the counselor and cc the resource counselor if you hadn’t gotten a response and say which classes your kid wants to enroll in. Keep it simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m pretty sure we heard from this poster a few days ago. I think they want their kid in calculus in ninth grade or something. I think the counselor is understandably Unsure as to where to place them. Studying over the summer does not constitute curriculum. But I would take the advice here and reach out to the resource counselor and see if there’s a placement test that is available for your child.

No, not me. Not pursuing some lightning speed track. DC is placed on the second slowest track. We've already met several average children on faster tracks.

Studying over summer doesn't equate a full year of math, but if the child is only missing two chapters to have a complete coverage of a MCPS curriculum surely it makes sense to fill it in instead of wasting a whole year?

OP, just tell us the grade level and the math course. There are 11000-12000 kids per grade and people move into MCPS all of the time. No one is going to identify your kid based on grade level and math course.

Tell us the two chapters/topics your kid didn't take yet. This board has a ridiculous amount of collective wisdom regarding the math sequence and whether or not certain ideas are actually problematic or not. If you want real advice, you need to tell us a little bit more.