WES

[Anonymous]

If you’re in an area with a good public school (looking at you, Chevy Chase/Bethesda folk), save your money and send them to your local public. WES is not worth the cost for a mid experience. (e.g. In our neighborhood, there are kids who left WES to go to Chevy Chase ES for various reasons and are having better experiences at CCES).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you are unlikely to get into WES (or most schools) for sixth if you deny acceptance now.

I’m sorry to hear you loved WES and were denied, PP. Some grades had very few spaces!

WES has been a great community. More than other schools, there are a lot of families who make conscious choices to be at WES instead of public, either for certain grades, or for one child in their family, etc. Some families find public schools to be too big and chaotic for one kid but fine for another, some families want their kids to have smaller classes and more contact with teachers. Some families think MCPS middle school is a weak link, but will go public before and after that. Some people feel strongly that lower grades build foundational learning, and they want that to happen in a nurturing place. Every family has slightly different reasons, but there are certainly many, many families who find value at the school. There are so many kids who started at Somerset, Wood Acres, Westbrook, Burning Tree, Chevy Chase Elementary, Bradley Hills, Janney, Hearst, Horace Mann, Lafayette, and more that make the switch. Good luck with your process!

Love the families I know who are at WES. It seems like a great community of people who care. For completeness, I think the "many kids who started at..." comment while true is also overemphasizing the perceived need to leave those publics as many of these transitions happened during Covid when they were open and publics were not or whose status may have been in question at the time of enrollment (affecting any grades above 3rd).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in an area with a good public school (looking at you, Chevy Chase/Bethesda folk), save your money and send them to your local public. WES is not worth the cost for a mid experience. (e.g. In our neighborhood, there are kids who left WES to go to Chevy Chase ES for various reasons and are having better experiences at CCES).

Can you say anything more about the issues that led them to go to public?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in an area with a good public school (looking at you, Chevy Chase/Bethesda folk), save your money and send them to your local public. WES is not worth the cost for a mid experience. (e.g. In our neighborhood, there are kids who left WES to go to Chevy Chase ES for various reasons and are having better experiences at CCES).

Can you say anything more about the issues that led them to go to public?

With CCES not starting until 3rd (I think), many Chevy Chase families don’t want to go to Rosemary Hills for K-2, so they send their kids to WES or Concord Hill during that time with the intention of going to CCES for later elementary. I don’t know if that’s the case from the PP but I do know that this happens in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in an area with a good public school (looking at you, Chevy Chase/Bethesda folk), save your money and send them to your local public. WES is not worth the cost for a mid experience. (e.g. In our neighborhood, there are kids who left WES to go to Chevy Chase ES for various reasons and are having better experiences at CCES).

Can you say anything more about the issues that led them to go to public?

With CCES not starting until 3rd (I think), many Chevy Chase families don’t want to go to Rosemary Hills for K-2, so they send their kids to WES or Concord Hill during that time with the intention of going to CCES for later elementary. I don’t know if that’s the case from the PP but I do know that this happens in this area.

Why do people not want to go to Rosemary Hills? We are new to the area and in Chevy Chase. We are considering public for K-2 and then private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in an area with a good public school (looking at you, Chevy Chase/Bethesda folk), save your money and send them to your local public. WES is not worth the cost for a mid experience. (e.g. In our neighborhood, there are kids who left WES to go to Chevy Chase ES for various reasons and are having better experiences at CCES).

Can you say anything more about the issues that led them to go to public?

With CCES not starting until 3rd (I think), many Chevy Chase families don’t want to go to Rosemary Hills for K-2, so they send their kids to WES or Concord Hill during that time with the intention of going to CCES for later elementary. I don’t know if that’s the case from the PP but I do know that this happens in this area.

Why do people not want to go to Rosemary Hills? We are new to the area and in Chevy Chase. We are considering public for K-2 and then private.

If you’re planning to start private in 3rd grade and in rosemary hills district, you might want to look at starting in K. People think it’s far-in silver spring, crowded. But ask your neighbors. They’ll have a better opinion. I just know that some families try to avoid it.

[Anonymous]

We have children at WES and love it. One is going into 6th (original poster asked about 6th). It's an incredible grade--lovely kids and parents. We couldn't be happier there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in an area with a good public school (looking at you, Chevy Chase/Bethesda folk), save your money and send them to your local public. WES is not worth the cost for a mid experience. (e.g. In our neighborhood, there are kids who left WES to go to Chevy Chase ES for various reasons and are having better experiences at CCES).

Can you say anything more about the issues that led them to go to public?

With CCES not starting until 3rd (I think), many Chevy Chase families don’t want to go to Rosemary Hills for K-2, so they send their kids to WES or Concord Hill during that time with the intention of going to CCES for later elementary. I don’t know if that’s the case from the PP but I do know that this happens in this area.

Why do people not want to go to Rosemary Hills? We are new to the area and in Chevy Chase. We are considering public for K-2 and then private.

Do some Google searches.

[Anonymous]

My son joined in sixth grade and got a warm welcome from friends there. His older sister also went through WES. There's something special about allowing a middle school to be on its own terms and not just as a lead in to high school--I think middle school years get lost a bit in PK-12 schools. The teachers are excellent and dedicated, and the family community is NOT snotty. Outplacement was great for this past year; everyone seemed to land in a place that was good and right for them.

[Anonymous]

8:02 poster, cont.
It's not all wine and roses, of course. The fact that it's such a warm, small school also means that it can feel *too* small. And there can be some divisions between the sporty kids and others. But overall, a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Although placement can be okay. Not every child gets there first choice school. Just dying you are looking at 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in an area with a good public school (looking at you, Chevy Chase/Bethesda folk), save your money and send them to your local public. WES is not worth the cost for a mid experience. (e.g. In our neighborhood, there are kids who left WES to go to Chevy Chase ES for various reasons and are having better experiences at CCES).

Can you say anything more about the issues that led them to go to public?

With CCES not starting until 3rd (I think), many Chevy Chase families don’t want to go to Rosemary Hills for K-2, so they send their kids to WES or Concord Hill during that time with the intention of going to CCES for later elementary. I don’t know if that’s the case from the PP but I do know that this happens in this area.

Why do people not want to go to Rosemary Hills? We are new to the area and in Chevy Chase. We are considering public for K-2 and then private.

Rosemary Hills is a great school for K-2. The fact that it is ONLY K-2 means that the focus is on early elementary years, which is actually a big strength for the school. It is also very diverse and international with a great mix of families. Also, most people aren’t aware of this, but because it qualifies as a Title I school, class sizes are SMALL as mandated by federal law and can’t have more than 20 kids per classroom.

[Anonymous]

Rosemary Hills is not Title 1. Also, MCPS has changed the funding formula so that Title 1 and Focus schools will no longer have as greatly reduced class sizes as of next year in k-2..

[Anonymous]

Okay. Well, for the last six years at Rosemary Hills, class sizes were never more than 20 kids per classroom. And to get back to the topic at hand, I’d still send my kid there over WES for various reasons.