Families who moved from DCPS to MCPS for MS & HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

+100
This is so wrong and unfair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

No, they are not. Not at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

No, they are not. Not at all

You tell yourself that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

No, they are not. Not at all

You tell yourself that.

Even Niche says you’re in denial.
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-elementary-schools/m/washington-dc-metro-area/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

That's really gross. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in a culture like that. Do the parents have any shame when they tell their kids that they get a better education than the kids at the school down the road because their parents are richer and will buy them extra teachers if they want them? Or is there no shame because both the kids and the parents believe that the rich kids deserve better than the poor kids and it's somehow normal and acceptable?

OP, if you are considering sending your kids to a school that participates in something this awful, please consider the messages it sends them...

I teach in DCPS, and my kids attend MCPS. What this post isn’t addressing is that DCPS sends far less $$$ to some schools in wealthier neighborhoods. I found one spreadsheet saying Mann received $9k per child. Other elementary schools got close to $13k. That adds up, quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

That's really gross. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in a culture like that. Do the parents have any shame when they tell their kids that they get a better education than the kids at the school down the road because their parents are richer and will buy them extra teachers if they want them? Or is there no shame because both the kids and the parents believe that the rich kids deserve better than the poor kids and it's somehow normal and acceptable?

OP, if you are considering sending your kids to a school that participates in something this awful, please consider the messages it sends them...

OMG, you guys are such hypocrites. Do you even hear yourselves??!

Huh?

[Anonymous]

OP, in addition to what's already been said, keep in mind the downsides of a hyperintense academic environment for kids such as the one you'd find at Whitman. It's not a super welcoming area, either, said as someone who grew up in Bethesda and went to a W high school (though not Whitman). The truth is that kids with substantial support can thrive in many environments, including DCPS (especially upper NW) and MCPS (even outside of Whitman). Where would YOU be happy? If you like your neighborhood generally and all DC has to offer, why not stay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to what's already been said, keep in mind the downsides of a hyperintense academic environment for kids such as the one you'd find at Whitman. It's not a super welcoming area, either, said as someone who grew up in Bethesda and went to a W high school (though not Whitman). The truth is that kids with substantial support can thrive in many environments, including DCPS (especially upper NW) and MCPS (even outside of Whitman). Where would YOU be happy? If you like your neighborhood generally and all DC has to offer, why not stay?

OP: Thank you for this. I am surprised to hear that you don't think Bethesda is welcoming. Do you think DC is any more welcoming? (genuine question). People seem to remark often on here how family friendly and family-dense Bethesda is, so this is surprising.

I think we'd probably be happy in either Bethesda or the areas around Eaton and Mann because they're so suburban feeling (esp around Mann), so I genuinely don't know where we'd be happiest. Having trouble making this decision. None of the Bethesda public ES seem as interesting as Eaton (so much enrichment and international programming) or offer the low student teacher ratios as Mann, but in the long-term, maybe it's best to buy the house that we could stay in with a great school line-up all the way through?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

That's really gross. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in a culture like that. Do the parents have any shame when they tell their kids that they get a better education than the kids at the school down the road because their parents are richer and will buy them extra teachers if they want them? Or is there no shame because both the kids and the parents believe that the rich kids deserve better than the poor kids and it's somehow normal and acceptable?

OP, if you are considering sending your kids to a school that participates in something this awful, please consider the messages it sends them...

It was a compromise that kept upper income families for fleeing back when the whole system was crap. They haven't found a way to unpack it. What comes as a surprise is the extremely high PTA fees per child that is obligated. In the past they have had problems with lists being circulated with non-payers.

[Anonymous]

I think “welcoming” is in the eye of the beholder and also varies a lot from street to street in a way that is very hard to gauge when looking to buy a home.

I found it somewhat challenging to find community in my neighborhood, but I also tend to not consider people friends until I know them quite well and am not great about initiating plans/invitations. I know people who have created amazing communities in my very same neighborhood much more quickly just because of the kind of person/friend they are. Some of them also have been people who don’t leave the neighborhood for 10 hrs/day M-F. People who work closer or can WFH find it easier to make friends because they spend more time in the neighborhood. COVID improved my neighborhood friendships for that reason.

I think if you are a friendly person who seeks and builds community you will find Bethesda plenty welcoming. I would look for areas near elementary schools and try to get a sense as much as you can of how many kids similar in age to yours live within walking distance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

That's really gross. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in a culture like that. Do the parents have any shame when they tell their kids that they get a better education than the kids at the school down the road because their parents are richer and will buy them extra teachers if they want them? Or is there no shame because both the kids and the parents believe that the rich kids deserve better than the poor kids and it's somehow normal and acceptable?

OP, if you are considering sending your kids to a school that participates in something this awful, please consider the messages it sends them...

It was a compromise that kept upper income families for fleeing back when the whole system was crap. They haven't found a way to unpack it. What comes as a surprise is the extremely high PTA fees per child that is obligated. In the past they have had problems with lists being circulated with non-payers.

Wait, it's not just an optional thing that rich parents do, they try to force or shame all families at these schools into paying for these extra teachers? What about the poor and middle class kids in these neighborhoods? Do they get looked down on and judged for not paying in? And then their parents aren't allowed in the PTA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

That's really gross. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in a culture like that. Do the parents have any shame when they tell their kids that they get a better education than the kids at the school down the road because their parents are richer and will buy them extra teachers if they want them? Or is there no shame because both the kids and the parents believe that the rich kids deserve better than the poor kids and it's somehow normal and acceptable?

OP, if you are considering sending your kids to a school that participates in something this awful, please consider the messages it sends them...

It was a compromise that kept upper income families for fleeing back when the whole system was crap. They haven't found a way to unpack it. What comes as a surprise is the extremely high PTA fees per child that is obligated. In the past they have had problems with lists being circulated with non-payers.

Wait, it's not just an optional thing that rich parents do, they try to force or shame all families at these schools into paying for these extra teachers? What about the poor and middle class kids in these neighborhoods? Do they get looked down on and judged for not paying in? And then their parents aren't allowed in the PTA?

Yeah, I’m shocked this hasn’t been stamped out with a lawsuit by now. It entirely defeats the purpose and intention of a public school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

We left Dupont for Woodacres when our kids were 6 & 3, never regrated it for one second. I think you may be surprised by the bells and whistles of the Bethesda Schools, heck Woodacres has a planetarium . Also open your search to Brookmont neighborhood. It goes to bannockburn (small and sweet) and it is a gem of an area.

What other bells & whistles does Wood Acres have, aside from the planetarium?

Wood Acres parent here. A large and functional PTA (low on drama, high on events and volunteers). A parent-led 20+ year tradition in which interested fourth graders perform the Wizard of Oz.

WAES is fine. The teachers are fine. You'd be trading DCPS politics and chaos for MCPS arrogance and bureaucracy. Don't move twice. Stay and build community. If your kids need an IEP, go to Bethesda ES (BCC cluster). If you want IB, go to BCC cluster. Whitman has a suburban achievement culture that breeds loneliness, anxiety, substance abuse and cheating. If your kids can avoid these, they can thrive and take advantage of good academic electives, music, sports and clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

To help give more tailored advice, our question is:

1. Move to the Eaton or Mann districts now, then move to Bethesda (Pyle or Westland) for 6th grade

2. Move to the Wood Acres or Bradley Hills neighborhoods now, and then feed into Pyle-Whitman

WWYD? Are we silly to even consider moving twice, so that our kids get the best public school experiences at each level?

I would do Mann through 5th, then move to Pyle for 6th. Mann is a fantastic school with an extra teacher in each class. You will not get that anywhere in MCPS. But the good schools in DC, like Deal, are not as good as Pyle.

GL!

That not entirely true. At our close in Bethesda school and Im sure many others, there are breakout teachers. Yes the homeroom is one teacher but for things like reading, the class gets split into ability groups where the kids with needs go off as do the advanced kids and the core group remains all with different teachers who then rotate to the next class. It the end the kids get the attention they need in much smaller groups not to mention lots of specialists like feelings counselors, speech therapists and so on. All without having to pay stupid high PTA dues

Not the same thing as having 2 dedicated full-time teachers in each class. Not even close.

Wait, DC schools have two teachers per class in elementary school? Really? What are the class sizes there?

DC PTAs are allowed to fundraise and pay the salaries of additional teachers. These are extra teachers paid for by the parent community of the school and are only present at the schools that have PTAs that can support those expenditures.

MCPS PTAs are not allowed to pay for staff, ever. So in MCPS, the staff allocations are what the county gives the school and cannot be expanded on by the PTA/parent community/school foundation, etc

Wait, are you serious? In DC they let rich parents pay for extra teachers for their kids, and kids at those schools get better staffing than poorer kids whose parents can't afford to do that? That's one of the most obscenely unfair hings I have ever heard of in a public school system. I honestly thought it was a bad joke but I looked it up and it seems true.

Yes, they do. That's why the upper NW ES, particularly Mann, are so much better than the MCPS ES.

No, they are not. Not at all

You tell yourself that.

Even Niche says you’re in denial.
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-elementary-schools/m/washington-dc-metro-area/

Any website that says that inspired teaching is the #2 ES in the DC area has no idea what it's talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to what's already been said, keep in mind the downsides of a hyperintense academic environment for kids such as the one you'd find at Whitman. It's not a super welcoming area, either, said as someone who grew up in Bethesda and went to a W high school (though not Whitman). The truth is that kids with substantial support can thrive in many environments, including DCPS (especially upper NW) and MCPS (even outside of Whitman). Where would YOU be happy? If you like your neighborhood generally and all DC has to offer, why not stay?

This!