Down county MS/HS...what are you worried about?

[Anonymous]

In response to your original post OP, I don't see a lot of parents with kids who are actually in DCC schools expressing concern on these boards. I see a lot of the negative comments coming from those who live in other areas of the county with absolutely no experience in these schools, other than what they read on here or what the schools were like when they were in HS (25 years ago). I would say the majority (not all but most) of the comments that I read on here from actual DCC parents is that they are happy with the schools that their children attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime, drugs, violence

There are diverse schools mid-county that have less of these issues.

Are kids being beaten up in school everyday just because they walk side by side another kids in the school? Aren't drugs available in all schools? What is being stolen?

If you look at safety at a glance (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/Safetyglance/) for Blair as an example, 20% of kids do not feel safe, 7% of parents think the school is not safe. So clearly there is a disconnect between what the parents think and what the kids think.

40% of kids say bullying is an issue and 60% think stealing is an issue. Those are high numbers.

Northwood have physical fights weekly. 35% of students do not feel safe at school.

West county kids get stuff stolen from them all the time. Stealing is an issue at all the high schools. Since you love stats, go look at the percentage of kid that get expelled for the possession of drugs at the west county schools. Before you research, you might be interested in reading about the drug dealers at Churchill a few years ago:

http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/051208/montnew175519_32372.shtml

or the drug arrest at B-CC high school last month:

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2013/05/car-stolen-in-downtown-bethesda.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight.

But I used to live in an area with crime issues (not in MOCO). And I have to say, I HATE when people use the excuse "there is crime everywhere." Yeah, that's a given, but in some places, there is significantly more crime and there is more violent crime.

You can like where you live, but be honest. In some places, there is a statistically stronger likelihood that a person will be a victim of a crime.

Now, it is true that in some cases it is an issue of perception (i.e. the crime rate in reality isn't as bad as the reputation).

But a crime map pretty much shows the reality; there are areas with a greater concentration of crime, which means more frequent crime.

13:23 here

I know there is a difference in types of crimes and prevalence of crimes...I HAVE LIVED IN NORTH PHILLY!
I was responding to the previous poster who was saying that Silver Spring is a city therefore it has crime...my response was basically a "...no s*&*, there is crime everywhere" no one said there was not any crime in SS.
WHICH IS WHY I POINTED OUT THAT I AM NOT GETTING KNOCKED IN THE HEAD OR GETTING BROKEN INTO EVERY 5 MINUTES.
But thank you for the thoughtful reading and response to my post

[Anonymous]

I agree and if a Churchill poster said there was no drugs in their school I would also post that it is not true. West has its set of issues also.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime, drugs, violence

There are diverse schools mid-county that have less of these issues.

Are kids being beaten up in school everyday just because they walk side by side another kids in the school? Aren't drugs available in all schools? What is being stolen?

If you look at safety at a glance (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/Safetyglance/) for Blair as an example, 20% of kids do not feel safe, 7% of parents think the school is not safe. So clearly there is a disconnect between what the parents think and what the kids think.

40% of kids say bullying is an issue and 60% think stealing is an issue. Those are high numbers.

Northwood have physical fights weekly. 35% of students do not feel safe at school.

West county kids get stuff stolen from them all the time. Stealing is an issue at all the high schools. Since you love stats, go look at the percentage of kid that get expelled for the possession of drugs at the west county schools. Before you research, you might be interested in reading about the drug dealers at Churchill a few years ago:

http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/051208/montnew175519_32372.shtml

or the drug arrest at B-CC high school last month:

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2013/05/car-stolen-in-downtown-bethesda.html

[Anonymous]

Wow! You set the bar low. Drugs on the corner. Watch The Wire much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11:58

I agree with what you wrote.

Calling people racist because they don't want to live down county is just closing the conversation. There are plenty of people that don't live down county for a multitude of reasons and just calling them all racist is just wrong.

The problem with all the advice on this board is that many will not just admit the issues in each school so that people can make informed decisions.

Just because I don't want to live in a down county neighborhood does not mean I am racist. I actually think downcounty lacks diversity in the opposite direction and there are many schools that do not have this issue in other parts of the county.

Just because I choose a diverse middle county school does not mean I am afraid of blacks and Latinos. Downcounty neighborhood/schools have issues. Besides there are tons of MoCo residents that don't work in the city and don't need to live there for a good commute. I have no desire to live downcounty (Silver Spring or Bethesda) simply because we like it mid and upper county. That is not because we are racist.

Some neighborhoods have crime. Just because I state that does not make me racist. There are diverse areas/schools without the same crime.

It would be refreshing if people could just be honest. Silver Spring is a city and with city living comes crime. You have to decide if you are willing to take the good with the bad, not pretend the bad is not there.

There is crime everywhere...even where u live...
I live in Silver Spring...I know there is crime...
it is not crime-ridden...
people are not being mugged on my block every day...
folks are not selling drugs on the corner...
there is no place with NO CRIME AT ALL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight.

But I used to live in an area with crime issues (not in MOCO). And I have to say, I HATE when people use the excuse "there is crime everywhere." Yeah, that's a given, but in some places, there is significantly more crime and there is more violent crime.

You can like where you live, but be honest. In some places, there is a statistically stronger likelihood that a person will be a victim of a crime.

Now, it is true that in some cases it is an issue of perception (i.e. the crime rate in reality isn't as bad as the reputation).

But a crime map pretty much shows the reality; there are areas with a greater concentration of crime, which means more frequent crime.

13:23 here

I know there is a difference in types of crimes and prevalence of crimes...I HAVE LIVED IN NORTH PHILLY!
I was responding to the previous poster who was saying that Silver Spring is a city therefore it has crime...my response was basically a "...no s*&*, there is crime everywhere" no one said there was not any crime in SS.
WHICH IS WHY I POINTED OUT THAT I AM NOT GETTING KNOCKED IN THE HEAD OR GETTING BROKEN INTO EVERY 5 MINUTES.
But thank you for the thoughtful reading and response to my post

No wonder The Spring is a cake walk for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to your original post OP, I don't see a lot of parents with kids who are actually in DCC schools expressing concern on these boards. I see a lot of the negative comments coming from those who live in other areas of the county with absolutely no experience in these schools, other than what they read on here or what the schools were like when they were in HS (25 years ago). I would say the majority (not all but most) of the comments that I read on here from actual DCC parents is that they are happy with the schools that their children attend.

OP here...that is my overall sense as well.

[Anonymous]

And adding to the publicized drug dealers at Churchill and drug busts at B-CC, there a plenty of incidents that
apparently mysteriously disappear from the Internet. The links are still live, but the stories were removed. Perhaps a little reputation management at work here? God forbid the snowflakes ruin their chances at getting into an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

I don't know anyone in my Silver Spring neighborhood who is moving because of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Me too. I've lived here for almost 20 years, since well before kids, and known lots and lots who have gone through MCPS and on to college.

I knew one family early on that moved to Chevy Chase because they were afraid of schools. Their daughter went to BCC, got many piercings, almost failed out of high school, and ended up going to Montgomery College. So there's no guarantee ....

The ones I know who went to our local (DCC) high schools have all gone on to good colleges.

[Anonymous]

There were concerns among Newport Mill parents last year that the curriculum wasn't challenging enough. The kids had come from Oakland Terrace and the parents said that the school work was too easy. No idea if this was DCC specific though since the curriculum is the same counity wide. I think that they also didn't like that there was no tracking and they said that this meant discipline problems.

[Anonymous]

We're not zoned for Newport Mill, but what PP mentioned is my specific concern about DCC schools (lack of rigor in mixed ability middle school classes). I'm not worried about high school, because there are strong IB/AP class options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And adding to the publicized drug dealers at Churchill and drug busts at B-CC, there a plenty of incidents that
apparently mysteriously disappear from the Internet. The links are still live, but the stories were removed. Perhaps a little reputation management at work here? God forbid the snowflakes ruin their chances at getting into an Ivy.

MoCo is very careful at all the schools especially silver spring to make sure things don't go to the police and papers. That is why you will not know about weekly physical fights at northwood, there is nothing about the stabbings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anyone in my Silver Spring neighborhood who is moving because of the schools.

And I do.

I also know people who,pulled their kids from Wootton and sent them to private.

Saying that it does not happen makes you lose credibility.

There are issues in all the schools it just depends if those issues will be an issue for your child, whether he/she is a snowflake, a piece of coal or just a kid that needs something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And adding to the publicized drug dealers at Churchill and drug busts at B-CC, there a plenty of incidents that
apparently mysteriously disappear from the Internet. The links are still live, but the stories were removed. Perhaps a little reputation management at work here? God forbid the snowflakes ruin their chances at getting into an Ivy.

MoCo is very careful at all the schools especially silver spring to make sure things don't go to the police and papers. That is why you will not know about weekly physical fights at northwood, there is nothing about the stabbings.

Now there's a statement that's impossible to disprove.

A: "There are regular stabbings at Northwood!"
B: "Do you have any evidence to support this statement?"
A: "No, because MCPS makes sure that nobody ever finds out about it!"