Viers Mill/Loiderman/Wheaton cluster

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I can understand her wanting her child to have some school friends who are Jewish. But what she said was,"not sure I prefer a school that is more than half hispanic." That is not a comment about the families she wants int eh school. It is a comment about who she doesn't want.

Possibly but the demographic trend changes in MoCo are surprising. The MCPS hispanic population increased by what 30% while the white (inclusive of Jewish) population decreased by 20%. This has been far from uniform across the schools. Schools like Wheaton have seen a steady increase in hispanic students and decrease in white students. Schools in Potomac, Bethesda, North Potomac and parts of Rockville have seen increases in asian students rather than hispanic students and the white inclusive of Jewish population has also grown.

So if OP's kids are younger and she wants than to have fair amount of Jewish peers then looking at a school with a primarily non-Jewish demographic that is trending upward fast while the Jewish demographic is declining isn't the best gamble.

OP's posts were in 2017.

[Anonymous]

My 5 year old went to veirsmill elementary school it is a great school the principal is nice and also he is very young I like the school very much but since I don't live close to that school my son will be going to another school. Does anyone know exactly which area I would have to live in to take my son to that school again. The school that he is going to go to I don't like the school that he has to go to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 5 year old went to veirsmill elementary school it is a great school the principal is nice and also he is very young I like the school very much but since I don't live close to that school my son will be going to another school. Does anyone know exactly which area I would have to live in to take my son to that school again. The school that he is going to go to I don't like the school that he has to go to.

This map shows the neighborhood assigned to Viers Mill:

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/ViersMillES.pdf

[Anonymous]

How is Viers mill trending? Is it still a good neighborhood school? How is discipline in the classrooms?

[Anonymous]

5+ year old thread!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is Viers mill trending? Is it still a good neighborhood school? How is discipline in the classrooms?

It’s very different post pandemic with a bit lower enrollment. They also lost Title 1 status due to MCPS incompetence so they are short $5mill in funding this year. Several teachers were eliminated because of this.

Principal has been there a while, new AP last year from Central Office. School is still majority Hispanic with very few AA kids. PTA is strong with a lot of afterschool offerings such as Karate, Art Club, Garden Club, Chess Club, and Girls on the Run. Fantastic Girl Scout Troop is what keep my kids there. It’s the MCPS curriculum, so the academics are definitely lacking.

[Anonymous]

It is good that the thread is revived. People move in and out of the area.

I am an mcps teacher in the DCC. Every kid i have taught who happened To go to VMES is hispanic. Narry a bad kid. I personally know one white family whose kids go/ went there. They are Jewish.

Houses still selling there for $500-$600

[Anonymous]

Friend's DC goes there now. While they lost their title 1 status, they still had a free summer school program (not ELO). Because they have a strong PTA, they have lots of after school programming, events, etc. Even when they did have half day ELO, the PTA arranged free aftercare. In comparison, my DC goes to a title 1 without a strong principal and little to no PTA and we have almost nothing. So, a strong PTA is a very good indicator to me (I also work for MCPS).

[Anonymous]

The free summer school program was not summer school in the way it was in previous years. It was a third party paid for by a grant to lead their curriculum and activities. Camp Einstein. Very different than an MCPS run summer school program where students got to review the full MCPS curriculum from the prior year with teachers of their incoming grade. For my kid, last year’s summer school was a great opportunity to get familiar with her incoming teachers and classroom spaces as well as review curriculum.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, they will go back to collecting FARMs forms this coming school year, which may very well reclaim Title I.

I teach there and it's a very special place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The free summer school program was not summer school in the way it was in previous years. It was a third party paid for by a grant to lead their curriculum and activities. Camp Einstein. Very different than an MCPS run summer school program where students got to review the full MCPS curriculum from the prior year with teachers of their incoming grade. For my kid, last year’s summer school was a great opportunity to get familiar with her incoming teachers and classroom spaces as well as review curriculum.

The third party was the curriculum--the teachers are still all from Viers Mill, most of them teaching the same grade and the same classroom they'll be in in the fall. So it's still a good chance to get familiar with upcoming teachers and classroom spaces.

[Anonymous]

I disagree. Just saw the update faculty directory and several teachers moved grades or left. And I’m sorry, but what’s the point of using a third party curriculum? Eureka Math is completely free. The grant couldn’t be used to pay MCLs teachers directly to reteach MCPS curriculum? Another way the MCPs is lazy and incompetent.

[Anonymous]

I am teaching summer school at one of the other schools doing Camp Einstein, and I am so glad we are not just using Eureka's math worksheets. I'm not sure why you want the children to repeat the lessons they learned all year? Instead, we are getting to play a lot of games and review/practice skills in a much more interesting way.

The STEAM activities are also much better than what we got last year as part of ELO. I think that ELO should learn from this program and incorporate these ideas into their ELO programs.

Viers Mill has a great reputation and I know a lot of happy teachers and parents there. That said, like many other schools, the demographics are challenging, and are following county trends.

[Anonymous]

You are complaining about a free program? You are lucky to have that with no title 1 status.

Anonymous wrote:The free summer school program was not summer school in the way it was in previous years. It was a third party paid for by a grant to lead their curriculum and activities. Camp Einstein. Very different than an MCPS run summer school program where students got to review the full MCPS curriculum from the prior year with teachers of their incoming grade. For my kid, last year’s summer school was a great opportunity to get familiar with her incoming teachers and classroom spaces as well as review curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. Just saw the update faculty directory and several teachers moved grades or left. And I’m sorry, but what’s the point of using a third party curriculum? Eureka Math is completely free. The grant couldn’t be used to pay MCLs teachers directly to reteach MCPS curriculum? Another way the MCPs is lazy and incompetent.

Wouldn't moving grades be an indication of a staff member who WANTS to stay? The number of classrooms is determined by enrollment. If you have the least seniority and your grade level goes down a class, you can either find another school or change grade levels.

Of the teachers who left over the summer, one was on leave for much of the year, one moved to another county, one is moving to part-time, and one has dealt with an hour+ commute for years and finally decided to find something closer to home. Of the teachers whose positions were cut with the loss of Title I, they all opted to change positions to stay at VM.

And no, the grant could not be used for MCPS teachers to teach a free curriculum. The grant was for Camp Einstein. It's not perfect, but there's a lot of STEM and the kids have been enjoying it. I prefer the ELO structure but again, this is still free and we are very grateful to have had something to offer our families when Title I was cut with such short notice.