What is it like sending your DC to a majority/plurality asian school?(Churchill/Wootton area)

[Anonymous]

Wow I'm trying to imagine what would happen on this board if an African American parent posted something here about how "cutthroat" predominantly white schools are.

You people really can't handle the competition, can you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow I'm trying to imagine what would happen on this board if an African American parent posted something here about how "cutthroat" predominantly white schools are.

You people really can't handle the competition, can you?

Really? Go to the threads about PG county. How about Damatha.

There are tons of threads about the horror of the W's. Which I happen to agree with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow I'm trying to imagine what would happen on this board if an African American parent posted something here about how "cutthroat" predominantly white schools are.

You people really can't handle the competition, can you?

1. How do you know who "you people" are?
2. So you buy into the stereotype too?

[Anonymous]

I'm Asian American and don't find the question racist. I'm not in one of the schools that you mention, but I would wonder if it would be tough socially at the elementary school level. I would imagine that parents might be more comfortable in their first language and more comfortable making friends who speak the same language (e.g. chinese or Korean).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Asian American and don't find the question racist. I'm not in one of the schools that you mention, but I would wonder if it would be tough socially at the elementary school level. I would imagine that parents might be more comfortable in their first language and more comfortable making friends who speak the same language (e.g. chinese or Korean).

For many Asian-classified parents, the first language is English.

-Clarksburg parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kinda racist but yes, it is much more stressful for the kids, especially at the high school level. DD will be a 12th grader in the fall at Wootton high school and I am super happy for her that she can finally get out of the school. The environment is so toxic, cutthroat, and competitive. She is an above average student but had struggled so much in her classes because she always felt so dumb even though she was a great student. It is hard for her to be active in the community as well since everyone is fighting so hard for the leadership positions in student activities. Trust me, I never would thought that these problems could arise after we researched for so long trying to find the right schools. I doubt it is that bad at the elementary or middle school level though. Would have preferred to send DD to QO, RM, or even Churchill which all seem much more well-rounded. Obviously for some students this type of environment is good but for others it can be horrible.

The sad thing about Cold Spring CES is it's gone downhill. Barely any kids from there cut the muster with middle school STEM magnet in Takoma. I heard it's because the new testing methodology mostly eliminates the advantages of the preppers had in years past.

It hasn’t gone downhill, it’s just that MCPS believes the school can address advanced learners without needing to send someone to a magnet.

No, it has more to do with how the county adjusted the test to reduce the effects of prep. Once the playing field was leveled Cold Spring was shown to be lacking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Asian American and don't find the question racist. I'm not in one of the schools that you mention, but I would wonder if it would be tough socially at the elementary school level. I would imagine that parents might be more comfortable in their first language and more comfortable making friends who speak the same language (e.g. chinese or Korean).

For many Asian-classified parents, the first language is English.

-Clarksburg parent

Of course! So is mine. Somebody up thread said that most of the parents are immigrants...I was operating under that assertion but of course that might not be true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to be racist, seriously curious. Looking into a few elementary schools in the Churchill/Wootton high school clusters for DD to start kindergarten in the fall. Are these schools with an exceptionally high asian population any different/have a different atmosphere from an elementary school with few asians? Are these schools more competitive in the classroom? Thanks. Examples of these schools: Wayside, Cold Spring, Lakewood, Stone Mill, and Travilah).

If you have to start a sentence "Not to be racist..." then you probably shouldn't be asking the question.

+1 There aren't threads about what it's like to go to a majority white or a majority black school, so just move along.

uh, yes, there actually are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow I'm trying to imagine what would happen on this board if an African American parent posted something here about how "cutthroat" predominantly white schools are.

You people really can't handle the competition, can you?

1. How do you know who "you people" are?
2. So you buy into the stereotype too?

Pretty sure "you people" are white people who worry they're kids can't compete.
The stereotype is that Asian kids are more high-achieving than white kids. Yeah. I buy into that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kinda racist but yes, it is much more stressful for the kids, especially at the high school level. DD will be a 12th grader in the fall at Wootton high school and I am super happy for her that she can finally get out of the school. The environment is so toxic, cutthroat, and competitive. She is an above average student but had struggled so much in her classes because she always felt so dumb even though she was a great student. It is hard for her to be active in the community as well since everyone is fighting so hard for the leadership positions in student activities. Trust me, I never would thought that these problems could arise after we researched for so long trying to find the right schools. I doubt it is that bad at the elementary or middle school level though. Would have preferred to send DD to QO, RM, or even Churchill which all seem much more well-rounded. Obviously for some students this type of environment is good but for others it can be horrible.

I find it hilarious that you think Churchill is well-rounded.

what does well rounded mean? Do these kids just study all day and do not do an instrument, take a language, be involved in drama/arts, volunteer in a community, do a sport? From what I know of kids in the W schools, they are pretty well rounded to me. If your racist implication is that Asians aren't well-rounded, you're dead wrong.

Well-rounded doesn't always mean an individual student, but the students at the school as a whole. For ex., take 4 kids out of RM and one might be a snobby spoiled brat who doesn't care about school, a poor kid who works weekdays and has great grades, a slacker who loves video games and has awful grades, and a student who loves reading and has good grades. When people say wootton isn't well-rounded it is because those 4 kids might be good student who loves math, good student whose parents push them too hard, good student who works hard to get good grades, etc. This is mainly because the demographics mainly consist of asian and white students who live in $600,000-$800,000 SFHs. The school pulls from mainly one demographic group where everyone is so equal. At RM, students are pretty equally asian, hispanic, a little more white, and a little less black. They mainly consist of students living in homes in the Twinbrook area whose FARMS rate is 70% with apartments and townhouses to wealthy neighborhoods near Ritchie Park es and west side of rockville. There is so much diversity in the school that it creates a diverse environment and a great one for students too, which is in my opinion a better one than what wootton has to offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kinda racist but yes, it is much more stressful for the kids, especially at the high school level. DD will be a 12th grader in the fall at Wootton high school and I am super happy for her that she can finally get out of the school. The environment is so toxic, cutthroat, and competitive. She is an above average student but had struggled so much in her classes because she always felt so dumb even though she was a great student. It is hard for her to be active in the community as well since everyone is fighting so hard for the leadership positions in student activities. Trust me, I never would thought that these problems could arise after we researched for so long trying to find the right schools. I doubt it is that bad at the elementary or middle school level though. Would have preferred to send DD to QO, RM, or even Churchill which all seem much more well-rounded. Obviously for some students this type of environment is good but for others it can be horrible.

I find it hilarious that you think Churchill is well-rounded.

what does well rounded mean? Do these kids just study all day and do not do an instrument, take a language, be involved in drama/arts, volunteer in a community, do a sport? From what I know of kids in the W schools, they are pretty well rounded to me. If your racist implication is that Asians aren't well-rounded, you're dead wrong.

Well-rounded doesn't always mean an individual student, but the students at the school as a whole. For ex., take 4 kids out of RM and one might be a snobby spoiled brat who doesn't care about school, a poor kid who works weekdays and has great grades, a slacker who loves video games and has awful grades, and a student who loves reading and has good grades. When people say wootton isn't well-rounded it is because those 4 kids might be good student who loves math, good student whose parents push them too hard, good student who works hard to get good grades, etc. This is mainly because the demographics mainly consist of asian and white students who live in $600,000-$800,000 SFHs. The school pulls from mainly one demographic group where everyone is so equal. At RM, students are pretty equally asian, hispanic, a little more white, and a little less black. They mainly consist of students living in homes in the Twinbrook area whose FARMS rate is 70% with apartments and townhouses to wealthy neighborhoods near Ritchie Park es and west side of rockville. There is so much diversity in the school that it creates a diverse environment and a great one for students too, which is in my opinion a better one than what wootton has to offer.

A little confusing but okay I see your point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Asian American and don't find the question racist. I'm not in one of the schools that you mention, but I would wonder if it would be tough socially at the elementary school level. I would imagine that parents might be more comfortable in their first language and more comfortable making friends who speak the same language (e.g. chinese or Korean).

I'm an Asian American and I am a lot more comfortable speaking English. The same goes for my other Asian-American friends whose kids are at W feeder schools. I think you stereotype too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine if you went to a school where most kids did Kumon or something similar, then your child would be at a disadvantage if you did not also have them do that. That could be an additional expense if you have multiple children over multiple years. Certainly worth factoring into the equation

A lot of parents put their kids in kumon staring at age 4 so the kids will be considered advanced in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in the Wootton cluster. It’s not that the population is largely Asian, it’s that the parents are mostly immigrants. Chinese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, middle eastern, Russian.

The parent groups are largely insular. The kids are expected to be high performing. Their behavior outside of grades seems largely ignored, particularly for the boys. I’m sure many kids are lovely. But many have significant issues. Drugs and theft are prevalent.

I have heard about discipline problems from Asian students (yes particularly boys) in Clarksburg schools too ! Has this got anything to do with parents giving undue importance to the male child (which used to be prevalent in the Asian culture) and cutting them too much slack?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in the Wootton cluster. It’s not that the population is largely Asian, it’s that the parents are mostly immigrants. Chinese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, middle eastern, Russian.

The parent groups are largely insular. The kids are expected to be high performing. Their behavior outside of grades seems largely ignored, particularly for the boys. I’m sure many kids are lovely. But many have significant issues. Drugs and theft are prevalent.

I have heard about discipline problems from Asian students (yes particularly boys) in Clarksburg schools too ! Has this got anything to do with parents giving undue importance to the male child (which used to be prevalent in the Asian culture) and cutting them too much slack?

Which Asian culture?