Overcrowding at Bethesda Elementary (BE)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, last night was back to school night at BE. I expected overcrowding, but this was a new low. Physical Education classes have been doubled up, with almost 60 kids in a period. This means that for half the time, half the kids sit while the other run around. Not kidding--this is really happening, have verified with a couple of parents. They can no longer fit all the kids into the art room, so they now wheel an "art cart" into some classrooms for the kids to do art. The school is now so overcrowded that it seems to me like an emergency. What is most frustrating is the total lack of concern by our elected officials and school administrators. We (parents) have been warning about this for years. We've all seen the construction. Whatever the cause--teardowns, condos, apartments--does it matter? What is the plan for next year? Three classes in one P.E. period? I know the boundary study is forthcoming, but this is an issue now.

Our ES has PE outside almost all year due to lack of space..yours seems like a teacher shortage.

They have 2 PE teachers per doubled up PE classes. This is common at many schools.

wonder if it's a space shortage rather than a teacher shortage. There's only one gym, after all. So there's a limit to how many kids you can fit in it. There are 4 kindergarten classes at BE with 28 kids each. Even two classes is a lot of kids to have running around in a gym at one time.

Unless you go outside for PE..which is actually a good thing.

I agree. I guess for Bethesda Elementary they'd use the field? Presumably that's not in use all the time and so could be available for PE. I have a kindergartener there so this is all new to me. My kid is very social so he loves having tons of classmates and tells me every day that he met new friends in class, and there sure are a lot to choose from!

Would be nice if they could use the field. But I'll say that my BE student tells me that they are "not allowed" to use much of the field - teachers say they can't see along to the back of the field where the fence is (why they don't walk over there, I don't know). So - yeah. They could use the field, but they don't even use it during recess. Plus the issue of dog waste on the field, but that's a separate issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw a headline today in Bethesda Beat that new mixed-use development will be bringing 500 additional multi-family residences to Bethesda.

Luckily for OP, that doesn't appear to be feeding into Bethesda Elementary. But, in case anyone lives in the area where the additional housing is being proposed - just a heads up.

It's a development application, 220 of the units would be senior housing, and it's in the City of Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we can bus kids from the overcrowded Bethesda ES over to another school - maybe Gaithersburg ES?

Can't speak to Gaithersburg but all the schools around here seem to be overcrowded. I know you're being facetious but I'd be surprised to hear Gaithersburg is not in a similar situation.

Elementary schools around here that are not overcrowded, among others:
Westbrook
Rosemary Hills
North Chevy Chase
Bradley Hills
Carderock Springs
Wood Acres
Beverly Farms
Potomac
Wayside
Kensington-Parkwood
Wyngate

These are the kinds of situations the countywide boundary analysis will evaluate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Half of the county budget already goes to MCPS. How much more do you want to add?

Enough so that we build the much needed schools for all the kids already here, and the ones planning to move here in all the new housing being built. Instead, we have Elementary Schools close to 1,000 kids (some over that), Middle Schools being built 1200-1500, and high schools over 3,000.

You think MCPS gets too much money? Newsflash #3, people move to Montgomery County for the schools. And they have been in a downward spiral for about a decade. Want well-educated (don't give a damn about color) families to continue to move here? Want property values to rise? Then the schools need to be at the top, not mediocre, not the bottom.

Dumping curriculum 2.0 is a start. But it is not nearly enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Half of the county budget already goes to MCPS. How much more do you want to add?

Enough so that we build the much needed schools for all the kids already here, and the ones planning to move here in all the new housing being built. Instead, we have Elementary Schools close to 1,000 kids (some over that), Middle Schools being built 1200-1500, and high schools over 3,000.

You think MCPS gets too much money? Newsflash #3, people move to Montgomery County for the schools. And they have been in a downward spiral for about a decade. Want well-educated (don't give a damn about color) families to continue to move here? Want property values to rise? Then the schools need to be at the top, not mediocre, not the bottom.

Dumping curriculum 2.0 is a start. But it is not nearly enough.

Well, you're exaggerating. There was one elementary school over 1,000 kids last year, Wilson Wims, but that is no longer the case as they just built a new school, sending hundreds of kids from Wims to Snowden Farm this year. Blair is the only high school over 3,000, and the new high schools are all to be built in the 2,500-2,700 range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, last night was back to school night at BE. I expected overcrowding, but this was a new low. Physical Education classes have been doubled up, with almost 60 kids in a period. This means that for half the time, half the kids sit while the other run around. Not kidding--this is really happening, have verified with a couple of parents. They can no longer fit all the kids into the art room, so they now wheel an "art cart" into some classrooms for the kids to do art. The school is now so overcrowded that it seems to me like an emergency. What is most frustrating is the total lack of concern by our elected officials and school administrators. We (parents) have been warning about this for years. We've all seen the construction. Whatever the cause--teardowns, condos, apartments--does it matter? What is the plan for next year? Three classes in one P.E. period? I know the boundary study is forthcoming, but this is an issue now.

Our ES has PE outside almost all year due to lack of space..yours seems like a teacher shortage.

They have 2 PE teachers per doubled up PE classes. This is common at many schools.

wonder if it's a space shortage rather than a teacher shortage. There's only one gym, after all. So there's a limit to how many kids you can fit in it. There are 4 kindergarten classes at BE with 28 kids each. Even two classes is a lot of kids to have running around in a gym at one time.

Unless you go outside for PE..which is actually a good thing.

I agree. I guess for Bethesda Elementary they'd use the field? Presumably that's not in use all the time and so could be available for PE. I have a kindergartener there so this is all new to me. My kid is very social so he loves having tons of classmates and tells me every day that he met new friends in class, and there sure are a lot to choose from!

Would be nice if they could use the field. But I'll say that my BE student tells me that they are "not allowed" to use much of the field - teachers say they can't see along to the back of the field where the fence is (why they don't walk over there, I don't know). So - yeah. They could use the field, but they don't even use it during recess. Plus the issue of dog waste on the field, but that's a separate issue.

Recess is different because their are several classes of kids and less supervision. A PE class could use a part of the field not visible from the playground because the teacher would be with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, last night was back to school night at BE. I expected overcrowding, but this was a new low. Physical Education classes have been doubled up, with almost 60 kids in a period. This means that for half the time, half the kids sit while the other run around. Not kidding--this is really happening, have verified with a couple of parents. They can no longer fit all the kids into the art room, so they now wheel an "art cart" into some classrooms for the kids to do art. The school is now so overcrowded that it seems to me like an emergency. What is most frustrating is the total lack of concern by our elected officials and school administrators. We (parents) have been warning about this for years. We've all seen the construction. Whatever the cause--teardowns, condos, apartments--does it matter? What is the plan for next year? Three classes in one P.E. period? I know the boundary study is forthcoming, but this is an issue now.

I hear you. Our elementary school upcounty has had to double up on gym classes, eliminate media center as one of the specials for older grades, start serving lunch at 10:30 in the morning because only one grade can fit in the cafeteria at a time, split Back to School Night into two nights (one for K-2 and one for 3-5) because we can’t fit everybody at the same time, and my child spent two school years outside the school building in portable classrooms. For Halloween, the school implemented two concurrent costume parades, with K-2 starting at one end of the parade route and 3-5 starting at the other end and walking the parade route in opposite directions at the same time. We were enrolled at 150% or more of core capacity every year that my now sixth grader attended the school.

This is my kids school! Can’t wait to get them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Half of the county budget already goes to MCPS. How much more do you want to add?

Enough so that we build the much needed schools for all the kids already here, and the ones planning to move here in all the new housing being built. Instead, we have Elementary Schools close to 1,000 kids (some over that), Middle Schools being built 1200-1500, and high schools over 3,000.

You think MCPS gets too much money? Newsflash #3, people move to Montgomery County for the schools. And they have been in a downward spiral for about a decade. Want well-educated (don't give a damn about color) families to continue to move here? Want property values to rise? Then the schools need to be at the top, not mediocre, not the bottom.

Dumping curriculum 2.0 is a start. But it is not nearly enough.

Well, you're exaggerating. There was one elementary school over 1,000 kids last year, Wilson Wims, but that is no longer the case as they just built a new school, sending hundreds of kids from Wims to Snowden Farm this year. Blair is the only high school over 3,000, and the new high schools are all to be built in the 2,500-2,700 range.

Wrong. Rachel Carson elementary is at least 1050, was over 1100 at one point. It’s despicable.
Looks like others downcounty are joining our struggle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Half of the county budget already goes to MCPS. How much more do you want to add?

Enough so that we build the much needed schools for all the kids already here, and the ones planning to move here in all the new housing being built. Instead, we have Elementary Schools close to 1,000 kids (some over that), Middle Schools being built 1200-1500, and high schools over 3,000.

You think MCPS gets too much money? Newsflash #3, people move to Montgomery County for the schools. And they have been in a downward spiral for about a decade. Want well-educated (don't give a damn about color) families to continue to move here? Want property values to rise? Then the schools need to be at the top, not mediocre, not the bottom.

Dumping curriculum 2.0 is a start. But it is not nearly enough.

Well, you're exaggerating. There was one elementary school over 1,000 kids last year, Wilson Wims, but that is no longer the case as they just built a new school, sending hundreds of kids from Wims to Snowden Farm this year. Blair is the only high school over 3,000, and the new high schools are all to be built in the 2,500-2,700 range.

Wrong. Rachel Carson elementary is at least 1050, was over 1100 at one point. It’s despicable.
Looks like others downcounty are joining our struggle.

Rachel Carson had 973 last year. Official enrollment numbers will be out for this year later this month.

[Anonymous]

The official numbers were/are taken on Sept 30. Kids enroll all year long. WJ is currently over 2700, and will be well over 3000 before Woodward opens in 2025. And, according to the WJ Cluster Coordinators, the CIP numbers are way off. And there is also a lot of new building going on in the cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The official numbers were/are taken on Sept 30. Kids enroll all year long. WJ is currently over 2700, and will be well over 3000 before Woodward opens in 2025. And, according to the WJ Cluster Coordinators, the CIP numbers are way off. And there is also a lot of new building going on in the cluster.

Kids also disenroll - i.e., go elsewhere - all year long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, last night was back to school night at BE. I expected overcrowding, but this was a new low. Physical Education classes have been doubled up, with almost 60 kids in a period. This means that for half the time, half the kids sit while the other run around. Not kidding--this is really happening, have verified with a couple of parents. They can no longer fit all the kids into the art room, so they now wheel an "art cart" into some classrooms for the kids to do art. The school is now so overcrowded that it seems to me like an emergency. What is most frustrating is the total lack of concern by our elected officials and school administrators. We (parents) have been warning about this for years. We've all seen the construction. Whatever the cause--teardowns, condos, apartments--does it matter? What is the plan for next year? Three classes in one P.E. period? I know the boundary study is forthcoming, but this is an issue now.

You all fund and support Pat O'Neill on the Board of Education for decades. You get what you pay for.

And vote for, the Planning Board is not in your school's favor with all that apartment (live/work) density in downtown Bethesda. I mean, where did you think all those kids were going to go once those apartments were full? Insult to injury, the just announced and accepted 300 apartment units being built at the church site on Old Georgetown Road. Three guesses where these kids will go to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My youngest just graduated from Bethesda Elementary last year and I love that school.

Ms. Seymour has worked incredibly hard for years to bring awareness of downtown overcrowding, as have the Principals at the middle school and high school level for our cluster, as well as the surrounding clusters. I hope you're not blaming each school's administration, but rather the lack of funding and inertia at the County and State level. They hold the purse-strings.

There is a study being done right now to assess where to put in a new elementary in our area, and whether to share it with the Walter Johnson cluster, also overcrowded. Woodward high school will be opened in 2025 on Old Georgetown Rd, which will provide some relief at the high school level.

MCPS IS OVERCROWDED AND IT'S SHAMEFUL HOW LATE THE STATE AND COUNTY ARE RESPONDING. DEVELOPERS ARE FRIENDS WITH OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS AT EVERY LEVEL. THEY ARE GIVEN PRIORITY OVER OUR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION.

I'll tell you what we need to do: something has to give. The public school budget is already weighing extremely heavily on the State's finances. We need to take a good hard look at what we can cut from MCPS, to preserve a decent teacher:student ratio in core classes, which is the backbone of a good education. It's sad to say, but as a parent who has lived through multiple private and public school systems, here and in different countries, we cannot have our cake and eat it too. We can enact laws to stave off development, which will impact our local economy but stabilize the school system so it doesn't traumatize a generation of kids, but we can't magic money that doesn't exist to build new schools. Cuts are in order, whether we like it or not.

The question is: where?

Hold the fort on this bs! It is your elected officials who are demanding multi family low income housing in huge numbers, not the developers. This is NOT profitable on any level. And if you think the numbers being used by your representatives which usually show a negative for families in these units are accurate you are sadly mistaken. Just sit outside the apartments on Westbard any morning and watch the number of county buses picking up students, hint, it is not just one bus. Multiple elementary school buses, etc. as is the case at the condominiums in Friendship Heights. You have families living in two bedroom units sometimes with three children and YOU as the voter have got to get that considered when school population numbers are being gathered for planning purposes. I really am so sick of the blame the business mentality when it comes to this matter. This is about your politicians and your planners, wake up and take action against those people. Constantly spewing hate at developers/businesses is just a foolish waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Half of the county budget already goes to MCPS. How much more do you want to add?

Enough so that we build the much needed schools for all the kids already here, and the ones planning to move here in all the new housing being built. Instead, we have Elementary Schools close to 1,000 kids (some over that), Middle Schools being built 1200-1500, and high schools over 3,000.

You think MCPS gets too much money? Newsflash #3, people move to Montgomery County for the schools. And they have been in a downward spiral for about a decade. Want well-educated (don't give a damn about color) families to continue to move here? Want property values to rise? Then the schools need to be at the top, not mediocre, not the bottom.

Dumping curriculum 2.0 is a start. But it is not nearly enough.

OK, let's look at the capital budget. Transportation accounts for 24.1%, MCPS for 23.5%, WSSC for 20.5%, general government for 9.1% (that's mostly repairs to county-owned buildings), Montgomery College for 5.8%, public safety for 5.2%, and everything else (parks, planning, arts, recreation, natural resource conservation, housing, health and human servies) for 11.8%. Do you want to double the MCPS capital budget by, for example, defunding capital expenditures on the county's water and sewer systems? A new high school is $150 million, a new middle school is $55 million, a new elementary school is $35 million, not counting planning and land acquisition costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hold the fort on this bs! It is your elected officials who are demanding multi family low income housing in huge numbers, not the developers. This is NOT profitable on any level. And if you think the numbers being used by your representatives which usually show a negative for families in these units are accurate you are sadly mistaken. Just sit outside the apartments on Westbard any morning and watch the number of county buses picking up students, hint, it is not just one bus. Multiple elementary school buses, etc. as is the case at the condominiums in Friendship Heights. You have families living in two bedroom units sometimes with three children and YOU as the voter have got to get that considered when school population numbers are being gathered for planning purposes. I really am so sick of the blame the business mentality when it comes to this matter. This is about your politicians and your planners, wake up and take action against those people. Constantly spewing hate at developers/businesses is just a foolish waste of time.

Who is demanding multi-family low-income housing in huge numbers?