Flora Singer v. Oakland Terrace v. Rock Creek Forest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are one of the rare families who hated Flora Singer. We left for Forest Knolls which was fabulous. Consider adding FKES to your list.

OP here- Thank you all for your info! Good to hear about other recommendations as well. Regarding the comment above, what was the difference between Forest Knolls and Flora Singer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RCF no longer goes to BCC. This just in from the board. Do not choose rcf for the high school feeder program. Assume you will go back to your home high school.

This is not true. Please stop spreading disinformation.

This is true, unfortunately.
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The Montgomery County Board of Education has proposed amendments to Board Policy JEE, Student Transfers, and is seeking public comment on the amendments.

Currently students who have completed an elementary school immersion program may complete a Notice of Intent form to continue to the aligned middle school immersion program. Under the prior policy language, students attending middle school on a COSA were granted an automatic articulation to a high school in the same feeder pattern. Students attending middle school immersion programs were permitted to articulate to the high school within the feeder pattern of the middle school that housed the immersion program in accordance with the language that permitted students attending middle school on a COSA to articulate to the feeder high school.

Under the draft policy recommended by the Policy Management Committee and tentatively acted upon by the full Board, the automatic articulation will no longer be an option starting with students who enter 6th grade in the 2020-2021 school year. The “grandfathering provision” enables students who entered middle school with the expectation that they would be able to articulate to the high school in the feeder program to articulate as planned.

MCPS does not offer a high school immersion program. Students who wish to attend a high school other than their home school may apply for a COSA under any applicable provision of Policy JEE, Student Transfers or they may apply to attend countywide programs, regional programs, or other programs specifically identified by the superintendent of schools. More information about those programs may be found at https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/schoolchoice/

Additional highlights of the Board's amendments include the following topics:

unique hardships that may qualify students for transfers based on family circumstances;
extenuating circumstances related to the medical, emotional, or social well-being of a student;
clarification of the provision for receiving a transfer based on a sibling's school of attendance;
conditions for approving transfers of children of staff members;
academic transfers for high school students; and
Draft Board Policy JEE is now available for public comment until December 15, 2019. https://mcpsweb.wufoo.com/forms/rsq9fj00dpls38/

Yes, but kids in the RCF English program will still go to Silver Creek then BCC

[Anonymous]

Flora Singer has been an amazing experience for our two kids. School has a fantastic leader, great culture and develops both empathy and excellence among its students. Highly recommended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Flora Singer has been an amazing experience for our two kids. School has a fantastic leader, great culture and develops both empathy and excellence among its students. Highly recommended.

OP here- thanks so much! I've heard great things about Flora Singer and am getting more and more motivated to stay. Can you tell me a little bit more about examples of how you have seen the school foster this culture, and how they develop empathy and excellence? I have heard they have excellent teachers, too. Examples help me visualize what this all means concretely. I hope the principle is still there when it is our turn to go. What have you heard about the assistant principal? I have heard good things, but wanted to confirm.

[Anonymous]

As cool as the OT immersion program sounds, in the long run, your child will get a better education from RCF/Silver Creek/BCC. Just compare the avg SAT score at BCC vs Einstein. Plus with BCC at ~32% Black/Hispanic BCC will also provide you with the diversity many on this board crave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As cool as the OT immersion program sounds, in the long run, your child will get a better education from RCF/Silver Creek/BCC. Just compare the avg SAT score at BCC vs Einstein. Plus with BCC at ~32% Black/Hispanic BCC will also provide you with the diversity many on this board crave.

Fortunately, children are not widgets. They do not all perform at the same average level. If you take a child of the same SES and background, they will perform the same whether at a school like BCC with very few poor kids or a school like Einstein with more, who pull the average down. A while ago someone posted SAT scores by race and income at local schools, and they were literally the same when you held race and income constant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flora Singer has been an amazing experience for our two kids. School has a fantastic leader, great culture and develops both empathy and excellence among its students. Highly recommended.

OP here- thanks so much! I've heard great things about Flora Singer and am getting more and more motivated to stay. Can you tell me a little bit more about examples of how you have seen the school foster this culture, and how they develop empathy and excellence? I have heard they have excellent teachers, too. Examples help me visualize what this all means concretely. I hope the principle is still there when it is our turn to go. What have you heard about the assistant principal? I have heard good things, but wanted to confirm.

New poster here. Flora Singer has always done a character curriculum and recently switched over to a newer program. The social emotional learning component is now embedded into the classrooms more, which I think is a big positive. Kids who have done good deeds get recognized each day on the morning announcements "turtle tales" so character is recognized daily. I have two kids at Singer. The teachers have been almost universally wonderful. The principal and assistant principal are both excellent... great with kids and good at communicating with parents. One of my kids is special needs and I think the principal went above and beyond at recommending programs for him and making sure he is accommodated and thriving. I highly recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As cool as the OT immersion program sounds, in the long run, your child will get a better education from RCF/Silver Creek/BCC. Just compare the avg SAT score at BCC vs Einstein. Plus with BCC at ~32% Black/Hispanic BCC will also provide you with the diversity many on this board crave.

Einstein has a lot of high performing kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are one of the rare families who hated Flora Singer. We left for Forest Knolls which was fabulous. Consider adding FKES to your list.

OP here- Thank you all for your info! Good to hear about other recommendations as well. Regarding the comment above, what was the difference between Forest Knolls and Flora Singer?

They seem very similar to me. The Forest Knolls principal used to be the AP at Flora Singer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As cool as the OT immersion program sounds, in the long run, your child will get a better education from RCF/Silver Creek/BCC. Just compare the avg SAT score at BCC vs Einstein. Plus with BCC at ~32% Black/Hispanic BCC will also provide you with the diversity many on this board crave.

Einstein has a lot of high performing kids.

They do. And as one of the OTES parents on the thread, the earlier comment is laughable. I should forego the chance for my kids to become fluent in another language so they can avoid socioeconomic diversity? That's what it comes down to, PP, and you know it. One of the things our family loves about OTES is the range of diversity it includes. I went to a W school as a kid, so I know what that brand of "diversity" looks like. No, thanks.

I don't think you can go wrong with Flora Singer, OP, and if you like your neighbors, I'm not sure I would move. Seeing my Kindergartner excited to learn Spanish is pretty amazing, though, and I am so, so grateful for the opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As cool as the OT immersion program sounds, in the long run, your child will get a better education from RCF/Silver Creek/BCC. Just compare the avg SAT score at BCC vs Einstein. Plus with BCC at ~32% Black/Hispanic BCC will also provide you with the diversity many on this board crave.

Einstein has a lot of high performing kids.

They do. And as one of the OTES parents on the thread, the earlier comment is laughable. I should forego the chance for my kids to become fluent in another language so they can avoid socioeconomic diversity? That's what it comes down to, PP, and you know it. One of the things our family loves about OTES is the range of diversity it includes. I went to a W school as a kid, so I know what that brand of "diversity" looks like. No, thanks.

I don't think you can go wrong with Flora Singer, OP, and if you like your neighbors, I'm not sure I would move. Seeing my Kindergartner excited to learn Spanish is pretty amazing, though, and I am so, so grateful for the opportunity.

Things have changed in the decades and decades and decades since you were a kid.

You might actually like your former school if you still owned a house in that neighborhood. But then you couldn't come on this board and make disparaging comments like that. Who knows. Glad you've found happiness at your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As cool as the OT immersion program sounds, in the long run, your child will get a better education from RCF/Silver Creek/BCC. Just compare the avg SAT score at BCC vs Einstein. Plus with BCC at ~32% Black/Hispanic BCC will also provide you with the diversity many on this board crave.

Einstein has a lot of high performing kids.

They do. And as one of the OTES parents on the thread, the earlier comment is laughable. I should forego the chance for my kids to become fluent in another language so they can avoid socioeconomic diversity? That's what it comes down to, PP, and you know it. One of the things our family loves about OTES is the range of diversity it includes. I went to a W school as a kid, so I know what that brand of "diversity" looks like. No, thanks.

I don't think you can go wrong with Flora Singer, OP, and if you like your neighbors, I'm not sure I would move. Seeing my Kindergartner excited to learn Spanish is pretty amazing, though, and I am so, so grateful for the opportunity.

Things have changed in the decades and decades and decades since you were a kid.

You might actually like your former school if you still owned a house in that neighborhood. But then you couldn't come on this board and make disparaging comments like that. Who knows. Glad you've found happiness at your school.

I know that they've changed, and it's not for the better (IMO). The neighborhood in which I grew up, which at the time was all small, post WWII homes, is largely filled with McMansions on tiny lots and is completely inaccessible to families like the one in which I was raised (absent family wealth). We have friends who moved there, and their daughter has had a horrible time making friends; another childhood friend with older kids also confirmed that it's not the welcoming, friendly place it once was.

Yeah, yeah, you want to believe you value diversity. You don't, not really. Own it.

[Anonymous]

We've also had an amazing experience at Flora Singer. I like the small classes and the staff just seem really engaged, highly competent. There is a TON of parental involvement, but I imagine that is true of the other schools too.

We also have some experience with Kids After Hours, which is the aftercare/summer care program offered at Singer, and that this fantastic. Other schools contract with different vendors, so maybe something else to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flora Singer has been an amazing experience for our two kids. School has a fantastic leader, great culture and develops both empathy and excellence among its students. Highly recommended.

OP here- thanks so much! I've heard great things about Flora Singer and am getting more and more motivated to stay. Can you tell me a little bit more about examples of how you have seen the school foster this culture, and how they develop empathy and excellence? I have heard they have excellent teachers, too. Examples help me visualize what this all means concretely. I hope the principle is still there when it is our turn to go. What have you heard about the assistant principal? I have heard good things, but wanted to confirm.

New poster here. Flora Singer has always done a character curriculum and recently switched over to a newer program. The social emotional learning component is now embedded into the classrooms more, which I think is a big positive. Kids who have done good deeds get recognized each day on the morning announcements "turtle tales" so character is recognized daily. I have two kids at Singer. The teachers have been almost universally wonderful. The principal and assistant principal are both excellent... great with kids and good at communicating with parents. One of my kids is special needs and I think the principal went above and beyond at recommending programs for him and making sure he is accommodated and thriving. I highly recommend.

OP here- I love these examples! Thanks so much and thanks to everyone else for sharing thoughts and information! I see what makes it a really wonderful place. If anyone else has examples of what you love (or don't) about your schools I'd love to hear them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As cool as the OT immersion program sounds, in the long run, your child will get a better education from RCF/Silver Creek/BCC. Just compare the avg SAT score at BCC vs Einstein. Plus with BCC at ~32% Black/Hispanic BCC will also provide you with the diversity many on this board crave.

Einstein has a lot of high performing kids.

They do. And as one of the OTES parents on the thread, the earlier comment is laughable. I should forego the chance for my kids to become fluent in another language so they can avoid socioeconomic diversity? That's what it comes down to, PP, and you know it. One of the things our family loves about OTES is the range of diversity it includes. I went to a W school as a kid, so I know what that brand of "diversity" looks like. No, thanks.

I don't think you can go wrong with Flora Singer, OP, and if you like your neighbors, I'm not sure I would move. Seeing my Kindergartner excited to learn Spanish is pretty amazing, though, and I am so, so grateful for the opportunity.

I see. No way you'd want your child exposed to hundreds of economically successful minorities. They may get the wrong idea. You like your blacks and hispanics poor and dumb.