Moving - Middle School Advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t base middle school choice on who has the best orchestra program. Just have your child audition for and join the MCYO, Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra at Strathmore.

Meh. They're not as good as they think they are. They couldn't possibly be. But they are very successful at getting parents to pony up $$$$$$$$$$$$ for the privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My almost 6th grader just had orientation for the fall at Silver Creek Middle School (not zoned for Bethesda, and maybe not the side of town you want), but here’s what their program is:

Advanced English - they supposedly differentiate within the class for higher and lower levels but I doubt that as I don’t see it happening in 5th grade
SS is a version of ancient world - they have an honors SS course but you must be invited by the “district” and they use standardized testing and other data that you as a parent don’t know about.
Math - tracked from 3rd grade - it appears if you are on level in math you’ll only be able to test out a bit by 7th grade though I am still unclear on that
Foreign Lang - Spanish or French
Electives - choice of orchestra, chorus, or band (full year), or a split year of digital art/regular art coupled with an engineering/ STEM something

OP, hear me.
I just moved here from Bergen County and I’m also an educator in secondary education. This is a different animal here. The academics are decent but it’s very poorly run. Go private or stay in Westchester. We are already looking to move out of the DMV as it’s honestly just not a good fit for any of us.

Best of luck to you!

+1 to this

I and also from Bergen County and attended public school in Bergen County. Agree that there are many similarities between Westchester and Bergen Co and that this PP is correct.

MCPS is simply too large and is very poorly managed. What you find here will not compare to what you currently have. We have lived here for five years and I have two kids in MCPS. I also have several good friends who still live in NJ, with kids, so we compare notes often.

You may or may not be fine with that, but PP is providing a reasonable assessment.

[Anonymous]

*I am

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t base middle school choice on who has the best orchestra program. Just have your child audition for and join the MCYO, Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra at Strathmore.

Meh. They're not as good as they think they are. They couldn't possibly be. But they are very successful at getting parents to pony up $$$$$$$$$$$$ for the privilege.

Top level of MCYO rocks! Well, not really "rock", but they're really, really good.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Fairfield Cty . My kids grew up here. MCPS is a much larger and diverse system. Greenwich does not have to accommodate new immigrants and hungry kids. I think the county based schools provide fairer funding and more opportunities-immersion and magnets. Both of my kids are at great colleges and were well prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t base middle school choice on who has the best orchestra program. Just have your child audition for and join the MCYO, Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra at Strathmore.

Meh. They're not as good as they think they are. They couldn't possibly be. But they are very successful at getting parents to pony up $$$$$$$$$$$$ for the privilege.

Top level of MCYO rocks! Well, not really "rock", but they're really, really good.

They are really really good, but a few years ago, MCYO told parents that the top MCYO orchestra was the best orchestra in the region. The parents were literally sitting in the main hall at Strathmore, where the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plays. Yeah, no, the BSO is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Fairfield Cty . My kids grew up here. MCPS is a much larger and diverse system. Greenwich does not have to accommodate new immigrants and hungry kids. I think the county based schools provide fairer funding and more opportunities-immersion and magnets. Both of my kids are at great colleges and were well prepared.

Great colleges are used to getting students from a wide variety of backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Fairfield Cty . My kids grew up here. MCPS is a much larger and diverse system. Greenwich does not have to accommodate new immigrants and hungry kids. I think the county based schools provide fairer funding and more opportunities-immersion and magnets. Both of my kids are at great colleges and were well prepared.

When did they graduate from MCPS?

I have see a difference in MCPS in the past several years. What my oldest had in school versus what my youngest does. Granted this year is nuts, but I’m referring last year.

MCPS has pretty much given up on teaching grammar/science/spelling to elementary school kids. So by the time the kids get to middle school, they are somewhat unprepared. This is different than a decade ago. So, if your kids went through ES/MS about 7-10 years ago, their middle school experience might have been significantly different from what OP’s kids will experience.

Ask any MS Science teacher how they feel about science in MCPS, especially in ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Fairfield Cty . My kids grew up here. MCPS is a much larger and diverse system. Greenwich does not have to accommodate new immigrants and hungry kids. I think the county based schools provide fairer funding and more opportunities-immersion and magnets. Both of my kids are at great colleges and were well prepared.

Immersion? Not really much of an option for OP’s middle school kids. Also, the spots are VERY limited even for kids starting in K. Considering the number of kids in MCPS, a minuscule number get into the immersion programs.

And MS magnets? More spots open up for HS, but the MS magnets are also ridiculously limited.

My kid went from a regional CES to our home school and his ‘Advanced English’ class had kids who could barely form sentences. Not very engaging, to say the least.

Glad your kids had a great experience, but MCPS faces many challenges due to the fact that it is so large and diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never move my kids out of a wealthy westchester county district to mcps. Consider your move carefully OP.

First thing you need to know--everyone posts to dcum anonymously. It can get very nasty around these messages, so it makes sense.

Next, and more importantly, read the private school forum as well as the mcps to try to get the big picture. I grew up in NY suburbs with "good" schools, and thought I was getting same here in Bethesda. It is a totally different animal, even if MCPS was decent 30 years ago.
I didnt send any of my three kids to middle school in MCPS (and wound up with only one in public high school for one year). If you can afford it, private is the way to go.

For 6th grade, I can recommend Norwood in Bethesda, and "little" Langley just across the river in Virginia. Both are k-8 where middle schoolers are very important. Two of my kids did violin at Norwood, with one going to State finals with the strings group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never move my kids out of a wealthy westchester county district to mcps. Consider your move carefully OP.

First thing you need to know--everyone posts to dcum anonymously. It can get very nasty around these messages, so it makes sense.

Next, and more importantly, read the private school forum as well as the mcps to try to get the big picture. I grew up in NY suburbs with "good" schools, and thought I was getting same here in Bethesda. It is a totally different animal, even if MCPS was decent 30 years ago.
I didnt send any of my three kids to middle school in MCPS (and wound up with only one in public high school for one year). If you can afford it, private is the way to go.

For 6th grade, I can recommend Norwood in Bethesda, and "little" Langley just across the river in Virginia. Both are k-8 where middle schoolers are very important. Two of my kids did violin at Norwood, with one going to State finals with the strings group.

One thing for sure, the private schools around here cannot compete with MCPS.

[Anonymous]

neuropoetry wrote:We are moving to the Bethesda area sometime over the summer from Westchester County (New York). We have a DS entering 6th grade in the Fall (2021).

We are looking for a school who has a solid administration that supports teachers and students, as well as, nurturing, enthusiastic teachers.

Additionally we are looking for a middle school who has a strong orchestra program (he is an avid violin player), computer science/technology and art program. It appears that all the MCPS schools are amazing, but are there specific middle schools that might standout in these areas? We know Middle School years are a difficult couple of years to navigate.

Lastly, due to the eLearning a lot of the normal curriculum is not posted on individual middle schools websites because their websites are dedicated to eLearning - which is understandable. From the MCPS grade 6 curriculum page there appears to be up to 6 different Coding, Engineering and Robotics Design STEM electives - but they are not offered at all middle schools. Can you share what is offered in what middle schools from your personal experiences? And will DS have to choose among orchestra, computer science and art?

Thank you!

We moved here from Rockland County, NY & out our kids attended North Bethesda Middle School & Walter Johnson High School.

Both play in orchestra, both strong in STEM & both found their "tribe" of friends very, very early.

We're thrilled with NBMS & WJ, but you should look at all of the schools in Bethesda... you honestly can't go wrong with any of them.

Welcome (soon) to our neighborhood! 🥰

[Anonymous]

The best advice you can get on DCUM is do not rely on it for MCPS school advice. It has a negative vibe that seems to feed on itself. I am not saying MCPS is fabulous but DCUM does not mirror the experiences of my friends and coworkers.

[Anonymous]

It is the equivalent of doom scrolling news sites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best advice you can get on DCUM is do not rely on it for MCPS school advice. It has a negative vibe that seems to feed on itself. I am not saying MCPS is fabulous but DCUM does not mirror the experiences of my friends and coworkers.

You are welcome to post your experiences to help the OP if you think the other PPs are incorrect about something.

But I would also recognize that people’s experiences vary. Some clusters are much better than others. Though, I would argue that there are some systemic issues that MCPS faces, which are unique and have proven to be insurmountable (especially this year).