Greenbelt Middle School

[Anonymous]

Any folks with kids at Greenbelt Middle that can speak to how the changes at the school are working out? It seems like a lot of change has happened with the move to the new building and the way the TAG Center is operating. How are things going? The school had a pretty terrible reputation in my neighborhood - lots of complaints about lack of discipline, terrible facilities, etc - but I'm not hearing so much negative talk this year. Are things improving a lot with the move? I'd love to hear about all the changes and what seems to be working or not.

[Anonymous]

I posted before on another thread that I have been asking a young friend who lives locally but is in the TAG program for her opinion. She says she finds the coursework challenging and interesting. Some of the teachers are mean, but they added a lot more hall monitors since the beginning of the year so she thought that was very good and helpful. She had no complaints about feeling unsafe.

[Anonymous]

Glad to see this thread. My 5th grader will be going there next year.

[Anonymous]

How much interaction is there between the TAG kids and the rest of the school? Are there any shared classes or is the TAG group really just a school within a school?

[Anonymous]

I asked the student I know, who says they are combined at lunch...I asked about nonacademic classes and she said she couldn't tell if everyone was TAG or not in her art class. So that's probably a good sign.

[Anonymous]

I thought that Goddard French Immersion was moving into the Greenbelt Middle School building. Is that just rumor?

[Anonymous]

Yes, they are moving into the old Greenbelt Middle School building. That isn't connected to the new building so they won't really be in contact at all if I understand correctly.

[Anonymous]

Wondering if anyone at Greenbelt Middle has any updates on how the year is going for the kids in the TAG program?

[Anonymous]

I would also love an update on the TAG program and how it is going in the new building.

[Anonymous]

My kid's in the Greenbelt TAG problem. It's going well for him overall so far. A few hiccups here and there, but nothing that would make me pull him out.

[Anonymous]

18:32 - how have you found the curriculum? One complaint I've heard about some of the TAG elementary programs is how worksheet intensive they are. Not a lot of focus on writing or hands on learning and a lack of differentiation are some of the disappointments I've heard about from friends. Is the TAG program at the middle school level pretty much an extension of the lower grades or does it change significantly?

How does the center within a comprehensive school function? Is there much overlap in classes or is it pretty self-contained? If the latter, does that cause any problems for the TAG kids?

[Anonymous]

18:32 here. Need to be a bit quick. I'll extrapolate later on this, I promise, but one HUGE difference between this and elementary is that a great deal of the work is online. This has benefits and downsides, naturally. Much more of the work is project based, and dare I say, interesting.

My child had one altercation with another kid this year who happened to be in the comprehensive program, but it wasn't the mix of the two populations that was the issue. I will also say that every grownup involved, from school personnel to the other kid's parents, handled it EXACTLY like one hopes they would, and we're OK with how it shook out. The kids mix at lunch, on the bus, in PE, I think in some things like band, and generally it's not an issue. At least as far as my child reports it.

I have much more to say, but I have to run.

[Anonymous]

Looking to hear from more Greenbelt TAG parents! How did your 6th grader do last year? Any advice for parents new to the school this year?

[Anonymous]

Howdy. 18:32 again. My child's going in to seventh.
Well, there's a new principal this year. Mr. Tweedy, who I really liked, took a job closer to home.

My kid did OK, overall. The shift to middle from elementary is not easy, and can be a bit bumpy. My advice is to really keep an eye on how well your child is tracking their homework and projects. It's an adjustment, and schoolmax, edmodo, etc. aren't perfect. We told our child to go ahead and write it all down on paper as well anyway. Expect some missed assignments.

[Anonymous]

There were more TAG kids than the district anticipated so there is at least one portable, AKA temporary, classroom out back. It seems crazy to me that they didn't count to see how may TAG kids were in elementary while designing and building the school.