Kentlands school cluster

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here—not going to lie, the responses here have really made me second guess targeting Kentlands/Lakelands for our move… we do love the neighborhood and community. Are there similar communities that are very tight knit and walkable in the county or do we give RCES a chance and go private?

There are lots of other schools and areas - Travillah, Stonemill, Dufief - all have strong principals, motivated parents/kids, good communities. But prices there are around $750 and up - mostly up, so there's that.

My kids go to Stone Mill and disagree about the principal. She needs to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, the principal is Black - this might have something to do with all of these poster claiming she is "lazy" and "doesn't work as hard" as her predecessor. Sounds like the previous principal went above and beyond to accommodate the privileged demanding parents and this principal is not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Or it was because he won a Blue Ribbon award of Excellence from the state and she's meh.

One of the many small things he did that I noticed as a parent was he had the gym teacher walk through each lunch period and make sure every child had a meal. If they did not, he addressed it with privacy and delicacy so there were no hungry students in the school.

I'm sorry that some love turn every encounter into a racial debate. This has nothing to do with it. This has to do with one individual who was excellent at his job vs someone who just shows up and does the minimum.

He really was an extraordinary principal. Didn’t MCPS move him to a school that really needed an exceptionally strong principal? [/quote]

Yes. He went to Clopper Mill ES in Germantown and really had his work cutout for him there. He has done a remarkable job turning around that school. Denise Hammond, RCES' principal, was ar Little Bennett but hid under the shadow of Dr. Miller, who is an outstanding principal like Mr. Chep. Then, she went to Wilson Wims for only a short while. She might not have had the prep and experience she needed for a cornerstone school like RCES.

Anyways, my parents were in The Kentlands well before Lakelands was even built and their friends and neighbors have all aged out of schools. But, I remember that a lot of kids went to private schools then. It is a close knit community though that is about 60% multicultural and 40% white. We never had any problems and are Black. We still have close friendships with our neighbors from that neighborhood decades later.

[Anonymous]

While Mrs. Hammond doesn’t have the drive and leadership skills that Mr. Chep has, I wouldn’t be concerned about enrollment falling or more neighborhood kids going to private school. RCES was named a Blue Ribbon School in January of 2012. At that time, it wasn’t unusual for a cohort to have 4, maybe 5 classes. The 3 largest cohorts ever to enroll at RCES enrolled in the fall of 2012, 2013 and 2014. Those cohorts averaged 7 classes each. Enrollment has been leveling off since the Blue Ribbon surge, when many parents who had planned on going private decided to give RCES a try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While Mrs. Hammond doesn’t have the drive and leadership skills that Mr. Chep has, I wouldn’t be concerned about enrollment falling or more neighborhood kids going to private school. RCES was named a Blue Ribbon School in January of 2012. At that time, it wasn’t unusual for a cohort to have 4, maybe 5 classes. The 3 largest cohorts ever to enroll at RCES enrolled in the fall of 2012, 2013 and 2014. Those cohorts averaged 7 classes each. Enrollment has been leveling off since the Blue Ribbon surge, when many parents who had planned on going private decided to give RCES a try.

interesting that so far, exactly ZERO posts supporting the current principal. Not one. Pretty telling.

I am so happy we are done with RCES. our experiences with her were horrible. A very bitter way to end our time there (which we used to love).

My opinion - she is overwhelmed and gets no county support. Someone from above really needs to guide and train her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, the principal is Black - this might have something to do with all of these poster claiming she is "lazy" and "doesn't work as hard" as her predecessor. Sounds like the previous principal went above and beyond to accommodate the privileged demanding parents and this principal is not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Or it was because he won a Blue Ribbon award of Excellence from the state and she's meh.

One of the many small things he did that I noticed as a parent was he had the gym teacher walk through each lunch period and make sure every child had a meal. If they did not, he addressed it with privacy and delicacy so there were no hungry students in the school.

I'm sorry that some love turn every encounter into a racial debate. This has nothing to do with it. This has to do with one individual who was excellent at his job vs someone who just shows up and does the minimum.

He really was an extraordinary principal. Didn’t MCPS move him to a school that really needed an exceptionally strong principal? [/quote]

Yes. He went to Clopper Mill ES in Germantown and really had his work cutout for him there. He has done a remarkable job turning around that school. Denise Hammond, RCES' principal, was ar Little Bennett but hid under the shadow of Dr. Miller, who is an outstanding principal like Mr. Chep. Then, she went to Wilson Wims for only a short while. She might not have had the prep and experience she needed for a cornerstone school like RCES.

Anyways, my parents were in The Kentlands well before Lakelands was even built and their friends and neighbors have all aged out of schools. But, I remember that a lot of kids went to private schools then. It is a close knit community though that is about 60% multicultural and 40% white. We never had any problems and are Black. We still have close friendships with our neighbors from that neighborhood decades later.

Uhhh, what? 60% multicultural? I’ve lived here for 25 years, today is as multicultural as it’s ever been. And I’d peg it at no more than 20%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, the principal is Black - this might have something to do with all of these poster claiming she is "lazy" and "doesn't work as hard" as her predecessor. Sounds like the previous principal went above and beyond to accommodate the privileged demanding parents and this principal is not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Or it was because he won a Blue Ribbon award of Excellence from the state and she's meh.

One of the many small things he did that I noticed as a parent was he had the gym teacher walk through each lunch period and make sure every child had a meal. If they did not, he addressed it with privacy and delicacy so there were no hungry students in the school.

I'm sorry that some love turn every encounter into a racial debate. This has nothing to do with it. This has to do with one individual who was excellent at his job vs someone who just shows up and does the minimum.

He really was an extraordinary principal. Didn’t MCPS move him to a school that really needed an exceptionally strong principal? [/quote]

Yes. He went to Clopper Mill ES in Germantown and really had his work cutout for him there. He has done a remarkable job turning around that school. Denise Hammond, RCES' principal, was ar Little Bennett but hid under the shadow of Dr. Miller, who is an outstanding principal like Mr. Chep. Then, she went to Wilson Wims for only a short while. She might not have had the prep and experience she needed for a cornerstone school like RCES.

Anyways, my parents were in The Kentlands well before Lakelands was even built and their friends and neighbors have all aged out of schools. But, I remember that a lot of kids went to private schools then. It is a close knit community though that is about 60% multicultural and 40% white. We never had any problems and are Black. We still have close friendships with our neighbors from that neighborhood decades later.

Uhhh, what? 60% multicultural? I’ve lived here for 25 years, today is as multicultural as it’s ever been. And I’d peg it at no more than 20%.

Neither one of those figures sounds right to me. I’d have guessed it was about 30%, which goes to show you how meaningless our estimates are.

[Anonymous]

I mean, 20878 as a zip code (which encompasses the part of Gaithersburg south of 270, Darnestown, and down to Travilah) is 50% white. Considering the areas in that zip code that are outside of Kentlands are at least as affluent as Kentlands, if not more, I would assume that tracks to Kentlands being about 50% white as well.

https://www.zipdatamaps.com/20878

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While Mrs. Hammond doesn’t have the drive and leadership skills that Mr. Chep has, I wouldn’t be concerned about enrollment falling or more neighborhood kids going to private school. RCES was named a Blue Ribbon School in January of 2012. At that time, it wasn’t unusual for a cohort to have 4, maybe 5 classes. The 3 largest cohorts ever to enroll at RCES enrolled in the fall of 2012, 2013 and 2014. Those cohorts averaged 7 classes each. Enrollment has been leveling off since the Blue Ribbon surge, when many parents who had planned on going private decided to give RCES a try.

interesting that so far, exactly ZERO posts supporting the current principal. Not one. Pretty telling.

I am so happy we are done with RCES. our experiences with her were horrible. A very bitter way to end our time there (which we used to love).

My opinion - she is overwhelmed and gets no county support. Someone from above really needs to guide and train her.

MCPS has so much administrator turnover that they have to churn out principals who aren't yet prepared. Other surrounding districts traditionally promote principals after 5+ years experience as an assistant principal, often in multiple schools. The MCPS program fast tracks people after only 2-3 years as an assistant principal. For most, it's just not enough time to be appropriately prepared for the role. The only way a principal moves is if the community escalates the issue. Otherwise there is very little oversight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, the principal is Black - this might have something to do with all of these poster claiming she is "lazy" and "doesn't work as hard" as her predecessor. Sounds like the previous principal went above and beyond to accommodate the privileged demanding parents and this principal is not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Former RCES parent here. Actually quite the opposite. New principal is constantly changing her mind and really is just completely incompetent. Some examples from my child's last year there in case anyone is interested:
- One of my child's classmates was telling kids to kill themselves. This was reported by multiple children, mine included. She seemingly did nothing, called this "normal 5th grade behavior" and then proceeded to tell me that I was overreacting by reporting it.
- In another instance , my son was punished for misbehaving in the bathroom. The school called me to tell me about the issue and told me that he had made a comment that he felt so bad he wanted to kill himself. You would think after the first incident, they would call me right away but no, they just put him on the bus. I was at work at the time so had to rush home as he was coming home to an empty house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, the principal is Black - this might have something to do with all of these poster claiming she is "lazy" and "doesn't work as hard" as her predecessor. Sounds like the previous principal went above and beyond to accommodate the privileged demanding parents and this principal is not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Former RCES parent here. Actually quite the opposite. New principal is constantly changing her mind and really is just completely incompetent. Some examples from my child's last year there in case anyone is interested:
- One of my child's classmates was telling kids to kill themselves. This was reported by multiple children, mine included. She seemingly did nothing, called this "normal 5th grade behavior" and then proceeded to tell me that I was overreacting by reporting it.
- In another instance , my son was punished for misbehaving in the bathroom. The school called me to tell me about the issue and told me that he had made a comment that he felt so bad he wanted to kill himself. You would think after the first incident, they would call me right away but no, they just put him on the bus. I was at work at the time so had to rush home as he was coming home to an empty house.

+1,000,000

This speaks exactly to our experience. I heard them exact same thing: “It’s just X grade normal behavior”. She is awful for the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, the principal is Black - this might have something to do with all of these poster claiming she is "lazy" and "doesn't work as hard" as her predecessor. Sounds like the previous principal went above and beyond to accommodate the privileged demanding parents and this principal is not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Former RCES parent here. Actually quite the opposite. New principal is constantly changing her mind and really is just completely incompetent. Some examples from my child's last year there in case anyone is interested:
- One of my child's classmates was telling kids to kill themselves. This was reported by multiple children, mine included. She seemingly did nothing, called this "normal 5th grade behavior" and then proceeded to tell me that I was overreacting by reporting it.
- In another instance , my son was punished for misbehaving in the bathroom. The school called me to tell me about the issue and told me that he had made a comment that he felt so bad he wanted to kill himself. You would think after the first incident, they would call me right away but no, they just put him on the bus. I was at work at the time so had to rush home as he was coming home to an empty house.

+1,000,000

This speaks exactly to our experience. I heard them exact same thing: “It’s just X grade normal behavior”. She is awful for the school.

Absolutely horrible. We never wanted to send DD to private school at all, much less in a county that’s supposed to have good schools, and a neighborhood that is so close-knit, but this just reinforces that we made the right decision.

[Anonymous]

You guys are making me want to run over to our local school Travilah and shower our amazing principal with accolades. Is she perfect? Nope. But she is an independent thinker, she works with kids as individuals, she treads the fine line between the community and MCPS itself and has excelled at every turn during this tricky year. Travilah is mostly not a walkable area but the new community Mount Prospect is attracting tons of kentlands families who are tired of being piled on top of each other like hamsters and there is no prettier little area in all of MoCo, 10 minutes to Kentlands, rio, 15 to potomac village, so convenient, perfect Country vibe but suburban amenities. Super multicultural and international. And travilah is an incredible school with a fantastic top tier principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are making me want to run over to our local school Travilah and shower our amazing principal with accolades. Is she perfect? Nope. But she is an independent thinker, she works with kids as individuals, she treads the fine line between the community and MCPS itself and has excelled at every turn during this tricky year. Travilah is mostly not a walkable area but the new community Mount Prospect is attracting tons of kentlands families who are tired of being piled on top of each other like hamsters and there is no prettier little area in all of MoCo, 10 minutes to Kentlands, rio, 15 to potomac village, so convenient, perfect Country vibe but suburban amenities. Super multicultural and international. And travilah is an incredible school with a fantastic top tier principal.

I do have to laugh at that. I never feel like I’m piled on top of anyone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, the principal is Black - this might have something to do with all of these poster claiming she is "lazy" and "doesn't work as hard" as her predecessor. Sounds like the previous principal went above and beyond to accommodate the privileged demanding parents and this principal is not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Former RCES parent here. Actually quite the opposite. New principal is constantly changing her mind and really is just completely incompetent. Some examples from my child's last year there in case anyone is interested:
- One of my child's classmates was telling kids to kill themselves. This was reported by multiple children, mine included. She seemingly did nothing, called this "normal 5th grade behavior" and then proceeded to tell me that I was overreacting by reporting it.
- In another instance , my son was punished for misbehaving in the bathroom. The school called me to tell me about the issue and told me that he had made a comment that he felt so bad he wanted to kill himself. You would think after the first incident, they would call me right away but no, they just put him on the bus. I was at work at the time so had to rush home as he was coming home to an empty house.

+1,000,000

This speaks exactly to our experience. I heard them exact same thing: “It’s just X grade normal behavior”. She is awful for the school.

She’s a nice person who is in over her head and has inadvertently dismantled everything that once made RCES a well oiled machine. She followed the Michael Jordan of elementary school principals - a situation in which very, very few people would have compared favorably - but her performance is unsatisfactory even without comparing her to her predecessor.

That said, we had a lot of really good teachers at RCES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here—not going to lie, the responses here have really made me second guess targeting Kentlands/Lakelands for our move… we do love the neighborhood and community. Are there similar communities that are very tight knit and walkable in the county or do we give RCES a chance and go private?

There's King Farm. People seem to love College Gardens ES.

Try Beall ES, there are neighborhoods walkable to Rockville Town Square and adjacent retail. Or Bayard Rustin ES, more affordable and lots of retail up and down Rockville Pike. Both feed into RM.