Elementary Schools in Tacoma Park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. EDIT: we are not looking at Tacoma Washington, Tacoma DC, we are looking at Takoma Park Maryland. I apologize for my phone's autocorrect, I would have thought that was obvious given the forum I am posting in.

Thank you to everyone who had helpful replies.

To be more specific, we are currently in Anne Arundel County and have been less than impressed with the schools in general, especially since COVID.

I know MCPS has it's issues as well, but we were hoping to move to the DCC so that we could be closer to family, and be in an overall better school district. Also we would like to be closer to DC and away from the systemic racism and fairly extreme segregation we have experienced here (we moved here from NOVA 4 years ago, which we found pretty diverse).

My husband has his eyes set on Takoma Park (MD), because he has read great things about Montgomery Blair HS and the feeder middle schools, and also because he is a city boy and wants to be as close to DC as possible.

My oldest, who will be in middle school by the time we move, is a very bright girl who excels at math and STEM in general. The other two kids will be in probably kindergarten and third grade when we move.

The whole DCC school system in general is extremely confusing, and I did not even realize that Tacoma Park had two different schools for just elementary. Are there other schools in the Tacoma Park area that feed into Blair? And what are the opinions on the middle schools that feed into Blair? It's just so much to process compared to Anne Arundel county.

We just want the best for our kids, my husband and I are both in math/scientific/IT fields, and we feel our kids will probably excel at the same type of areas, but would also appreciate language immersion or any other great programs that are available.

Side note, Bethesda and similar majority Caucasian school districts are way out of our price range so we are focusing on DCC, so opinions on the schools that Great Schools say are good are not really relevant to us.

OP, I suggest you go directly to the source - the MCPS website - to get an idea of the feeder patterns. According to https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/clusteradmin/clusters/downcounty.aspx SSIMS does not feed into Blair.

Yes, it does. SSIMS feeds to both Northwood and Blair. All of Rolling Terrace feeds to SSIMS, then Blair. And part of Sligo Creek (west of Fenton Street) feeds to SSIMS, then Blair. Look at the map and follow the thick red line which is the HS boundary. The southeastern and southwestern corners of the SSIMS zone are within the Blair zone:

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/SilverSpringInternationalMS.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. EDIT: we are not looking at Tacoma Washington, Tacoma DC, we are looking at Takoma Park Maryland. I apologize for my phone's autocorrect, I would have thought that was obvious given the forum I am posting in.

Thank you to everyone who had helpful replies.

To be more specific, we are currently in Anne Arundel County and have been less than impressed with the schools in general, especially since COVID.

I know MCPS has it's issues as well, but we were hoping to move to the DCC so that we could be closer to family, and be in an overall better school district. Also we would like to be closer to DC and away from the systemic racism and fairly extreme segregation we have experienced here (we moved here from NOVA 4 years ago, which we found pretty diverse).

My husband has his eyes set on Takoma Park (MD), because he has read great things about Montgomery Blair HS and the feeder middle schools, and also because he is a city boy and wants to be as close to DC as possible.

My oldest, who will be in middle school by the time we move, is a very bright girl who excels at math and STEM in general. The other two kids will be in probably kindergarten and third grade when we move.

The whole DCC school system in general is extremely confusing, and I did not even realize that Tacoma Park had two different schools for just elementary. Are there other schools in the Tacoma Park area that feed into Blair? And what are the opinions on the middle schools that feed into Blair? It's just so much to process compared to Anne Arundel county.

We just want the best for our kids, my husband and I are both in math/scientific/IT fields, and we feel our kids will probably excel at the same type of areas, but would also appreciate language immersion or any other great programs that are available.

Side note, Bethesda and similar majority Caucasian school districts are way out of our price range so we are focusing on DCC, so opinions on the schools that Great Schools say are good are not really relevant to us.

OP, I suggest you go directly to the source - the MCPS website - to get an idea of the feeder patterns. According to https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/clusteradmin/clusters/downcounty.aspx SSIMS does not feed into Blair.

There is split articulation. Most of SSIMS goes to Northwood. The exception is kids whose home elementary school was Rolling Terrace. Those kids go to Blair. You can use the school locator here: https://gis.mcpsmd.org/SchoolAssignmentTool2/AddressFound.xhtml

I used the address 704 Bayfield because it's right across the street from RTES and therefore certainly in bounds. You can see it goes to RTES, SSIMS, and then Blair

+1. This is correct. You can also use 8100 Georgia as an example of the neighborhood that goes to SCES, SSIMS, and then Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

I'm not the PP but this is a pretty unkind answer. I also question your use of the word "everyone" in terms of "everyone" knowing one another. There are more than 200 kids per grade at TPES and PBES. It's impossible for everyone to know each other.

I suspect that by "everyone" you actually mean all UMC white/Asian families who play Takoma Soccer and belong to Pack 33, which is a pretty narrow slice of "everyone."

I'm not the PP either and perhaps but based on my experiences there it's truthful. I can't guess what the poster meant by everyone but it's a very diverse school and neighborhood so I wouldn't imagine that's the case.

We're a URM family that moved to the neighborhood a few years back and found Takoma warm and welcoming. Our 6-year-old does lego club at the library and my 9-year-old loves the D&D club at the community center. I'd never heard anything like what the PP was saying but I guess you can't please everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

I'm not the PP but this is a pretty unkind answer. I also question your use of the word "everyone" in terms of "everyone" knowing one another. There are more than 200 kids per grade at TPES and PBES. It's impossible for everyone to know each other.

I suspect that by "everyone" you actually mean all UMC white/Asian families who play Takoma Soccer and belong to Pack 33, which is a pretty narrow slice of "everyone."

I'm not the PP either and perhaps but based on my experiences there it's truthful. I can't guess what the poster meant by everyone but it's a very diverse school and neighborhood so I wouldn't imagine that's the case.

We're a URM family that moved to the neighborhood a few years back and found Takoma warm and welcoming. Our 6-year-old does lego club at the library and my 9-year-old loves the D&D club at the community center. I'd never heard anything like what the PP was saying but I guess you can't please everyone.

Right, your six year old and 9 year old were probably not at school “a few years back” when you moved. For those of us who moved here after their kids finished kindergarten, it’s been incredibly tough, especially with the pandemic. The cruel responses above that “everyone” knows everyone just rub salt into the wound. I moved here expecting it to be at least as neighborly as our DC neighborhood, but it’s not and the schools are incredibly unwelcoming. To be honest it’s pretty clear that many people know each other but it doesn’t mean they are welcoming to others. They resolutely are not. In fact they are cliquish and seem unapproachable. And the large size of the schools exacerbates this. No one knows who is new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

They were mostly closed for a year due to the pandemic. The year that my kids aged out. And some longer, like D and D which still hasn’t started again in person. But thanks for being so welcoming and understanding. You pretty much proved my point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

They were mostly closed for a year due to the pandemic. The year that my kids aged out. And some longer, like D and D which still hasn’t started again in person. But thanks for being so welcoming and understanding. You pretty much proved my point.

My kids did it with Dave from the library and their regular group over zoom during the height of covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

I'm not the PP but this is a pretty unkind answer. I also question your use of the word "everyone" in terms of "everyone" knowing one another. There are more than 200 kids per grade at TPES and PBES. It's impossible for everyone to know each other.

I suspect that by "everyone" you actually mean all UMC white/Asian families who play Takoma Soccer and belong to Pack 33, which is a pretty narrow slice of "everyone."

I'm not the PP either and perhaps but based on my experiences there it's truthful. I can't guess what the poster meant by everyone but it's a very diverse school and neighborhood so I wouldn't imagine that's the case.

We're a URM family that moved to the neighborhood a few years back and found Takoma warm and welcoming. Our 6-year-old does lego club at the library and my 9-year-old loves the D&D club at the community center. I'd never heard anything like what the PP was saying but I guess you can't please everyone.

Right, your six year old and 9 year old were probably not at school “a few years back” when you moved. For those of us who moved here after their kids finished kindergarten, it’s been incredibly tough, especially with the pandemic. The cruel responses above that “everyone” knows everyone just rub salt into the wound. I moved here expecting it to be at least as neighborly as our DC neighborhood, but it’s not and the schools are incredibly unwelcoming. To be honest it’s pretty clear that many people know each other but it doesn’t mean they are welcoming to others. They resolutely are not. In fact they are cliquish and seem unapproachable. And the large size of the schools exacerbates this. No one knows who is new.

I can see how the pandemic would make meeting new people hard. We had moved to Takoma Park years before any of that so you're right we'd established friendships prior to everything being shutdown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

DP: one of the ways you can tell TP has a welcoming and inclusive community is the way its members will come here and tell you there's something wrong with you if you didn't find the community welcoming and inclusive.

We had to stop going to the community center because the welcoming and inclusive children were stalking our kid and threatening to stab them. True story.

NP, but I recognize that you've posted before. That neither invalidates nor validates your story, but you have shared it more than once or twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

I'm not the PP but this is a pretty unkind answer. I also question your use of the word "everyone" in terms of "everyone" knowing one another. There are more than 200 kids per grade at TPES and PBES. It's impossible for everyone to know each other.

I suspect that by "everyone" you actually mean all UMC white/Asian families who play Takoma Soccer and belong to Pack 33, which is a pretty narrow slice of "everyone."

I'm not the PP either and perhaps but based on my experiences there it's truthful. I can't guess what the poster meant by everyone but it's a very diverse school and neighborhood so I wouldn't imagine that's the case.

We're a URM family that moved to the neighborhood a few years back and found Takoma warm and welcoming. Our 6-year-old does lego club at the library and my 9-year-old loves the D&D club at the community center. I'd never heard anything like what the PP was saying but I guess you can't please everyone.

Right, your six year old and 9 year old were probably not at school “a few years back” when you moved. For those of us who moved here after their kids finished kindergarten, it’s been incredibly tough, especially with the pandemic. The cruel responses above that “everyone” knows everyone just rub salt into the wound. I moved here expecting it to be at least as neighborly as our DC neighborhood, but it’s not and the schools are incredibly unwelcoming. To be honest it’s pretty clear that many people know each other but it doesn’t mean they are welcoming to others. They resolutely are not. In fact they are cliquish and seem unapproachable. And the large size of the schools exacerbates this. No one knows who is new.

OP, it's worth noting that this person is talking about TPES/PBES and not ESS, which also feeds into TPMS and Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

I'm not the PP but this is a pretty unkind answer. I also question your use of the word "everyone" in terms of "everyone" knowing one another. There are more than 200 kids per grade at TPES and PBES. It's impossible for everyone to know each other.

I suspect that by "everyone" you actually mean all UMC white/Asian families who play Takoma Soccer and belong to Pack 33, which is a pretty narrow slice of "everyone."

I'm not the PP either and perhaps but based on my experiences there it's truthful. I can't guess what the poster meant by everyone but it's a very diverse school and neighborhood so I wouldn't imagine that's the case.

We're a URM family that moved to the neighborhood a few years back and found Takoma warm and welcoming. Our 6-year-old does lego club at the library and my 9-year-old loves the D&D club at the community center. I'd never heard anything like what the PP was saying but I guess you can't please everyone.

Right, your six year old and 9 year old were probably not at school “a few years back” when you moved. For those of us who moved here after their kids finished kindergarten, it’s been incredibly tough, especially with the pandemic. The cruel responses above that “everyone” knows everyone just rub salt into the wound. I moved here expecting it to be at least as neighborly as our DC neighborhood, but it’s not and the schools are incredibly unwelcoming. To be honest it’s pretty clear that many people know each other but it doesn’t mean they are welcoming to others. They resolutely are not. In fact they are cliquish and seem unapproachable. And the large size of the schools exacerbates this. No one knows who is new.

I can see how the pandemic would make meeting new people hard. We had moved to Takoma Park years before any of that so you're right we'd established friendships prior to everything being shutdown.

I also think a few things may be in play here, none of which about about the PP "trying hard enough." TkPk and close-in Silver Spring locked down HARD for covid in a way that some other communities did not. That made meeting people even harder because there was a lot of social pressure not to meet up, and programs were slower to reopen here than in other parts of the country. I actually think MoCo did a good job with covid and appreciate the conservative approach, but I can see how it would have made making new friends even harder than it might have been otherwise.

Also, TkPk can be insular and clubby. People make their "parent friends" at TPCDC or the Purple School and then it can be hard to break in. I experienced it as well, with Takoma Soccer. Teams that formed when the kids were 4 were "full" every season, and couldn't bring in any new kids. Some of the Scout troops are similar, made up of families that are a bit of a closed loop.

It doesn't do anyone any good to pretend that's not the case, or to claim that all 200 kids in each grade are best friends when we all know it's just a subset of those 200 kids, and what they tend to have in common.

[Anonymous]

OP I don’t want to burst your bubble but you and your husband need to understand that the excellent STEM programming at TPMS and Blair are not guaranteed: they’re competitive magnet programs. Yes, there are set asides that mean it’s more likely your kid will be selected if you live in bounds, but the chances are not anywhere near a sure thing. And for TPMS (middle school) this is now a lottery, so even if your kid is an exceptionally good candidate, their chances are the same as a candidate who just made the cut. Blair’s STEM magnet is very competitive and even harder to get into. Regular Blair is fine, but probably not worth moving for; it’s also one of the largest high schools in the country. Our child has been fortunate to do the PBES and TPES magnets and we are not interested in Blair. It’s just too big for us. Maybe the STEM magnet if he gets in, but it’s a longer day and seems to limit other electives.

If you’re still interested, know the 4th/5th grade magnet decision process starts happening early in 3rd grade and middle school early in 5th. If you move after that you’re not eligible at all. Fairfax County is more flexible about admitting kids on an as needed basis to gifted programs because there is much more gifted programming.

I say all this to say: it’s possible your husband is hearing good things about special programs and applying them to the whole school. If that’s the case, and you don’t get into the special programs, you’re going to be very unhappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I don’t want to burst your bubble but you and your husband need to understand that the excellent STEM programming at TPMS and Blair are not guaranteed: they’re competitive magnet programs. Yes, there are set asides that mean it’s more likely your kid will be selected if you live in bounds, but the chances are not anywhere near a sure thing. And for TPMS (middle school) this is now a lottery, so even if your kid is an exceptionally good candidate, their chances are the same as a candidate who just made the cut. Blair’s STEM magnet is very competitive and even harder to get into. Regular Blair is fine, but probably not worth moving for; it’s also one of the largest high schools in the country. Our child has been fortunate to do the PBES and TPES magnets and we are not interested in Blair. It’s just too big for us. Maybe the STEM magnet if he gets in, but it’s a longer day and seems to limit other electives.

If you’re still interested, know the 4th/5th grade magnet decision process starts happening early in 3rd grade and middle school early in 5th. If you move after that you’re not eligible at all. Fairfax County is more flexible about admitting kids on an as needed basis to gifted programs because there is much more gifted programming.

I say all this to say: it’s possible your husband is hearing good things about special programs and applying them to the whole school. If that’s the case, and you don’t get into the special programs, you’re going to be very unhappy.

At the same time, you have a much higher chance of getting into these programs if your children are in Takoma than anywhere else in Moco. Further, these schools also offer enrichment in math, engineering, and programming courses which aren't offered at other MCPS schools to everyone.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

They were mostly closed for a year due to the pandemic. The year that my kids aged out. And some longer, like D and D which still hasn’t started again in person. But thanks for being so welcoming and understanding. You pretty much proved my point.

My kids did it with Dave from the library and their regular group over zoom during the height of covid.

DP: my kid has to stop doing d and d because there was a pack of kids who'd hang around outside and then stalk them on the walk from the auditorium to the parking lot where I sat in my car. (Which is about forty feet.) My kid and I both found this more depressing than really threatening, but it did not fill me with happiness about the *community spirit.*

And obviously, they couldn't walk home alone because they'd be followed.

Recounting this story will no doubt inspire a bunch of nice Takoma Park moms to blame my kid. Which is what happened when I originally tried to engage the community in an attempt to stop the behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

DP: one of the ways you can tell TP has a welcoming and inclusive community is the way its members will come here and tell you there's something wrong with you if you didn't find the community welcoming and inclusive.

We had to stop going to the community center because the welcoming and inclusive children were stalking our kid and threatening to stab them. True story.

NP, but I recognize that you've posted before. That neither invalidates nor validates your story, but you have shared it more than once or twice.

Right. Remarkable, I'm still bitter. Why wouldn't I just relax and laugh it off?

We have found our own community and our own place in the area. The kid is very happy in a challenging academic program, and we go to a different community center, one that doesn't tolerate intolerant and abusive children. But hearing your u all prattle on about inclusivity is like nails on a chalkboard. Sorry, it always will be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families who moved away from Tacoma park to Bethesda because the schools in TP were bad.

I call BS on this post.

DP. I call BS on this BS. The other poster bragged how the 97th percentile didn't get into the program, so that should tell you something. I'm familiar with the PBES program. I don't think it's any different than the W feeders. The main difference is TPMS, but now that it's a lottery, the program is not what it was. There's also an issue with the RLA program at PBES that was never fixed, imho. Both the P and teachers involved are still there. Not saying it's a bad program by any means, but the combination of lottery and a few bad apples dragged down the stature of the program overall.

This is very different than my experience. Both my kids loved TPES and PBES. They had no trouble making friends despite 10 classes. Both were consistently in the 96%-99% on both MAPs and so were many of their friends. Excellent schools. I could imagine better.

Well my kids hated them and found them very unfriendly. There is no “community” at the schools either among the kids or the families. We joined in 2nd and 4th grade and there is absolutely no welcome to new families, no effort from the PTA and no attempt to be inclusive. No efforts to involve anyone other than white upper class families as volunteers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but the dozens of families I know who live within walking distance all disagree. In fact, it's a really tight knit community where everyone knows each other. Sure, kids may not all be in the same class each year but there are so many opportunities to interact with others that it hardly matters. Also, many great organizations like Takoma Soccer, D&D at the community center, or scouts that I can't help but think you weren't trying that hard.

They were mostly closed for a year due to the pandemic. The year that my kids aged out. And some longer, like D and D which still hasn’t started again in person. But thanks for being so welcoming and understanding. You pretty much proved my point.

My kids did it with Dave from the library and their regular group over zoom during the height of covid.

DP: my kid has to stop doing d and d because there was a pack of kids who'd hang around outside and then stalk them on the walk from the auditorium to the parking lot where I sat in my car. (Which is about forty feet.) My kid and I both found this more depressing than really threatening, but it did not fill me with happiness about the *community spirit.*

And obviously, they couldn't walk home alone because they'd be followed.

Recounting this story will no doubt inspire a bunch of nice Takoma Park moms to blame my kid. Which is what happened when I originally tried to engage the community in an attempt to stop the behavior.

That's crazy! My elementary-aged kids and many of their friends go by there all the time walking home from PBES and have never had an issue, but I remember reading your posts about this also a few years back. I just never took it all that seriously since it was so different my experience.