Tilden MS

[Anonymous]

It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 8th grade girls at Tilden are as just as mean and backstabbing as Regina George in Mean Girls. They are so toxic and nothing ever happens to them

It starts in 7th grade there and a lot of it is mom-directed. The over the top b’nai mitzvah celebrations help foster a culture of exclusion since some students are not only not invited, but then are the few who don’t have the custom hoodie favor to wear to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a concerted effort to get more clubs into place a few years back, but that sort of ended with COVID. In addition to Tilden drama, Best Buddies and National Junior Honor Society are really nice groups at Tilden plus Day of Caring. Chorus, band and orchestra are also nice.

What the schools don’t seem to get is that the more positive things are going on at a school, the less negative behavior you have. When you end the clubs etc, behavior spirals downward. Then it’s a loop — teachers don’t want to sponsor the clubs because of bad behavior, behavior gets worse because of the lack of positive engagement.

I can point to one specific issue at Tilden - a huge reduction in the number of kids in band/orchestra. The school recently eliminated a music teacher position, leaving only one teacher for chorus and all else. The band and orchestra are still there and lovely, but used to be huge, wonderful, inclusive groups for kids to feel they are a part of something positive. I’ll never understand why they eliminated that position. Why eliminate these roles that create positive engagement? MCPS often misses the bigger picture.

+1

Great point raised here.

The principal at WJ really gets this point — they talk about it in the first meeting with 9th grade parents. Get your kid involved, the more involved they are, the better they will do at WJ.

Also, there was no reason to eliminate or downgrade the challenging classes at Tilden. The harder they work, the less time they have for some of the bad behaviors (esp. 8th graders!). These are smart kids. We know that from the elementary schools and WJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

I think Tilden bought into the curriculum changes suggested by Central Office, whereas parents at other local middle schools fought to keep the accelerated coursework. I hope they can bring back more of the accelerated work. Bored kids are not a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 8th grade girls at Tilden are as just as mean and backstabbing as Regina George in Mean Girls. They are so toxic and nothing ever happens to them

It starts in 7th grade there and a lot of it is mom-directed. The over the top b’nai mitzvah celebrations help foster a culture of exclusion since some students are not only not invited, but then are the few who don’t have the custom hoodie favor to wear to school.

I have noticed this issue and tried to keep it low profile with our kids. Mostly failed in that effort. Some self reflection is needed by all of us.

It's very hard for 7th graders to understand how some other kids may be feeling due to being excluded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

I think Tilden bought into the curriculum changes suggested by Central Office, whereas parents at other local middle schools fought to keep the accelerated coursework. I hope they can bring back more of the accelerated work. Bored kids are not a good thing.

I am not sure this issue is exclusive to Tilden. I am not saying that this is not a problem, but issues specific to Tilden should be fixed first.

Now if Tilden is offering more watered down courses as compared to others in the area then that needs to be fixed. Bored kids are going to act out more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

I think Tilden bought into the curriculum changes suggested by Central Office, whereas parents at other local middle schools fought to keep the accelerated coursework. I hope they can bring back more of the accelerated work. Bored kids are not a good thing.

How come parents at Tilden dropped the ball here? It should be a priority to fix otherwise once slide starts, it's goes usually one way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

I think Tilden bought into the curriculum changes suggested by Central Office, whereas parents at other local middle schools fought to keep the accelerated coursework. I hope they can bring back more of the accelerated work. Bored kids are not a good thing.

I am not sure this issue is exclusive to Tilden. I am not saying that this is not a problem, but issues specific to Tilden should be fixed first.

Now if Tilden is offering more watered down courses as compared to others in the area then that needs to be fixed. Bored kids are going to act out more.

I think its going to take a lot of engaged teachers, parents, and admin to fix this. A real effort to bring back clubs and activities. A return to accelerated coursework, expansion to music program. And that’s just to bring Tilden back to where it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

I think Tilden bought into the curriculum changes suggested by Central Office, whereas parents at other local middle schools fought to keep the accelerated coursework. I hope they can bring back more of the accelerated work. Bored kids are not a good thing.

How come parents at Tilden dropped the ball here? It should be a priority to fix otherwise once slide starts, it's goes usually one way.

I don’t know why MCPS moved away from G&T instruction as a priority, that’s a bigger issue. But some schools were able to challenge that. I felt somewhat blindsided by changes to curriculum, changes to G&T instruction and so on. I think parents at other middle schools are more aware of these things and work with admin to keep what they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

I think Tilden bought into the curriculum changes suggested by Central Office, whereas parents at other local middle schools fought to keep the accelerated coursework. I hope they can bring back more of the accelerated work. Bored kids are not a good thing.

I am not sure this issue is exclusive to Tilden. I am not saying that this is not a problem, but issues specific to Tilden should be fixed first.

Now if Tilden is offering more watered down courses as compared to others in the area then that needs to be fixed. Bored kids are going to act out more.

I think its going to take a lot of engaged teachers, parents, and admin to fix this. A real effort to bring back clubs and activities. A return to accelerated coursework, expansion to music program. And that’s just to bring Tilden back to where it was.

+100

Once slide starts, it's hard to reverse it without a big push to reverse it.

[Anonymous]

Long time Tilden parent here - don’t avoid Tilden, get involved and make it better!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It still doesn’t make sense as the feeder elementary schools are great! Same parents sending kids to Tilden, why such a different and bad environment? Was the principal this disengaged and lacked leadership? This makes no sense.

It simply proves that problem is at Tilden. Admin sets the tone and it seems they are disengaged.

I think Tilden bought into the curriculum changes suggested by Central Office, whereas parents at other local middle schools fought to keep the accelerated coursework. I hope they can bring back more of the accelerated work. Bored kids are not a good thing.

I am not sure this issue is exclusive to Tilden. I am not saying that this is not a problem, but issues specific to Tilden should be fixed first.

Now if Tilden is offering more watered down courses as compared to others in the area then that needs to be fixed. Bored kids are going to act out more.

+ 1000 This is 100% the problem at Tilden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 8th grade girls at Tilden are as just as mean and backstabbing as Regina George in Mean Girls. They are so toxic and nothing ever happens to them

It starts in 7th grade there and a lot of it is mom-directed. The over the top b’nai mitzvah celebrations help foster a culture of exclusion since some students are not only not invited, but then are the few who don’t have the custom hoodie favor to wear to school.

I have noticed this issue and tried to keep it low profile with our kids. Mostly failed in that effort. Some self reflection is needed by all of us.

It's very hard for 7th graders to understand how some other kids may be feeling due to being excluded.

It is grotesque to send kids to school with clothing that marks who is in and who is out as a way of honoring a religious event. Kids do plenty of dividing as it is. The parents don’t need to facilitate it.