MCPS elementary these days...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. Pulled child from MCPS about five years ago for Catholic and paid a little less (pre-inflation it probably was this). Very pleased with facilities, education and overall care.

Which Catholic school?

Do your own research. Not gonna play.

It’s not a game and not everyone has the capacity to do a lot of research.

This does raise my index of suspicion that you are lying, however.

[Anonymous]

My children both attended Little Bennett ES and it was and is a dream school. The level of care, Love, attention and awesome friends my child gets is amazing! Rocky Hill and was good for my eldest before redistricting and went on to Poolesville HS SMCS. That was when the test and essays were used and she absolutely thrives and excels at that school. It is amazing!! Now, I do not like Rocky Hill and do not want to send my youngest there so we are looking at private options… MCPS is very school selective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that a lot of what you are describing is overblown. Talk to your own neighbors - what is their experience with your home ES? Is the administration good? Is the building sufficient for the number of kids? A good principal in a large-enough building can make the numbers work.

Also, just a note that I've heard from classroom teachers that peak "behaviors" are in this year's first and second graders, and that kindergarten teachers are reporting MUCH better socialized kids. I'm failing to do the math, but I think the kids most impacted by covid in terms of missing key "how to be a human" skills were the ones who would have been in pre-K at the time.

What fantasy world are you living in? I’m a HS teacher in MCPS and overcrowding is a real thing. Even if the “building” has the capacity, we are still overcrowding classrooms due to lack of staffing. When I first started, my class sizes were barely 22 or 24. Now, EVERY class is at the max of 29. Five kids added per class = 25 more. That’s basically another class of students I’ve had to take on due to our school busting at the seems. 29 in one class is almost impossible to do one-on-one with each kid in 45 minute class period. When I started, we had roughly 2200… now we are at 2700+. Same amount of administrators and almost the same number of teachers. We are not doing right by these kids.

[Anonymous]

There is no "one-size-fits-all" answer. It depends on the school and your kid.

I wouldn't leave our MCPS public elementary - it's amazing. I went to DC-area private schools myself and have family members at several now, and I am confident that my kids are getting a great education and private has nothing more to offer them. For now. I have no idea if I would feel the same in a different school

If you want thoughts on a specific school, people can give that. But frankly, any talk about MCPS as a whole versus private as a whole is somewhat pointless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As much as we have loved MCPS, we are thinking to send our 3rd kiddo to private (catholic) but still struggling with "letting go" of the public school idea (neighbors being classmates etc). However, I am not expert on MCPS but seems like MCPS is on the decline.. crowded classrooms (ours is an ES in Bethesda), micro managing of teachers, not enough staff/resources to handle students with behavioral issues or different learning needs etc... Am I wrong? Our two oldest kiddos are a few years older than the last one... and seems that MCPS was in a much better place back when they started attending around 2013...til now. Would love to hear perspectives on this. If money was not an issue, would you go private vs MCPS? Thanks

Well, I think in HS, things are as good as ever, but with the equity war on achievement, it's getting harder and harder for a kid to get a solid education these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no "one-size-fits-all" answer. It depends on the school and your kid.

I wouldn't leave our MCPS public elementary - it's amazing. I went to DC-area private schools myself and have family members at several now, and I am confident that my kids are getting a great education and private has nothing more to offer them. For now. I have no idea if I would feel the same in a different school

If you want thoughts on a specific school, people can give that. But frankly, any talk about MCPS as a whole versus private as a whole is somewhat pointless.

+1. The whole public school district compared against one private school or even a couple with hugely different circumstances is tiresome and such an apple to oranges comparison.

If you’re interested in knowing about specific schools, people can meaningfully tell you how things are currently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two children are 5 years apart, attended Bethesda Elementary School, and the oldest had the most crowded classrooms. I well remember his disastrous first grade with 31 kids! The youngest attended after the addition and had to deal with more students total, but had smaller class sizes.

I think it's luck of the draw, OP. Now my kids are in their freshman year of college and middle school. I know there's crime and violence at BCC and the usual middle school shenanigans. It's always been that way, but there are spikes of trouble every now and then, at various schools, so if your kid is unlucky and gets a bad year, it's easy to worry that schools are going downhill.

You might consider the following to aid in your decision:

1. Privates may enforce more discipline, and weed out kids with problematic behaviors, so classrooms are quieter and possibly smaller.

2. MCPS has the CES, magnets, and advanced tracks in middle and high school, therefore more ability to accelerate precocious students, that only the very top privates can match.

3. If your child needs an IEP/504, services and accommodations, privates are not required to offer anything, but publics are, and they do. Sometimes very well indeed (one of my kids had an IEP).

4. Money. It deserves its own discussion. What does "if money is not an issue" really mean? A private school parent will always assess their child's experience relative to how much they're spending. A refrain you'll hear a lot is: I'm happy, but not 30-60K happier than I was before! Invested in the stock market, that money would have provided much reassurance for college tuition, or your kids' downpayment on a home, or your retirement, or eldercare costs... is private a better choice than other priorities in your life? Nowadays colleges are very selective, and college costs have on average risen faster than inflation. State universities cost 30-40K a year total, but only if your kid gets in. Kids need very good grades now to get to UVA and UMD. Private universities are in the 70-100K a year. Merit aid is given to top students. If "money is not an issue", financial aid is likely off the table - that's how you get donut hole families who are middle class but can only pay for in-state college.

Maybe you can afford one K-12 private, 3 college costs, and have millions for retirement. But most people, even on this board, do not. I have a net worth of 15M and my two kids are/will be MCPS products. They can pick the college they want (65K a year for the oldest, he got merit aid at a 85K a year university).

Our experience with private is that they are absolutely shitty when it comes to discipline and made my DD so stressed and anxious because she was constantly bullied. Much happier at MCPS

[Anonymous]

I moved DD from MCPS to private at middle school. I wish I had done it sooner. I had no idea how competitive private school admissions was and by the time she was in 5th grade at MCPS, they were really struggling and it was starting to impact her. Being nearly a straight A student, she only got into two private schools. I was stunned.

[Anonymous]

I agree that MCPS schools continue to be in decline, and it will take a significant decision and concerted effort by new leadership (and engaged parents) to stem the decline and put the school system on a positive trajectory again. If you do decide to keep your kids in MCPS, consider gauging for yourself how well they can read and write. (Effective reading and writing seems to not be a priority for MCPS). Also look at the state of Maryland standardized test scores (MCAP, I think) that are mailed to parents once or twice a year, and ask whether you are satisfied with your students' demonstrated level of proficiency on these. Also look at the State of Maryland report cards (available online) for your kids' schools. In my case, I am disappointed in both my kids' MCAP scores and the state of Maryland report card for their schools. Both are well below what I would expect given the superior grades my kids' receive on their report cards and the reputation of the schools as being some of the best in MCPS. Also pay attention when and if the school principal presents the results of their school on the Maryland report card. Our elementary principal tried to spin the results as a positive and didn't seem forthcoming about the negatives in the results until they were pressed on this in a public forum. All in all, I don't believe MCPS is invested in helping each individual student reach their full potential. MCPS does not see individuals -- only groups. I don't have any experience with private school in the area---yet. But maybe this is a fundamental difference between public and private nowadays. Or maybe not. Many of the same factors that have caused this decline in MCPS are acting on private schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that MCPS schools continue to be in decline, and it will take a significant decision and concerted effort by new leadership (and engaged parents) to stem the decline and put the school system on a positive trajectory again. If you do decide to keep your kids in MCPS, consider gauging for yourself how well they can read and write. (Effective reading and writing seems to not be a priority for MCPS). Also look at the state of Maryland standardized test scores (MCAP, I think) that are mailed to parents once or twice a year, and ask whether you are satisfied with your students' demonstrated level of proficiency on these. Also look at the State of Maryland report cards (available online) for your kids' schools. In my case, I am disappointed in both my kids' MCAP scores and the state of Maryland report card for their schools. Both are well below what I would expect given the superior grades my kids' receive on their report cards and the reputation of the schools as being some of the best in MCPS. Also pay attention when and if the school principal presents the results of their school on the Maryland report card. Our elementary principal tried to spin the results as a positive and didn't seem forthcoming about the negatives in the results until they were pressed on this in a public forum. All in all, I don't believe MCPS is invested in helping each individual student reach their full potential. MCPS does not see individuals -- only groups. I don't have any experience with private school in the area---yet. But maybe this is a fundamental difference between public and private nowadays. Or maybe not. Many of the same factors that have caused this decline in MCPS are acting on private schools as well.

You should really determine what “engaged parents” means. Is that folks who won’t complain about the amount of homework? Parents that will volunteer for field trips? Parents that will volunteer to run/support after school and in school activities and clubs so that the school can offer enrichment opportunities for all students without requesting teachers to do more work? Will that be parents who have an actual understanding of their school demographics and challenges and not just rumors? Will they be willing to listen to teachers?

I’ve spent some days in school and served on the PTA so I’ve seen the engagement of parents (or lack of engagement). Frankly I’m surprised more teachers and administrators don’t leave every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My children both attended Little Bennett ES and it was and is a dream school. The level of care, Love, attention and awesome friends my child gets is amazing! Rocky Hill and was good for my eldest before redistricting and went on to Poolesville HS SMCS. That was when the test and essays were used and she absolutely thrives and excels at that school. It is amazing!! Now, I do not like Rocky Hill and do not want to send my youngest there so we are looking at private options… MCPS is very school selective.

Why do you not like Rocky Hill after the redistricting? What were the feeder schools before, and which ones now?

[Anonymous]

This is very school dependent—that goes for mcps and private. We’ve done both for our three DCs. We moved each of the kids in late elementary when the combination of overcrowding and zero interest in challenging our students became unbearable. Our kids are quiet students who get their work done and perform well so they were largely ignored or used as teacher assistants. Our experience at private has been mixed—certainly not a perfect antedote to mcps—but I do appreciate the nimbleness of the administration (very appararent during Covid) in response to parents, that teachers know my kids, and that honors classes are really honors classes. Will money spent at private school “translate” to Ivy acceptance? I highly doubt that, but that was never our intention. I do however think they will be better prepared for college because there is no skating by or grade inflation and the teachers/school hold them accountable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money was no object and there was a very diverse non-elitist private school that taught the way I think kids should be taught, then it would be private school without a thought.

I don’t know of any private school like that in this dmv region. I would probably hire top-notch tutors.

I am very happy with my DC’s mcps school but that’s because it’s a magnet with a great diverse, self-selected cohort.

Which MCPS ES has a student population that is all self-selected?

CES and immersion

Every student in the elementary school?

Not true at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My children both attended Little Bennett ES and it was and is a dream school. The level of care, Love, attention and awesome friends my child gets is amazing! Rocky Hill and was good for my eldest before redistricting and went on to Poolesville HS SMCS. That was when the test and essays were used and she absolutely thrives and excels at that school. It is amazing!! Now, I do not like Rocky Hill and do not want to send my youngest there so we are looking at private options… MCPS is very school selective.

Why do you not like Rocky Hill after the redistricting? What were the feeder schools before, and which ones now?

I do not like the discipline issues, the scores have tumbled and almost the entire staff left, even the amazing Media Specialist who created amazing havens for kids during lunch, contests to keep kids reading and interested in learning, and was just a gem.
Feeder schools before: Clarksburg ES, Little Bennett, and Gibbs. Now, Fox Chapel, Sally Ride, Little Bennett, Gibbs and some of Clarksburg ES.

[Anonymous]

ETA: They have not had a steady principal nor a good one since Mrs. Eldridge left and I loved her. She was firm but kind, very organized and dealt with things as best she could.