Anyone here leave their private school for a highly gifted center program and regret it?

[Anonymous]

Takoma Park Middle School is an excellent middle school apart from the magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Which just shows that 50% are not in the top of their class and can not get into Magnet. This is another reason the OP should not leave private. She obviously felt Barnsley was not a good fit for k-3rd. So why risk the chance of going to their middle school if they do not get accepted to Magnet after HGC. More people apply and want Magnet than HGC and parents are shocked when they realize their kids weren't the most desirable. If I had the money for private and lived in the Barnsley neighborhood, I would never go public. But that is just my opinion.

I just looked up where Barnsley is. Now I understand the objection to Barnsley -- it's the "poor brown children = bad school" idea.

Really? That's a pretty solid middle-class area.

NP here.

Not to go too far off topic, but I wanted to respond to this because Barnsley is our home school, and I have two kids who attend. Yes, it is a pretty solidly middle-class area. And, Barnsley is a FABULOUS school. The principal is great. The teachers (most of them) really care about the students, and want them to do well. There is an active PTA, and they sponsor some great, well-attended family events throughout the year. The Spooktacular at Halloween is tons of fun for the kids. Last month was our Bingo Night, and it was PACKED. They do a Science Fair/Math Nigh/Reading Night, etc.

I don't know what the PPs objection is to Barnsley. Maybe the other PP is right, that she feels that the FARMS rate is too high? Well, she's entitled to that opinion, but I'll give my point of view. I have volunteered at the school for years, and can tell you that the kids are (for the most part) pretty great kids. You know those 'poor brown children' (not my words!).... well, their parents understand that their kids' key to success is their education. And, most of them REALLY want their kids to do well. They show respect for the teachers, and there is none of the 'entitled parent/student' mentality that I often hear about from teachers in other areas of the county.

And, we're not a Title 1 school, but my DD's Kindergarten class last year had 18 students. My DD came home learning sign language because Barnsley has the Deaf Program, and she has picked up tons of Spanish from those 'brown kids' (again, NOT my description).

I just wanted to post in case someone else comes across this thread and sees the PP bashing Barnsley. I have no problem with posters complaining about a school where their child attends. But, if PPs child doesn't even attend Barnsley, how can she bad mouth it?

Thanks for posting this PP. (I'm the one who said it's a solid middle-class area) I went to Barnsley, and my parents still live in the same house I grew up in - I have not seen a demographic shift from when I went there, so I was surprised that it's considered "poor" or "bad." Glad to hear it's still a nice place!

[Anonymous]

'Yes, they are the worst schools in their own cluster areas. The middle school magnets are all awful middle schools."

I think there are very few who would put College Gardens below Twinbrook in terms of the cluster. College Gardens got the Chinese Immersion magnet because it worked well with the IB program and the school was being rebuilt to allow extra space. It is also fairly centrally located.

But..a HGC magnet will bring up test scores more then a language magnet so that might be more of a factor in those cases.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to 14:04 for standing up for Barnsley. I have heard very posituve things about Barnsley - and to be honest, I would welcome the increased diversity that Barnsley has to offer over our WJ cluster ES (but I prefer my commute from the WJ cluster).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every HGC and Magnet are in poor performing schools. It keeps their tests levels up. You don't have to be a rocket science to figure that out.

Every HGC and magnet? Including the ones at Poolesville HS, Clearspring ES, College Gardens ES, Chevy Chase ES, Cold Spring ES, and Potomac ES? How about that.

Yes, they are the worst schools in their own cluster areas. The middle school magnets are all awful middle schools.

Bullshit. Cold spring non-Hgc is an excellent school with great teachers. Check your data before spouting off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every HGC and Magnet are in poor performing schools. It keeps their tests levels up. You don't have to be a rocket science to figure that out.

Every HGC and magnet? Including the ones at Poolesville HS, Clearspring ES, College Gardens ES, Chevy Chase ES, Cold Spring ES, and Potomac ES? How about that.

Yes, they are the worst schools in their own cluster areas. The middle school magnets are all awful middle schools.

Bullshit. Cold spring non-Hgc is an excellent school with great teachers. Check your data before spouting off.

No doubt, I suspect CS and CCES serve a core population that is very strong academically (but admittedly, also not very diverse in terms of SES) I'd ignore the negative "rocket science" comment, clearly uniformed, not worth your time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Which just shows that 50% are not in the top of their class and can not get into Magnet. This is another reason the OP should not leave private. She obviously felt Barnsley was not a good fit for k-3rd. So why risk the chance of going to their middle school if they do not get accepted to Magnet after HGC. More people apply and want Magnet than HGC and parents are shocked when they realize their kids weren't the most desirable. If I had the money for private and lived in the Barnsley neighborhood, I would never go public. But that is just my opinion.

I just looked up where Barnsley is. Now I understand the objection to Barnsley -- it's the "poor brown children = bad school" idea.

Really? That's a pretty solid middle-class area.

No offense but if it is a solid middle school area why is the FARMS and ESOL so high? Sounds like some middle class and a lot of poverty to me.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the numbers are..but my child got a great education there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Which just shows that 50% are not in the top of their class and can not get into Magnet. This is another reason the OP should not leave private. She obviously felt Barnsley was not a good fit for k-3rd. So why risk the chance of going to their middle school if they do not get accepted to Magnet after HGC. More people apply and want Magnet than HGC and parents are shocked when they realize their kids weren't the most desirable. If I had the money for private and lived in the Barnsley neighborhood, I would never go public. But that is just my opinion.

I just looked up where Barnsley is. Now I understand the objection to Barnsley -- it's the "poor brown children = bad school" idea.

Really? That's a pretty solid middle-class area.

No offense but if it is a solid middle school area why is the FARMS and ESOL so high? Sounds like some middle class and a lot of poverty to me.

28% FARMS and 13% ESOL is not "so high". MCPS as a whole is 33% FARMS and 13% ESOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Which just shows that 50% are not in the top of their class and can not get into Magnet. This is another reason the OP should not leave private. She obviously felt Barnsley was not a good fit for k-3rd. So why risk the chance of going to their middle school if they do not get accepted to Magnet after HGC. More people apply and want Magnet than HGC and parents are shocked when they realize their kids weren't the most desirable. If I had the money for private and lived in the Barnsley neighborhood, I would never go public. But that is just my opinion.

I just looked up where Barnsley is. Now I understand the objection to Barnsley -- it's the "poor brown children = bad school" idea.

Really? That's a pretty solid middle-class area.

No offense but if it is a solid middle school area why is the FARMS and ESOL so high? Sounds like some middle class and a lot of poverty to me.

I went to a MCPS high school that was VERY diverse in terms of SES and race/ethnicity and got a great education. Most of kids that were in my classes are doctors, lawyers, PhDs. The school wasn't even in the top half of all MCPS in terms of average test scores. .

I also went to an elementary school in another state where at least 1/3 of the class that were ESOL - they were pulled out for support during parts of the day, the bright kids were also pulled out for parts of the day. The presence of ESOL kids had NO negative impact on my education and if anything, we had a positive impact on theirs.

Just because FARMS and ESOL kids are present at a school, it doesn't mean there aren't good teachers and bright students.

[Anonymous]

PP here - I'd also add that having such diversity at my schools was a huge benefit to me and shaped me into the person I am today.

[Anonymous]

I've been reluctant to post because I am not sure how much things have changed at Barnsley since the introduction of C2.0 but I wanted to weigh in given some of the negative comments about the school. My child attended the HGC for a couple of years and is now in a middle school magnet. We were VERY happy. We loved the school, the teachers and the families. The principal prioritizes the social and emotional development of the children. There were only a couple of bullying incidents while he was there and the principal was really proactive and dealt with it immediately and effectively. He worked very hard to make sure the children knew they had to be nice to each other and that being mean or exclusionary was unacceptable. The social environment was much healthier than the one at our Bethesda area ES.
We liked the curriculum. As far as the kids are concerned, my impression is that in the HGCs the children are bright but they are not necessarily hard-working. In the middle school magnets, the kids are typically both bright and hard-working. I think it is easier to identify these children in fifth grade than in second grade. In second grade, you are able to identify potential better than capability. So, the middle school magnet program seems more rigorous and challenging than the HGC in our experience. I thought it would just be a sixth grade version of what he had in the HGC but it really seems more intense and challenging (in the best possible way). FYI last year, the acceptance rates for Eastern and Takoma Park were around 12%- not sure about this year. So, although there are plenty of bright children who do not apply, they are pretty selective. I am not sure which private school the OP is considering but from what I've heard anecdotally, the MCPS HGC and Middle school magnet programs are better than the vast majority of private schools. If the OP's child is attending one of the National Cathedral schools or Sidwell, I would buy his/her claim.

[Anonymous]

Eastern this year had around 500 applicants (maybe 530 or so?) for 100 spots. But they admit more than 100 for those spots. So it's around 20%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been reluctant to post because I am not sure how much things have changed at Barnsley since the introduction of C2.0 but I wanted to weigh in given some of the negative comments about the school. My child attended the HGC for a couple of years and is now in a middle school magnet. We were VERY happy. We loved the school, the teachers and the families. The principal prioritizes the social and emotional development of the children. There were only a couple of bullying incidents while he was there and the principal was really proactive and dealt with it immediately and effectively. He worked very hard to make sure the children knew they had to be nice to each other and that being mean or exclusionary was unacceptable. The social environment was much healthier than the one at our Bethesda area ES.
We liked the curriculum. As far as the kids are concerned, my impression is that in the HGCs the children are bright but they are not necessarily hard-working. In the middle school magnets, the kids are typically both bright and hard-working. I think it is easier to identify these children in fifth grade than in second grade. In second grade, you are able to identify potential better than capability. So, the middle school magnet program seems more rigorous and challenging than the HGC in our experience. I thought it would just be a sixth grade version of what he had in the HGC but it really seems more intense and challenging (in the best possible way). FYI last year, the acceptance rates for Eastern and Takoma Park were around 12%- not sure about this year. So, although there are plenty of bright children who do not apply, they are pretty selective. I am not sure which private school the OP is considering but from what I've heard anecdotally, the MCPS HGC and Middle school magnet programs are better than the vast majority of private schools. If the OP's child is attending one of the National Cathedral schools or Sidwell, I would buy his/her claim.

Unfortunately, heard negatives about Barnsley HGC post 2.0 and post ES/P/I grading system, especially 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been reluctant to post because I am not sure how much things have changed at Barnsley since the introduction of C2.0 but I wanted to weigh in given some of the negative comments about the school. My child attended the HGC for a couple of years and is now in a middle school magnet. We were VERY happy. We loved the school, the teachers and the families. The principal prioritizes the social and emotional development of the children. There were only a couple of bullying incidents while he was there and the principal was really proactive and dealt with it immediately and effectively. He worked very hard to make sure the children knew they had to be nice to each other and that being mean or exclusionary was unacceptable. The social environment was much healthier than the one at our Bethesda area ES.
We liked the curriculum. As far as the kids are concerned, my impression is that in the HGCs the children are bright but they are not necessarily hard-working. In the middle school magnets, the kids are typically both bright and hard-working. I think it is easier to identify these children in fifth grade than in second grade. In second grade, you are able to identify potential better than capability. So, the middle school magnet program seems more rigorous and challenging than the HGC in our experience. I thought it would just be a sixth grade version of what he had in the HGC but it really seems more intense and challenging (in the best possible way). FYI last year, the acceptance rates for Eastern and Takoma Park were around 12%- not sure about this year. So, although there are plenty of bright children who do not apply, they are pretty selective. I am not sure which private school the OP is considering but from what I've heard anecdotally, the MCPS HGC and Middle school magnet programs are better than the vast majority of private schools. If the OP's child is attending one of the National Cathedral schools or Sidwell, I would buy his/her claim.

Unfortunately, heard negatives about Barnsley HGC post 2.0 and post ES/P/I grading system, especially 5th grade.

We'll probably send DS anyway because everyone's experience ends up being different (and can go back to home school if doesn't work out).