Anyone regret sending their kids to public school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every one talks about the "very gifted" being shafted in MCPS because of the "fit the mold" approach, but what about the Highly Gifted schools like Barnsley? If your kid is truly as gifted as advertised, they could get into Barnsley. My question is whether Barnsley is any different from the "neighborhood" school?

The problem is, there aren't enough highly gifted (grades 4-5) and magnet programs (MS and HS) for all the talented and deserving kids in MoCo. The programs that exist are great. But we know tons of kids just as talented as our own, who didn't get in while ours did. MoCo isn't really committed to the magnets either, and keeps talking about cutting funding for things like special buses for magnet kids (as well as for other special needs kids). In fact it's a bit hard to tell if the threat to cut bussing is a bargaining ploy, but in any event the magnet teachers are always being told to take on more duties, and it's unlikely MoCo will expand the magnet system to accommodate all the highly gifted kids.

[Anonymous]

15:46 - so, what I hear you saying is, if my child is lucky enough to get into a magnet school, for the time being prior to any possible budget cuts, all the above problems are non-existent? Is that right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:46 - so, what I hear you saying is, if my child is lucky enough to get into a magnet school, for the time being prior to any possible budget cuts, all the above problems are non-existent? Is that right?

I think that's about right. With the caveat that the magnets can be sharply focussed on a particular subject area, and if your kid isn't so much into science, for example, then the magnet would probably be a bad fit. At the MS and HS levels, the various magnets are focussed on either "communication arts" or math/sciences, with the addition of the Richard Montgomery IB program at HS level. Our experience with MS and HS magnets is that, in addition to the magnet classes (in either math/science or communications), your kid is automatically put into the school's "honors" classes in the remaining subject areas (so in honors social studies and english for the communications magnets). The CAP magnet and RM IB program both seem fairly well-rounded. So if your kid is the "well rounded" type, then CAP or the RM IB would seem to be better fits then the very intense science magnet at Blair. But again, admission is not guaranteed, and I can think of kids who probably should have gotten in before ours did (although who knows how they did on the admissions tests, it's really hard to say).

[Anonymous]

OP jumping in again. Some PP have mentioned changing schools from public to private later on after giving public a chance? How long do you give it a chance? Everybody in our neighborhood is pleased with the public ES, but I sometimes sense for most people there is no other option. A neighbor in 3rd grade today was saying he didn't ever want to go to school again. I remember "hating" school- but not until 8th grade or so. NEVER in the early grades. Its also his first year of Testing. I wonder if that is playing a role.
When I was a kid, you went to your neighborhood school and that was that. This is so confusing and ridiculously difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP jumping in again. Some PP have mentioned changing schools from public to private later on after giving public a chance? How long do you give it a chance? Everybody in our neighborhood is pleased with the public ES, but I sometimes sense for most people there is no other option. A neighbor in 3rd grade today was saying he didn't ever want to go to school again. I remember "hating" school- but not until 8th grade or so. NEVER in the early grades. Its also his first year of Testing. I wonder if that is playing a role.
When I was a kid, you went to your neighborhood school and that was that. This is so confusing and ridiculously difficult.

We gave it four years. In retrospect, we should have seen in that first year that public was never going to work. DC never loved school but really started to hate it about the same time that the standardized testing kicked in. The monotony was excruciating for him. As his grades were always good and test scores advanced, we figured that there really wasn't a problem and DC would get over it. He didn't. We were very worried that he would hate school forever after such a bad experience but I am happy to report that after switching to private, his love of school has returned.

Since everything has turned out OK in the end (or at least so far), I am thankful that we went to public first if only for the comparison of how much better things are now for DC.

[Anonymous]

PP, 4 years does seem like a long time. What was the breaking point? Did your child have trouble with the idea
of changing schools?

[Anonymous]

You can only make the best decision with the information you have in front of you. Children are resilient, and if a mistake is made and things are not going well, you CAN make other decisions. The more money you have, the easier that is, but NOTHING is set in stone.

[Anonymous]

PP, I agree. But it gets harder as time goes by to get into schools related to availability (lack of spaces).
It also might get harder for the child to adjust.

[Anonymous]

Yes, i regret sending my son to public middle school. He went to a good ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, 4 years does seem like a long time. What was the breaking point? Did your child have trouble with the idea
of changing schools?

Not the PP, but probably her child went to school K,1,2 and it was fine, but in third grade the MSA testing starts. It's not always this way, but in some schools, teachers and administrators get worried about whether all their children will be able to pass the MSA in November of third grade. it's a pretty low-level test of basic skills, so review for this test can be kind of mind numbingly boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People -- please complain! If you are unhappy with what is going on in MD public schools -- let your elected officials know.

Our public officials would never want to rock the boat. After all the schools in MoCo are one of the best in the country and they make our public officials look good.

If money was not a problem I would love to send my children to private schools.

[Anonymous]

I feel sick to my stomach. We were under the impression that MCPS were top notch not just because test scores. My 3 year old seems advanced based on her verbal and cognitive skills to date--should I assume she will be bored by the curriculum as it is taught? We can't afford private school. What can I do?

[Anonymous]

22:31 if there is one thing I've learned about MCPS is that there are a TON of advanced kids. We are just getting started so I can't comment on the issues others pointed out with 3rd grade on up. My DC came in to K way way ahead and no, he has not been bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22:31 if there is one thing I've learned about MCPS is that there are a TON of advanced kids. We are just getting started so I can't comment on the issues others pointed out with 3rd grade on up. My DC came in to K way way ahead and no, he has not been bored.

Tell that to my mom who thinks dd is a "genius" . Thank you for telling me your ds isn't bored in K. I do know dd won't be the only smart one, but there's always something to worry about. I never even questioned MCPS until I saw this thread.

[Anonymous]

Interesting thing about it is that it totally illustrates the contrasting views on our schools. One one hand there are parents complaining that K is too rigorous and on the other hand other parents worried that it won't be challenging enough.

We are partway through K with my child and honestly I am torn as well. My child was probably reading at 3rd grade level before school started. He loves school yet I am not sure how much academically he has learned. Yet socially and emotionally he has learned a ton. Am I happy with MCPS? Yes. Do I wish he was able to learn more there? Yes.