Bethesda/South Kensington Public Schools: Need a Lay of the Land!

[Anonymous]

Someone who is willing to ridicule others should be willing to take it, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The part of Silver Spring, near Chevy Chase was very different.

Thank you for answering, PP.

I wasn’t asking because it’s “Silver Spring”, or because of diversity, or because of the demographics (I’m from Brooklyn for Gods sake!). The reason I asked was purely due to DISTANCE.

I know that most kids down in this area usually live within a mile or so from their home elementary schools.
We live almost 4 miles from Rosemary Hills and 1/4 of a mile from NCC.

I didn’t understand why the majority of kids in this area live within a mile or even two tops from their home elementary school, but my kids were on the bus for a half an hour on the low side and sometimes 45 minutes to an hour on the long side.

I never asked because its what our home was zoned for — I never asked because it is what it is.
I had to take a subway to get to my school, so I didn’t really question a long school bus ride or why things were set up this way... that is until I learned how much closer the majority of other kids in this area live to their home elementary.

Also, we weren’t going to send my kids to private over a long bus ride, so I just accepted it for what it was.
I couldn’t change it, so why make a huge issue about it?

Apparently because I didn’t find out the entire history on my child’s elementary school, I am now not to be believed...

Thanks for jumping down my throat though, your patience and understanding is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of history involved. The split has been there for many years, including when some of us were kids and did it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a lot of history involved. The split has been there for many years, including when some of us were kids and did it.

Of course I can Google the info, but I'd much rather hear it from someone who has first hand experience going through it.

I've never heard of kids attending one school for the first 3 years and then to another for the remainder of elementary
Why not just make RH the main elementary school instead of the split?

What did the split time between schools accomplish?

I naively assumed it was due to over population, like you hear so often in MCPS elementary's, but there seems to be much more of an intentional agenda at play here.

My kids loved RH (with the exception of the long bus ride) and it was an adjustment for them starting a new school in the middle of elementary.

I would have much rather had them either attend RH for the entirety of elementary or NCC for the entirety, as they seemed to have a hard time in the beginning with the adjustment to a new school... much more so than had they stayed put at one or the other, I believe.

The biggest thing that bothered them by far was losing some very close, dear friends when they transitioned to NCC.

We obviously still keep in touch with them, but it's not the same as knowing that you'll be able to see your very best friends every day at school.

I was just looking for some clarification.

[Anonymous]

That should have said:

My kids loved RH (with the exception of the long bus ride) and it was a disruptive and hard adjustment for them having to start a whole new school in the middle of elementary.

[Anonymous]

RH/NCC/CC are not the only paired schools in the county, though they may be the only ones where kids split in 3rd to two different schools. There are other K-2/3-5 paired schools like TPES is K-2, I forget the paired 3-5 maybe Pine Crest? There’s another pair in SS with New Hampshire Estates/Oak View. It was part of a conscious attempt to desegregate.

I went to RH/NCC from Kensington where I was very close to neither. I had no issues with it as a kid, but as an adult the negatives are clearer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:RH/NCC/CC are not the only paired schools in the county, though they may be the only ones where kids split in 3rd to two different schools. There are other K-2/3-5 paired schools like TPES is K-2, I forget the paired 3-5 maybe Pine Crest? There’s another pair in SS with New Hampshire Estates/Oak View. It was part of a conscious attempt to desegregate.

I went to RH/NCC from Kensington where I was very close to neither. I had no issues with it as a kid, but as an adult the negatives are clearer.

Correct. These are the other paired schools:

Takoma Park/Piney Branch
Montgomery Knolls/Pine Crest
New Hampshire Estates/Oak View
Bel Pre/Strathmore
Roscoe Nix/Cresthaven

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RH/NCC/CC are not the only paired schools in the county, though they may be the only ones where kids split in 3rd to two different schools. There are other K-2/3-5 paired schools like TPES is K-2, I forget the paired 3-5 maybe Pine Crest? There’s another pair in SS with New Hampshire Estates/Oak View. It was part of a conscious attempt to desegregate.

I went to RH/NCC from Kensington where I was very close to neither. I had no issues with it as a kid, but as an adult the negatives are clearer.

Correct. These are the other paired schools:

Takoma Park/Piney Branch
Montgomery Knolls/Pine Crest
New Hampshire Estates/Oak View
Bel Pre/Strathmore
Roscoe Nix/Cresthaven

I had no idea so many schools in MCPS were paired, thanks for the info.

So, I have another question...

Coming from Brooklyn, it's obviously a gigantic melting pot where our classmates (starting from toddlers in pre-school) are of every single race, religion, creed, belief, nationality and sexual orientation that you can think of, so the concept of still having some schools being majorly segregated (or the fact that we even need paired schools to desegregate them) in the year 2020 is both mind boggling and absolutely heart breaking to me.

My question is this -- do paired schools actually accomplish what they were meant to, if the kids are only attending from K - 3rd?

It just seems to me that desegregating schools for K-3rd wouldn't really have the long term, in depth, positive affects that this program was created for, because they're so young when this is occurring.

Wouldn't it be better to have this program in middle school and high school also?
Or do the kids that live in Silver Spring that went to RH with my kids (but don't go to either NCC or CC after 3rd) all end up in the same high school together anyway?

Apologies if I just answered my own question, as my kids are all still in elementary and I obviously don't know as many of the details as I should about this program yet.

Any info or opinions are greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RH/NCC/CC are not the only paired schools in the county, though they may be the only ones where kids split in 3rd to two different schools. There are other K-2/3-5 paired schools like TPES is K-2, I forget the paired 3-5 maybe Pine Crest? There’s another pair in SS with New Hampshire Estates/Oak View. It was part of a conscious attempt to desegregate.

I went to RH/NCC from Kensington where I was very close to neither. I had no issues with it as a kid, but as an adult the negatives are clearer.

Correct. These are the other paired schools:

Takoma Park/Piney Branch
Montgomery Knolls/Pine Crest
New Hampshire Estates/Oak View
Bel Pre/Strathmore
Roscoe Nix/Cresthaven

I had no idea so many schools in MCPS were paired, thanks for the info.

So, I have another question...

Coming from Brooklyn, it's obviously a gigantic melting pot where our classmates (starting from toddlers in pre-school) are of every single race, religion, creed, belief, nationality and sexual orientation that you can think of, so the concept of still having some schools being majorly segregated (or the fact that we even need paired schools to desegregate them) in the year 2020 is both mind boggling and absolutely heart breaking to me.

My question is this -- do paired schools actually accomplish what they were meant to, if the kids are only attending from K - 3rd?

It just seems to me that desegregating schools for K-3rd wouldn't really have the long term, in depth, positive affects that this program was created for, because they're so young when this is occurring.

Wouldn't it be better to have this program in middle school and high school also?
Or do the kids that live in Silver Spring that went to RH with my kids (but don't go to either NCC or CC after 3rd) all end up in the same high school together anyway?

Apologies if I just answered my own question, as my kids are all still in elementary and I obviously don't know as many of the details as I should about this program yet.

Any info or opinions are greatly appreciated!

If they went to RH, then they would have gone on to NCC or CC also, and then they'd all go to Silver Creek and B-CC together. (Barring any transferring, magnet programs, etc.)

[Anonymous]

All the kids who go to RH go to either CC or NCC for 3-5 (unless they move or go to private school, etc). And then yes, they are assigned to the same MS and HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RH/NCC/CC are not the only paired schools in the county, though they may be the only ones where kids split in 3rd to two different schools. There are other K-2/3-5 paired schools like TPES is K-2, I forget the paired 3-5 maybe Pine Crest? There’s another pair in SS with New Hampshire Estates/Oak View. It was part of a conscious attempt to desegregate.

I went to RH/NCC from Kensington where I was very close to neither. I had no issues with it as a kid, but as an adult the negatives are clearer.

Correct. These are the other paired schools:

Takoma Park/Piney Branch
Montgomery Knolls/Pine Crest
New Hampshire Estates/Oak View
Bel Pre/Strathmore
Roscoe Nix/Cresthaven

I had no idea so many schools in MCPS were paired, thanks for the info.

So, I have another question...

Coming from Brooklyn, it's obviously a gigantic melting pot where our classmates (starting from toddlers in pre-school) are of every single race, religion, creed, belief, nationality and sexual orientation that you can think of, so the concept of still having some schools being majorly segregated (or the fact that we even need paired schools to desegregate them) in the year 2020 is both mind boggling and absolutely heart breaking to me.

My question is this -- do paired schools actually accomplish what they were meant to, if the kids are only attending from K - 3rd?

It just seems to me that desegregating schools for K-3rd wouldn't really have the long term, in depth, positive affects that this program was created for, because they're so young when this is occurring.

Wouldn't it be better to have this program in middle school and high school also?
Or do the kids that live in Silver Spring that went to RH with my kids (but don't go to either NCC or CC after 3rd) all end up in the same high school together anyway?

Apologies if I just answered my own question, as my kids are all still in elementary and I obviously don't know as many of the details as I should about this program yet.

Any info or opinions are greatly appreciated!

My friends who live in Brooklyn (Park Slope) have said the schools are definitely segregated because boundaries are based on your home location — and housing is segregated there (as it is in most other cities). Is it just by friends’ school that is like that? Are other parts of Brooklyn mixed income, so that people without means live near people who are upper middle class?

But back to MCPS—the schools are desegregated well beyond K-2. They are throughout elementary school (the point is to use busing in both the first and second schools to achieve diversity). And in the one that I know — RHES to NCC/CCES — it is beyond that too because the diversity is maintained in middle school and at BCC (though BCC also pups schools in Bethesda, so it is not as diverse as ES and MS).

[Anonymous]

Got it, thanks!

Bear with me here, but I thought that the point of pairing Chevy Chase schools with a school in Silver Spring, was in fact to desegregate those two schools and add more diversity to them?

I would have hought that in addition to the kids from NCC & CC, MCPS would also have included kids from other parts of Silver Spring that are farther away?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't the area around RH/Woodside JUST as white as where we are (off of Jones Bridge Rd)?

If this program was created to desegregate in the first place, why isn't MCPS drawing/bussing kids from elementary's that are further into Silver Spring to attend RH and NCC/CC also?

I apologize if I'm failing to see the big picture here, but it seems to me that if you're going to go through all of the trouble of having your entire student body change schools midway through elementary school, shouldn't a far greater effort have been made to TRULY desegregate and increase the diversity?

Please tell me if I'm missing something here, because it almost looks like a bait and switch occurred?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Got it, thanks!

Bear with me here, but I thought that the point of pairing Chevy Chase schools with a school in Silver Spring, was in fact to desegregate those two schools and add more diversity to them?

I would have hought that in addition to the kids from NCC & CC, MCPS would also have included kids from other parts of Silver Spring that are farther away?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't the area around RH/Woodside JUST as white as where we are (off of Jones Bridge Rd)?

If this program was created to desegregate in the first place, why isn't MCPS drawing/bussing kids from elementary's that are further into Silver Spring to attend RH and NCC/CC also?

I apologize if I'm failing to see the big picture here, but it seems to me that if you're going to go through all of the trouble of having your entire student body change schools midway through elementary school, shouldn't a far greater effort have been made to TRULY desegregate and increase the diversity?

Please tell me if I'm missing something here, because it almost looks like a bait and switch occurred?

All this was a long time ago. From the one Post article from 1983 that's on its website, the split articulation was first put into place around 1976, was reversed in 1981, and then was put back into place in 1983 (including NCC). Not clear whether NCC was involved in the original split articulation. You'd have to look at what happened with NCC/CC/RH in the context of desegregation efforts generally to decide whether this was symbolic, or as much as could be accomplished in the face of opposition from some quarters, or something else. Busing, for lack of a better term, is no less controversial today. I'm not making a political judgment here, I'm just saying it's still very controversial. Personally, I'm surprised that the split articulation has lasted as long as it did, and perhaps here, as may be in other cases in MoCo, justifications other than diversity are used to support its continuance. But I'm not surprised at all that it is not more extensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Got it, thanks!

Bear with me here, but I thought that the point of pairing Chevy Chase schools with a school in Silver Spring, was in fact to desegregate those two schools and add more diversity to them?

I would have hought that in addition to the kids from NCC & CC, MCPS would also have included kids from other parts of Silver Spring that are farther away?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't the area around RH/Woodside JUST as white as where we are (off of Jones Bridge Rd)?

If this program was created to desegregate in the first place, why isn't MCPS drawing/bussing kids from elementary's that are further into Silver Spring to attend RH and NCC/CC also?

I apologize if I'm failing to see the big picture here, but it seems to me that if you're going to go through all of the trouble of having your entire student body change schools midway through elementary school, shouldn't a far greater effort have been made to TRULY desegregate and increase the diversity?

Please tell me if I'm missing something here, because it almost looks like a bait and switch occurred?

I wouldn't think so. Those areas are more diverse. Read about the history of Lyttonsville: https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/neighborhood-profile-lyttonsville/2012/07/25/gJQAfgNICX_story.html

[Anonymous]

The RHES boundary includes several large apartment buildings that have low-income families in them of a wide range of racial and ethnic background. Most of these are close to the school.