Is there a way to get my son into a school other than our assigned ES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m familiar with Weller Road.

It’s 83% Hispanic, 7% Black, and less than 5% white. It’s not a diverse school; it’s a school where nearly the entire student body and staff speak Spanish. I can’t think of another school like it.

How do I know it? I grew up nearby and still cut through the neighborhood when visiting my parents.

And—here’s the kicker—my neighbor’s Latina nanny lives in that school district and uses her employer’s (my neighbor’s) address to send her kids to school in our area. Why? Her words: “Because I don’t want my kids going to a Spanish school. I want them to be around other kids.”

I’m curious where you’re renting, OP? Have you researched the local area at all?

BTW, it’s literally the COVID hot spot: 20906.



Um...that's because of the multitude of nursing homes and rehab hospitals in 20906. BTW, the numbers of new positive has slowed way down the past three weeks.

If you have questions, I’m happy to answer.

Ha! that is such a good point. I (happily) live in 20906 and it didn't even click for me that those numbers are probably largely driven by Leisure World...of course that makes sense though,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m familiar with Weller Road.

It’s 83% Hispanic, 7% Black, and less than 5% white. It’s not a diverse school; it’s a school where nearly the entire student body and staff speak Spanish. I can’t think of another school like it.

How do I know it? I grew up nearby and still cut through the neighborhood when visiting my parents.

And—here’s the kicker—my neighbor’s Latina nanny lives in that school district and uses her employer’s (my neighbor’s) address to send her kids to school in our area. Why? Her words: “Because I don’t want my kids going to a Spanish school. I want them to be around other kids.”

I’m curious where you’re renting, OP? Have you researched the local area at all?

BTW, it’s literally the COVID hot spot: 20906.

If you have questions, I’m happy to answer.

Lol, "I grew up nearby" now means you know a school really well? Let me tell you all about Woodfield ES. I attended there 35 years ago. There's a really mean kindergarten teacher that tells at kids who won't go to sleep during naptime. Did you even actually go to Weller Road?

20906 had the most cases of COVID in Maryland early on. Its also the most populous zip code in Maryland. The rate of COVID wasn't any higher than most places--I think we all know that higher density areas are going to have more cases.

I find it sad, but predictable, that your neighbor's nanny (wow, there's a close connection to you--I'm sure you had many deep conversations with her about this and why she doesn't send them to WRES) doesnt want her kids attending a majority Hispanic school. I see similar thoughts in some of my Hispanic family members. They believe that the "white schools" get more because they know that most people hate Hispanic people like them. And since Hispanic parents are so focused on education--many risked life and limb to get their kids to this country for the purpose of education--they're trying to put them where they believe is "the best" education. Which society tells them is white.

At the risk of outing myself, yes, I have had many deep conversations with my neighbor’s nanny. We both wait at the same bus stop each morning and afternoon, and we have kids that are the same age that play together. I’ve been friends with this woman for nearly 10 years. And, yes, she was rather candid when explaining why she didn’t want her Latino kids going to a school in her nearly 100% Latino neighborhood. In short: the school isn’t diverse, Spanish is spoken all day long (and she wants her kids to learn perfect English), and she wants her kids surrounded by more affluent kids more likely to pursue college.

Unless your kid attends Weller Road—which is not your average Title I school given the predominance of Latinos—I cant imagine why you feel like you have better info.

When I cut through Weller Road 3-5 times a week, I see who lives there and what messages are posted on the school sign—almost exclusively in Spanish.

I can also report the sad state of local shopping centers.

Since my folks live in the same zip code, I’m tracking the COVID numbers which are dramatically high. Google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m familiar with Weller Road.

It’s 83% Hispanic, 7% Black, and less than 5% white. It’s not a diverse school; it’s a school where nearly the entire student body and staff speak Spanish. I can’t think of another school like it.

How do I know it? I grew up nearby and still cut through the neighborhood when visiting my parents.

And—here’s the kicker—my neighbor’s Latina nanny lives in that school district and uses her employer’s (my neighbor’s) address to send her kids to school in our area. Why? Her words: “Because I don’t want my kids going to a Spanish school. I want them to be around other kids.”

I’m curious where you’re renting, OP? Have you researched the local area at all?

BTW, it’s literally the COVID hot spot: 20906.

20906 is huge, and not all neighborhoods feed into Weller Rd. Where do your kids go to elementary school?

20906 also has an over-abundance of garden apartments that have been labeled hot spots for crime by local law enforcement (prompting federal grant dollars to address the crime specific to Hewitt).


Um...that's because of the multitude of nursing homes and rehab hospitals in 20906. BTW, the numbers of new positive has slowed way down the past three weeks.

If you have questions, I’m happy to answer.

Ha! that is such a good point. I (happily) live in 20906 and it didn't even click for me that those numbers are probably largely driven by Leisure World...of course that makes sense though,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My next door neighbor is a teacher at Weller Rd. Distance learning has been a struggle. Out of her class is 18, she said she was lucky if 5 kids logged on. They got the kids chrome books and hot spots. They send home information in Spanish how to log in. What they didn’t count on was the adults in the home not being able to read Spanish.

Interesting that they didn't count on that. It's a well-known issue that many in the Latinx population do not have literacy in Spanish and may not speak Spanish at all (they speak indigenous languages). That's part of why the term "Hispanic" is often not accurate, since it means Spanish-speaking and therefore excludes people who speak indigenous languages as well as Portuguese and French.

That's not what the pp meant. She means they don't know how to read-at all. In any language. A known problem in poorer communities as a whole and even more so for families who recently immigrated from very poor countries.

I grew up in an area such as that and the high school I attended offered free English classes for parents of students in the school district. They were always full.

This.

The neighborhood that feeds into Weller Road is generally filled with recent immigrants, not second or third generation more affluent and bilingual Latinos. The average English-speaking person simply wont fit in. No play dates or birthday parties. No welcome wagon. And very little English if any in the cafeteria or playground.

The school’s demographics are online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, not what I was expecting when I clicked this thread.

I teach at Weller Road. I had all of my students eventually get online for distance learning. There were a lot of issues because we ran out of chromebooks to distribute, and hotspots for wifi, and had to get more, which was a ridiculous process. Also, we had many students with both parents still working, so they ended up with babysitters who were juggling multiple students. Technology was difficult for everyone, even with my own children.

I had a few, but not that many, parents unable to read any language. The bigger problems were parents who had not gone to school in the US and came from cultures that treated parents differently in school. For example, in some countries, especially in central America, teachers are the boss and parents are not welcome to "interfere." The school is majority Hispanic and there are very few white students. High ESOL, but ESOL does not mean "speaks no English." I've had many students that I was surprised were still in ESOL.

We have a high allocation for ESOL and special ed teachers, so lots of supports and co-teaching. We also have an elementary talent coach, who works with enrichment for high students in the primary grades. Classes are small, like 14-17 students each. Before distance learning, I met with every student for guided reading every day.

Is it perfect? No. The students face many challenges. But they work hard. Their parents are mostly as involved as their situation allows. Bullying is an issue in the way that it seems to be in most schools. Isolated incidents that are dealt with, but I dont see a widespread culture of it. OP, if you are moving from CA for work and renting only for a year out of convenience, (rather than out of necessity) then you will likely find that your children are different than the typical WR student. But that doesnt mean they won't have any friends or be able to form meaningful relationships during this experience.

As far as options for different schools.. the immersion lottery has already happened. If your DC is entering 4th grade, testing for the Center for Enriched Studies happened in February, but it's possible to inquire about testing over the summer. The best scenario would be getting into the wait pool, but the wait pool is not a list. Students are pulled from it at random, so your DC would have as equal a shot as any other student admitted to the pool.

Finally, it's interesting that everyone assumes OP is white.

Unless you are a parent of a non-Spanish speaking kid at a title I school, you really aren’t equipped to say how a kid will fit in or what his experience will be. You aren’t out on the playground at recess. You have no clue about play dates or sports or birthday parties and if the English speaking kid is included. You can’t say if the parents will be able to make friends with parents at school.

And I hope you realize that the demographics at Weller Road are dramatically different from other title I schools which are more diverse and not skewed heavily to Spanish speakers.

[Anonymous]

I have friends who are white who sent their daughter to a school with similar demographics. They chose to put their daughter in this school because it was also the site of the county’s (they live in another state) Spanish immersion magnet and their daughter was already fluent in Spanish from attending a bi-lingual Montessori school.

They transferred out mid-year because it was hell on earth for their daughter. She had no friends, was horribly bullied (including being openly made fun of for being white), and was assaulted by the other children. She is a nice, sweet girl who was fluent in Spanish and she could not make inroads at all.

Of course this is just one anecdote and it wasn’t at Weller Road, but, I think that teacher who posted about how great it would be for OP’s kid to go there was full of crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP any ES school you attend in MD is going to be a 200% improvement on any public ES in the whole of CA.

I know, my kids attended in the top Santa Monica / Malibu district schools for early ES and we moved here for 3rd grade.

Its a whole universe away from that over here. Not least because the taxes spent per kid in the schools are approximately $20,000 instead of just $5k like in CA

Do some people take a pledge of loyalty or something? "I solemnly swear I will acknowledge no overcrowding and underperforming and incapability to identify a reasonable curriculum. I will insist all of our problems are not similar to the problems of other school districts but insist ours our gold-plated and smell like unicorn farts..."

You're an idiot. In CA in the "top" ES there was no science curriculum, no PE teachers - so no PE. the school "foundation" had to raise money for these and for an art teacher who turned up once month in each classroom for an hour. ONCE PER MONTH. Dont' even ask about music education. None. Only after school classes you pay for.

Maybe. But I'm a idiot who is smarter than assuming just because i lived in whitest Malibu my schools reflect the best the state has to offer. Maybe you should have tried Palo Alto, a school district which is significantly better on general metrics than MoCo.

I think it is simply a statistic that the SMMU district is "top". I certainly could find no valid reason for that moniker. You really need to stop tripping over your own hang ups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have friends who are white who sent their daughter to a school with similar demographics. They chose to put their daughter in this school because it was also the site of the county’s (they live in another state) Spanish immersion magnet and their daughter was already fluent in Spanish from attending a bi-lingual Montessori school.

They transferred out mid-year because it was hell on earth for their daughter. She had no friends, was horribly bullied (including being openly made fun of for being white), and was assaulted by the other children. She is a nice, sweet girl who was fluent in Spanish and she could not make inroads at all.

Of course this is just one anecdote and it wasn’t at Weller Road, but, I think that teacher who posted about how great it would be for OP’s kid to go there was full of crap.

Teacher PP here. I didnt say it would great. I said it would be ok. I said OP's kids would likely be very different from the typical WR student. I said they could still have friends and form meaningful relationships.

You are giving an anecdote of a school that is NOT the school in question, but have decided that this anecdote is more relevant than my first hand experience of the actual school. Its laughable that another PP would suggest that I have no idea what happens on the playground or how students interact in or out of school. Do you understand how tied teachers are to the communities they serve, especially in Title I schools? And yes, I am aware that WR is different from other Title I schools. I am the only one posting here who has first hand experience at this school, but go ahead and pretend that you know more about it than I do.

OP, you're in the situation, so it's up to you to make the best of it. I cant promise your children will love WR and everything will be perfect. But, based on my experience and what I have seen, I dont think it will be the hell on earth that others have described. If you already have your lease signed and have documentation/proof of residence, you can enroll your children now and attend ELO SAIL, which is the summer school for Title I schools. It's a preview of the first quarter and would give you and your children a great opportunity to meet some teachers and students, get familiar with the curriculum, and maybe help help you decide if you need to make other school arrangements. It starts in 2 weeks, but since it's online, your kids could still participate even if you havent actually moved yet. There should be information on the school website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My next door neighbor is a teacher at Weller Rd. Distance learning has been a struggle. Out of her class is 18, she said she was lucky if 5 kids logged on. They got the kids chrome books and hot spots. They send home information in Spanish how to log in. What they didn’t count on was the adults in the home not being able to read Spanish.

Interesting that they didn't count on that. It's a well-known issue that many in the Latinx population do not have literacy in Spanish and may not speak Spanish at all (they speak indigenous languages). That's part of why the term "Hispanic" is often not accurate, since it means Spanish-speaking and therefore excludes people who speak indigenous languages as well as Portuguese and French.

That's not what the pp meant. She means they don't know how to read-at all. In any language. A known problem in poorer communities as a whole and even more so for families who recently immigrated from very poor countries.

I grew up in an area such as that and the high school I attended offered free English classes for parents of students in the school district. They were always full.

This.

The neighborhood that feeds into Weller Road is generally filled with recent immigrants, not second or third generation more affluent and bilingual Latinos. The average English-speaking person simply wont fit in. No play dates or birthday parties. No welcome wagon. And very little English if any in the cafeteria or playground.

The school’s demographics are online.

weller=Spanish immersion program

[Anonymous]

Unless you are a parent of a non-Spanish speaking kid at a title I school, you really aren’t equipped to say how a kid will fit in or what his experience will be. You aren’t out on the playground at recess.

NP. I am the parent of a non-Spanish speaking kid at a Title I school with a very small number of non-Hispanic white kids.

It's fine. Honestly. The kids speak English on the playground much more than you seem to assume they do. Birthday parties are HUGE deal and the whole class is invited. Honestly, the parties are much fancier and nicer than the ones I throw for my own kids, despite what I'm pretty sure is an income gap between my family and many of theirs.

Playdates are not common, but that's not because my child is being excluded - it is because they are culturally not really a thing if you are growing up surrounded by siblings and cousins. Like, playdates exist so that middle class white singletons and families with big age gaps can have age peers. If you have age peers across the hall or in the same home, they are unnecessary.

If OP's kid is in a younger grade, I'm sure it will be fine. I'd be a little more cautious about an older kid, but only because peer groups have hardened by that time and some of the higher performing kids have been pulled away to the CES program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Through legal means, no.

This is simply not true. You can request a different school if you meet established criteria.

Correct, but "I read on the internet that the school is majority Black/brown" is not one of the established criteria.

I mean, can you imagine the OP trying to fill out the COSA form and having that reviewed by the (majority Black) central office folks?

OP here- just going through the comments and my child is Black. I would love for him to go to a very diverse school. The issue I foresee is him not being able to communicate with peers like he would anywhere else. He is moving cross country (very hard for a sensitive 9 yr old) and doesn’t know anyone, the last thing I want is for him to not be able to make friends because the whole school speaks Spanish to one another at free times. The majority Spanish speaking schools in CA ARE like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Unless you are a parent of a non-Spanish speaking kid at a title I school, you really aren’t equipped to say how a kid will fit in or what his experience will be. You aren’t out on the playground at recess.

NP. I am the parent of a non-Spanish speaking kid at a Title I school with a very small number of non-Hispanic white kids.

It's fine. Honestly. The kids speak English on the playground much more than you seem to assume they do. Birthday parties are HUGE deal and the whole class is invited. Honestly, the parties are much fancier and nicer than the ones I throw for my own kids, despite what I'm pretty sure is an income gap between my family and many of theirs.

Playdates are not common, but that's not because my child is being excluded - it is because they are culturally not really a thing if you are growing up surrounded by siblings and cousins. Like, playdates exist so that middle class white singletons and families with big age gaps can have age peers. If you have age peers across the hall or in the same home, they are unnecessary.

If OP's kid is in a younger grade, I'm sure it will be fine. I'd be a little more cautious about an older kid, but only because peer groups have hardened by that time and some of the higher performing kids have been pulled away to the CES program.

Honestly curious: what was your motivation for sending your kid to this school? Was it out of necessity? Or did you want them to grow up "woke".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m familiar with Weller Road.

It’s 83% Hispanic, 7% Black, and less than 5% white. It’s not a diverse school; it’s a school where nearly the entire student body and staff speak Spanish. I can’t think of another school like it.

How do I know it? I grew up nearby and still cut through the neighborhood when visiting my parents.

And—here’s the kicker—my neighbor’s Latina nanny lives in that school district and uses her employer’s (my neighbor’s) address to send her kids to school in our area. Why? Her words: “Because I don’t want my kids going to a Spanish school. I want them to be around other kids.”

I’m curious where you’re renting, OP? Have you researched the local area at all?

BTW, it’s literally the COVID hot spot: 20906.

If you have questions, I’m happy to answer.

THANK YOU! So much for this info! It’s exactly what I was looking for someone who knows, to validate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Through legal means, no.

This is simply not true. You can request a different school if you meet established criteria.

Correct, but "I read on the internet that the school is majority Black/brown" is not one of the established criteria.

I mean, can you imagine the OP trying to fill out the COSA form and having that reviewed by the (majority Black) central office folks?

OP here- just going through the comments and my child is Black. I would love for him to go to a very diverse school. The issue I foresee is him not being able to communicate with peers like he would anywhere else. He is moving cross country (very hard for a sensitive 9 yr old) and doesn’t know anyone, the last thing I want is for him to not be able to make friends because the whole school speaks Spanish to one another at free times. The majority Spanish speaking schools in CA ARE like that.

I work at a demographically comparable school in another district and English dominates on the playground, even among kids who have parents who speak almost no English

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Unless you are a parent of a non-Spanish speaking kid at a title I school, you really aren’t equipped to say how a kid will fit in or what his experience will be. You aren’t out on the playground at recess.

NP. I am the parent of a non-Spanish speaking kid at a Title I school with a very small number of non-Hispanic white kids.

It's fine. Honestly. The kids speak English on the playground much more than you seem to assume they do. Birthday parties are HUGE deal and the whole class is invited. Honestly, the parties are much fancier and nicer than the ones I throw for my own kids, despite what I'm pretty sure is an income gap between my family and many of theirs.

Playdates are not common, but that's not because my child is being excluded - it is because they are culturally not really a thing if you are growing up surrounded by siblings and cousins. Like, playdates exist so that middle class white singletons and families with big age gaps can have age peers. If you have age peers across the hall or in the same home, they are unnecessary.

If OP's kid is in a younger grade, I'm sure it will be fine. I'd be a little more cautious about an older kid, but only because peer groups have hardened by that time and some of the higher performing kids have been pulled away to the CES program.

Honestly curious: what was your motivation for sending your kid to this school? Was it out of necessity? Or did you want them to grow up "woke".

It was meant to be a starter house, and then we made friends and loved the neighborhood and the school, and had extra money for enrichment in my kids' passions (not something any school could support) and it just didn't seem urgent to leave.