Somerset Elementary School

[Anonymous]

We are zoned for Somerset Elementary and are debating whether or not to send our child their next year for Kindergarten.

How large are the classes? Are there teaching aids in the class?

Does the school offer any foreign languages?

Are parents involved?

Is the school diverse? We would like to sen our daughter to a school that isn't 100% white and were wondering if there were black, latino and asian students who attend the school? Do the different ethnic groups mix or is the school very segregated?

Do the teachers mainly teach to the test? Are a fair amount of the children red shirted or is the school strict with the cut off?

Do a fair amount of children participate in the school's after care program or do most people have a nanny after school?

We are also applying to private schools in the area but like the idea of our daughter having local friends in the area. We recently purchased a house in the area so we haven't had the opportunity to speak with our neighbors to learn a bit more about the school.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Is the school diverse? We would like to sen our daughter to a school that isn't 100% white and were wondering if there were black, latino and asian students who attend the school? Do the different ethnic groups mix or is the school very segregated?

There is no school in MCPS that is 100% white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is the school diverse? We would like to sen our daughter to a school that isn't 100% white and were wondering if there were black, latino and asian students who attend the school? Do the different ethnic groups mix or is the school very segregated?

There is no school in MCPS that is 100% white.

http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02405.pdf

The at a glance profile for the school shows that there are a few non-white students at the school, however, the test results for black and asian students are listed due to the fact there are fewer than 10 students.

We live in a diverse area and I would like my daughter to have non-white friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is the school diverse? We would like to sen our daughter to a school that isn't 100% white and were wondering if there were black, latino and asian students who attend the school? Do the different ethnic groups mix or is the school very segregated?

There is no school in MCPS that is 100% white.

http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02405.pdf

The at a glance profile for the school shows that there are a few non-white students at the school, however, the test results for black and asian students are listed due to the fact there are fewer than 10 students.

We live in a diverse area and I would like my daughter to have non-white friends.

Try living in NE, not in Somerset

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is the school diverse? We would like to sen our daughter to a school that isn't 100% white and were wondering if there were black, latino and asian students who attend the school? Do the different ethnic groups mix or is the school very segregated?

There is no school in MCPS that is 100% white.

http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02405.pdf

The at a glance profile for the school shows that there are a few non-white students at the school, however, the test results for black and asian students are listed due to the fact there are fewer than 10 students.

We live in a diverse area and I would like my daughter to have non-white friends.

A few non-white students? 63% of the students at the school are white, which means that 37% are not white.

[Anonymous]

You should tour. You will see a lot of these questions answered and have them answered by the Principal or whoever takes you on a tour.

[Anonymous]

Class sizes- Large but depends on grade. Sometimes you get lucky and there are just enough students for an extra class which brings the number per class down. K usually in the 20s.

Parents- Very active PTA.
Are parents involved?

Diversity- Yes they mix but there are so few that you will find that all the black families know each other and socialize and the same for the Asian families, etc. That mostly impacts playdates for the younger grades because they sometimes invite the children of parents they know. Less of an issue as they grow older as the kids pick their own friends and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with race or ethnic background.

Teach to test- All MCPS schools do this.
Cut off- School can't do anything about red-shirting. MCPS policy allows for this and they must abide. Did not find too many children red shirted.

Aftercare- I think it's not very popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes- Large but depends on grade. Sometimes you get lucky and there are just enough students for an extra class which brings the number per class down. K usually in the 20s.

Parents- Very active PTA.
Are parents involved?

Diversity- Yes they mix but there are so few that you will find that all the black families know each other and socialize and the same for the Asian families, etc. That mostly impacts playdates for the younger grades because they sometimes invite the children of parents they know. Less of an issue as they grow older as the kids pick their own friends and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with race or ethnic background.

Teach to test- All MCPS schools do this.
Cut off- School can't do anything about red-shirting. MCPS policy allows for this and they must abide. Did not find too many children red shirted.

Aftercare- I think it's not very popular.

No, they teach to the MCPS curriculum, which is aligned to the Common Core standards, as is the test (in this case, PARCC). Note that the PARCC tests don't start until third grade.

[Anonymous]

Somerset is likely the most racially diverse school in that area, because the condominiums at Friendship Heights are very popular with junior foreign service types from various countries. So you get some racial and linguistic diversity, which is nice.

[Anonymous]

I know that most people do not use the aftercare, as they either have weekday nannies or butlers pick up the students.

The school is very wealthy and 98% white. It has artisanal food served at lunch, mostly farm to table from the school's own garden which is fertilized by organic compost.

Every student has state of the art supplies and the teachers use a cutting edge curriculum not available to any other school.

There are some red-shirts, but not many since most of the kids are very advanced and all use tutors starting in 1st grade. Most can speak and write at least 4 languages by middle school.

This is just my experience, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

PP is a big-time booster, apparently.

Class sizes are great - usually 9-10 kids.

[Anonymous]

We have a kid in K there, so we don't have tons of experience with the school. We also considered private, but decide to do public because we really liked the idea of a neighborhood school with friends nearby and because we thought we should at least try the free school that was right down the road before jumping to private.

How large are the classes? Are there teaching aids in the class? This year's K classes are 22-23 kids, but the PP above is right that's it's luck of the draw, year-to-year. I can't recall what the cap is where they'll open up a new class. Grade sizes seem to vary quite a bit, too. No aides in the classroom, other than a couple school-wide aides that are shared among all classes. In my kid's K class, there are slots for parent volunteers daily to help with reading or math, but I don't know how many of those are filled.

Does the school offer any foreign languages? No, MoCo doesn't until I think junior high. However, there's an enrichment program that offers 2x week spanish classes.

Are parents involved? Seems like it. The PTA is active and there's a good number of volunteers at the events we've been to. One mom mentioned that it varies grade to grade, though, and that there are a few grades that have a hard time filling volunteer slots.

Is the school diverse? We would like to sen our daughter to a school that isn't 100% white and were wondering if there were black, latino and asian students who attend the school? Do the different ethnic groups mix or is the school very segregated? It's sort of diverse. There are a lot of cultures represented because there's a decent international population, but there's not a lot of racial or socioeconomic diversity. The kids definitely seem to mix but I can't really tell with the parents. My guess is that the lines would be more international/American than white/black/Asian, but I don't really know.

Do the teachers mainly teach to the test? Are a fair amount of the children red shirted or is the school strict with the cut off? Not sure about redshirting. There's a very heavy math and reading focus and that may be in part because that's what's tested in the standardized tests, but it could also be under the theory that you have to have a good foundation of both of those subjects to be successful in any other subject.

Do a fair amount of children participate in the school's after care program or do most people have a nanny after school? Not sure about that.

We are also applying to private schools in the area but like the idea of our daughter having local friends in the area. We recently purchased a house in the area so we haven't had the opportunity to speak with our neighbors to learn a bit more about the school.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Overall, I'm happy with our decision. DD really likes school, which I wasn't expecting (she's a homebody and was never that excited about going to preschool, despite going to a very nurturing, play-based preschool). The parents are friendly and by and large, DD's classmates are a good group of kids. Going to school in the neighborhood has been wonderful, too -- I've met more of my neighbors in the first four months of school than in the 2 years we've lived here. I wouldn't say "never" to private, but for now we're happy with our situation.

[Anonymous]

(Somebody should explain to the OP that the Somerset Parent writes highly entertaining fiction. At least, I think it's fiction...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that most people do not use the aftercare, as they either have weekday nannies or butlers pick up the students.

The school is very wealthy and 98% white. It has artisanal food served at lunch, mostly farm to table from the school's own garden which is fertilized by organic compost.

Every student has state of the art supplies and the teachers use a cutting edge curriculum not available to any other school.

There are some red-shirts, but not many since most of the kids are very advanced and all use tutors starting in 1st grade. Most can speak and write at least 4 languages by middle school.

This is just my experience, FWIW.

Very entertaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(Somebody should explain to the OP that the Somerset Parent writes highly entertaining fiction. At least, I think it's fiction...)

It's getting old, though. Time for new shtick.