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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Takoma Park Middle School quality?
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Anonymous
| It’s a great school. We came from well outside the boundary (due to the magnet) and my kid still loved it. I had another in a regular MS. |
Anonymous
You will get no traction complaining about TPMS here. People don't want to hear it. We ended up transferring into a 2E program from TPMS that is held at a much less highly-regarded middle school. Guess what? All of the problems vanished, the academics were actually better, teacher retention was better--and our child was no longer stalked, assaulted, and harassed. TPMS is huge, I think that's one issue. Another is, under the former principal at least, there's a certain culture of permissiveness that refuses to address serious behavior issues. While the school does have some lovely people in it, I found it more polarized and less inclusive than the higher-FARMS school dc ended up attending before magnet high school. |
Anonymous
I remember a poster going about some crazy sad story a few years ago in a similar thread. I asked around about it among neighbors, on the neighborhood listserv, and with TPMS staff I know personally. Nobody knew anything about it. We concluded this was just some performance piece or fiction. It's not to say that TPMS perfect, but some people can't stand that the county is different today than 30 years ago. They go out of their way to trash-talk other schools especially those in the DCC with the hope of reinforcing outdated perceptions. |
Anonymous
Some of us live in the cachement for TPMS and Blair and chose not to attend either. Blair isn't the only good DCC school. |
Anonymous
+1000 |
Anonymous
Fiction. Lol. If I could attach files, I'd give you copies of the police reports. Photos of the bruises and bloody knees. Videos of the assaulters. I still have all of those things. My child has thankfully moved past it to greater and better things. Me? I have a longer memory, and I will never forget. Or forgive |
Anonymous
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The thing is, I wrote that relatively neutral opinion above, about transferring to the 2E program and finding the experience much more positive. It's quite true. But there's something about the parents of TPMS students that can't just let that go . No, they have to continually insist that any criticism of their previous school is "Blair envy" or "magnet envy."
Perhaps that gives the best takeaway about TPMS that anyone can have: it might be a great fit for your kids. And if so, that's great. But my family isn't the only one I know who had a lot of issues with bullying and an administration that didn't want to hear it, and families that refused to help. For all their supposed liberalism, the affluent families at TPMS are shockingly conformist and dogmatically conservative. There's a real "blame the victim" problem at that school and from the other posts here, it sounds like that didn't end with Deeney. Perhaps it would, if the fine people here would stop blaming minor children for their own assaults. |
Anonymous
You seem a little off. |
Anonymous
I know what you are referring to and that poster has serious mental health issues. |
Anonymous
Once again, proving my point. I didn't start out thinking you were all terrible people. But then, you know, you were terrible. |
Anonymous
NP here, in-bounds for TPMS and generally pretty positively disposed toward the school. I think the bolded is correct. If TPMS works for your child, it typically works well. The physical building is newly-renovated, the teachers are generally very strong, the extracurriculars are diverse and well-supported, and the small dense walk zone means it feels more like a neighborhood school than many MCPS middle schools. On the flip side, there is a culture of impunity for bad behavior, so if you child somehow ends up the target of bullying it can be hard to get the administration to respond (old or new administration). I think the impunity comes from some of the same factors that makes TPMS unique. First, there's a very involved parent base, some of whom are very adept at pulling the levers of power and using the "correct" words to avoid their children being punished. So, you can't possibly punish Zephyr for bullying another child because their ADHD makes them impulsive, and Sierra is in their first public school environment after being homeschooled in the forest for the first 7 years of their education, and don't you know it's basically a human rights violation to make Shasta sit in zir seat during class? Second, there's an acute awareness of equity and racial disparities in the community and at the school. That's a good thing. It's one of the best things about the school. It's also something that can allow total lack of repercussions or responsibility for bad behavior, for fear of "appearing* to be perpetuating the school to prison pipeline. |
Anonymous
I remember the post where the parent claimed their child was bullied, but several others who knew them claimed their child was the bully and nobody had any sympathy for them. |
Anonymous
DCUM: always Blair and the W's |
Anonymous
Teacher retention was better???? With the exception of one teacher all my kid teachers have been at TPMS for between 10 and 35 years. Teacher retention I’d not an issue there and the fact that you are so wrong in that issue makes me question the credibility of everything else. |
Anonymous
Lol I wonder why that is? |