HS Back to School Night: Very low attendance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to our child's BTSN but I do think they should have allowed parents to join in virtually. They are capable of doing that but on the other hand this covid wave came on fast so maybe they didn't have time to pivot.

This would be the best of both worlds, although I understand it might be more difficult for teachers. After the closures, it's nice to go in person and reconnect with teachers and other parents at the school, but not everyone is able to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If people have noticed low attendance at Sherwood and noticed consistently high attendance at Bethesda high schools, well, is anyone surprised? Upper middle class parents of the DC area are very invested in their kids' education, because their own socio-professional success depended on their own education. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule! But in general, it's true. End of story.

You must not know the Sherwood community because parents are very involved and back to school nights are usually jam packed. This has nothing to do with your ridiculous class status theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going with Covid. They should have a virtual option.

Just go with a mask. There were a good number of masked parents at our BTSN last night. This is what masks are for.

I took that post to mean “I’m not attending a crowded event while covid is in the picture because I don’t want to get covid. Why can’t it be virtual so I don’t have to be exposed to hundreds of strangers?” I’m not sure the poster has covid.

I don't have covid and never leave the house sick but I catch everything and it lasts weeks so I cannot put myself at risk like that when others are too selfish to stay home when sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going with Covid. They should have a virtual option.

Just go with a mask. There were a good number of masked parents at our BTSN last night. This is what masks are for.

I took that post to mean “I’m not attending a crowded event while covid is in the picture because I don’t want to get covid. Why can’t it be virtual so I don’t have to be exposed to hundreds of strangers?” I’m not sure the poster has covid.

They can wear a mask to try to prevent catching it. I doubt all the mask wearers have Covid. And, unfortunately, I doubt everyone with Covid was wearing one.

You can still catch cold/flu on surfaces so it's not just covid that's a concern for me. I would suspect majority of people are sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If people have noticed low attendance at Sherwood and noticed consistently high attendance at Bethesda high schools, well, is anyone surprised? Upper middle class parents of the DC area are very invested in their kids' education, because their own socio-professional success depended on their own education. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule! But in general, it's true. End of story.

BTSN attendance is pretty good at Kennedy, which is not in Bethesda and is one of the lower-ranked high schools in MCPS.

While it is generally true that upper middle class parents are more involved, BTSN seems to be the exception where we get good turnout from parents in our school community, which is 80% FARMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to our child's BTSN but I do think they should have allowed parents to join in virtually. They are capable of doing that but on the other hand this covid wave came on fast so maybe they didn't have time to pivot.

What wave?

SOURCE: https://moco360.media/2023/08/31/despite-statewide-uptick-moco-covid-cases-remain-low/

The COVID-19 positivity rate in Montgomery County has seen a slight uptick in the past week to 30.74 cases per 100,000 residents. according to the county COVID-19 dashboard. However, within the county, the COVID-19 community level remains low.

“Just looking specifically at Montgomery County and the hospitalizations, we’ve seen very low numbers,” Davis said. “I think that that is quite reassuring.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going with Covid. They should have a virtual option.

Just go with a mask. There were a good number of masked parents at our BTSN last night. This is what masks are for.

I took that post to mean “I’m not attending a crowded event while covid is in the picture because I don’t want to get covid. Why can’t it be virtual so I don’t have to be exposed to hundreds of strangers?” I’m not sure the poster has covid.

They can wear a mask to try to prevent catching it. I doubt all the mask wearers have Covid. And, unfortunately, I doubt everyone with Covid was wearing one.

You can still catch cold/flu on surfaces so it's not just covid that's a concern for me. I would suspect majority of people are sick.

You sound paranoid and probably shouldn't ever leave your house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going with Covid. They should have a virtual option.

Just go with a mask. There were a good number of masked parents at our BTSN last night. This is what masks are for.

I took that post to mean “I’m not attending a crowded event while covid is in the picture because I don’t want to get covid. Why can’t it be virtual so I don’t have to be exposed to hundreds of strangers?” I’m not sure the poster has covid.

They can wear a mask to try to prevent catching it. I doubt all the mask wearers have Covid. And, unfortunately, I doubt everyone with Covid was wearing one.

You can still catch cold/flu on surfaces so it's not just covid that's a concern for me. I would suspect majority of people are sick.

You sound paranoid and probably shouldn't ever leave your house.

Its not paranoid when you have other health issues that combined cause significant issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If people have noticed low attendance at Sherwood and noticed consistently high attendance at Bethesda high schools, well, is anyone surprised? Upper middle class parents of the DC area are very invested in their kids' education, because their own socio-professional success depended on their own education. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule! But in general, it's true. End of story.

You must not know the Sherwood community because parents are very involved and back to school nights are usually jam packed. This has nothing to do with your ridiculous class status theory.

Isn't this the school with repeated incidents involving students yelling racist remarks at other schools' players and then not really apologizing and then the administration refusing to do anything about it until MCPS got involved?

https://www.mymcmedia.org/mcps-investigates-racist-incident-at-sherwood-einstein-girls-basketball-game/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-high-schools-racist-incidents/2021/10/10/2b22abfa-2878-11ec-8831-a31e7b3de188_story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going with Covid. They should have a virtual option.

Just go with a mask. There were a good number of masked parents at our BTSN last night. This is what masks are for.

I took that post to mean “I’m not attending a crowded event while covid is in the picture because I don’t want to get covid. Why can’t it be virtual so I don’t have to be exposed to hundreds of strangers?” I’m not sure the poster has covid.

They can wear a mask to try to prevent catching it. I doubt all the mask wearers have Covid. And, unfortunately, I doubt everyone with Covid was wearing one.

You can still catch cold/flu on surfaces so it's not just covid that's a concern for me. I would suspect majority of people are sick.

You sound paranoid and probably shouldn't ever leave your house.

Its not paranoid when you have other health issues that combined cause significant issues.

Are you the person who still has her kids in virtual school?

[Anonymous]

I have a special needs child who struggles in school and is behind grade level in a couple subjects. I like to put faces to names with that child’s teachers and get a sense of their personality and teaching style.

I also have a 10th grader who is highly motivated, academically advanced, very organized, has no problem with time management, is self sufficient and has always gotten straight A’s. My A student really wanted me to go to BTSN. I didn’t want to make the drive to Poolesville and didn’t see the point in rushing from classroom to classroom to hear 10 minute presentations when I know I won’t need to reach out to these teachers because my kid won’t struggle. I had a rough day yesterday and I was grumpy about BTSN when I was driving there.

I’m so glad I went. The evening really turned my mood around. My child is lucky to be in such an awesome program. The teachers are really impressive and they’re passionate about teaching. I know my kid will be well prepared for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason not to make BTSN a priority. It’s sad how bad parenting has gotten

BTSN is nice but its not the be all and end all. You can email teachers, check online daily to see what's going on.. those things are far more important.

You shouldn't email teachers to learn information that they presented at BTSN though... the whole point is to give all of the information once to everyone so you don't have to do multiple emails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If people have noticed low attendance at Sherwood and noticed consistently high attendance at Bethesda high schools, well, is anyone surprised? Upper middle class parents of the DC area are very invested in their kids' education, because their own socio-professional success depended on their own education. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule! But in general, it's true. End of story.

You must not know the Sherwood community because parents are very involved and back to school nights are usually jam packed. This has nothing to do with your ridiculous class status theory.

Isn't this the school with repeated incidents involving students yelling racist remarks at other schools' players and then not really apologizing and then the administration refusing to do anything about it until MCPS got involved?

https://www.mymcmedia.org/mcps-investigates-racist-incident-at-sherwood-einstein-girls-basketball-game/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-high-schools-racist-incidents/2021/10/10/2b22abfa-2878-11ec-8831-a31e7b3de188_story.html

What does that have to do with btsn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our BTS HS night is a little over two weeks from now, the teachers will have taught for a month before they meet the parents. It's better this way, because by then the teacher actually knows a bit about your kid. Kid has told the parents about school, which spurs more interest to go meet the teachers. Maybe BTSN is happening too soon?

Teacher here. I would love this

At BTSN you have exactly 10 mins in the room with the teacher and dozens of other parents. You can’t have a sidebar with the teacher. They do their power point presentation and typically ask you to fill out an index card.

I agree the first week of school is a bit early, but it does give you an idea of the teacher’s personality.

As a longtime Sherwood parent, here’s what I didn’t like about BTSN last night:

They told everyone it started at 6:30. Turns out there was an activities fair/clubs expo at 6:30 and you weren’t meant to go to homeroom until 7:00. Not cool.

Such a fair benefits students, not parents.

In years past, they would start in the auditorium with remarks by the principal and pta. Missed opportunity for the relatively new principal to directly address parents imho. The short video they played in homeroom could have been an email—it certainly didn’t impress anyone.

They need to stop with the “One Sherwood” bit. It’s meaningless and annoying.

On a positive note, I enjoyed the warm welcome by the poms at the entrance. They do something similar at SEC schools (and maybe elsewhere) where it’s part pep rally.

Imagine what they could have done if they started in the auditorium and led with a pep rally followed by remarks from the principal and the pta—and perhaps the athletic boosters. So many teachers are local and have kids in the pyramid. Many parents went to Sherwood.

Try harder, Sherwood.

PS - The talking points about having advisory every Wednesday and limiting students from getting help to that chunk of time “so they can socialize during lunch instead of focusing on academics” were next level ridiculous. Please don’t insult us by trying to craft a narrative that limiting access to help is for their benefit when we know you are doing it for the teachers. On a positive note, several teachers made clear they are available during lunch (e.g., the good teachers).

PPS - The bit about absenteeism and only having one day to make up missed work following being sick = Stupid. If a kid has covid or a stomach bug or pneumonia or whatever, they don’t belong in school. Period. And if a kid is sick enough to stay home, then they aren’t equipped to stay on top of school work. Given the talking points I heard in multiple classes, I get it: Sherwood ostensibly has an issue with a select group of kids who give zero Fs about school and realize they can barely show up and still pass. Deal with them however you like, but don’t be so rigid with kids who are clearly trying. Fix the problem you are trying to solve, don’t create new ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If people have noticed low attendance at Sherwood and noticed consistently high attendance at Bethesda high schools, well, is anyone surprised? Upper middle class parents of the DC area are very invested in their kids' education, because their own socio-professional success depended on their own education. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule! But in general, it's true. End of story.

Sherwood is an UMC school. It’s Bethesda-lite, but there’s wealth out here. Unlike Bethesda, the Sherwood area has a very small town feel. Tons of locals went to Sherwood or grew up in the area and went to Catholic school. Plus, sports are huge at Sherwood. All in all, parents are super involved, so it was surprising to see such a low turnout as compared to shoulder to shoulder crowds last year.