recent experiences at takoma park elementary

[Anonymous]

how often to they re-determine which schools are focus schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how often to they re-determine which schools are focus schools?

I believe annually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Flora Singer is a focus school but last year they had a slightly lower FARMS rate than Takoma park elementary, per the “at a glance” information (this info for this current school year is not available yet).

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/glance/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

I'm not sure about in MCPS, but when we were in DCPS, focus schools were the schools that did not qualify as Title I and had large achievement gaps between different groups of people. So it may not be about the FARMs rate but about the achievement gap by race/ethnicity.

Although what you're saying is true, in MCPS it's based on FARMS percentile like over 30% but not enough to be title 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kindergarten classes are there? My understanding is the classes aren’t allowed to have aides. Is there a lot of parent involvement in the classroom?

What do you mean they aren’t allowed to have aides? MCPS won’t allow it? That makes no sense. Like any MCPS, there will be paras split across the classes.

I assume PP meant the parents aren’t allowed to fund aides for their kids’ classroom, which is apparently a practice in some DC schools

This is correct. The equity brigade didn't like how much learning was happening in some schools so they passed some policies to put a stop to it. They would rather you buy a Porsche you don't need than spend money on your kid's school because equity.

If you can't see why it's problematic for some schools to literally fund people's jobs and have them beholden to the PTA then I'm not going to explain why it's wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

True, this only effects K-2 but since we're talking about TPES, which is K-2, does it matter?

Also, 50%-60% is well above what is required to be designated as Title 1, let alone a focus school. Focus is much lower like 30% or higher, but below title 1. In fact, TPES was around 30% farms when it was a focus school.

[Anonymous]

Last year, which was the first year TPES wasn’t designated as a focus school, the FARMS rate was 41.8%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

True, this only effects K-2 but since we're talking about TPES, which is K-2, does it matter?

Also, 50%-60% is well above what is required to be designated as Title 1, let alone a focus school. Focus is much lower like 30% or higher, but below title 1. In fact, TPES was around 30% farms when it was a focus school.

[Anonymous]

Per the above post, FARMS info from last year found here: https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02754.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year, which was the first year TPES wasn’t designated as a focus school, the FARMS rate was 41.8%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

True, this only effects K-2 but since we're talking about TPES, which is K-2, does it matter?

Also, 50%-60% is well above what is required to be designated as Title 1, let alone a focus school. Focus is much lower like 30% or higher, but below title 1. In fact, TPES was around 30% farms when it was a focus school.

It was in the low 30s when my oldest was there a couple years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year, which was the first year TPES wasn’t designated as a focus school, the FARMS rate was 41.8%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

True, this only effects K-2 but since we're talking about TPES, which is K-2, does it matter?

Also, 50%-60% is well above what is required to be designated as Title 1, let alone a focus school. Focus is much lower like 30% or higher, but below title 1. In fact, TPES was around 30% farms when it was a focus school.

It was in the low 30s when my oldest was there a couple years ago.

It'll probanly be in the high 50s after the boundary study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year, which was the first year TPES wasn’t designated as a focus school, the FARMS rate was 41.8%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

True, this only effects K-2 but since we're talking about TPES, which is K-2, does it matter?

Also, 50%-60% is well above what is required to be designated as Title 1, let alone a focus school. Focus is much lower like 30% or higher, but below title 1. In fact, TPES was around 30% farms when it was a focus school.

It was in the low 30s when my oldest was there a couple years ago.

The county probably just changed the percentages needed to qualify.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

True, this only effects K-2 but since we're talking about TPES, which is K-2, does it matter?

Also, 50%-60% is well above what is required to be designated as Title 1, let alone a focus school. Focus is much lower like 30% or higher, but below title 1. In fact, TPES was around 30% farms when it was a focus school.

MCPS has the ability to choose how to use its Title I funds, and chooses to designate the absolutely neediest schools as "title I" while designating others as "Focus."

Given the size of MCPS, and the residential segregation that led to concentrated poverty, there are schools with functionally 100% FARMS. So, you have a situation where a specific school would be Title I in a different district, but is "only" Focus in MCPS. I've had kids in those schools, and the struggle is that the neediest kids in the school are every bit as traumatized and in need of support as the neediest kids in a Title I school but the school doesn't get the appropriate resources for those kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how a focus school is determined? What’s the FARMS rate cutoff? Does a school have to hit a certain FARMS metric for a certain number of years before the designation is changed?

I don't know the exact cutoff, but all of the focus schools are listed in the chart on page 3 here, so it can probably be extrapolated, if someone wants to take the time.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

The class size for focus schools is only for k to 2. My kid is in a focus school in 3rd grade and their class has 25 plus kids. The focus status does mean more staffing and paras.

I believe the cut off for focus is around 50-60 percent Farms

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/archiveDetail.aspx?id=125&year=2016&order=39&keywords=

True, this only effects K-2 but since we're talking about TPES, which is K-2, does it matter?

Also, 50%-60% is well above what is required to be designated as Title 1, let alone a focus school. Focus is much lower like 30% or higher, but below title 1. In fact, TPES was around 30% farms when it was a focus school.

MCPS has the ability to choose how to use its Title I funds, and chooses to designate the absolutely neediest schools as "title I" while designating others as "Focus."

Given the size of MCPS, and the residential segregation that led to concentrated poverty, there are schools with functionally 100% FARMS. So, you have a situation where a specific school would be Title I in a different district, but is "only" Focus in MCPS. I've had kids in those schools, and the struggle is that the neediest kids in the school are every bit as traumatized and in need of support as the neediest kids in a Title I school but the school doesn't get the appropriate resources for those kids.

What happens often in these schools is the teachers end up spending 90% of their time tending to a handful of students and those who aren't at grade level end up being ignored. It's unfortunate that schools are unable to adequately teach all children. It is very different than when I was a kid in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone confirm this?

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is simply hiring more teachers. At the start of the school year TPES did not have a teacher for all kindergarten classrooms and had to rely on subs.

Anonymous wrote:One issue that nobody has mentioned here is space. Even if they get more teachers, they might not have classroom space for additional teachers. Getting portable for a school is a long and tedious process and does not happen at the drop of a dime.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s true that they started the year short a kindergarten teacher. The class had subs and teachers covering on planning periods until they found a full time teacher. A statement was made that many students registered over the summer for kindergarten and that it was hard to find additional teachers on short notice. And sometimes now when a teacher is out and they can’t find a sub, the kids go in small groups to other classes, say 5 to each class.