First hearing on districtwide boundary study is tonight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is one of secret that not that many people know and she revealed it:

"Depending on a family's exact address on
Farragut Street, students would either attend the coveted "W" school of Walter Johnson or the stigmatized
Down County Consortium School of Albert Einstein. Students attending Walter Johnson score, on average, 200
points higher on the SAT than students attending Einstein. A 200-point difference can dramatically affect
college acceptances and then future work opportunities."

The lo0gical flaws in that statement are pretty stunning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, that psych's speech was ridiculous. He's saying that teens shouldn't switch schools because it's too hard on their mental well being. That means that parents who move during their children's teens years are mentally abusing them. Yes, it's hard, but most teens adapt just fine. My DH moved during his teen years, from a lower income area to a higher income area, and it was the *best* thing his parents did for him.

No, he is absolutely right, although some kids are more resilient than others. Actually, MCPS should consider letting more kids stay in the same school after a move. Frequent moves may be contributing to the achievement gap.

You'd have all kinds of people renting for a month in a W school district that then moving to a lower cost area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one of secret that not that many people know and she revealed it:

"Depending on a family's exact address on
Farragut Street, students would either attend the coveted "W" school of Walter Johnson or the stigmatized
Down County Consortium School of Albert Einstein. Students attending Walter Johnson score, on average, 200
points higher on the SAT than students attending Einstein. A 200-point difference can dramatically affect
college acceptances and then future work opportunities."

The lo0gical flaws in that statement are pretty stunning.

You can not apply a 200 point difference to an individual kid.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone think the county is actually going to spend millions on buses and bus drivers? When there aren't enough teachers, and classrooms and schools are overcrowded? And for all those who think there are enough empty seats, please do send your children to Poolesville and Damascus, especially if you live down county and are going against traffic. I'd like my children to walk to school thank you.

[Anonymous]

There are studies on the impact of students changing schools - especially in high school. The results can be devestating.

I’m in support of the boundary study but they must transition changes in a way that doesn’t potentially do more harm than good. For example, move students to a new cluster only in K, 6th or 9th grades. I know that won’t change things fast enough for some of you but please think of the kids who will have to find a new friend group and navigate a new school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone think the county is actually going to spend millions on buses and bus drivers? When there aren't enough teachers, and classrooms and schools are overcrowded? And for all those who think there are enough empty seats, please do send your children to Poolesville and Damascus, especially if you live down county and are going against traffic. I'd like my children to walk to school thank you.

Absolutely! The county wastes so much money on stupid sh$t that doesn’t directly impact students’ experiences. The BOE and MCPS has made ‘equity’ a priority. Number one.

MCPS introduces useless new initiatives every year. And spends money (it doesn’t have) on them and on teacher training. Yet, there is no money for additional teachers and smaller class sizes.

MCPS is so dysfunctional. They will absolutely prioritize ‘bussing’ over smaller class sizes. Despite the fact that smaller class sizes will actually show positive results for students. And bussing will possibly not.

[Anonymous]

If Bus 1 is taking kids from King Farm to RM now and then Bus 1 takes kids from King Farm to Gaithersburg HS the cost difference is 0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are studies on the impact of students changing schools - especially in high school. The results can be devestating.

I’m in support of the boundary study but they must transition changes in a way that doesn’t potentially do more harm than good. For example, move students to a new cluster only in K, 6th or 9th grades. I know that won’t change things fast enough for some of you but please think of the kids who will have to find a new friend group and navigate a new school.

oh, please.. they are not going to move one child from one HS to another all alone. It will be an entire area. The child won't be completely alone. Some kids move to an entirely different country in their teen years, one where the language is completely different, and somehow, they survive. I knew several of such teens growing up.

It's no wonder children these days have little resilience. Some of you parents treat them like they are super fragile. What if your life circumstance changed and you were forced to move to a different area, city, state? In this case, your kid would be the only one moving to that school, and it would be hard. But you would still have to make the move because of circumstances, and for the most part, your kid would be fine. MCPS is not going to move just your child. It will be a whole group of kids.

C'mon people. Kids move schools ALL the time, and they survive. We should not have a policy of "no child move" just because a few kids might find it too hard, or is this really about the kids and not your house value?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Bus 1 is taking kids from King Farm to RM now and then Bus 1 takes kids from King Farm to Gaithersburg HS the cost difference is 0.

+1 yep.

Now, if they moved walk zone to a bus zone, then that would be stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are studies on the impact of students changing schools - especially in high school. The results can be devestating.

I’m in support of the boundary study but they must transition changes in a way that doesn’t potentially do more harm than good. For example, move students to a new cluster only in K, 6th or 9th grades. I know that won’t change things fast enough for some of you but please think of the kids who will have to find a new friend group and navigate a new school.

oh, please.. they are not going to move one child from one HS to another all alone. It will be an entire area. The child won't be completely alone. Some kids move to an entirely different country in their teen years, one where the language is completely different, and somehow, they survive. I knew several of such teens growing up.

It's no wonder children these days have little resilience. Some of you parents treat them like they are super fragile. What if your life circumstance changed and you were forced to move to a different area, city, state? In this case, your kid would be the only one moving to that school, and it would be hard. But you would still have to make the move because of circumstances, and for the most part, your kid would be fine. MCPS is not going to move just your child. It will be a whole group of kids.

C'mon people. Kids move schools ALL the time, and they survive. We should not have a policy of "no child move" just because a few kids might find it too hard, or is this really about the kids and not your house value?

There are studies that show dramatic increases in behavioral problems including substance abuse due to a school move. Google it. MCPS can transition kids slowly over time to new schools to minimize adverse effects. This is what families tend to do too if they have the choice. No need to boil water at 800 degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

what makes you say that? What are some examples that make you think this? Do you think teens are just inherently selfish so there is no way that they would want equity? Doesn't the fact that they are students who go to these schools give them a more unique perspective than parents?

I'm not the PP but MCPS is VERY careful to coach, prep and supervise the testimony from these kids. Heck, they put on the pressure when parents testify on those regular rounds too. My friend agreed to testify once and our principal drove her nuts requiring all these prep phones calls, demanding to review her written testimony first, making edits and pressuring her for suggestions. She was so fed up she told her that next time they should have the PTA pay for actors.

They can't control the parents who don't agree with them so they do whatever they can to stack the deck with kiss ups. Its really crazy the degrees of charades these people go through for these events.

My kid signed up to testify. There was ZERO contact from MCPS, let alone coaching, prepping, or supervising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone think the county is actually going to spend millions on buses and bus drivers? When there aren't enough teachers, and classrooms and schools are overcrowded? And for all those who think there are enough empty seats, please do send your children to Poolesville and Damascus, especially if you live down county and are going against traffic. I'd like my children to walk to school thank you.

MCPS is currently spending millions on buses and bus drivers. If you think that MCPS could better spend this money on other things (as I do), then start pushing the county for more RideOn service, sidewalks, and safe street crossings. And if you drive your kid to/from school - stop. It just endangers the kids who are walking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Bus 1 is taking kids from King Farm to RM now and then Bus 1 takes kids from King Farm to Gaithersburg HS the cost difference is 0.

+1 yep..

Now, if they moved walk zone to a bus zone, then that would be stupid.

Either schools has extra seat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, that psych's speech was ridiculous. He's saying that teens shouldn't switch schools because it's too hard on their mental well being. That means that parents who move during their children's teens years are mentally abusing them. Yes, it's hard, but most teens adapt just fine. My DH moved during his teen years, from a lower income area to a higher income area, and it was the *best* thing his parents did for him.

No, he is absolutely right, although some kids are more resilient than others. Actually, MCPS should consider letting more kids stay in the same school after a move. Frequent moves may be contributing to the achievement gap.

You'd have all kinds of people renting for a month in a W school district that then moving to a lower cost area.

If a kid is on FARMS and/or homeless, they shouldn’t have to change schools. They deserve some stability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are studies on the impact of students changing schools - especially in high school. The results can be devestating.

I’m in support of the boundary study but they must transition changes in a way that doesn’t potentially do more harm than good. For example, move students to a new cluster only in K, 6th or 9th grades. I know that won’t change things fast enough for some of you but please think of the kids who will have to find a new friend group and navigate a new school.

oh, please.. they are not going to move one child from one HS to another all alone. It will be an entire area. The child won't be completely alone. Some kids move to an entirely different country in their teen years, one where the language is completely different, and somehow, they survive. I knew several of such teens growing up.

It's no wonder children these days have little resilience. Some of you parents treat them like they are super fragile. What if your life circumstance changed and you were forced to move to a different area, city, state? In this case, your kid would be the only one moving to that school, and it would be hard. But you would still have to make the move because of circumstances, and for the most part, your kid would be fine. MCPS is not going to move just your child. It will be a whole group of kids.

C'mon people. Kids move schools ALL the time, and they survive. We should not have a policy of "no child move" just because a few kids might find it too hard, or is this really about the kids and not your house value?

There are studies that show dramatic increases in behavioral problems including substance abuse due to a school move. Google it. MCPS can transition kids slowly over time to new schools to minimize adverse effects. This is what families tend to do too if they have the choice. No need to boil water at 800 degrees.

I'm willing to bet that those studies are for kids who move ALONE and not an entire neighborhood/area. You are being ridiculous. Stop coddling kids.

I'm also pretty sure that boundaries get redrawn all over the country, and even MoCo, at some point or another. My neighborhood got zoned to a different HS decades ago. The only thing I hear from the old timers here about that move was not that their kids were negatively impacted and became addicts, but that their house values probably went down. There are some people here who were HSer when the rezoning happened, and they are doing just fine.