MCPS refuses to enroll child in 6th grade/middle school who has completed 5th grade

[Anonymous]

From the Gazette:
Parent advocate says his daughter should be allowed to skip grades - School system would enroll her in advanced elementary classes

http://www.gazette.net/stories/08262009/montsch02343_32521.shtml

Also http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/SharpSticks/UPDATE-No-back-to-school-for-gifted-10-year-old-53587152.html

[Anonymous]

And this, by the father in question:

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2009/08/rewards-of-hard-work-perseverance.html

[Anonymous]

The child needs to be in school with age mates. She is academically gifted, but that is not all that matters. Perhaps they could arrange a way to take her to MS for some classes during the day. This is why I am in favor of K-8 in one building.
My sis skipped 3 grades. She is quite messed up.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if they've looked at the highly gifted centers in some MoCo schools.

[Anonymous]

But they will let a kid turn 7 while he is in kindergarten?

Or maybe there is no redshirting in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

It seems reasonable that a district won't skip her until she's actually enrolled and observed. This dad's a bit aggressive, no? This little girl probably needs to spend some time acting like a little girl. She certainly won't cope with the cruelty of middle school girls.

[Anonymous]

The district had already accepted her as a middle school student. Read the article and posts again.
Weeks after they enrolled her, had her do the summer homework and prepare for school - the school system reneged.
That is the point of the story - an enrollment was revoked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The district had already accepted her as a middle school student. Read the article and posts again.
Weeks after they enrolled her, had her do the summer homework and prepare for school - the school system reneged.
That is the point of the story - an enrollment was revoked.

They probably realized that if they allowed her to enroll as a middle schooler -- having come from a homeschool environment, and based on achievement -- they would be establishing a precedent that they did not intend to follow with other students who were already in the system, performing at the same level.

No one wants to advance a child's placement due to achievement and instructional need. You move a child up in the system based on age. That's that.

[Anonymous]

Maybe when they realized they were agreeing to skip 2 grades instead of 1, they wanted to get to know her better before doing that. I know a lot of people think they're the evil empire but this doesn't seem to me to be all that outrageous. She hasn't been in a bricks and mortar school at 5th grade, she's completed a 5th grade homeschool curriculum.

[Anonymous]

No one wants to advance a child's placement due to achievement and instructional need. You move a child up in the system based on age. That's that.

Nope. That's not that. In MCPS students are moved up grades - happens all the time.

[Anonymous]

In MCPS students are also educated in split classrooms with students from two grades in the same room. Like a 4th/5th split.
And students are bused to the middle schools from elementary school for classes - or - are sent to high school for classes from middle school.
Students also graduate early because they have completed all requirements before they are 17.
The school system is not simply based on age of student.

[Anonymous]

Mr. Sigham noted that a student who had not been in school at ALL for two years was recently admitted to a MCPS high school. That student had no schooling whatsoever - no homeschool - no bricks & mortar - no pup tent.
And he will start in high school tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Isn't he of age to be in high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't he of age to be in high school?

He was admitted based on testing to determine his ability level. Same for Mr. Signam's daughter. She was tested to determine ability level and it was determined that she would be enrolled in 6th grade. She was already tested and enrolled. She was told to do the summer homework for rising 6th graders.

She was enrolled and then a month later was told she couldn't start school. MCPS has revoked their own determination.

[Anonymous]

It sounded from the article like they gave her a math placement test and they're still going to place her in that same math class. It didn't sound like they did any testing for other subjects.