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Rosemary Hills Size
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Anonymous
| Do the Kindergarten classes at Rosemary Hills really have 25 kids per class? We are buying a house in the area precisely so we can send our kids to a good public shcool, but I'm worried about such a large class size. Other posts have talkd about the size of Kindergarten being worrisome as far as the number of K classes, but I'm more worried about my child being lost in a sea of 25 kids . . . . |
Anonymous
| My daughter is in Kindergarten at Rosemary Hills right now, her class is 23. So far we have been very happy with everything there. |
Anonymous
| I think that's the class size you will find in pretty much any MCPS school (unless it's a Title I school), and as budget problems increase, you'll be less and less likely to find smaller class sizes. |
Anonymous
| Please correct me if I am wrong, but Rosemary Hills also has around 8-9 Kindergarten classes! That is over 200 five year olds in one building. I found that scary, BUT I have always heard great things about the school. |
Anonymous
|
RH is a big school; I think there are currently just about 200 kindergarteners. And yes, most classes are about 25 kids although my son's also has slightly fewer. But I think that statistic is similar at every other elementary in the immediate vicinity of Bethesda.
I was worried about the total size of RH, worried enough that we investigated private and parochial options. But so far it hasn't really posed a problem. The start of school is very overwhelming, and frankly the orientation day was a zoo. But even though he has a hard time sitting still and is still adjusting to all the changes that go along with elementary school, my son gushes about how much he loves his school. And there is an incredibly involved parent community from what I've seen, and a lot of very impressive systems for keeping order in what could easily devolve into chaos - I've done lunch/recess duty and some other volunteer stuff and have come away really impressed with everyone at the school. And everyone we meet has nothing but good things to say about the academics and the community. So count me as one skeptic who has been converted, at least so far. |
Anonymous
| Not OP, but also looking to buy a house in Bethesda and curious about RH. For those who live in Bethesda with kids at RH, how do you feel about the commute, the long bus ride on major roads, etc.? 5+ miles seems like a long bus ride for such little kids. I had pretty much ruled out houses in RH but that then rules out so much of Bethesda that it's getting hard to find something affordable. Thanks for any thoughts. |
Anonymous
Agree with this poster. |
Anonymous
Like others we were very sceptical (even applied to a private school as well as public school lottery/transfer) but we've been very happy. We are about as far as you can be and it's about 3-4 miles and 10-15 minutes-- works out perfectly fine. I think it helps that there are no kids over 2d grade on the bus. |
Anonymous
I also agree that there's probably no place in Bethesda that is more than about 15 minutes from Rosemary Hills. Although it can be trafficky at rush hour, the bus doesn't travel at those times. The only thing that might make the bus ride longer is if your child is the first or last off the bus. Also remember that for some (many) kids the bus is great experience. In fact, when my kid goes to RHPS next year, I'm worried that he'll refuse to get OFF the bus because he loves it so much. Also, the bus is a great way for kids to get to know all the other kids who live in their neighborhood, not just the ones who live w/i a few blocks. My daughter made a ton of friends on the bus. The whole bus thing was not at all the downer I expected. |