Opinions on Bethesda Elementary?

[Anonymous]

The school and/or the catchment area? Looking at a possible move and would love to hear current/past parents'/residents' experiences. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

This school is unusual in that some (most?) kids move on to Westland and others to Pyle. Our kids don't go there, so can't give you any first hand feedback.

[Anonymous]

If you are looking at buying a house please check the MCPS website and look at the BCC cluster section of the superintendant's CIP plan which was just released yesterday. CIP is capital improvements plan. Bethesda is an overcrowded elementary with a very unusual articulation -- some kids are assigned to BES from K-5, some are assigned to Rosemary Hills from K-2 and then BES 3-5, some move on from BES to the Pyle/Whitman track and others go on to Westland/BCC. This has caused a lot of problems btwn parents, especially those in the East Bethesda neighborhood, and MCPS. Weast is clearly looking at changing some boundaries/articulation patterns and you will want to know what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Rapidly scanning the CIP in question, authors only suggest students from the western part of the Bethesda Elementary cluster could be reassigned to Bradley Hills Elementary in the future (2013?), pending a meeting this winter and decision in march 2010. Bradley Hills ES has a good reputation.

We are also looking to move in Bethesda, and available information on this subject is vague in the extreme, as school capacity studies are just beginning in the area. I have the impression all schools within the Beltway are overutilized anyway, so reassignments will occur everywhere in the next few years...

[Anonymous]

Different schools in this cluster have different programs. The move from Bethesda ES to Bradley Hills also means moving on to a different middle and high school. It's a choice between Whitman and BCC. Both schools are excellent. But, for example, BCC has the IB program, Whitman doesn't. The schools also have pretty different personalities. Maybe that doesn't matter for OP.

Also, other school programs differ -- CCES has the Highly Gifted Center, and kids who go there and then move over to the HGC don't have to leave their home school to do so. Other kids from the cluster can attend the HGC, but they have to leave their home school to do so. Some schools in the cluster have split articulation, some don't. Again, maybe not an issue for OP.

Agree that all schools in the BCC/Whitman cluster are relatively good, so CIP might not be an issue at all for OP. Just would hate to buy a house and then find out a year or two later that kids were not able to go to school where you thought.

Also, unlikely that any re-working of the boundaries will immediately affect current students. More likely that those on a current track will be allowed to continue (grandfathered in) until they reach an articulation point like middle school. So, in other words, current students are unlikely to be pulled from BES to go to Bradley, but it could happen that a family with siblings might end up at 2 different schools if a boundary change were instituted.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I'm reading the pp's post incorrectly (and forgive me if I'm wrong) but the boundary issue will likely just impact the relatively small number of houses that send kids to BE for elementary school, but then the kids go to Pyle and Whitman, unlike the great majority of BE students who will go to Westland/BCC. I know the situation quite well and it actually makes sense for several reasons to make this boundary change, even without the current enrollment issues. It really does impact relatively few families and the end result (Pyle/Whitman is the same)...Plus, who could complain about Bradley Hills ES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I'm reading the pp's post incorrectly (and forgive me if I'm wrong) but the boundary issue will likely just impact the relatively small number of houses that send kids to BE for elementary school, but then the kids go to Pyle and Whitman, unlike the great majority of BE students who will go to Westland/BCC. I know the situation quite well and it actually makes sense for several reasons to make this boundary change, even without the current enrollment issues. It really does impact relatively few families and the end result (Pyle/Whitman is the same)...Plus, who could complain about Bradley Hills ES?

Families with children with special needs for one. I have heard many times, and from many sources, that Bethesda does the best job of inclusion in MCPS. I can imagine a family with a young child with special needs moving to be in the Bethesda district (I know several who have done this) and then being devastated to find them selves in Bradley Hills.

[mparikh7]

Anonymous wrote:Families with children with special needs for one. I have heard many times, and from many sources, that Bethesda does the best job of inclusion in MCPS. I can imagine a family with a young child with special needs moving to be in the Bethesda district (I know several who have done this) and then being devastated to find them selves in Bradley Hills.

Please, can you tell me more about the problems with Bradley Hills? We may be moving to Bethesda this spring and have a daughter on an IEP. Thanks!