Schools in Silver Spring

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the students in SS are just not smart enough for your child to be challenged is not...I mean for those of us who live in SS you have to understand it does make us laugh.

As I'm sure you're aware, "Silver Spring" is actually a pretty large geographic area and the schools are not all the same. I used to substitute teach and while I would be fine sending my kids to most schools in SS (and they do), some of the schools have some pretty significant challenges. You do have to pay attention.

I actually agree with you that many schools in SS have significant challenges, but my understanding is that these are behavior challenges among some children that unfortunately impact the rest of the class. Not a lack of intelligence overall.

Oh good grief. Are you suggesting that schools in western Montgomery county don't have children with "behavior challenges"? Give me a break!

Of course they do. I didn't say anything about schools in western Montgomery County. We can't afford to live there so I haven't researched those schools. My comment comes from my research I have done talking to MCPS employees and reviewing survey results showing certain ESs have behavior issues leading to significant safety concerns among staff.

Could you please provide the results of your research?

No, it's not published research, sorry, and was specific to certain neighborhoods we were looking at.

You can start with the MCPS school climate surveys if you want.

No you can not. Those surveys are old and not relevant. MCPS is too scared to continue them.

Look again

Fewer than 25% of parent surveys returned and the last year is 2018-19.

That plus conversations with people is your "research"?

Either you didn't actually look or you live in an alternate universe where the 2022-23 teacher survey results have not been posted. I also said they are a starting point for research, not the only piece. Stop being a jerk for no reason.

Yes, I was referring to the parent surveys.

The fact remains that this is not "research" or for that matter, a starting point for "research."

Pointing this out doesn't make me a "jerk."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the students in SS are just not smart enough for your child to be challenged is not...I mean for those of us who live in SS you have to understand it does make us laugh.

As I'm sure you're aware, "Silver Spring" is actually a pretty large geographic area and the schools are not all the same. I used to substitute teach and while I would be fine sending my kids to most schools in SS (and they do), some of the schools have some pretty significant challenges. You do have to pay attention.

I actually agree with you that many schools in SS have significant challenges, but my understanding is that these are behavior challenges among some children that unfortunately impact the rest of the class. Not a lack of intelligence overall.

Oh good grief. Are you suggesting that schools in western Montgomery county don't have children with "behavior challenges"? Give me a break!

Of course they do. I didn't say anything about schools in western Montgomery County. We can't afford to live there so I haven't researched those schools. My comment comes from my research I have done talking to MCPS employees and reviewing survey results showing certain ESs have behavior issues leading to significant safety concerns among staff.

Could you please provide the results of your research?

No, it's not published research, sorry, and was specific to certain neighborhoods we were looking at.

You can start with the MCPS school climate surveys if you want.

No you can not. Those surveys are old and not relevant. MCPS is too scared to continue them.

Look again

Fewer than 25% of parent surveys returned and the last year is 2018-19.

That plus conversations with people is your "research"?

Either you didn't actually look or you live in an alternate universe where the 2022-23 teacher survey results have not been posted. I also said they are a starting point for research, not the only piece. Stop being a jerk for no reason.

Yes, I was referring to the parent surveys.

The fact remains that this is not "research" or for that matter, a starting point for "research."

Pointing this out doesn't make me a "jerk."

Um I don't know what you think I meant by "research" but I was talking about what I did to decide where to buy a house. Sorry (not sorry) it doesn't meet your standards. I'm happy with the results because I am not among the numerous parents I've spoken with who are looking at private because they learned of the issues as t their children's schools after they bought. And yes, you are being a jerk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the students in SS are just not smart enough for your child to be challenged is not...I mean for those of us who live in SS you have to understand it does make us laugh.

As I'm sure you're aware, "Silver Spring" is actually a pretty large geographic area and the schools are not all the same. I used to substitute teach and while I would be fine sending my kids to most schools in SS (and they do), some of the schools have some pretty significant challenges. You do have to pay attention.

I actually agree with you that many schools in SS have significant challenges, but my understanding is that these are behavior challenges among some children that unfortunately impact the rest of the class. Not a lack of intelligence overall.

Oh good grief. Are you suggesting that schools in western Montgomery county don't have children with "behavior challenges"? Give me a break!

Of course they do. I didn't say anything about schools in western Montgomery County. We can't afford to live there so I haven't researched those schools. My comment comes from my research I have done talking to MCPS employees and reviewing survey results showing certain ESs have behavior issues leading to significant safety concerns among staff.

Could you please provide the results of your research?

No, it's not published research, sorry, and was specific to certain neighborhoods we were looking at.

You can start with the MCPS school climate surveys if you want.

No you can not. Those surveys are old and not relevant. MCPS is too scared to continue them.

Look again

Thanks- where?

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

This is infuriating! I work at a SS elementary school and I was not offered the opportunity to fill out this survey. Of course the school has mostly positive results. I’m sure that my principal hand selected who filled it out. Please don’t take this seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the students in SS are just not smart enough for your child to be challenged is not...I mean for those of us who live in SS you have to understand it does make us laugh.

As I'm sure you're aware, "Silver Spring" is actually a pretty large geographic area and the schools are not all the same. I used to substitute teach and while I would be fine sending my kids to most schools in SS (and they do), some of the schools have some pretty significant challenges. You do have to pay attention.

I actually agree with you that many schools in SS have significant challenges, but my understanding is that these are behavior challenges among some children that unfortunately impact the rest of the class. Not a lack of intelligence overall.

Oh good grief. Are you suggesting that schools in western Montgomery county don't have children with "behavior challenges"? Give me a break!

Of course they do. I didn't say anything about schools in western Montgomery County. We can't afford to live there so I haven't researched those schools. My comment comes from my research I have done talking to MCPS employees and reviewing survey results showing certain ESs have behavior issues leading to significant safety concerns among staff.

Could you please provide the results of your research?

No, it's not published research, sorry, and was specific to certain neighborhoods we were looking at.

You can start with the MCPS school climate surveys if you want.

No you can not. Those surveys are old and not relevant. MCPS is too scared to continue them.

Look again

Thanks- where?

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

This is infuriating! I work at a SS elementary school and I was not offered the opportunity to fill out this survey. Of course the school has mostly positive results. I’m sure that my principal hand selected who filled it out. Please don’t take this seriously.

Were you also excluded from the state educator survey that feeds into the MD school report card?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the students in SS are just not smart enough for your child to be challenged is not...I mean for those of us who live in SS you have to understand it does make us laugh.

As I'm sure you're aware, "Silver Spring" is actually a pretty large geographic area and the schools are not all the same. I used to substitute teach and while I would be fine sending my kids to most schools in SS (and they do), some of the schools have some pretty significant challenges. You do have to pay attention.

I actually agree with you that many schools in SS have significant challenges, but my understanding is that these are behavior challenges among some children that unfortunately impact the rest of the class. Not a lack of intelligence overall.

Oh good grief. Are you suggesting that schools in western Montgomery county don't have children with "behavior challenges"? Give me a break!

Of course they do. I didn't say anything about schools in western Montgomery County. We can't afford to live there so I haven't researched those schools. My comment comes from my research I have done talking to MCPS employees and reviewing survey results showing certain ESs have behavior issues leading to significant safety concerns among staff.

Could you please provide the results of your research?

No, it's not published research, sorry, and was specific to certain neighborhoods we were looking at.

You can start with the MCPS school climate surveys if you want.

No you can not. Those surveys are old and not relevant. MCPS is too scared to continue them.

Look again

Thanks- where?

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

This is infuriating! I work at a SS elementary school and I was not offered the opportunity to fill out this survey. Of course the school has mostly positive results. I’m sure that my principal hand selected who filled it out. Please don’t take this seriously.

There is no perfect source of data for parents looking to understand school environments. For me, I absolutely take these with a grain of salt. At the same time, it was helpful when I spoke with an educator at a school I thought would have been a great fit, who described some really disruptive behaviors, and that turned out to be reflected in the survey and supported by additional data about absenteeism and student mobility. You have to look at everything together.

[Anonymous]

Op, do you guys commute into DC and that's why you want to live in either SS or Bethesda? If not, then i'd actually recommend you go up county. Dcurbanmom's is a biased sample where noone considers any schools outside a 10 mile radius of the district line.

If you work remotely or hybrid, I highly recommend you consider Rockville, parts of Gaithersburg, Boyds or Clarksburg. The schools are pretty good, and it's got as much or more ethnic diversity than Silver Spring. And it's not insanely (or inanely) expensive like Bethesda/CC. You lose easy access to the district, which is a real concern for many, but not for all. Personally, I'm fine with a long commute twice a week in order to save more and get more diversity.

[Anonymous]

Regarding the school climate survey, it looks like it was an online survey. If MCPS allowed principals to choose who got it e-mailed to them that is absolutely horrible. It also seems unlikely given the numerous schools I've seen with very negative results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the school climate survey, it looks like it was an online survey. If MCPS allowed principals to choose who got it e-mailed to them that is absolutely horrible. It also seems unlikely given the numerous schools I've seen with very negative results.

I would wager that some principals just don’t distribute it at all and so participation is skewed to parents that are aware of the survey- how on earth would principals wade through hundreds of families and email the link selectively? That doesn’t make any sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the school climate survey, it looks like it was an online survey. If MCPS allowed principals to choose who got it e-mailed to them that is absolutely horrible. It also seems unlikely given the numerous schools I've seen with very negative results.

I would wager that some principals just don’t distribute it at all and so participation is skewed to parents that are aware of the survey- how on earth would principals wade through hundreds of families and email the link selectively? That doesn’t make any sense.

Was the 22-23 survey just for staff? I don't remember one as a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the school climate survey, it looks like it was an online survey. If MCPS allowed principals to choose who got it e-mailed to them that is absolutely horrible. It also seems unlikely given the numerous schools I've seen with very negative results.

I would wager that some principals just don’t distribute it at all and so participation is skewed to parents that are aware of the survey- how on earth would principals wade through hundreds of families and email the link selectively? That doesn’t make any sense.

Was the 22-23 survey just for staff? I don't remember one as a parent.

Folks if you are really curious you can simply click on the link that was provided for you on this thread and you will clearly see there is only a staff survey posted for 22-23. No parent survey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the students in SS are just not smart enough for your child to be challenged is not...I mean for those of us who live in SS you have to understand it does make us laugh.

As I'm sure you're aware, "Silver Spring" is actually a pretty large geographic area and the schools are not all the same. I used to substitute teach and while I would be fine sending my kids to most schools in SS (and they do), some of the schools have some pretty significant challenges. You do have to pay attention.

I actually agree with you that many schools in SS have significant challenges, but my understanding is that these are behavior challenges among some children that unfortunately impact the rest of the class. Not a lack of intelligence overall.

Oh good grief. Are you suggesting that schools in western Montgomery county don't have children with "behavior challenges"? Give me a break!

Of course they do. I didn't say anything about schools in western Montgomery County. We can't afford to live there so I haven't researched those schools. My comment comes from my research I have done talking to MCPS employees and reviewing survey results showing certain ESs have behavior issues leading to significant safety concerns among staff.

Could you please provide the results of your research?

No, it's not published research, sorry, and was specific to certain neighborhoods we were looking at.

You can start with the MCPS school climate surveys if you want.

No you can not. Those surveys are old and not relevant. MCPS is too scared to continue them.

Look again

Thanks- where?

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

MCPS always rolls out such poor surveys. I guess it's a decent tool for identifying the outliers but not much else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the school climate survey, it looks like it was an online survey. If MCPS allowed principals to choose who got it e-mailed to them that is absolutely horrible. It also seems unlikely given the numerous schools I've seen with very negative results.

I would wager that some principals just don’t distribute it at all and so participation is skewed to parents that are aware of the survey- how on earth would principals wade through hundreds of families and email the link selectively? That doesn’t make any sense.

These system surveys are sent and managed directly through MCPS (or the state) and are not filtered by principals. If someone claims they didn’t get it, then they just ignored or skimmed past the actual survey because they assumed it was some of the general info flowdown from MCPS. The principals are rated on % of staff completing these surveys. My HS principal makes the RTs include time in department meetings to have people complete them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the students in SS are just not smart enough for your child to be challenged is not...I mean for those of us who live in SS you have to understand it does make us laugh.

As I'm sure you're aware, "Silver Spring" is actually a pretty large geographic area and the schools are not all the same. I used to substitute teach and while I would be fine sending my kids to most schools in SS (and they do), some of the schools have some pretty significant challenges. You do have to pay attention.

I actually agree with you that many schools in SS have significant challenges, but my understanding is that these are behavior challenges among some children that unfortunately impact the rest of the class. Not a lack of intelligence overall.

Oh good grief. Are you suggesting that schools in western Montgomery county don't have children with "behavior challenges"? Give me a break!

Of course they do. I didn't say anything about schools in western Montgomery County. We can't afford to live there so I haven't researched those schools. My comment comes from my research I have done talking to MCPS employees and reviewing survey results showing certain ESs have behavior issues leading to significant safety concerns among staff.

Could you please provide the results of your research?

No, it's not published research, sorry, and was specific to certain neighborhoods we were looking at.

You can start with the MCPS school climate surveys if you want.

No you can not. Those surveys are old and not relevant. MCPS is too scared to continue them.

Look again

Thanks- where?

https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

MCPS always rolls out such poor surveys. I guess it's a decent tool for identifying the outliers but not much else.

It's better than relying on anonymous posts on DCUM.

But yeah the questionnaire is ridiculous and repetitive. It looks like nobody checked it before it went out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, do you guys commute into DC and that's why you want to live in either SS or Bethesda? If not, then i'd actually recommend you go up county. Dcurbanmom's is a biased sample where noone considers any schools outside a 10 mile radius of the district line.

If you work remotely or hybrid, I highly recommend you consider Rockville, parts of Gaithersburg, Boyds or Clarksburg. The schools are pretty good, and it's got as much or more ethnic diversity than Silver Spring. And it's not insanely (or inanely) expensive like Bethesda/CC. You lose easy access to the district, which is a real concern for many, but not for all. Personally, I'm fine with a long commute twice a week in order to save more and get more diversity.

I'm OP-

We currently live in Bethesda and our friends/some family is here. Additionally we already are working with specialists/therapists for the kids here. Access to the District is not a concern.

My spouse is a reluctant driver so we need to live somewhere walkable. We could consider a home somewhere further out if it was walkable to shops, playgrounds, etc. Could you suggest neighborhoods in Rockville, parts of Gaithersburg, Boyds or Clarksburg that would good for a family with a parent who does not drive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, do you guys commute into DC and that's why you want to live in either SS or Bethesda? If not, then i'd actually recommend you go up county. Dcurbanmom's is a biased sample where noone considers any schools outside a 10 mile radius of the district line.

If you work remotely or hybrid, I highly recommend you consider Rockville, parts of Gaithersburg, Boyds or Clarksburg. The schools are pretty good, and it's got as much or more ethnic diversity than Silver Spring. And it's not insanely (or inanely) expensive like Bethesda/CC. You lose easy access to the district, which is a real concern for many, but not for all. Personally, I'm fine with a long commute twice a week in order to save more and get more diversity.

I'm OP-

We currently live in Bethesda and our friends/some family is here. Additionally we already are working with specialists/therapists for the kids here. Access to the District is not a concern.

My spouse is a reluctant driver so we need to live somewhere walkable. We could consider a home somewhere further out if it was walkable to shops, playgrounds, etc. Could you suggest neighborhoods in Rockville, parts of Gaithersburg, Boyds or Clarksburg that would good for a family with a parent who does not drive?

Kentlands.
Done