College Gardens ES?

Anonymous
Are your kids happy there? Why/why not? Thanks!
Anonymous
CGES is a fine school. My children have been there for several years. It has enormous diversity along with strong academics (and scores if you care). I believe a map in the school lobby a few years ago showed children born in 45 different countries. It has the PYP program (IB for young children). All kids get an hour of Mandarin Chinese a week. The building is 2 years old and has lots of new technology. The classes are large but my children seem ok and attended to. The PTA is active and there are many after school activities and evening events.
Anonymous
Any more thoughts on College Gardens ES? I've heard that he principal is fairly rigid - any thoughts by parents who've interacted with him? How is the atmosphere at the school? Having things under control at school is good, but if it's overly controlling it makes for a high pressure environment. Have seen this in other schools in the area.
Anonymous
I think the principal makes a good contribution to the school. He generally does a good job with new hires and championing the schools needs etc. That said he is not the person I would go to with conerns specific to my child. He seems (to me) to be too wrapped up in the MCPS admin world. The Assistant Principal on the other hand is much more available and approachable to parents. Between the two of them, I think most parents/childrens needs are met.
Anonymous
I just couldn't get over the LARGE class sizes.
Anonymous
I personally found the principal to lack empathy or interest for children's well-roundedness as human beings, but more as test performing widgets. He is too controlling and is responsible for a top down environment. On two separate occasions, years apart, I also heard hearsay of teachers feeling bullied. Speaking of bullying, look up last year's stories on how bullying was covered up the administrators.
Anonymous
The school is way too overcrowded. Class sizes are close to 30 in certain grades. No matter how good the teachers or administration are, there are just too many children to provide the best environment and quality of schooling.
Anonymous
My 2nd grader has 22 children in her class..though I think some of the older grades are bigger. I think the IB program has made it very popular.....portables next year.
Anonymous
Recently, there was a huge scandal on WTOP about College Gardens and bullying
Anonymous
Read the article with care, knowing the school could not respond due to privacy restrictions. There are (at least) two sides to every story.
Anonymous
I have thought it odd that the College Gardens story has remained on WTOPs site for months when most stories last 12 hours...
Anonymous
>Read the article with care, knowing the school could not respond due to privacy restrictions. There are (at least) two sides to every story.

I agree with this. I'm not crazy for the principal of the school (my child is there), but I thought WTOP's coverage was really unfair. They knew full well he couldn't comment, but went so they could 'catch' him not commenting. The privacy restrictions are there for a reason. A child shouldn't be tried in the court of public opinion.
Anonymous
I currently have two kids at College Gardens (and my eldest went there as well). In general, we've been quite happy. My kids are getting a great education, and they love their teachers. The principal is not my favorite person in the world, but he seems to be doing a good job (as well as I can judge).

The WTOP article was disturbing. I can't imagine that a parent would make up exaggerate such a story, but at the same time it didn't mesh with my own experiences and interactions with the administration at CGES. I'm still not sure what to make of it.
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