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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My almost 6th grader just had orientation for the fall at Silver Creek Middle School (not zoned for Bethesda, and maybe not the side of town you want), but here’s what their program is:

Advanced English - they supposedly differentiate within the class for higher and lower levels but I doubt that as I don’t see it happening in 5th grade 
SS is a version of ancient world - they have an honors SS course but you must be invited by the “district” and they use standardized testing and other data that you as a parent don’t know about. 
Math - tracked from 3rd grade - it appears if you are on level in math you’ll only be able to test out a bit by 7th grade though I am still unclear on that 
Foreign Lang - Spanish or French 
Electives - choice of orchestra, chorus, or band (full year), or a split year of digital art/regular art coupled with an engineering/ STEM something

OP, hear me. 
I just moved here from Bergen County and I’m also an educator in secondary education. This is a different animal here. The academics are decent but it’s very poorly run. Go private or stay in Westchester. We are already looking to move out of the DMV as it’s honestly just not a good fit for any of us.

Best of luck to you! [/quote]

MCPS does make it a little bit hard to “place up” if you’re moving in from another district. Silver Creek is stricter about that than some of the other schools, but it is possible if you have MAP and PARCC scores from your current district.

Silver Creek has fewer electives than other middle schools. They also require most kids to take a full year of high school level world language every year. My cynical take on this is that they intentionally have skimpy electives so that people won’t complain as much about the language requirement.  FWIW, the music and art programs are both quite good.  They also have an interim principal right now, so who knows if the new principal will make any changes.

OP, it is annoying but true that schools across MCPS do not have the same course offerings or requirements. The district either can’t or won’t give you any information, so you have to individually contact the counseling office of whatever schools you’re considering to get accurate information. That said, the counseling offices are generally responsive. DCUM might give you quicker answers, but there’s also a lot of misinformation.

Good luck![/quote]

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