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[quote=Anonymous]OP,

We have kids in the Walter Johnson and BCC cluster and have friends in other Bethesda MCPS schools.

You have to realize that there are structural limitations in MCPS due to rapid demographic changes which bring overcrowding and, in some schools, many children who do not speak English as a first language, but this is not a pressing issue in the Bethesda-area schools. Certain Bethesda schools which are not in the immediate downtown have very affluent families with children who for the most part have always lived a very comfortable lifestyle and thus may have a skewed perception of reality.

Every teacher is supposed to follow the same curriculum HOWEVER some schools or teacher teams in certain grades implement extra add-ons, for example the Lucy Calkins writing program, which could be considered an enrichment. We have found that each teacher has a lot of leeway in what he or she does in the class.

So your question is really too large. By the time your child hits certain grades at a certain school, that teacher might not be teaching there anymore and her approach might not be implemented by the current teacher!

As a European who studied at various private schools in the UK, France and Germany, and who did a stint in a Japanese school, here's what I've noticed:
1. The MCPS curriculum, as well as many private school curriculae, are "a mile wide and an inch thick", meaning that the students are introduced to a wide variety of concepts without having the time to go in-depth and develop critical thinking skills to answer complex problems in each. This is particularly problematic in writing development and math thinking.
2. There are no textbooks so review and reading ahead are difficult.
3. Certain MCPS schools are excellent at caring for special needs, particularly the Bethesda Elementary School, some of them are terrible, it depends on the attitude of each school administration, but none except selective magnets are adept at challenging advanced students. Magnets at the elementary school level (Highly Gifted Centers) will be close to you, but in middle and high school have been deliberately chosen to be far away from Bethesda, to revive other downtowns such as Silver Spring, Takoma Park or Wheaton. This poses a transportation issue for Bethesda-area students.
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