Reply to Tell me how your bright, middle-class child did/is doing at a low socio-economic school

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Tell me how your bright, middle-class child did/is doing at a low socio-economic school"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are in NOVA and have chosen our neighborhood school.  It is 70%(+) FARMS and 50% spanish-speaking.  Test scores are not great.  Our experience is similar to other pp's - DS is doing fine academically and seems challenged.  Is learning things that his peers (at other schools) are learning.  The school understands its population and knows how to challenge the kids who are better prepared and more engaged, and how to help those who are not.

The challenge for us also is on the social side of things.  Very hard to arrange playdates, do birthday parties, etc.  Beyond the 50% spanish speaking, there also are many immigrant families speaking a variety of languages.

One thing that I've noticed, which PP's haven't mentioned, is that the general social environment/culture at the school seems...lacking.  That is, the school is not a hub for everyone, the way that my school was when I was growing up.  [b]When they hold social functions, parties, etc., there are a LOT of people who do not come.  (The same people tend to be there every time.)  Another example - for back-to-school night, very few people come.  Also things like classroom parties don't happen, unless one of the American parents steps forward to organize it (and since there are few of us, and many of us WOH, it's particularly hard).  I think the families who have non-American cultural backgrounds maybe just don't expect that school is something they would participate in beyond simply sending their child there each day to learn.[/b]
[/quote]

I teach ESOL and for Back to School Night the same is true for us.  Many of our parents work at night and many of them do not speak English so they feel uncomfortable coming to events like this.  There is also a cultural difference in that schools are often seen as "hands off" for many immigrant parents.  The teachers do their job and it is not up to the parents to be a part of that.  Some immigrant parents are also intimidated because they may not be very well educated themselves.  Their kids go to school to learn, but it is not a place where parents usually participate.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics