Reply to BCC Middle School Site Selction number 2

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Does anyone know what schools will feed into the new middle school? I know there is concern that the new school should be as demographically balanced as possible, but a previous post referred to Joshua Starr's desire for walkable schools, and would seem to be at odds with a far eastern or western placement.

It also would seem to be at odds with the NCC location. That would almost seem to be the least likely option for walking from surrounding neighborhoods.

I only attended the first ssac meeting but the concept of a 6th grade academy was brought up, which would keep all the kids together through middle school (a good thing in my mind). But it seemed to be quickly shot down by mcps rep. Why?

This was brought up in reference to Westland. But couldn't a 6th grade academy be built in many of the other sites that have been eliminated as being too small? It would seem that a 6th grade academy would be less land hungry and solve the over crowding problem.

This deserves more consideration.

MCPS will not decide the boundaries for the new middle school until a year before the school opens. As for walkability, Westland is not a walkable school. Most of the neighborhoods around Westland go to Pyle/Whitman (I think the school is actually in the Whitman cluster, with a little BCC cluster boundary line around it). However, Starr said that some Pyle kids may go to Westland once the new MS opens.

So, it seems like the new middle school is not just being built just to support the BCC cluster. It is being built to support overcrowding at other schools as well, and who knows, it could also include students from clusters other than Whitman since MCPS has not said for certain who is going to BCC MS #2.

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I don't know what you envision exactly by 6th grade academy, but many parents at NCC and CCES have lobbied for their kids to stay at CCES and NCC where they are currently in 6th grade, when MCPS abruptly decided they should all be transferred to Westland.  The revolt of the CCES and NCC parents lead MCPS to accept that a new middle school should be built.

Throughout the debate over whether CCES/NCC students could stay in 6th grade at their elementary schools, MCPS insisted that it wasn't developmentally appropriate to keep 6th grade away from 7th and 8th.  MCPS seemed, IMO, to want to get economies of scale by moving everyone to middle school, wanted to simplify administration (because they don't seem to be able to cope with the minor creative management necessary to keep this 6th grade format) and seems to think that keeping 6th grade separate means that kids are not pushed as hard academically.  I don't think the latter is necessarily true.

MCPS was so devoted to the idea of moving the 6th grades to Westland, that they basically forced the parents at these schools into a choice -- move to Westland or we will slowing academically strangle your 6th grade with substandard educaitonal offerings and relentless budget cuts. Given that choice, these parents advocated for a new middle school, rather than a super-size Westland.

I can't imagine that the NCC or CCES parents would accept the idea of a 6th grade academy at a non-Westland site that would then feed to 7/8 at Westland.  It would mean that these students would go to a split elementary school (K-2 at RHPS and 3-6 at CCES or NCC) and then to a separate 6th grade, and then on to 7/8.  Most parents feel that the paired elementary school set-up puts an increased burden on them, and I can't imagine they'd accept yet another extra transition.

Given the history, imagine the uproar that MCPS would create if they created a "6th grade academy" in this cluster?[/quote]

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