Reply to Do Rock Creek Forest parents know about potential changes to SP Immersion, middle school, etc. ?

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Reply to "Do Rock Creek Forest parents know about potential changes to SP Immersion, middle school, etc. ?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Immersion parent from SSIMS here with an outside perspective and some data:

- French immesion enrollment been fairly robust (30 or more students per grade) while Spanish immersion has had 20 or fewer per grade.  There is no issue at all between the two programs, and additional students from Westland would no doubt be welcome if they help push enrollment toward two sections per grade.
- discilpline problems at "the other middle school"?  Assuming this is not a code for supposed issues in more diverse schools, you should know that SSIMS has had an extaordinary administration in place that steadily improved behavior and brought up test scores (which track SES) across all subgroups.  Check out the most recently available suspension data from MCPS at http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2009/SuspensionTables2009.pdf
- just a guess, but if the Key/SSIMS boundary parents can continue to B-CC from Westland, it probably has less to do with Westland and more to do with the high school which by all accounts is a great place to study language.  [/quote]

Interesting perspective on BCC, thank you.  Can you expand on why it has a reputation as a great place to study language?

Do you think another aspect of SSIMS/Key students seeking to stay in the BCC cluster is the high school assignment process for SSIMS/Key?  I am assuming that SSIMS/Key are part of the DCC?  If so, I can say that I personally would seek the stability of knowing what high school the child would attend over the gamble that my immersion child might or might not get into an IB program in the DCC.  For me, this is a major reason why I never moved to the DCC area even though there are many affordable, diverse neighborhoods I liked.

The immersion numbers at SSIMS should be carefully thought thru.  If SSIMS got all 80 OOB students from Westland immersion, the SP program would suddenly rise to 100 students or 4 classes.  Then it would really dwarf the FR program, and I would fear that this would contribute to the dynamic that "everyone takes SP."  IMO, I think it's important to preserve the diversity of languages taught in the MoCo system, but I acknowledge that there are other views.  Again, there could be issues with having some kids come from full immersion and others from partial.  I have not heard this addressed at all by Weast or the BoE, particularly O'Neill, both of whom seem only interested in the numbers and capacity.

As for the disciplinary issues I wondered about, I mentioned it because I use the school safety data as a basic screen when I look at schools I would consider for my child.  I don't understand the link you provided, as it seems to be only for elementary schools, but I looked at this data for Westland and SSIMS.  http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/SafetyGlance/currentyear/schools/03647.pdf and http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/SafetyGlance/currentyear/schools/03412.pdf.  In some ways SSIMS and Westland seem similar -- similar rates of suspension and both have  fights/disrespect, etc., the latter of which I guess I expect at any middle or high school.  But two categories are quite different about SSIMS and Westland and are major red flags for me as a parent -- SSIMS had 6 suspensions related to weapons (Westland, none) and SSIMS had 5 suspensions related to sexual offenses (Westland, none).  For me, the nature of these incidents itself is shocking as well as the fact that they are not isolated incidents or flukes.  For example, Westland had an arson/fire/explosive and sexual offense suspensions, both of which I find shocking, but at least they were isolated incidents.  So, this is what I meant by suggesting that maybe parents were looking to place kids elsewhere for middle school if SSIMS had disciplinary issues.  (Which even you seem to suggest/agree since you note that the administration has worked hard to "steadily improve behavior".  It can often take time for parents to see and believe that this kind of improvement is permanent and make changes in where they want to send their kids.)

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