Reply to Private school recommendations - living in Bowie and commuting to DC

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not the original poster but It's not as simple as just sending your kids to public school to make them better.  For example, my neighborhood school had 28 kids in kindergarten last year.  Am I wrong, for not wanting to enroll my child? In addition, my kid has small sensory and motor skill issues, not enough to be considered special needs or need an IEP so they need a little more one on one.  Their school now caps at 12 students.  Me as a child, I could thrive in any environment 12 kids or 25 kids! However, I know my child and they need a small learning environment. 28:1 ratio is horrible, the average will stay average, those who need a little more help, won't get it and the advance will get bored.

Anne Arundel cluster, I would go public. The Crofton/Gambrills area schools are fantastic and most have 17/18 cap on students. Big difference than PG.  Also, to put it in perspective, my 3rd grader had 31!!!! However, she could hang because she is that child that can self direct.  *just saying*[/quote]

Exactly this. I moved my child out of a high performing elementary school in Bowie to St. Pius due to the class sizes. Ironically, St. Pius also has large classes sizes- approx. 25, but not as large as our zoned school- a whopping 33 at one point! Our zoned school also didn't have dedicated teacher's assistance, whereas St. Pius does. This is so important for classroom management and reading and math groups.
In many ways, COVID was a blessing for me because I was forced to teach my DS and realized how far behind he was from his potential. Our zoned school had great teachers, but way too many students, so as long as a child wasn't visibly lagging behind, they were okay. At St. Pius, my DS is being pushed academically every day even with the remote learning, which has been excellent. 
I question the PP who says that St. Pius kids aren't smart. There is of course a range, as there should be in any welcoming environment, but children with either learning challenges or heightened potential are definitely given additional support. A friend of mine whose a high school teacher at a local Catholic HS told me that St. Pius kids often stand out as some of his best prepared..
These are my two cents as a current St. Pius parent and former Bowie public school parent.[/quote]

Thank you for this! I don't want to enroll my child in our neighborhood school because their teacher/admin turnover is ridiculous, not to mention the class sizes for Kindergarten with no teacher aide. Why would I place my child in an environment where there are 33 five year old children, in one class, with one teacher? I'm not against public schooling however I will NOT put my child/children in an environment where there is little to no support.  We are also applying to St. Pius for the 2021-22 school year. Although we are not Catholic, I've heard nothing but positive feedback about this school. I've even received excellent support from the St. Pius administrative staff so far. They are very responsive and thorough with answering my questions. I'm not looking for perfection from any school. I just want to put my child in the best position possible as any parent would. Public or private, I believe we are all doing what's best for our kids. [/quote]

My point. Unfortunately, our good PG tax dollars don’t support our schools. I have a daughter starting kindergarten and I cringe at this. Where as DC has an assistant in ALL there kindergarten classes full time. I can’t stomach 28 kids in a class with no teacher and when I asked the question recently, I was told that was average size. I can’t do it.[/quote]

I just want to chime in that the class size is super dependent on the school and even the school year.  My kids went to the same elementary school and started K in 2013. 2016 and 2019.  Their class sizes were 23, 22-29, 18 for K.  There were some strange circumstances in 2016 and her class went from 22 to 29 and then back down to 23.   In 2018 the K class size was only 17 per class.  I had a friend at a neighboring elementary school where the enrollment that year was 15.  You can look at the SCR on the school enrollment database to see what schools are over enrolled to determine what class sizes might look like.

Also, although there is no dedicated aid in the classroom, my kids rarely only had one adult in the classroom.  There were a team of aids, administrators and specialists (Reading, Math, SPED, ESOL)  who rotated in and out during the day.  Our elementary school has a dedicated paraprofessional for each grade which is nice.  They spend 25-30% of their time with each class.    It is far from perfect but it isn't one teacher vs 28 kids 100% of the time.  
[/quote]

Yes, this is very school dependent, but unfortunately, in Bowie enrollment numbers have continued to grow because they keep building more housing. Also, Bowie is a wonderful place to live so many older home owners have sold to families with younger kids in recent years. In the past two years, I have welcomed several new neighbors with many children to my community. It's been wonderful, but the schools are bursting at the seams. Unfortunately, our schools cant not keeping up with the growth in enrollment- except for maybe newer schools like Tulip Grove. Northridge is also a newer building, but needs improvements in administration and teaching personnel and is lacking in specials and extracurriculars.
It's also worth noting that the school boundary reassignment for District 5 (mostly Bowie) that had been delayed in 2019 is being revisited for this very reason. So if you are currently zoned to one of the higher performing schools in Bowie, please research if you are slotted to be rezoned due to elementary school overcrowding. 
I'm happy that PP had a positive experience, but a lot has changed in even just the past 3 years.
CEO Dr. Goldson is truly amazing, but the county has deprioritized school infrastructure for too long and she's doing the best that she can.[/quote]

Also, there is a district wide boundary study going on, not just District 5.   [/quote]

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