OP, I woud reach out to your neighborhood listserv about experience with the school.

Anonymous wrote:I think with the current state of MCPS, getting feedback from parents that the school is "OK" is a positive thing. When parents tell you a school is bad, believe them. But "ok" means the school is pretty acceptable. There is a smaller and smaller pool of schools that parents rave about and feel is great in MCPS these days thanks to the wreckage that McKnight and Felder left behind. But maybe Taylor will turn things around. We'll have to wait and see.

You mean the so-called parents on DCUM, because IRL of 80% of parents are fine with MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP and I'm not trying to be a jerk, but as public school parents in diverse schools, a lot of us are just sick of being asked to talk other parents into choosing our schools over private.

If you can afford it, private will give you smaller class sizes, individualized attention, and segregation from the masses.

If that's what you feel like your child needs, great. We will accept your property taxes without adding another child to our already full schools.

NP. My kid attended a majority white (~60%) W elementary school. Many on our street attended private schools instead, beginning it K, and not the local elementary school. So it's not always about diverse schools. It's all that you mention--class size, individualized attention--and perhaps more, like just not going to MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

PVandenberg wrote:Thanks this is helpful! It is a good point about being geared towards younger kids and I have no concerns about specific procedures, totally agree with you on need for regiment in any school! I also think young kids really enjoy routine and learning/mastering the "rules" - -

Did you feel that you had transparency into what happens in the classroom? For example, do you get feedback on how your child is doing or know what they are learning/planning to be taught each week/ or month etc.?

DP. We get a weekly newsletter that goes over what they are learning, but that's really it. There is one parent-teacher conference per year (around Thanksgiving), but you can request to meet more frequently. (We usually do 1 or 2 additional ones per year.) The same is true for our kid at CCES. We've never done private, but it's possible you get more information there.

You asked above if you feel like kids get lost at RHES. Absolutely not. The principal says hi to my kid each day. The teacher we had last year and the one this year are warm and nurturing (though that may be specific to our teachers -- I certainly don't know them all). My kid definitely loves going to school. But there is not a lot of hand-holding of parents. I'm in the PTA so get information that way, and we go to all the community events. But beyong the weekly newsletter, I am not getting details of what my kid is doing.

That could be said of every school, even in a classroom with fewer students. Unless you proactively ask your kid's teacher how kid is doing as frequently as you need, you may not know much about what's happening in their classes (including p.e., art, music etc.).

PVandenberg wrote:Thanks this is helpful! It is a good point about being geared towards younger kids and I have no concerns about specific procedures, totally agree with you on need for regiment in any school! I also think young kids really enjoy routine and learning/mastering the "rules" - -

Did you feel that you had transparency into what happens in the classroom? For example, do you get feedback on how your child is doing or know what they are learning/planning to be taught each week/ or month etc.?

DP. We get a weekly newsletter that goes over what they are learning, but that's really it. There is one parent-teacher conference per year (around Thanksgiving), but you can request to meet more frequently. (We usually do 1 or 2 additional ones per year.) The same is true for our kid at CCES. We've never done private, but it's possible you get more information there.

You asked above if you feel like kids get lost at RHES. Absolutely not. The principal says hi to my kid each day. The teacher we had last year and the one this year are warm and nurturing (though that may be specific to our teachers -- I certainly don't know them all). My kid definitely loves going to school. But there is not a lot of hand-holding of parents. I'm in the PTA so get information that way, and we go to all the community events. But beyong the weekly newsletter, I am not getting details of what my kid is doing.

We had a child there pre-COVID and a child there now and the difference is huge. It really comes down to having a caring, hard-working, and responsive principal. My kid loves school and has had teachers who are new to the school (but taught previously). They have been great. The principal seems to do a good job hiring.

I would suggest you go on a tour of the school OP and see what you think. Public school is very differet from private school, so I think the question I would ask is not so much about RHPS but whether your preference for public or private. Good luck.

Thanks this is helpful! It is a good point about being geared towards younger kids and I have no concerns about specific procedures, totally agree with you on need for regiment in any school! I also think young kids really enjoy routine and learning/mastering the "rules" - -

Did you feel that you had transparency into what happens in the classroom? For example, do you get feedback on how your child is doing or know what they are learning/planning to be taught each week/ or month etc.?

Sent 4 kids there, 3 pre-covid and one during & after.
The teachers are excellent.
The school itself is very regimented with a lot of rules and the kids have to follow pretty specific procedures for recess, lunch, walking through the halls, classroom routines, etc. This doesn't bother me at all (seems very practical for running a large school full of young kids) but some parents prefer more individual attention and flexibility.
One thing that I really like is everything at the school is really geared towards and appropriate for younger kids, since the school only goes up to 2nd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP and I'm not trying to be a jerk, but as public school parents in diverse schools, a lot of us are just sick of being asked to talk other parents into choosing our schools over private.

If you can afford it, private will give you smaller class sizes, individualized attention, and segregation from the masses.

If that's what you feel like your child needs, great. We will accept your property taxes without adding another child to our already full schools.

Yep,that's the word on the street.

When my kids were younger, I was much more willing to engage in this hand-holding for white parents worried about global majority schools, but the older I get the less energy I have to keep reassuring them that having their kids educated alongside mine will be fine actually.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP and I'm not trying to be a jerk, but as public school parents in diverse schools, a lot of us are just sick of being asked to talk other parents into choosing our schools over private.

If you can afford it, private will give you smaller class sizes, individualized attention, and segregation from the masses.

If that's what you feel like your child needs, great. We will accept your property taxes without adding another child to our already full schools.

Yep,that's the word on the street.

I'm the PP and I'm not trying to be a jerk, but as public school parents in diverse schools, a lot of us are just sick of being asked to talk other parents into choosing our schools over private.

If you can afford it, private will give you smaller class sizes, individualized attention, and segregation from the masses.

If that's what you feel like your child needs, great. We will accept your property taxes without adding another child to our already full schools.

I think with the current state of MCPS, getting feedback from parents that the school is "OK" is a positive thing. When parents tell you a school is bad, believe them. But "ok" means the school is pretty acceptable. There is a smaller and smaller pool of schools that parents rave about and feel is great in MCPS these days thanks to the wreckage that McKnight and Felder left behind. But maybe Taylor will turn things around. We'll have to wait and see.

I'm looking for broad feedback as mostly what i have heard is that yeah, its ok. I have rarely heard really strong positive feedback and often know of folks who went private. But, a lot of that personal feedback I have received had a lot to do with how RH and MCPS in general handled Covid. But to be clear, I am not worried at all about what happened during covid or Ted Cruz. I was just trying to get ahead of that for responses and to explain I want to hear folks views on recent / last couple of years at Rosemary Hills. I want to hear if people feel like the school is strong, their experience with teachers, whether their kids are doing well, whether or not they feel lost in such a big school, and how others have considered attending vs. going to private school. We are pretty early on this - and not sure how else to get updated feedback from other parents. Thanks so much!

It might help if you were more clear about what you have heard and why it bothers you.

Yes, the school is large. K-2 schools tend to have a lot of classes in each grade because otherwise they would be too small to justify keeping open.

Yes, Ted Cruz targeted them for following MCPS policy, but I'm not sure how that reflects on the school.

What are you worried about, and what would private school offer to ameliorate those concerns?

Hi fellow parents -
We are zoned for Rosemary Hills Elementary school and are debating whether we should apply for private school for next fall (which would need to be soon) or plan to try out Rosemary Hills. I have seen a lot of poor reviews, but most are outdated. I've also heard there are 7 Kindergarten classes, which seems like a lot. I'm really interested in hearing from folks who either currently have kids in Rosemary Hills, or parents who considered going and instead chose to go private instead and why. I know folks had a lot of concerns during Covid and Rosemary Hills was shockingly brought to national attention by Ted Cruz, but I really want to focus on people's experience more recently (in the last couple of years). My kids are doing well in preschool and at this point, don't expect to have any IEP or special needs. Any and all input to help us determine what to do - would be super helpful!
Thanks so much!
Pamela