We moved to Bethesda especially for that school and neighborhood.
Our son has gone to K and 1st grade, and so far we have been very impressed with the resources at the school's disposal, as well as the involvement of the principal, vice-p, and every member of the staff.

My son had a classmate with Down Syndrome last year, and I saw the positive effect it had on him as well as other children in the class. At 6, he became more compassionate and understanding of differences, which is so incredibly important in our society.
Of course a minority of SN kids take up teachers' time and other valuable school resources - who would grudge it to them! My son has special needs that are addressed outside the classroom. But I do not observe that neurotypical children are significantly affected by this.

As for economic diversity, frankly I don't see much of it! I do not have the percentage of students who receive free or reduced meals in mind, but I suspect it is extremely low. I would not call Silver Spring a low income area, but of course there are those who do on DCUM.

In terms of ethnic diversity, there are some asian, hispanic and black families, in the midst of the paler-skinned student body

I do have one criticism: the classes are too large for one teacher (27 children). I feel this is a public school system problem, not specific to Bethesda ES.

My kids go to BE and we love it. Very involved principal and vice principal. Extremely involved PTA, more than most. Amazing after school activities. Our population is very diverse and it all works wonderfully. We just had our 4th and 5th grade music concert last night and it was really great! I'm not sure what negative info you heard, but I find it hard to believe!

It's very easy to say that, isn't it?

Anonymous wrote:

One of the main reasons that nobody will talk about is that B-CC cluster has more diversity; everyone claims they want that but they don’t. They don’t want their kids going to a friend’s house that is low income in Silver Spring.

Exactly. You see it on this board all of the time. They are all for diversity until its time for the kid to visit the "diverse kid's" house or to find a house in a diverse neighborhood. Then they retreat to their lilly white enclaves.

PP here, yes I am very happy with it. Again you get what you want out of it. It is up to you not the school and the school will work with you to make sure your kid gets the proper education.

There are a bunch of helicopter parents there who think it is the schools job to make sure they do their homework etc.

We really like it.

Anonymous wrote:Our kids go there and we find it very welcoming. In all the years we have been there, I have found the parents who say they don't like it are the ones that are not involved. They ignore the school functions, the pot luck dinners, the school picnic etc. Their kids are not involved in after school activities or sports and are not part of the community by choice.

Our kids are not SN but a lot of their friends are and they do a great job keeping the SN kids involved in everything. Everyone is together starting in K and the kids don't even notice any of it. The parents who think their kids will be Ivy bound are horrified that their kids are in the same classes as a SN kid-that is true for any school. Again they won’t admit it but you can see it.

We love it the principal, staff, and everyone is great. You make a school what you want it.

The Bradley Hills Pyle part is about them splitting the school up. People can compare all they want to the B-CC cluster and Whitman cluster but at the end of the day; it is what works for you.

One of the main reasons that nobody will talk about is that B-CC cluster has more diversity; everyone claims they want that but they don’t. They don’t want their kids going to a friend’s house that is low income in Silver Spring.

Thanks PP. Do you feel like your kids are getting as good an education as they might at another close by elementary?

Our kids go there and we find it very welcoming. In all the years we have been there, I have found the parents who say they don't like it are the ones that are not involved. They ignore the school functions, the pot luck dinners, the school picnic etc. Their kids are not involved in after school activities or sports and are not part of the community by choice.

Our kids are not SN but a lot of their friends are and they do a great job keeping the SN kids involved in everything. Everyone is together starting in K and the kids don't even notice any of it. The parents who think their kids will be Ivy bound are horrified that their kids are in the same classes as a SN kid-that is true for any school. Again they won’t admit it but you can see it.

We love it the principal, staff, and everyone is great. You make a school what you want it.

The Bradley Hills Pyle part is about them splitting the school up. People can compare all they want to the B-CC cluster and Whitman cluster but at the end of the day; it is what works for you.

One of the main reasons that nobody will talk about is that B-CC cluster has more diversity; everyone claims they want that but they don’t. They don’t want their kids going to a friend’s house that is low income in Silver Spring.

re-bump!

Bumper here- reading DCUM/great schools/school digger I hear that because of the larger proportion of SN kids, that it strips resources from the rest of the student body in a significant way.

Also that the parent/school community isn't as friendly and welcoming as others.

School digger ranks it as middling among MD schools. But that's founded on all sorts of random stats.

Anonymous wrote:Hello, I am a future mother of a child that will attend Elementary school. We live in the BE district. I always thought it was a great school but I am hearing things that are making me question that assumption.. If anyone can share their thoughts on this I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

What have you heard? Most likely its unfounded gossip.

Bump - wondering the same as OP at the moment. If you love BE, can you tell me why!

B.E. is one of the top inclusion schools in the country. The top in this area. They serve every child who walks through their doors well. In my opinion, a school that can do that is guaranteed to be amazing with kids without special needs as their teachers are used to problem solving, and flexibility.

Thanks.. I do understand that.. I am just wondering why BE gets more negative talk than say Bradley Hills or Pyle.
I see a lot of people have looked at this but only one replied.. which seems odd to me.

ANY public school in Bethesda is top notch no matter what you hear.

Hello, I am a future mother of a child that will attend Elementary school. We live in the BE district. I always thought it was a great school but I am hearing things that are making me question that assumption.. If anyone can share their thoughts on this I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!