12:40 here. I just realized my post above is confusing.

I wasn't talking about Mt. Ranier. I was responding to the PP's suggestion that your kid will do well in any school so long as you are involved and your kid does well in a school setting.

My point was that I think that is true up to a certain extent. If there is a lot of fighting, then that creates an environment that makes it difficult for any kid to thrive.

The example I gave wasn't in PG, though. I live in PG now, but my example is from a place before I moved here.

Just wanted to emphasize that. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I live in Mt Rainier.

I want to echo that by the time your child gets to elementary/middle/high school, the landscape can change a lot.

I'm not convinced that schools in other counties are all that much better, to tell you the truth. ALL systems have their issues, and no school's a panecea (gee. I say that a lot). Test scores do not tell the whole story. Anecdotes do not tell the whole story. Structure (public/private/charter) does not tell the whole story.

If your child has involved parents and does reasonably well in a school setting, they will be OK.

In general, I agree with this.

*But* I used to live in a rough area (not PG County), and the one thing that I think does make a difference (meaning, even if you are involved with your kid and your kid is well behaved, they won't be okay) is if there is a lot of fighting and behavioral issues. A person I know in that area (again, not PG County) used to teach in the local schools but left because she said there was fighting on an almost daily basis and even though the kids were middle school aged, she felt like she was even physically in danger. Personally, I think people focus too much on average test scores, but if you're kid is in an environment where there is a lot of fighting and egregious behavioral issues, I don't think that's OK.

But again, that example was not in PG County. It is, though, the thing that concerns me most about a school. But the problem is it's difficult to find that out about a school, so parents go with the only information they can find, which is school ratings, scores, et cetera.

Hi OP. I live in Mt Rainier.

I want to echo that by the time your child gets to elementary/middle/high school, the landscape can change a lot.

I'm not convinced that schools in other counties are all that much better, to tell you the truth. ALL systems have their issues, and no school's a panecea (gee. I say that a lot). Test scores do not tell the whole story. Anecdotes do not tell the whole story. Structure (public/private/charter) does not tell the whole story.

If your child has involved parents and does reasonably well in a school setting, they will be OK.

I know a few parents who have high achieving kids at Northwestern HS and have been pleased. They have an award winning choir going to compete in South Africa this summer. There is a fairly new principal there and I have a friend who works there and the overall attitude at least from her perspective is that he is making strides, holding people accountable and supporting the teachers.

I will say that for the most part the parents that I have spoken to with kids in the public school system (Bowie area) are generally pleased. They also have the mentality though that as long as you are involved in your child's education, that your kid will generally be okay. Really spend some time visiting the schools and talking to parents in the system. I will say that I felt a lot more nervous about it based on reputation, but when I actually visited the schools I gained greater comfort. I will find out how it goes as I have a rising kindergartner. If it doesn't work out, I am not too worried about moving him if necessary. Not much is lost as I can easily supplement whatever I think he is not getting at this age.

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks for the insider information!

It frustrates me so much that PG is such a challenging option when it comes to schools. The county is huge. It has wonderful neighborhoods. I have done home and garden tours of Mount Rainier and Hyattsville, and they seemed like cool, funky places with nice people where I could actually afford a house and not just a tiny condo.

And yet, I have all these hesitations and worries over the schools issue. I was jokingly telling my parents that I'm too poor to live in Prince George's -- I don't know if I could swing private school tuition if it comes to that. So, it seems like my other choice is to live in a closet or commute 3 hours a day.

Anyway, sorry for the venting. I really look forward to following the discussions in this forum; my kid is just a baby still, so I don't have to make any decision immediately. I appreciate your thoughts.

Don't worry, OP. I know it sounds cliche, but things do have a way of working out. When my kids were infants, the school they are zoned for now didn't even exist. Well, the building had been repurposed and then reverted back to a school. Even though things can look dim, look at the bright side by reading those other boards with the insufferable MoCo crowd. I wouldn't trade places. I love Prince George's County honestly and think we have a good thing going over here.

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks for the insider information!

It frustrates me so much that PG is such a challenging option when it comes to schools. The county is huge. It has wonderful neighborhoods. I have done home and garden tours of Mount Rainier and Hyattsville, and they seemed like cool, funky places with nice people where I could actually afford a house and not just a tiny condo.

And yet, I have all these hesitations and worries over the schools issue. I was jokingly telling my parents that I'm too poor to live in Prince George's -- I don't know if I could swing private school tuition if it comes to that. So, it seems like my other choice is to live in a closet or commute 3 hours a day.

Anyway, sorry for the venting. I really look forward to following the discussions in this forum; my kid is just a baby still, so I don't have to make any decision immediately. I appreciate your thoughts.

We're ALL frustrated, OP!

Hyattsville Elementary has a very active PTA right now. That will flow up to the middle school eventually when their kids hit that age I think because none of them have plans to exit come middle school. I think things are moving in a positive direction there. High School is still problematic, but since you are many years away from that, you'd have plenty of time to see how your child develops and whether ERHS or the new charter might be options (or perhaps Northwestern improves) or sock a little money away each of those public school years to do private in high school if the options don't look good. Hyattsville is a really great place to live and there is a lot of value in not having a horrible commute and loving your home, IMO.

OP here: thanks for the insider information!

It frustrates me so much that PG is such a challenging option when it comes to schools. The county is huge. It has wonderful neighborhoods. I have done home and garden tours of Mount Rainier and Hyattsville, and they seemed like cool, funky places with nice people where I could actually afford a house and not just a tiny condo.

And yet, I have all these hesitations and worries over the schools issue. I was jokingly telling my parents that I'm too poor to live in Prince George's -- I don't know if I could swing private school tuition if it comes to that. So, it seems like my other choice is to live in a closet or commute 3 hours a day.

Anyway, sorry for the venting. I really look forward to following the discussions in this forum; my kid is just a baby still, so I don't have to make any decision immediately. I appreciate your thoughts.

High school in Laurel is also problematic.

FWIW we have known several families who did public elem., private for middle, then back to ERHS for high school. I think there might be less of that with the TAG center and facility improvements at Greenbelt Middle School and the opening of that new charter which begins in middle school. Lots of the kids we know who are doing the CP charter would have gone private had the the charter not opened. I also wonder if that charter may make the admission numbers at ERHS for sci/tech a bit friendlier too over time.

Anonymous wrote:Agreed that Samuel Ogle is generally considered better. I'd argue that the Whitehall-Ogle-ERHS option is probably one of the better -- if not the best -- ones in the county. If your child can test into the Summit program at Bowie High, that is also a good fall-back since Roosevelt's acceptance rate is a little better than 10 percent I believe.

I think Benjamin Tasker has a bad reputation because there are some bad kids there. The inmates run the asylum. A lot of bad behavior is tolerated. I graduated from there and no way would I send my child there.

In Bowie, Tasker draws from some rougher areas than Ogle.

There are a couple good elementary schools in Laurel, but middle school is problematic. Greenbelt Elem-Greenbelt Middle -- ERHS is ok too. While UPES is great, Hyattsville Middle is not the best (though certainly not the worst) and Northwestern IMO is a no-go.

I agree with this.

Agreed that Samuel Ogle is generally considered better. I'd argue that the Whitehall-Ogle-ERHS option is probably one of the better -- if not the best -- ones in the county. If your child can test into the Summit program at Bowie High, that is also a good fall-back since Roosevelt's acceptance rate is a little better than 10 percent I believe.

I think Benjamin Tasker has a bad reputation because there are some bad kids there. The inmates run the asylum. A lot of bad behavior is tolerated. I graduated from there and no way would I send my child there.

In Bowie, Tasker draws from some rougher areas than Ogle.

There are a couple good elementary schools in Laurel, but middle school is problematic. Greenbelt Elem-Greenbelt Middle -- ERHS is ok too. While UPES is great, Hyattsville Middle is not the best (though certainly not the worst) and Northwestern IMO is a no-go.

I would ditto the other poster except that Samuel Ogle Middle seems to have a better reputation the Benjamin Tasker middle school. Not sure why though since they are within a couple of miles of each other.

I think pretty much every PGCPS pyramid has a weakness at some point. Pretty much everyone I know who has been generally pleased with public all the way up has had kids in specialty programs for at least part of that (K-8 at either Goddard school skipping problematic MS and then testing in to ERHS for example, or TAG all the way through ERHS).

I guess it depends on what you would call decent. I've known people at more than one of the Bowie pyramids who would call it generally decent throughout. Not great come HS, but decent. I hear that the Greenbelt --> Greenbelt MS --> ERHS pyramid may be improving as Greenbelt MS seems to be trending better with the new facility (which is really a great building) and the TAG center. Our former babysitter (now in college) was generally pleased with her experience in the University Park progression, but she did sci/tech at ERHS so she didn't end up at Northwestern. If decent = safe environment and some good teachers then I think there are pyramids that meet that definition. If you're looking for great test scores or great facilities or that type of thing I think it gets harder to find 3 zoned together schools that would tick off all those boxes too.

First, thanks so much to those of you who pushed to have a separate section for Prince George's County. It's challenging to have questions answered when the first response is always "I'd never send my children to those schools."

I've heard about several elementary schools in the county that do a good job, but the weakness always seems to be middle and high school. Can anyone recommend any school pyramids where all three of the levels -- elementary, middle and high -- are decent? I know there are some schools like Roosevelt that students can test into, and I know about some lottery options, but my kid is young and I can't assume that he would win the lottery or that he'd be academically advanced enough for Roosevelt.