If it isn't one thing it is another. Next they will be upset that milk is too expensive and not organic.

my kids love them and so do their friends. they think it is super cool, so i am good with it.

Anonymous wrote:My dd loved being in a portable...they had their own thermostat. Kids did not care about short trips in when it was cold.

or hot.

+1

My daughter is in a portable for the 3rd year this year. It really depends on class sizes, though they try not to put the smallest kids in the portables to avoid bathroom accidents.

DDs experience has not been entirely positive as others suggest. The students must use an electronic key to go to the bathroom and climb a flight of stairs. The key doesn't always work, and the bathroom has only 2 stalls for the 100 or so students using it. This becomes an issue during scheduled bathroom breaks, which take a long time due to the number of students. The portables are drafty and get hot in the summer despite the individual thermostat. Teachers open the doors during the day due to the heat, and anybody off the street could just walk in there. The music room, gym, cafeteria and art room are quite a long walk and instructional time is lost as a result. On the plus side, the rooms are larger and have a water cooler so the kids don't have to leave the classroom for drinks.

I was scared for DD during the tornado in June. The teachers did get the kids into the main building, but I worry about her safety during a more unpredictable storm. The principal mentioned she has some concerns with the portables because it is more difficult to monitor what is going on - she can't see and hear them like she can the inside classrooms.

Our 2nd grader was in a portable last year. It was fine. The kids really liked having their own a/c and heat, the space was actually larger than their 1st grade classroom. The kids didn't mind leaving to use the bathroom (in fact they probably overused the opportunity to leave the classroom). In terms of security, the door was locked during instruction time and technically parents were expected to buzz in to the main office and show id's there before heading to the portable. The teacher never opened to door to parents unless they showed an id. For bathroom breaks at the start of the year kids were given the pass key to the main building and could go in pairs to the bathroom. There was a whistle on the key to be used as a "stranger" alarm. After Sandy Hook they changed the procedure so that the entire class went to the bathroom at set times thru the day with their teacher being the only one with the key pass. They also practiced secure in place, and other drills as a result of Sandy Hook. Let's face it even with buzzing into the main office or showing id's schools are not entirely safe - if some one is determined to do something. My DS and I had no issues with the portable classroom experience.

MCPS calls them relocatable classrooms, so you might want to google that instead. Yes, they are figured into the school security policies, wrt sheltering in place, lockdown, and evacuation.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/preparedness/

At our school, (Maryland Focus Funds), we have K- 2 at about 16 students per class. Starting in 3rd grade the class size increases to 26-28 or something like that. Given the size of the portables, they are givenit to the oldest students with small class sizes because the portables are pretty small.

Depends on the portables. On the ones we used, they had their own bathrooms, wider spaces, and were generally nicer than the un-renovated school.

Both of my kids were in portables for 2nd and 3rd grade, and they had no issues. In fact, one was in a portable during the time of the DC sniper incidents. Other than those weeks, I had no concerns about them being outside of the main building.

Anonymous wrote:Just had our Open House at Bethesda ES. The 3rd graders are in the portables. The portables have reinforced doors and windows, but there are no multiple layers of security, such the added "buzzing in" at the main doors, etc. The kids will have to go out (in the cold come winter) every time they need a bathroom break, water, etc, to reach the main building.
Construction of permanent buildings is supposed to be around the corner.

Not ideal, I definitely agree with you.

My kids have not yet been in a portable, but I've volunteered around a couple schools with them. I don't see the big deal. I think it's a big plus to have their own thermostat (My kids rooms were always too cold in warm weather and too hot in cold weather.)
Also, I like the idea that the kids get little blast of fresh air between classes or when walking to the bathroom.

My dd loved being in a portable...they had their own thermostat. Kids did not care about short trips in when it was cold.

Just had our Open House at Bethesda ES. The 3rd graders are in the portables. The portables have reinforced doors and windows, but there are no multiple layers of security, such the added "buzzing in" at the main doors, etc. The kids will have to go out (in the cold come winter) every time they need a bathroom break, water, etc, to reach the main building.
Construction of permanent buildings is supposed to be around the corner.

Not ideal, I definitely agree with you.

My kid went to Murch where the PK/K classes are in portables and the big kids are in the main building. I loved it, the portables had their own bathrooms, air conditioning, and no big kids to step on the little ones.

At my kids school this year only K and first grades are in the school, everyone else, 2 thru 5 is in a portable! There are 20 of them! So I think a school's gotta do whatever it can to find space for everyone and if that means younger kids in portables, so be it.

I was surprised to find out that my 2nd grader will be in a portable classroom this year, as I had assumed that portables were used for the older grades (and we attend a school that is at or slightly under capacity). Does anyone know if MCPS has a policy on the use of portables and familiar with it?
Also, anyone familiar with security for portables? Is there any acknowledgement or attempt to address the lack of security for portables? I suppose it varies by school, but at ours there is absolutely no barrier -- fence, doors, etc. -- around the portables. All the security procedures for the school (buzzing in, can only access the office without id) seem meaningless for the portables since they are completely separate from the school building.
Thanks.