You can't jut sign up for that listserv. You need to have someone you know get you signed up. I think this is a goo thing bc the group is very active and non judgmental generally.

OP If you make a good income you'll find many people in your neighorbood will have opted for private.

Hi,

My kids are younger, so I don't have the scoop on middle school yet. I wanted to recommend that you join this listserv and ask your question.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ssmoms_2003/

It is the Silver Spring mom listserv and *very* active. I think you'll get much more targeted responses, since most of the members live in Silver Spring. Members of the group are also very nice and helpful.

FYIW - I live in the Singer/Sligo/Einstein area. I see lots of chatter about improving Sligo on my neighborhood listserv, but don't know how much progress has been made so far.

DD is at Flora Singer, which feeds to Sligo. There is a significant groundswell of parental support for the school and the new administration. I, for one, will be sending my kids there if we stay in the area. It is changing. A parent recently posted to our PTA listserve that she visited and was impressed.

Why don't you email the PTA president to get the low down on the academic opportunities and social scene.

I'd also call the 6th grade counselor to hear more about the school and what to expect.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, that's got to be incredibly stressful to have to buy a house in an unfamiliar place on a weekend visit. I feel for you. Good luck!

Assuming that you're going to stay put for awhile, you should also attention to the high school your prospective homes are zoned for. Westland feeds into BCC, which is good. Newport Mills and I believe Sligo feed into Einstein, which is a greatly improved school, especially good for kids with an artistic bent. Northwood High, which much of SSI feeds into, is not quite as good.

It bought ssims fed into Blair?

SSIMS is split between Blair and Northwood, depending on where you live. (By the way, OP, there is a high school "choice" program) within Silver Spring high schools, but you are only guaranteed your home school.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, that's got to be incredibly stressful to have to buy a house in an unfamiliar place on a weekend visit. I feel for you. Good luck!

Assuming that you're going to stay put for awhile, you should also attention to the high school your prospective homes are zoned for. Westland feeds into BCC, which is good. Newport Mills and I believe Sligo feed into Einstein, which is a greatly improved school, especially good for kids with an artistic bent. Northwood High, which much of SSI feeds into, is not quite as good.

It bought ssims fed into Blair?

Wow, that's got to be incredibly stressful to have to buy a house in an unfamiliar place on a weekend visit. I feel for you. Good luck!

Assuming that you're going to stay put for awhile, you should also attention to the high school your prospective homes are zoned for. Westland feeds into BCC, which is good. Newport Mills and I believe Sligo feed into Einstein, which is a greatly improved school, especially good for kids with an artistic bent. Northwood High, which much of SSI feeds into, is not quite as good.

Newport Mills is one of the Middle Schools, as well as Silver Spring International and Westland. It just really depends on what house is on the market 10 days from now, and if we feel comfortable enough to include Sligo Middle School in the mix.

What other middle schools are you considering?

My child is a 6th grader at Newport Mill, which serves neighborhoods a little north of where you're looking. It's been a great first year here.

Some kids my child grew up with in elementary school now go to Silgo. These are nice, high performing kids.

I think if your daughter is a strong student she will end up in classes with other strong students.

There are two middle school magnet programs that your daughter can apply/test for over the summer since she is a new resident (testing dates long past due for current students). You would need to look into that ASAP if interested.

I realize middle school is the weak link. However, I have been reading reviews of middle schools for about a year now and most of the information from parents (or those that claim to have information) about sligo are negative, it is less so from other middle schools. So it has made sligo stick out. There are nice houses in that area so I don't want to rule it out if the administration has changed and the school is doing better. Most info on dcurban seems to be from spring 2013. Sadly, we are buying a house over a weekend and moving in by August so touring a school with our child is not an option, unless we rent which we are trying to avoid. I am less interested in academic issues and more school culture and if families are involved, bullying problems stuff like that.

You and you're daughter should tour the school.

There are plenty of questionable middle schools in MCPS besides Sligo--why are you aviding that one? Middle school is always the "weak link" in the school system.

I don't have direct experience with the school, but I think most of the negative reviews you have read are describing the old administration that many people complained about. I am hearing that the new principal is really improving the school. It is also much smaller than most area middle schools, which might be a plus for a kid who is new to the area.

We are moving to MD from TX. We will get to town in about 2 weeks to start the house hunt. I have been avoiding homes that feed into Sligo Middle School as we prep for the house hunt. What do people think about that school? My daughter will be in 6th grade this fall. She has been moved around a great deal for schools (partly because we have moved and partly because she is smart and TX public schools are kind of crummy), she spent the last year at BASIS and did fine. Thanks for sharing your thoughts