The test scores are extremely low. I would not send my students there and I am a PGCPS teacher. My school is lottery based. You have to choose wisely. Which are you more interested in? Academics/TAG? Second language? Creative arts? When you pick a school, their specialty is their main focus. They will lack in other areas. Yes your child will come out learning spanish but throw them in the same school with others, being taught the same curriculum and they won’t be able to keep up at all. Choose academics over second language. The creative arts schools do a great job at structuring their day. The creative arts is done as separate class form academics. They do not mix. Therefor, the child is being accessed to the same pgcps curriculum, but gets a heavy dose of creative arts as well.

Why are the test scores so low? It would appear the kids aren’t on grade level.

My child is currently a 5th grader at Overlook. He will be a part of the first graduating class. Over the past 6 years I have seen this program grow and flourish. My son is currently fluent in Spanish in reading, writing and oral communication. I will admit that the program is challenging if you do not speak Spanish. No English is taught until 2nd grade and the kids are fully immersed. The conversion from Spanish to English reading was not difficult as English is the kids native language. The class sizes start off with 25 per class in K, but as you move through that number typically drops as families decide for a variety of reasons that the program is not for them(the rigor, moving etc..) It is very nice that the same kids that he began with in K are the same kids he will graduate with in 5th and his class has become tight kids and parents alike. The sizes of classes usually never increases as to enter after K you must test in on the grade level, which is difficult. We have a very active PTA and the staff is enthusiastic. As a 5th grade we are preparing for a trip to Costa Rica in March for more immersion.


The only issue that I have is that sometimes the communication at the school can be lacking in terms of events and getting info regarding those things out in a timely fashion. I must say though that the administration is fully ware and has been working very hard this year to improve, which I do see.

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Is your child in school here? What are your thoughts?

Thanks