Any post COVID insights parents want to share? Would be great to hear about how the school, teachers, and administration have been over the last 1.5 years. TIA.

Anonymous wrote:My child just made it off the wait list.

Do they teach a foreign language in the CES program?

No. It's not part of the curriculum.

My child just made it off the wait list.

Do they teach a foreign language in the CES program?

I have a child there this year in 4th. The work is challenging but not so difficult as to be discouraging. We've had a little bit of up-and-down with the math/science teaching due to 2 long term subs but now the regular teacher is back and things are running much more smoothly. The kids get a chance to do more creative projects than regular school (my older child was wait listed for CES and never got offered a spot so I can tell the difference). If your kid doesn't love reading and writing they might not enjoy it. Missing friends is also a big deal -- my kid hasn't connected with anyone in their class because Zoom makes forming friendships really hard. But overall I'm glad my child is there.

I have two kids who went through the program. One needed it more than the other, but both loved it. I don’t regret it at all. The one hard thing is that the friends they made for those two years don’t all proceed on to the same middle and high school, and that can be hard on these kids who rely on socializing and friendship to survive the tween and teen years. For the past few years the teachers have looped so the kids have the same two teachers for both years, and I thought that was a good change (one of my kids didn’t have it and one did, and I think it was a smart change)

Both my children went (from the RM) cluster, my youngest in her final year. Overall, I think it was well worth it. But as usual, it depends a bit on the teacher and whether they "click" with your kid. My oldest had two teachers that she absolutely loved that really inspired her, and she did some great engaging work and made awesome friends quickly. My youngest did not have quite as stellar an experience. Obviously that has a lot to do with COVID and remote learning though.

Agree with others that the bus ride was something the kids liked and that the distance was never really a factor. (In fact, the RM cluster is one of the closest to the school of all the places it pulls from.) One downside, at least for us, was that we never had a real sense of "school community." My kids went to school there, and that was about it. It wasn't that big a deal b/c both kids kept their friends at their home elementary, and we live very very close, so we stayed connected to the home school.

Kids tend to enjoy the bus ride. It is social for them. My DD enjoyed her two years at Barnsley (though 4th was better). She would take the bus to our local school and do after school activities there. Girl Scouts etc. We carpooled for something's at Barnsley too.

Our experience was with the old Principal as well and everything stated about peers was true. The downside of the CES within a school is that despite what the Principal claimed, there was no mixing of those there for their home school and those at the center. Long bus ride, no before or after school activities.

Also, and remember, this was many years ago, 4th grade was amazing (Mrs. Ridges was one of my daughters best teacher in 13 years at MCPS), and 5th grade was a total bust. It was so bad, we came close to pulling our child back to their home school.

If we had to do it again, we would not - we would have kept our child at their home school, only because 5th grade teachers were so horrendous. And it is possible that none of those teachers are still there.

It's a good program, even with the bus ride. I have two kids who both got in. One elected to stay at the home ES and the other went to Barnsley.

I would never say Barnsley was better than the home ES. Nor would I say the home ES was better than Barnsley.

If your child is missing a peer group at their home ES, it may be a reason to go.

Thanks so much for your inputs! Really appreciated!

I'm a special ed teacher; I don't have experience with Barnsley's CES, but the CES at a different. I see so many kids come and find others who are like minded. The quirky, brilliant, fast-thinking, learning loving, bookworm "tribe". Kids don't feel like they have "dumb down" their answers, or refrain from sharing their thoughts. They get to read texts and work with materials at their level. There is a lot of choice of what they can do for various projects and assignments so it's interesting to them. They don't get bullied near as much by peers for being "the nerd", as I've seen happen in non-ces classrooms (at times; this isn't always typical). Many kids who had behavior problems at their home schools thrive because they're engaged and not bored. The commute is a downside at times, but I think the program is absolutely excellent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? We are in the RM cluster. This school is quite a hike from where we live. Is this program significantly better than the regular school? Thanks for your feedback!

My kid did it a few years ago (different principal) and thought it was 2 of his best years of MCPS.

Thanks! Can you elaborate a little? Why it’s his best years of MCPS? Thanks!!

Being with a bunch of like-minded kids, having a lot of fun while learning. The room was rarely quiet, rather they were noisily engaged in productive activities.

The commute wasn't great, and he's said he's glad he stayed in his home schools for MS and HS (he's a senior, so it's been a few years). He's certain he was launched into MS with a more engaged attitude, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? We are in the RM cluster. This school is quite a hike from where we live. Is this program significantly better than the regular school? Thanks for your feedback!

My kid did it a few years ago (different principal) and thought it was 2 of his best years of MCPS.

Thanks! Can you elaborate a little? Why it’s his best years of MCPS? Thanks!!

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? We are in the RM cluster. This school is quite a hike from where we live. Is this program significantly better than the regular school? Thanks for your feedback!

My kid did it a few years ago (different principal) and thought it was 2 of his best years of MCPS.

Is it worth it? We are in the RM cluster. This school is quite a hike from where we live. Is this program significantly better than the regular school? Thanks for your feedback!