Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share excellent elementary schools-- small class sizes and strong teachers for an African American child. We want teachers who will reflect our child. Also if there are other forums that speak to this, please share.

Thanks!

I suggest 20910 because you want to follow up ES with a positive MS experience. Look at ESS for small class sizes and strong teachers who reflect your son. Then TPMS which is inclusive with strong teachers.

I am not tracking the acronyms..would you mind spelling out... what is ESS and TPMS????

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share excellent elementary schools-- small class sizes and strong teachers for an African American child. We want teachers who will reflect our child. Also if there are other forums that speak to this, please share.

Thanks!

This is moco. There are NO small class sizes.

Our focus school in TKPK has ES classes that range from 16 to 18

OP here ...what is TKPK?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP specifically asked about Kensington and Bethesda so I'm not going to proselytize for my neighborhood.

Just a note for OP. You can google any of these schools + the phrase "at a glance" to find demographic information.

Some schools within MCPS have a very clear division - the Black and Hispanic kids are on FARMS, and the white kids are not. Other neighborhoods have more of a mix, with both working class and middle class Black families. The At a Glance page can help you figure out which is which.

The at glance sheets are basically just bulk statistics. I guess it's a good place to start though but if you're serious you should look a bit deeper.

Agreed. Given the OP, I'd recommend also looking at Maryland Report Card, pulling up the MCAP testing, and looking at it by race. She wants a school where Black kids do well, which is not actually the same as a school with a high Great Schools ranking.

Looking at bulk averages for schools like that doesn't tell you much. Those scores are simply a reflection of an area's SES but if you are into that sort of thing you could look at a heat map of HHI since the results will be the same.

The same student would do the same at any of these schools.

OP, consider calling a Mocha Moms chapter to see if you can get someone to have a non-anonymous conversation with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP specifically asked about Kensington and Bethesda so I'm not going to proselytize for my neighborhood.

Just a note for OP. You can google any of these schools + the phrase "at a glance" to find demographic information.

Some schools within MCPS have a very clear division - the Black and Hispanic kids are on FARMS, and the white kids are not. Other neighborhoods have more of a mix, with both working class and middle class Black families. The At a Glance page can help you figure out which is which.

Oakland Terrace serves homes with Kensington zip codes

Also Rock View ES.

OP here! Thank you so much!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP specifically asked about Kensington and Bethesda so I'm not going to proselytize for my neighborhood.

Just a note for OP. You can google any of these schools + the phrase "at a glance" to find demographic information.

Some schools within MCPS have a very clear division - the Black and Hispanic kids are on FARMS, and the white kids are not. Other neighborhoods have more of a mix, with both working class and middle class Black families. The At a Glance page can help you figure out which is which.

The at glance sheets are basically just bulk statistics. I guess it's a good place to start though but if you're serious you should look a bit deeper.

Agreed. Given the OP, I'd recommend also looking at Maryland Report Card, pulling up the MCAP testing, and looking at it by race. She wants a school where Black kids do well, which is not actually the same as a school with a high Great Schools ranking.

Anonymous wrote:OP specifically asked about Kensington and Bethesda so I'm not going to proselytize for my neighborhood.

Just a note for OP. You can google any of these schools + the phrase "at a glance" to find demographic information.

Some schools within MCPS have a very clear division - the Black and Hispanic kids are on FARMS, and the white kids are not. Other neighborhoods have more of a mix, with both working class and middle class Black families. The At a Glance page can help you figure out which is which.

Oakland Terrace serves homes with Kensington zip codes

Anonymous wrote:OP specifically asked about Kensington and Bethesda so I'm not going to proselytize for my neighborhood.

Just a note for OP. You can google any of these schools + the phrase "at a glance" to find demographic information.

Some schools within MCPS have a very clear division - the Black and Hispanic kids are on FARMS, and the white kids are not. Other neighborhoods have more of a mix, with both working class and middle class Black families. The At a Glance page can help you figure out which is which.

The at glance sheets are basically just bulk statistics. I guess it's a good place to start though but if you're serious you should look a bit deeper.

I have kids at both Rosemary Hills and Chevy Chase and think both are excellent. LOVE CCES; acknowledge that RHES has some challenges, but overall is a great school. I have also heard wonderful things about North Chevy Chase, which feeds from some parts of Kensington.

One of the challenges here is that OP is looking for small class sizes and Black leadership/teachers, but also focusing on the more wealthy parts of the county.

The higher needs the school, the smaller the class sizes.

Also, MCPS tends to (not exclusively, but tends to) place Black administrators in majority Black schools, for exactly the reason that OP mentions - so that kids have leadership who looks like them. Those Black principals sometimes (and sometimes not) prioritize hiring diverse teachers.

So, both of the things that OP lists are actually easier to find outside the geographic zone being targeted.

Not much diversity in S Kensington and the TOK.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone share excellent elementary schools-- small class sizes and strong teachers for an African American child. We want teachers who will reflect our child. Also if there are other forums that speak to this, please share.

Thanks!

I suggest 20910 because you want to follow up ES with a positive MS experience. Look at ESS for small class sizes and strong teachers who reflect your son. Then TPMS which is inclusive with strong teachers.

Is that zoned for Einstein?

No, Blair. But it is part of the consortium, so your child could select Einstein if he wanted it.

Ashburton ES in Bethesda is quite diverse

OP specifically asked about Kensington and Bethesda so I'm not going to proselytize for my neighborhood.

Just a note for OP. You can google any of these schools + the phrase "at a glance" to find demographic information.

Some schools within MCPS have a very clear division - the Black and Hispanic kids are on FARMS, and the white kids are not. Other neighborhoods have more of a mix, with both working class and middle class Black families. The At a Glance page can help you figure out which is which.