Anonymous wrote:Agree with pp. I've seen this enough times in enough environments. People can go to the worst schools in the world - if they have supportive and encouraging family members, who motivate their kids, the external environment doesn't matter as much. It's the situations where kids don't get that type of support from parents where the quality of the school matters so much.

Which is why so many people disagreed with MCPS that moving MC or UMC kids to a poor-performing school would make a difference on the students that MCPS claims to care for so much. We were vilified for making this statement though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Rezoning already happened a couple years ago. The BoE insisted that it was important to bring Cabin Branch and Gibbs families to the school to reduce the FARMS rate. We are one of these families and truthfully we think the teachers are wonderful and doing the best they can. The issue from my perspective is the disruptive kids who like to bring drama to the school and think fighting, excessive cursing, and being disrespectful to teachers is acceptable. The second issue is that the current admin does very little to deal with it. I don't know if it's due to being overwhelmed or if their hands are tied due to MCPS' focus on restorative justice. I heard that the rezoning has improved the environment but maybe they should have done more. The FARMS rate is still over 50%..

Focus is more on underperforming kids to bring them up to grade level. Highly abled students are pretty much ignored to the point there is no way to continue the progression.

Not our current experience at all. My kid is a strong student in advanced classes and the teachers are absolutely supportive. I actually think it's the other way around. It's the struggling students who they might easily give up on especially if the parents aren't engaged.

Hummm that is why the school is at the bottom of the list in terms of ranking. Only 10% are proficient in Maths and 28% in English.

MEASURE RESULTS
Percent Proficient Mathematics 10.3%
Percent Proficient English Language Arts 28.6%


https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/M/1/15/0115/0

You can try again another time to convince others

This is the grade level performance. End of the day the results matter. So you can imagine the level of focus on academic activities there but question is what is MCPS doing for these kids? What is the plan to improve academic performance?

There is nothing MCPS can do about it. It all starts at home.

Agree with pp. I've seen this enough times in enough environments. People can go to the worst schools in the world - if they have supportive and encouraging family members, who motivate their kids, the external environment doesn't matter as much. It's the situations where kids don't get that type of support from parents where the quality of the school matters so much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Rezoning already happened a couple years ago. The BoE insisted that it was important to bring Cabin Branch and Gibbs families to the school to reduce the FARMS rate. We are one of these families and truthfully we think the teachers are wonderful and doing the best they can. The issue from my perspective is the disruptive kids who like to bring drama to the school and think fighting, excessive cursing, and being disrespectful to teachers is acceptable. The second issue is that the current admin does very little to deal with it. I don't know if it's due to being overwhelmed or if their hands are tied due to MCPS' focus on restorative justice. I heard that the rezoning has improved the environment but maybe they should have done more. The FARMS rate is still over 50%..

Focus is more on underperforming kids to bring them up to grade level. Highly abled students are pretty much ignored to the point there is no way to continue the progression.

Not our current experience at all. My kid is a strong student in advanced classes and the teachers are absolutely supportive. I actually think it's the other way around. It's the struggling students who they might easily give up on especially if the parents aren't engaged.

Hummm that is why the school is at the bottom of the list in terms of ranking. Only 10% are proficient in Maths and 28% in English.

MEASURE RESULTS
Percent Proficient Mathematics 10.3%
Percent Proficient English Language Arts 28.6%


https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/M/1/15/0115/0

You can try again another time to convince others

I'm not trying to convince anyone. I'm just talking about MY experience after my child was moved there as a result of the boundary change. By the way, the results you're showing is from 2019 before the boundary change, although I wouldn't be surprised if it's still fairly low even after the move. Most of the students there are low-income (I think higher than 55%) and while I'm not going to try to make a generalized statement that all low-income kids are poor students because that's not it AT ALL, there is a population of kids at that school who come from challenging environments with uninvolved parents. In my experience, the students (like mine) who are strong performers with engaged parents and who stay away from trouble, are going to be just fine there. Like I said, the teachers are great and I would have to say make a huge effort to challenge students who are capable of handling it. While I don't know how they are with the students who are academically challenged, call me selfish but since that's not really impacting my child, then I'm going to be okay with it. What else is my option? Move? Why would I do that now in this market?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Rezoning already happened a couple years ago. The BoE insisted that it was important to bring Cabin Branch and Gibbs families to the school to reduce the FARMS rate. We are one of these families and truthfully we think the teachers are wonderful and doing the best they can. The issue from my perspective is the disruptive kids who like to bring drama to the school and think fighting, excessive cursing, and being disrespectful to teachers is acceptable. The second issue is that the current admin does very little to deal with it. I don't know if it's due to being overwhelmed or if their hands are tied due to MCPS' focus on restorative justice. I heard that the rezoning has improved the environment but maybe they should have done more. The FARMS rate is still over 50%..

Focus is more on underperforming kids to bring them up to grade level. Highly abled students are pretty much ignored to the point there is no way to continue the progression.

Not our current experience at all. My kid is a strong student in advanced classes and the teachers are absolutely supportive. I actually think it's the other way around. It's the struggling students who they might easily give up on especially if the parents aren't engaged.

Hummm that is why the school is at the bottom of the list in terms of ranking. Only 10% are proficient in Maths and 28% in English.

MEASURE RESULTS
Percent Proficient Mathematics 10.3%
Percent Proficient English Language Arts 28.6%


https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/M/1/15/0115/0

You can try again another time to convince others

This is the grade level performance. End of the day the results matter. So you can imagine the level of focus on academic activities there but question is what is MCPS doing for these kids? What is the plan to improve academic performance?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Rezoning already happened a couple years ago. The BoE insisted that it was important to bring Cabin Branch and Gibbs families to the school to reduce the FARMS rate. We are one of these families and truthfully we think the teachers are wonderful and doing the best they can. The issue from my perspective is the disruptive kids who like to bring drama to the school and think fighting, excessive cursing, and being disrespectful to teachers is acceptable. The second issue is that the current admin does very little to deal with it. I don't know if it's due to being overwhelmed or if their hands are tied due to MCPS' focus on restorative justice. I heard that the rezoning has improved the environment but maybe they should have done more. The FARMS rate is still over 50%..

Focus is more on underperforming kids to bring them up to grade level. Highly abled students are pretty much ignored to the point there is no way to continue the progression.

Not our current experience at all. My kid is a strong student in advanced classes and the teachers are absolutely supportive. I actually think it's the other way around. It's the struggling students who they might easily give up on especially if the parents aren't engaged.

Hummm that is why the school is at the bottom of the list in terms of ranking. Only 10% are proficient in Maths and 28% in English.

MEASURE RESULTS
Percent Proficient Mathematics 10.3%
Percent Proficient English Language Arts 28.6%


https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/M/1/15/0115/0

You can try again another time to convince others

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Rezoning already happened a couple years ago. The BoE insisted that it was important to bring Cabin Branch and Gibbs families to the school to reduce the FARMS rate. We are one of these families and truthfully we think the teachers are wonderful and doing the best they can. The issue from my perspective is the disruptive kids who like to bring drama to the school and think fighting, excessive cursing, and being disrespectful to teachers is acceptable. The second issue is that the current admin does very little to deal with it. I don't know if it's due to being overwhelmed or if their hands are tied due to MCPS' focus on restorative justice. I heard that the rezoning has improved the environment but maybe they should have done more. The FARMS rate is still over 50%..

Focus is more on underperforming kids to bring them up to grade level. Highly abled students are pretty much ignored to the point there is no way to continue the progression.

Not our current experience at all. My kid is a strong student in advanced classes and the teachers are absolutely supportive. I actually think it's the other way around. It's the struggling students who they might easily give up on especially if the parents aren't engaged.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Rezoning already happened a couple years ago. The BoE insisted that it was important to bring Cabin Branch and Gibbs families to the school to reduce the FARMS rate. We are one of these families and truthfully we think the teachers are wonderful and doing the best they can. The issue from my perspective is the disruptive kids who like to bring drama to the school and think fighting, excessive cursing, and being disrespectful to teachers is acceptable. The second issue is that the current admin does very little to deal with it. I don't know if it's due to being overwhelmed or if their hands are tied due to MCPS' focus on restorative justice. I heard that the rezoning has improved the environment but maybe they should have done more. The FARMS rate is still over 50%..

Focus is more on underperforming kids to bring them up to grade level. Highly abled students are pretty much ignored to the point there is no way to continue the progression.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Rezoning already happened a couple years ago. The BoE insisted that it was important to bring Cabin Branch and Gibbs families to the school to reduce the FARMS rate. We are one of these families and truthfully we think the teachers are wonderful and doing the best they can. The issue from my perspective is the disruptive kids who like to bring drama to the school and think fighting, excessive cursing, and being disrespectful to teachers is acceptable. The second issue is that the current admin does very little to deal with it. I don't know if it's due to being overwhelmed or if their hands are tied due to MCPS' focus on restorative justice. I heard that the rezoning has improved the environment but maybe they should have done more. The FARMS rate is still over 50%..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

I am not sure how rezoning will help. The issue is more that what a new school building or replacement of Principal can solve. Students need guidance, enrichment and opportunities that exist in other schools. MCPS need to think 21st century and introduce technology programs in this school to shift the focus on future. Every child is gifted in one way or other. School system's success is in identifying the talent and promoting and building on strength so that students can achieve their potential. Some students are really great at sports, let there be a program for sports, some are good in science and math, let there be a program for that, some are good in arts and music, let there be a program for that. All children need opportunities. This is what is lacking in this school. What is MCPS plan? Can anyone point to one?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

Yes, busing. Do you take issue with my statement? In what ways is it untrue? Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a teacher in schools like the ones being discussed in this thread?

We have seen it at the school and heard it from many parents prior to us being in the school as well. It is hard for the teachers and they probably gave up due to all the disrespect that they have to go through every day.

Anonymous wrote:Former teacher at Neelsville here. I left 8 years ago, so my experience isn’t recent. A new principal could help a lot, because the current principal was very absent my time there. Many kids had high needs and very little support at home. We surveyed the students and a high percentage said they were scared at school. It was very stressful for teachers to do a good job and care for so many high needs kids. I had 38 students in a special ed course. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t send my children there. However, my experience isn’t completely recent.

Nothing changed and the experience is even worse now. Kids are scared to approach the teachers with questions due to repulsive personalities. But then who do you talk to? Central office is focused on PR rather than academic achievements of the students

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

Yes, busing. Do you take issue with my statement? In what ways is it untrue? Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a teacher in schools like the ones being discussed in this thread?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?

My solution is rezoning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching itself is also an issue due to lack of motivation and commitment and you see that in the ratings. School is at the bottom of the list.

Ah the classic blame the teachers. I bet you could replace the entire staff at these schools and you would get the exact same standardized test results.

Do you have a solution or just a statement with no solution?