Anonymous
Post 05/25/2023 22:51     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:CCES, but it’s BCC. And I’m not in love with RHES.


I preferr RHES to CCES. CCES has such a divide between the CES and “regular” classes. Also the events at RHES seem more inclusive - like international night.


Agreed. My shy child with an IEP fared better at RHES than at CCES, where all the focus was on the CES (gifted and talented) program kids all the time. Being there through the pandemic didn’t help either, to be fair.
Anonymous
Post 05/25/2023 22:43     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Noting that there’s a new principal next year, Somerset is great due to its size and community feel. It’s BCC, but I personally think BCC is a better school with better offerings (eg IB program)


Yes, Somerset is like 350 kids now down from 650, due to the exodus under the previous principal and also the boundary change which sent many of their kids to westbrook. The new principal (who just started) seems amazing and actually the whole leadership team has changed over (so they have a new counselor and a new AP). I think given problems under old principal as far as bullying, meanness, etc. they are really prioritizing SEL and DEI now more than is typical for other schools in the area.


Very interesting. I was coming on here to say

Bethesda ES
Westland MS (Awesome!)
B-CC (Excellent outcomes, excellent for mix-and-match AP, Honors, ADV and IB, better with the new administration)

We went to Somerset ES under the principal who appears to be leaving while friends went to Bethesda ES. She was not an effective leader and the parent group is filled with a bunch of difficult to corral social climbing moms. Friends at Bethesda ES raved about the inclusiveness and academic support, diversity of students and parents and how the larger school allowed for more social movement than what we experienced at Somerset ES.

HTH


Somerset parent here. I hate to say this but I don't disagree with your sense of how it was. I do feel that the vibe has changed for the better over the years though... Part of this is the enrollment drop (the leadership was so bad that they lost like 25 or 30% of of their students to private during the pandemic and I think a lot of the social climbers were among them). I found it startlingly stepfordy before but somehow a little more simpatico now. Of course this could be just luck of the draw in terms of the different classes my three kids have had over the years.... a few snobby parents in a given year can make the overall feeling chilly... And a few nice ones can do the opposite. Or maybe the younger gen of parents are less status driven... Dunno, but whatever is going on it feels a lot warmer.
Anonymous
Post 05/25/2023 14:20     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Noting that there’s a new principal next year, Somerset is great due to its size and community feel. It’s BCC, but I personally think BCC is a better school with better offerings (eg IB program)


Yes, Somerset is like 350 kids now down from 650, due to the exodus under the previous principal and also the boundary change which sent many of their kids to westbrook. The new principal (who just started) seems amazing and actually the whole leadership team has changed over (so they have a new counselor and a new AP). I think given problems under old principal as far as bullying, meanness, etc. they are really prioritizing SEL and DEI now more than is typical for other schools in the area.


Very interesting. I was coming on here to say

Bethesda ES
Westland MS (Awesome!)
B-CC (Excellent outcomes, excellent for mix-and-match AP, Honors, ADV and IB, better with the new administration)

We went to Somerset ES under the principal who appears to be leaving while friends went to Bethesda ES. She was not an effective leader and the parent group is filled with a bunch of difficult to corral social climbing moms. Friends at Bethesda ES raved about the inclusiveness and academic support, diversity of students and parents and how the larger school allowed for more social movement than what we experienced at Somerset ES.

HTH
Anonymous
Post 05/25/2023 13:40     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:Noting that there’s a new principal next year, Somerset is great due to its size and community feel. It’s BCC, but I personally think BCC is a better school with better offerings (eg IB program)


Yes, Somerset is like 350 kids now down from 650, due to the exodus under the previous principal and also the boundary change which sent many of their kids to westbrook. The new principal (who just started) seems amazing and actually the whole leadership team has changed over (so they have a new counselor and a new AP). I think given problems under old principal as far as bullying, meanness, etc. they are really prioritizing SEL and DEI now more than is typical for other schools in the area.
Anonymous
Post 05/25/2023 09:58     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Carderock ES is supposed to be small and everyone knows each other.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 22:10     Subject: Re:Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
The woodward discussion is here:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/255/1128527.page
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 21:36     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:CCES, but it’s BCC. And I’m not in love with RHES.


I preferr RHES to CCES. CCES has such a divide between the CES and “regular” classes. Also the events at RHES seem more inclusive - like international night.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 21:28     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Sommerset or Westbrook
CCES but for Rosemary Hills
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 21:23     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Chevy Chase ES for less stressful environment.

In my experience of Bethesda area schools, it is the best for that. They're not overcrowded like so many schools are, and they have a wealthy parent-funded foundation, so one room in the school is dedicated to relaxation and alternative learning, with walking desks, and yoga balls and bean bags, and a fountain (my daughter had standardized testing there, to reduce stress). The counselor is great and also has lots of fun stuff.

Bethesda Elementary has the best reputation for catering to special needs - they accept students from the area that other MCPS schools cannot welcome and they also get the kids undergoing treatment at NIH. They make it very easy to get an IEP or 504 if your child needs one - unlike in other MCPS schools, parents there rarely have to fight to for their child to receive accommodations. The Principal and Assistant Principal are wonderful people. However they are overcrowded due to the unending high-end condo and apartment construction in downtown Bethesda that attracts more families than developers and the school board (who is in the pocket of developers) ever thought possible.

Middle schools are the weakest link in any school system, due to raging hormones If your child has serious special needs, I have to say that it's best they then switch to North Bethesda MS then Walter Johnson HS, which is the neighboring cluster to the north that houses many excellent special programs (cluster switching is allowed if your child is approved for a special program). The teachers are great, the academics are very strong, but it's overcrowded. If you want to live in that cluster, please know that WJ is first in line to have its boundaries recalibrated because of the construction of the new high school, Woodward, to the north of it on Old Georgetown Rd. The boundary study will affect ALL Bethesda clusters and will be done in 2024, for a Woodward opening for 2025. BCC and WW boundaries might not change much, but they are included in the study.

Westland MS, the middle school in the BCC cluster after Bethesda ES, is small, not yet overcrowded, and tries not to create an atmosphere of academic striving - which has its drawbacks for kids who actually WANT that sort of thing. Special needs aren't well catered to, though.

BCC high school is nearly as good, academically, as WJ, Walt Whitman, and Winston Churchill. It's conveniently located in downtown Bethesda. It sells its IB program hard, but the dirty secret of IB is that it's not as well recognized by US/Canadian/UK college admissions officers as AP courses/exams. If you want a university in Singapore or Switzerland, then sure, IB is the way to go. As a result of offering IB, it has fewer AP courses than other "W" high schools in the area. So buyer beware.
If you're looking for a high school that's not a pressure cooker like WW or WJ, then BCC is also a good balance of academics and not sky-high stress.

There is no high school in MCPS that is quite as academically ambitious as Walt Whitman, OP. That comes with certain emotional sacrifices.

Did I make your head spin?


The thing about IB is that it opens up additional subjects for kids. At BCC, students can mix and match between AP and IB. My kid took AP math and English with IB arts and languages. They actually only got college credit for the arts and languages - but they could have asked for the math also.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 15:57     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
If you want to live in that cluster, please know that WJ is first in line to have its boundaries recalibrated because of the construction of the new high school, Woodward, to the north of it on Old Georgetown Rd. The boundary study will affect ALL Bethesda clusters and will be done in 2024, for a Woodward opening for 2025. BCC and WW boundaries might not change much, but they are included in the study.


The dates have been delayed a year. The new boundaries will be decided in 2025, to start taking effect when Woodward opens in 2026.


The boundary study encompassing BCC, Blair, Einstein, WJ, Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton and WW high schools, will take place in 2024, and it will include community meetings.
The results will be released in early 2025.
Woodward HS will open in August 2024 (while still under construction) to Northwood high school students, whose school will be under renovation, for two years.
Then Woodward will be open to its own cluster, in August 2026.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/WoodwardHS_BoundaryStudyScope.pdf


My guess is it will be more like 2027 or 2028 before it actually opens as Woodward.


Construction is already well underway and Phase I is 2/3 complete.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 15:00     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
If you want to live in that cluster, please know that WJ is first in line to have its boundaries recalibrated because of the construction of the new high school, Woodward, to the north of it on Old Georgetown Rd. The boundary study will affect ALL Bethesda clusters and will be done in 2024, for a Woodward opening for 2025. BCC and WW boundaries might not change much, but they are included in the study.


The dates have been delayed a year. The new boundaries will be decided in 2025, to start taking effect when Woodward opens in 2026.


The boundary study encompassing BCC, Blair, Einstein, WJ, Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton and WW high schools, will take place in 2024, and it will include community meetings.
The results will be released in early 2025.
Woodward HS will open in August 2024 (while still under construction) to Northwood high school students, whose school will be under renovation, for two years.
Then Woodward will be open to its own cluster, in August 2026.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/WoodwardHS_BoundaryStudyScope.pdf


My guess is it will be more like 2027 or 2028 before it actually opens as Woodward.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 14:52     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Bannockburn, Burning Tree or North Chevy Chase ES.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 10:43     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
If you want to live in that cluster, please know that WJ is first in line to have its boundaries recalibrated because of the construction of the new high school, Woodward, to the north of it on Old Georgetown Rd. The boundary study will affect ALL Bethesda clusters and will be done in 2024, for a Woodward opening for 2025. BCC and WW boundaries might not change much, but they are included in the study.


The dates have been delayed a year. The new boundaries will be decided in 2025, to start taking effect when Woodward opens in 2026.


The boundary study encompassing BCC, Blair, Einstein, WJ, Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton and WW high schools, will take place in 2024, and it will include community meetings.
The results will be released in early 2025.
Woodward HS will open in August 2024 (while still under construction) to Northwood high school students, whose school will be under renovation, for two years.
Then Woodward will be open to its own cluster, in August 2026.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/WoodwardHS_BoundaryStudyScope.pdf


But if you are in the walk zone of a school you should be fine.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 10:37     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
If you want to live in that cluster, please know that WJ is first in line to have its boundaries recalibrated because of the construction of the new high school, Woodward, to the north of it on Old Georgetown Rd. The boundary study will affect ALL Bethesda clusters and will be done in 2024, for a Woodward opening for 2025. BCC and WW boundaries might not change much, but they are included in the study.


The dates have been delayed a year. The new boundaries will be decided in 2025, to start taking effect when Woodward opens in 2026.


The boundary study encompassing BCC, Blair, Einstein, WJ, Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton and WW high schools, will take place in 2024, and it will include community meetings.
The results will be released in early 2025.
Woodward HS will open in August 2024 (while still under construction) to Northwood high school students, whose school will be under renovation, for two years.
Then Woodward will be open to its own cluster, in August 2026.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/WoodwardHS_BoundaryStudyScope.pdf
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2023 10:18     Subject: Which Bethesda / Chevy Chase ES am I describing?
You aren't going to find this first point, at any of the Bethesda CC ES

- focus on social emotional learning, intrinsic learning, supports shyer kids


No. Not at all.

Our kids went thru Bradley Hills and there's a lot of excellent teachers there and a lot to be said for it, but that never happened in any classroom anywhere and I think Bradley Hills is one of the better Bethesda schools.