Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 20:38     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Where are your kids going to school if Mosaic is bad? What are some of the options?
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 13:25     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why was it renamed?


John Mosby was a Confederate soldier, the Mosby Woods neighborhood was named after him, and the school was named after the neighborhood.

Even though Mosby was a good friend of Ulysses S. Grant after the war ended, and appointed U.S. consul to Hong Kong after the Civil War, his past Confederate service led the School Board to conclude a few years ago the school should be renamed. "Mosaic" was an odd choice, though, since the school doesn't serve the Mosaic District (the kids who live in the Mosaic District go to Fairhill ES).

John Mosby was also known as the Gray Ghost and led guerilla-style fighters in raids across Northern Virginia.

And, yes, I also read Grant by Ron Chernow and know about his later consul service under President Grant. If you want a nuanced view of Grant and Mosby, I highly recommend reading it. But that doesn't change the fact that he terrorized the people of this region throughout the Civil War and I don't blame people for not wanting to send their kids to a school named for a Confederate terrorist.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 12:23     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:So some are saying the school is being upgraded and others that funding for renovation instead went to build a different new school in Dunn Loring. It looks on this page like some renovation / expansion is still set to take place at Mosaic?

https://www.fcps.edu/mosaic-elementary-capital-project#:~:text=The%20renovation%20with%20additions%20at,access%20point%20for%20improved%20safety.


Two different things. There was never any suggestion that Frisch was taking the money set aside to renovate Mosaic to use at Dunn Loring.

Mosaic is getting a renovation as previously scheduled. Then it will be a nicer school, but still ginormous. And elsewhere Frisch got money that would have funded a new ES in the Fairfax/Oakton area reallocated to Dunn Loring, where it isn't needed.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 12:15     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Mosaic ES is currently undergoing a major renovation. It began this summer and is expected to take 2 years.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 12:13     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
So some are saying the school is being upgraded and others that funding for renovation instead went to build a different new school in Dunn Loring. It looks on this page like some renovation / expansion is still set to take place at Mosaic?

https://www.fcps.edu/mosaic-elementary-capital-project#:~:text=The%20renovation%20with%20additions%20at,access%20point%20for%20improved%20safety.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 11:57     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If Mosaic ES has a bad reputation like some of the posters pointed above, why is the real estate here insanely expensive and why do I hear from people that they bought places here for the school district?


The school district looks *amazing* from the outside. County is on all the Hot! New! Things! Huge amounts of money slosh around to buy the cool stuff. Test scores are stellar.

But the test scores are stellar in spite of the hot new things and the cool stuff. Population throughout most of FCPS is crazy high SES. Air drop little Joon Gupta-McBryde III into the worst school in Baltimore and, should he avoid being shot, he'd be still doing very well, academically speaking. He'd do even better if he got to take his parents: dual-PhD providers of luxurious in-home supplementation and frequent trips to the now-ubiquitous tutoring services which have sprung up in the wake of FCPS's fundamental educational failures.


I actually knew a UMC white family who put their children in Baltimore City Schools inner city because they believed in the idea. They were even written up in WAPO. Eventually moved to the suburbs because of the crime and schools. But, they were true believer, liberal and progressive.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 11:41     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:If Mosaic ES has a bad reputation like some of the posters pointed above, why is the real estate here insanely expensive and why do I hear from people that they bought places here for the school district?


The school district looks *amazing* from the outside. County is on all the Hot! New! Things! Huge amounts of money slosh around to buy the cool stuff. Test scores are stellar.

But the test scores are stellar in spite of the hot new things and the cool stuff. Population throughout most of FCPS is crazy high SES. Air drop little Joon Gupta-McBryde III into the worst school in Baltimore and, should he avoid being shot, he'd be still doing very well, academically speaking. He'd do even better if he got to take his parents: dual-PhD providers of luxurious in-home supplementation and frequent trips to the now-ubiquitous tutoring services which have sprung up in the wake of FCPS's fundamental educational failures.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 11:12     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:I remember Mosby Woods would do well at math contests. A former student advanced to Nationals for MathCounts.

Weird. I thought all of the top kids came from Longfellow and Carson. Someone from Luther Jackson or Lanier/KJ made it?
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 10:17     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
My kid was there for K and 1st in 2018-2020. We had excellent classroom teachers. 22 kids in the class. No problems with admin. I did not love the specials teachers or AAP specialist.

Can't speak to the higher grades because we moved. Because of proximity to the Metro station there are a lot of families who move for work (military, diplomatic staff, visiting professors) so it's a diverse and well educated population but transient.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 09:50     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If Mosaic ES has a bad reputation like some of the posters pointed above, why is the real estate here insanely expensive and why do I hear from people that they bought places here for the school district?


Umm because it's Northern Virginia.


It also feeds into Oakton HS.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 09:44     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If Mosaic ES has a bad reputation like some of the posters pointed above, why is the real estate here insanely expensive and why do I hear from people that they bought places here for the school district?


Umm because it's Northern Virginia.


Because they know how to put themselves up for awards. It’s a blue ribbon and purple something school. Principal has won awards. It’s really upsetting to see these given our poor experience at the school. And before you come for me, I have smart well behaved kids who do not get in trouble and help boost the test scores.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 07:47     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:If Mosaic ES has a bad reputation like some of the posters pointed above, why is the real estate here insanely expensive and why do I hear from people that they bought places here for the school district?


Umm because it's Northern Virginia.
Anonymous
Post 08/01/2023 07:37     Subject: Re:Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s insanely crowded and your kid is just a number. The teaching even in AAP has really declined in the past 2 years. Used to have great specials teachers and most have left. If your kid isn’t a problem you will go here for 7 years and never interact with a teacher or the administration. They discourage parental involvement in any form.

Wow. My kid attended AAP there 4 years ago, and the teaching was pretty terrible then. It's hard to imagine that it has declined even more. I otherwise agree with everything you've posted


Wow, us as well. Terribly overcrowded with teachers ranging from good (rare) to terrible. Awful trailer classrooms. Moldy smelling gym. One of daughters was bullied, and at the time there were 1.5 counselors for 1100 students, so getting assistance was near impossible. The administration was, at times, actively hostile. The only good thing I can say is that my daughter's 5th grade teacher was very good. Not sure if she is still there.


There was money set aside to build another ES in the area so Mosby Woods wouldn’t be so big. Karl Frisch got the name changed to Mosaic and then got that money reallocated to build a school no one wants in Dunn Loring miles away instead. So in a few years all the Marshall feeders in that area are going to have big boundary changes to justify Frisch’s Folly.

You might think about that before giving him another term this fall because he is never going to put kids first.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2023 23:06     Subject: Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)
I remember Mosby Woods would do well at math contests. A former student advanced to Nationals for MathCounts.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2023 22:44     Subject: Re:Mosaic ES (formerly Mosby Woods)

Anonymous wrote:
It’s insanely crowded and your kid is just a number. The teaching even in AAP has really declined in the past 2 years. Used to have great specials teachers and most have left. If your kid isn’t a problem you will go here for 7 years and never interact with a teacher or the administration. They discourage parental involvement in any form.

Wow. My kid attended AAP there 4 years ago, and the teaching was pretty terrible then. It's hard to imagine that it has declined even more. I otherwise agree with everything you've posted


Wow, us as well. Terribly overcrowded with teachers ranging from good (rare) to terrible. Awful trailer classrooms. Moldy smelling gym. One of daughters was bullied, and at the time there were 1.5 counselors for 1100 students, so getting assistance was near impossible. The administration was, at times, actively hostile. The only good thing I can say is that my daughter's 5th grade teacher was very good. Not sure if she is still there.