Anonymous wrote:Having a good principal is key. Our principal has done a pretty good job of hiring well qualified teachers. So far I'm impressed with the quality of teaching.

What school is that? At Beverly Farms, the new hires all tend to be young (as in little experience) white, females. Very little diversity in the hiring choices made by the administration over the years. Would be great to see more men, more minorities (other than in the cafeteria and janitorial staff), and more age range and experience in the faculty.

Having a good principal is key. Our principal has done a pretty good job of hiring well qualified teachers. So far I'm impressed with the quality of teaching.

It would be great to see if new leadership at Beverly Farms would make a difference. It seems with all the changes in the administration at the Carver Center, they could care less about improving schools in their cluster. Complaints have been raised for many years and nothing is done to alleviate the problem.

I agree that teachers make a big difference. My kids are at Beverly Farms and we are not happy. We have no communication from the teacher-ever- and my kids are improving in their skills, but not flourishing. We see very few happy teachers there and we believe this is due to "suspect" leadership. I feel that if the teachers were happy, then they would put more effort into their teaching and my kids would be happier regardless of the curriculum.

I believe the teacher is what makes the difference with 2.0 being successful. I was one of the pp's above. My kids are at Bannockburn.

Anonymous wrote:What school is your DC attending?

A school that never comes up on DCUM.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It hasn't been a disaster at my ES.

Where? And what has been smooth/beneficial about it? Not being snarky -- we are moving and I genuinely want to know. Thanks.

For smooth: I don't have a rising 4th grader, so I don't know specifically how the school has dealt with who qualifies for compacted math 4/5. In general, however, the school is well-administered and runs smoothly, and the implementation of Curriculum 2.0 has not been an exception.

For beneficial: I have said on DCUM, and apparently will keep saying, that 2.0 first grade, compared to pre-2.0 first grade, has more science, more social studies, less test drill, more interesting reading, more interesting writing, and more emphasis on math fundamentals.

What school is your DC attending?

I would also like to know what school PP's child was attending. My child attends Beverly Farms. He did not have the same experience as PP's child. I would pull him out if I could afford the tuition at a local private school. As it stands, I supplement what the school is not providing with activities at home.

In my opinion, 2.0 has serious issues as well as the staff at Beverly Farms is doing a poor job meeting children's needs while the are still learning how to implement it. It would have been much better if MCPS would have tested the program on a small student population then allowed time for staff training before implementing it county wide.

Anonymous wrote:It hasn't been a disaster at my ES.

Nor at mine. I've been very happy with how things have gone this year. I don't like the report card, but the learning has been terrific for two of my kids in different grades.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It hasn't been a disaster at my ES.

Where? And what has been smooth/beneficial about it? Not being snarky -- we are moving and I genuinely want to know. Thanks.

For smooth: I don't have a rising 4th grader, so I don't know specifically how the school has dealt with who qualifies for compacted math 4/5. In general, however, the school is well-administered and runs smoothly, and the implementation of Curriculum 2.0 has not been an exception.

For beneficial: I have said on DCUM, and apparently will keep saying, that 2.0 first grade, compared to pre-2.0 first grade, has more science, more social studies, less test drill, more interesting reading, more interesting writing, and more emphasis on math fundamentals.

What school is your DC attending?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It hasn't been a disaster at my ES.

Where? And what has been smooth/beneficial about it? Not being snarky -- we are moving and I genuinely want to know. Thanks.

For smooth: I don't have a rising 4th grader, so I don't know specifically how the school has dealt with who qualifies for compacted math 4/5. In general, however, the school is well-administered and runs smoothly, and the implementation of Curriculum 2.0 has not been an exception.

For beneficial: I have said on DCUM, and apparently will keep saying, that 2.0 first grade, compared to pre-2.0 first grade, has more science, more social studies, less test drill, more interesting reading, more interesting writing, and more emphasis on math fundamentals.

Anonymous wrote:It hasn't been a disaster at my ES.

Where? And what has been smooth/beneficial about it? Not being snarky -- we are moving and I genuinely want to know. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:It is true. My child's best friend left for a private school on montrose road. There are plenty of kids from the jewish school being enrolled but at the same time there are kids who are leaving to go to private school. Please don't disregard the facts if you don't know for sure. I've been a parent in this community for more than 7 yrs and I think I know what I'm talking about.

And plenty of kids are leaving JDS for MS and HS in potomac. It gets expensive, limited social experiences because of the smallness and sports are not great. You shouldn't read anything into it. People move all the time bet public and private for lots of reasons.

It hasn't been a disaster at my ES.

Anonymous wrote:It is true. My child's best friend left for a private school on montrose road. There are plenty of kids from the jewish school being enrolled but at the same time there are kids who are leaving to go to private school. Please don't disregard the facts if you don't know for sure. I've been a parent in this community for more than 7 yrs and I think I know what I'm talking about.

Why are they leaving exactly? Because of how curriculum 2.0 is being implemented? Because from what I understand, it's been a disaster in every ES, not just BFES.

ALSO, I forgot to mention that it is not b/c of the new building but for personal reasons that parents are taking kids out. The new curriculum is a reason for some of them.