My ES did 4 a year. One larger trip (i.e. Baltimore, St Mary's, Mount Vernon), one concert or play, one local (nature center, recycling center) and one in school (mad science, author workshop)

Anonymous wrote:We are at a borderline title 1 school that we have actually liked a lot and dc seems to be doing very well. Although it can get tiresome to not have more volunteers for things I LOVE that it is not a hyper competitive dynamic for parents like it seems exists at schools where people have way too much time on their hands.

Kids do about 6 field trips (maybe two of which are actually in school special events). If you want to chaperone they are always happy to have you. My kid is never the only one without a parent at random school parties. They do not go overboard with daytime events and PTA mtgs are all at night. Also most parents are just normal reasonable people instead of trying to one up all the time.)

My daughter is in 5th grade and she hasn't even been on 6 trips total. What schools does 6 trips a year?

Anonymous wrote:We are at a borderline title 1 school that we have actually liked a lot and dc seems to be doing very well. Although it can get tiresome to not have more volunteers for things I LOVE that it is not a hyper competitive dynamic for parents like it seems exists at schools where people have way too much time on their hands.

Kids do about 6 field trips (maybe two of which are actually in school special events). If you want to chaperone they are always happy to have you. My kid is never the only one without a parent at random school parties. They do not go overboard with daytime events and PTA mtgs are all at night. Also most parents are just normal reasonable people instead of trying to one up all the time.)

This.

I jokingly said I grew up in the time that my parents never went to school other than parent teacher conference and that was okay and normal. They were involved with making sure we did our homework but it was not realistic to take off work for a Valentine's day party mid-day. One year they wiped all their vacation days when all three of us (kids) had chicken-pox one after the other.

Personally, I think the type of volunteering that really makes a difference is when a parent is a troop leader or MSI coach, Girls on the run coach, or robotics team coach etc..They offer enrichment to the kids that can't be met in the normal school hours and are usually more financial accessible than a family doing the same enrichment by a private organization.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of parents volunteer at our MCPS elementary in a W cluster. There are actually too many volunteers!

As for the 2.0 discussion, I have kids pre 2.0 and under 2.0. Pre 2.0 was a pile of worksheets and mass acceleration. DD had huge gaps in math that now require tutoring to address. This is not uncommon. 2.0 has some positives and some negatives. However, I feel my younger kids are getting a better education. Most of my criticisms are related to the uneven implementation and rushed roll out in the first years. Now, the report card is a different story. I hate it. I especially dislike the lack of teacher comments.

That was my pre 2.0 child's experience too, in a school that is not in a Wealthy/White cluster.

Anonymous wrote:

I don't get the grade card. For K and 1st, I don't care but it does bother me that my kids will not see normal grades until middle school. I learned that other school districts in MD using common core do give normal A/B/C grades in 3-5th grade. The no grades thing is unique to MCPS. I guess its popular with teachers, less work.

No, it's not. Fairfax County Public Schools also uses standards-based grading in elementary school, as do a lot of other school systems -- google "standards-based grading school system" for some examples.

ES in Bethesda. Parent participation is excellent. Actually we just won an award for most volunteer hours put in - perhaps through MCCPTA or something.

The school closely regulates how parents participate in the classroom, and rightly so. Parents in the classroom can be more of a hindrance than a help - and it's a huge privacy concern. For a few overwhelmed teachers with big classes, parents are allowed to come in and help (ex: with writing prompts for the older kids). Parents monitor the playground. But mostly parents go through the school PTA to organize themselves into committees that help all the children. Cultural enrichment, after-school activities, fun events, STEM enrichment, fundraisers, after-school tutoring, etc, are all organized by the PTA.

Lots of parents volunteer at our MCPS elementary in a W cluster. There are actually too many volunteers!

As for the 2.0 discussion, I have kids pre 2.0 and under 2.0. Pre 2.0 was a pile of worksheets and mass acceleration. DD had huge gaps in math that now require tutoring to address. This is not uncommon. 2.0 has some positives and some negatives. However, I feel my younger kids are getting a better education. Most of my criticisms are related to the uneven implementation and rushed roll out in the first years. Now, the report card is a different story. I hate it. I especially dislike the lack of teacher comments.

We moved here from out of state. All I can say is that this is a weird school system.

I've been surprised at how easy the curriculum is compared to all the hype about MCPS. Parents at my school are very upset about the curriculum. It appears very disorganized to me. The math is at least a year behind the school we came from - which wasn't a top school district.

I don't get the grade card. For K and 1st, I don't care but it does bother me that my kids will not see normal grades until middle school. I learned that other school districts in MD using common core do give normal A/B/C grades in 3-5th grade. The no grades thing is unique to MCPS. I guess its popular with teachers, less work.

There is more time spent here on standardized testing. I learned that you have to ask for the scores if you're interested. I had no idea what my son was talking about when he said he had a test on a computer. This was in K and I'm not kidding. In first and second grade there is more testing. In 3rd grade, they add in PARCC which takes something like 8 days not counting the prep.

I think how involved parents are depends on the school. Our school is very international and diverse. Parents are very active in the school but not as active socially. The international parents are far more critical of the curriculum. They seem to voice their concern outside the school and see no point in trying to change the system. Full day Saturday school and after school math enrichment is very, very common here.

If you're from a cold state, get ready to experience school closures when there is no snow on the ground. I learned that because the county is so big there is a 3-4 hour bus rotation window. If there is enough snow at 5 am up county to make it dangerous then school gets cancelled. This means that you'll have a snow closure at your ES which when its over 40 degrees with dry roads. If you work, save up leave for Feb.

My child is in a MCP elementary school and my husband and I have been pleased with the curriculum. I find it hard to believe pre2.0 was so perfect, but maybe we just don't know how good it was in the "old days". I also don't know anyone who received all Ps, and our DC is in advanced math and reading.

Anonymous wrote:I have kids who play multiple sports which means I end up stuck hanging out with a broad cross section of parents. I have never met one parent with older kids who thinks 2.0 is an improvement. I know A LOT of parents.

The PP is our resident any shit from MCPS smells like a rose. Most likely a MCPS employee.

I am the OP and living out of state most definitely not employed by any kind of public school system

Are you by any chance a former East Berliner or Soviet? Only from amongst such groups have I witnessed such acute paranoia

Anonymous wrote:OP 2.0 is Common Core on steroids. MCPS interprets Common Core as the ceiling not a base line. Its horrible.

Nobody has ever told my child that they are not allowed to do X because the Common Core standard is only Y. I'm sorry that your child's experience has evidently been different. What school(s) has your child attended?

Anonymous wrote:I have kids who play multiple sports which means I end up stuck hanging out with a broad cross section of parents. I have never met one parent with older kids who thinks 2.0 is an improvement. I know A LOT of parents.

The PP is our resident any shit from MCPS smells like a rose. Most likely a MCPS employee.

You may know A LOT of parents, but evidently the cross-section is not all that broad.

I'm always impressed by the prevalence of the belief, on this forum, that anybody whose posts don't express hatred of MCPS must be an MCPS employee.

I have kids who play multiple sports which means I end up stuck hanging out with a broad cross section of parents. I have never met one parent with older kids who thinks 2.0 is an improvement. I know A LOT of parents.

The PP is our resident any shit from MCPS smells like a rose. Most likely a MCPS employee.

OP 2.0 is Common Core on steroids. MCPS interprets Common Core as the ceiling not a base line. Its horrible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP its more accurate to say that there is a tremendous amount of anger and frustration not apathy. The current group of elementary school kids are the first 2.0 victims so many have older siblings who received a much better education. MCPS is hoping that once these kids age out the next group which just accept this pile of crap. I don't see that happening as new parents without older kids are complaining about 2.0 just as much.

MCPS does a lot in addition to a bad curriculum to piss off parents. Kids don't get grades in elementary school. Its pass/fail through 5th grade. Every quarter every kid gets an identical report card with all Ps. There is only one brief parent teacher conference.

PTA fundraising can not go to any educational improvements such as increased staffing. If you're in a high performing school, you lose staff and teaching resources o lower performing schools but unlike DC or VA the PTA can't fund raise to replace a K aide.

MCPS is all about leveling. If you're going into a high performing school you are there to pay taxes, keep your mouth shut and let the school enjoy your child's high test scores. Don't expect any real education or for them to give a shit about your child.

I have a pre-2.0 child and a 2,0 child, and I prefer 2.0.

Kids do get grades in elementary school. It's standards-based grading. It's not at all true that every kid gets an identical report card with all Ps. If you want more parent-teacher conferences, just ask the teacher.

It's a very good thing that PTA money can't pay for extra education in school. PP evidently thinks that it's ok for children at wealthy public schools to get more education than children at poorer public schools.

I don't know about PP's child, but my children are getting a real education in MCPS.

Or, tl;dr: Don't believe everything you read on DCUM. Or possibly, don't believe anything you read on DCUM. (Except my post, of course.)

Thank you. I thought 2.0 was a way of uplifting Common Core (which does appear lacking). We are coming from out of state where people are unhappy with Common Core but don't have 2.0 in place (unless I'm missing something here).