Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the problems with Jones Lane, is the PTA. It's run by a few moms (all white) who have a habit of not involving other moms that they don't like into the PTA. The moms they usually don't like are non whte moms, i.e. Asian and Hispanic. This results in a very cliquey and non inclusive feeling for other parents who want to get involved but can't bc of these moms.

DP here. This is what we hesitated about this school when we were looking in the QO area. We came from a diverse school in MOCO and while looking in the QO neighborhood a couple of years ago, we noticed that there were a lot of white families. Nothing wrong with that but it just seemed out of the ordinary considering that we live in such a diverse county and something I wasn't used to coming from the previous school. I'm Asian by the way, and my kids are half white. That said I heard it was a great school and we would've probably bought there had we found the right house, but I'm not gonna lie, this aspect of the school would've slightly made me uncomfortable. Maybe I would've gotten over that feeling at some point.

Yes, the whole darnestown area is very weird - the neighborhoods are not diverse at all, so MCPS sends a neighborhood with FARMs to them, which makes the schools very diverse.

Exactly, mcps buses children from far away in areas with diverse background to jones Lane elementary, it results in division between home children and those bussed children. Escpecially when it comes to friendships and after school activities. I don't really understand why mcps does it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the problems with Jones Lane, is the PTA. It's run by a few moms (all white) who have a habit of not involving other moms that they don't like into the PTA. The moms they usually don't like are non whte moms, i.e. Asian and Hispanic. This results in a very cliquey and non inclusive feeling for other parents who want to get involved but can't bc of these moms.

DP here. This is what we hesitated about this school when we were looking in the QO area. We came from a diverse school in MOCO and while looking in the QO neighborhood a couple of years ago, we noticed that there were a lot of white families. Nothing wrong with that but it just seemed out of the ordinary considering that we live in such a diverse county and something I wasn't used to coming from the previous school. I'm Asian by the way, and my kids are half white. That said I heard it was a great school and we would've probably bought there had we found the right house, but I'm not gonna lie, this aspect of the school would've slightly made me uncomfortable. Maybe I would've gotten over that feeling at some point.

Yes, the whole darnestown area is very weird - the neighborhoods are not diverse at all, so MCPS sends a neighborhood with FARMs to them, which makes the schools very diverse.

Anonymous wrote:One of the problems with Jones Lane, is the PTA. It's run by a few moms (all white) who have a habit of not involving other moms that they don't like into the PTA. The moms they usually don't like are non whte moms, i.e. Asian and Hispanic. This results in a very cliquey and non inclusive feeling for other parents who want to get involved but can't bc of these moms.

DP here. This is what we hesitated about this school when we were looking in the QO area. We came from a diverse school in MOCO and while looking in the QO neighborhood a couple of years ago, we noticed that there were a lot of white families. Nothing wrong with that but it just seemed out of the ordinary considering that we live in such a diverse county and something I wasn't used to coming from the previous school. I'm Asian by the way, and my kids are half white. That said I heard it was a great school and we would've probably bought there had we found the right house, but I'm not gonna lie, this aspect of the school would've slightly made me uncomfortable. Maybe I would've gotten over that feeling at some point.

Anonymous wrote:One of the problems with Jones Lane, is the PTA. It's run by a few moms (all white) who have a habit of not involving other moms that they don't like into the PTA. The moms they usually don't like are non whte moms, i.e. Asian and Hispanic. This results in a very cliquey and non inclusive feeling for other parents who want to get involved but can't bc of these moms.

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/gaithersburg-elementary-school-pta-teams-up-with-lyft-to-get-parents-to-school-too

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2052942094827167&id=246703358784392



https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1806720986115947&id=246703358784392

Perhaps there are some cliquey parents at Jones Lane (isn't that true at every school) but there are also PTA parents doing a lot of good and advocating for the needs of all families at the school.

Anonymous wrote:One of the problems with Jones Lane, is the PTA. It's run by a few moms (all white) who have a habit of not involving other moms that they don't like into the PTA. The moms they usually don't like are non whte moms, i.e. Asian and Hispanic. This results in a very cliquey and non inclusive feeling for other parents who want to get involved but can't bc of these moms.

+1 I had this problem with the parents at the PTA a couple of years ago too. My children currently do not attend jones lane anymore, they are in middle school. But I had the same experience as the PP. I thought it would improve but it seems to have stayed the same. That’s a shame, bc there are plenty of moms available to help if they are just given an opportunity, but it seems like the PTA moms just want to give the illusion of trying to include all, but in reality all they want is their own people.

One of the problems with Jones Lane, is the PTA. It's run by a few moms (all white) who have a habit of not involving other moms that they don't like into the PTA. The moms they usually don't like are non whte moms, i.e. Asian and Hispanic. This results in a very cliquey and non inclusive feeling for other parents who want to get involved but can't bc of these moms.

JLES and the surrounding schools(Darnestown, Travilah, TMES) are all great options. OP you are making a good choice the area is very nice!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister’s family lives in Potomac Chase and her kids go to Jones Lane. My sister seems overall happy with it. She has said it does not seem as high pressure of an environment as some other schools in MoCo. Her neighborhood is very nice and most of the kids go to Jones Lane. There is a very active women’s club that she is a part of, and it seems like the parents of kids in her neighborhood that go to the school are very actively involved. From what I’ve seen though the neighborhood does have a busybody feel to it, where all of the moms are a bit cliquey and gossipy, and where everyone is in your business.

The Jones Lane moms are pretty nice ! It’s a fun community to be part of.

Only if you're white!

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Rachel Carson also lots of Asian kids.

At least Jones Ln has a mix of kids. If you go to Poolesville and you are not white, your child will stick out like a sore thumb.

While others may think friendships should not be based on race, even children gravitate to people of their own kind. I've always wondered how that happens.

There is a reason why white people do not like Ashburn or Chantilly in VA. Go there and half the kids will be Asian. Highly competitive and stressful for non Asians.

Sounds like Wootton.

Anonymous wrote:My sister’s family lives in Potomac Chase and her kids go to Jones Lane. My sister seems overall happy with it. She has said it does not seem as high pressure of an environment as some other schools in MoCo. Her neighborhood is very nice and most of the kids go to Jones Lane. There is a very active women’s club that she is a part of, and it seems like the parents of kids in her neighborhood that go to the school are very actively involved. From what I’ve seen though the neighborhood does have a busybody feel to it, where all of the moms are a bit cliquey and gossipy, and where everyone is in your business.

The Jones Lane moms are pretty nice ! It’s a fun community to be part of.

I think it depends on the neighborhood, and honestly if there are a lot of stay at home moms versus full time working moms. In my neighborhood most of the households seem to have two working parents, and its not a very friendly or in your business type of neighborhood. I'm a working mom so I don't really have time to really get to close with the other parents in the neighborhood. I wish the neighborhood was a bit more friendly to be honest, but not necessarily to the extent that I've seen in Potomac Chase.

This X100. In Travilah, there were some SAHMs but mostly two income families so it was hard to get to know anyone until later in elementary school. The asian kids and white kids all mixed together in friendships/didn't self segregate like the Jone Lane poster was describing.

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Rachel Carson also lots of Asian kids.

At least Jones Ln has a mix of kids. If you go to Poolesville and you are not white, your child will stick out like a sore thumb.

While others may think friendships should not be based on race, even children gravitate to people of their own kind. I've always wondered how that happens.

There is a reason why white people do not like Ashburn or Chantilly in VA. Go there and half the kids will be Asian. Highly competitive and stressful for non Asians.

1 in 3 children (33%) at Poolesville ES is not white. For comparison, 1 in 5 fingers on a hand (20%) is a thumb - unless you're a muppet, then it's 1 in 4 (25%).

If half of the kids in Ashburn or Chantilly are Asian-American, what are the other half?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister’s family lives in Potomac Chase and her kids go to Jones Lane. My sister seems overall happy with it. She has said it does not seem as high pressure of an environment as some other schools in MoCo. Her neighborhood is very nice and most of the kids go to Jones Lane. There is a very active women’s club that she is a part of, and it seems like the parents of kids in her neighborhood that go to the school are very actively involved. From what I’ve seen though the neighborhood does have a busybody feel to it, where all of the moms are a bit cliquey and gossipy, and where everyone is in your business.

+1

But really that’s not much different than most other neighborhoods in Montgomery County. ?

I think it depends on the neighborhood, and honestly if there are a lot of stay at home moms versus full time working moms. In my neighborhood most of the households seem to have two working parents, and its not a very friendly or in your business type of neighborhood. I'm a working mom so I don't really have time to really get to close with the other parents in the neighborhood. I wish the neighborhood was a bit more friendly to be honest, but not necessarily to the extent that I've seen in Potomac Chase.

PP here. Rachel Carson also lots of Asian kids.

At least Jones Ln has a mix of kids. If you go to Poolesville and you are not white, your child will stick out like a sore thumb.

While others may think friendships should not be based on race, even children gravitate to people of their own kind. I've always wondered how that happens.

There is a reason why white people do not like Ashburn or Chantilly in VA. Go there and half the kids will be Asian. Highly competitive and stressful for non Asians.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is in studying there..Academically, I feel that they are behind. Maybe this is a county wide issue..Other than that, my DC loves school. Can't say its diverse though - majority Caucasian. The neighborhoods are very nice,a lot of older homes..

49% white
23% hispanic
10% black
12% asian
5% two or more races

Pretty diverse in my opinion.

Spoken from a white person's point of view. If you are not white, then it won't feel diverse enough..a black person or Asian (Chinese, Korean, Indian etc) will be hard put to find friends of your own race there. The moms are cliquish for sure. From what my child tells me, even among kids, the white kids hang out together, hispanics together and the Asians and blacks are left to form their own group..Of course my DC does not realize that the groups are race based but I do.

OP, if you are Asian and want your child to form friendships with more Asian children, go to Travilah. If you are black and want your child to form friendships with other black kids, go to Rachel Carson or Diamond. If you are white or hispanic, you will love Jones Ln. There are fewer choices for other minorities.