Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are definitely some activities after school. My dd participated in a few last year and one this year. I wouldn't say there are a ton of options, though.

Music program (band/orchestra) is good. Also an optional jazz band for those who are interested.

I am not aware of any after school activities. They never sent an announcement and the website has never been updated. How to find out about after school (or during lunch time) activities?

Click on "Extra Curriculars" on the home page, then click on "*ECA Handbook". You will see a list of after school activities. My DS has participated several activities in the past and he absolutely loves them.

Anonymous wrote:There are definitely some activities after school. My dd participated in a few last year and one this year. I wouldn't say there are a ton of options, though.

Music program (band/orchestra) is good. Also an optional jazz band for those who are interested.

I am not aware of any after school activities. They never sent an announcement and the website has never been updated. How to find out about after school (or during lunch time) activities?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero bullying? I went there 20 years ago, so the times may be different, but I was definitely bullied. And I can’t imagine the culture of Potomac has changed that much since then..,

Sorry my definition of bullying is physical violence. Sure kids say stuff like the N word pass thing or posting someone is fat on-line or not sitting near you on bus. But it is middle school not church

Kids have committed suicide over the very things you are describing. It matters.

DP

It’s public school. We are at a nonW middle school and the physical violence on a regular basis is pretty appalling, IMO.

The PP’s description sounds pretty tame to me.

It's still unhealthy. We are in a small private (about $10K a year tuition), and there is no bullying. Any issues are dealt with swiftly and the principal is always involved. I would never send another kid to Hoover or any MCPS middle school for that matter.

Oh, please no place is perfect.

MCPS can be great. Hoover is fine. Pay attention to your kid. No private for $10k a year is better than MCPS for the majority of kids. Wait til HS and College for math alone your kid will be quite behind in academics.

Hoover is horrible. My son attended 6-8 and wanted out of MCPS forever. We put him in a private high school and it was the best money spent. We only wish we had done so for middle school. Our daughter is going to private K-12. MCPS never again. Oh, and, she is tracking to do Calc in high school, so she is fine. Nice try though.

As for MCPS high schools vs private high schools...there is no question...MCPS is a big FAIL. No mid term or final exams. 79 + 89 quarterly grades equals A for semester. SEVERE GRADE INFLATION!!!!!!!!!

No thank you MCPS. DS is now at a top 10 college thanks to his great education at his private Catholic school.

LOL
Privates are worst.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/17/easy-a-nearly-half-hs-seniors-graduate-average/485787001/

Anonymous wrote: Actually, they said, the upward creep is most pronounced in schools with large numbers of white, wealthy students. And its especially noticeable in private schools, where the rate of inflation was about three times higher than in public schools.

Try again !

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero bullying? I went there 20 years ago, so the times may be different, but I was definitely bullied. And I can’t imagine the culture of Potomac has changed that much since then..,

Sorry my definition of bullying is physical violence. Sure kids say stuff like the N word pass thing or posting someone is fat on-line or not sitting near you on bus. But it is middle school not church

Kids have committed suicide over the very things you are describing. It matters.

DP

It’s public school. We are at a nonW middle school and the physical violence on a regular basis is pretty appalling, IMO.

The PP’s description sounds pretty tame to me.

It's still unhealthy. We are in a small private (about $10K a year tuition), and there is no bullying. Any issues are dealt with swiftly and the principal is always involved. I would never send another kid to Hoover or any MCPS middle school for that matter.

Oh, please no place is perfect.

MCPS can be great. Hoover is fine. Pay attention to your kid. No private for $10k a year is better than MCPS for the majority of kids. Wait til HS and College for math alone your kid will be quite behind in academics.

Hoover is horrible. My son attended 6-8 and wanted out of MCPS forever. We put him in a private high school and it was the best money spent. We only wish we had done so for middle school. Our daughter is going to private K-12. MCPS never again. Oh, and, she is tracking to do Calc in high school, so she is fine. Nice try though.

As for MCPS high schools vs private high schools...there is no question...MCPS is a big FAIL. No mid term or final exams. 79 + 89 quarterly grades equals A for semester. SEVERE GRADE INFLATION!!!!!!!!!

No thank you MCPS. DS is now at a top 10 college thanks to his great education at his private Catholic school.

This is totally kid dependent and skill dependent. Private Catholic Schools are great for some kids. Not in STEM or math. Most can not hold a candle to MCPS. My kids did excellent privates and MCPS depending on the kid. I can honestly say my kids who more than one got into and attended IVIES from MCPS all said they got a great education at MCPS and felt college was an easy transition. All of mine are Engineers and CIS majors graduates with great jobs.

Every one has their own experience. Parents job is to make that be the best education for their kid. Glad private Catholic worked for you. It and MCPS or FCPS or other privates are again totally dependent on the DC.

I’m surprised the issue of drugs hasn’t come up in this thread, maybe because people view it as an issue everywhere. Last year I was hearing (from DC) about vaping and weed all the time. This year, I’m hearing about kids who sell heroin and extasy. Apparently, kids have been suspended but returned a few days later. I’m thinking that is because they are suspended for some ‘lesser offense’ maybe because they are smart enough to bring the hard stuff to school. (Or maybe it is just a trumped up rumor.). Regardless, I’ve had two kids go through Hoover, generally with positive experiences. But I also feel like they are running a gauntlet and have been lucky not to be pulled into an ever present drug culture.

Love the "I put my kid in private school and it was the best move ever" comments. Most people can't afford to spend $40,000+ a year for private school and many people are not interested in sending their kids to Catholic schools so that leaves public. Both kids went through Hoover. While not a perfect school, neither of them experienced bullying and neither of them was in the "popular" group. Are there "mean" kids? Of course there are. Middle school is notorious for that and it does not just happen at Hoover. As for the environment being racist, I only know what my kids told me and there are some very ignorant kids, but working in the school system, I unfortunately see it in many schools along with very bad bullying that is ignored by administrators. Overall, they had a good experience and shockingly the teachers got to teach instead of play disciplinarian all day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero bullying? I went there 20 years ago, so the times may be different, but I was definitely bullied. And I can’t imagine the culture of Potomac has changed that much since then..,

Sorry my definition of bullying is physical violence. Sure kids say stuff like the N word pass thing or posting someone is fat on-line or not sitting near you on bus. But it is middle school not church

Kids have committed suicide over the very things you are describing. It matters.

DP

It’s public school. We are at a nonW middle school and the physical violence on a regular basis is pretty appalling, IMO.

The PP’s description sounds pretty tame to me.

It's still unhealthy. We are in a small private (about $10K a year tuition), and there is no bullying. Any issues are dealt with swiftly and the principal is always involved. I would never send another kid to Hoover or any MCPS middle school for that matter.

Oh, please no place is perfect.

MCPS can be great. Hoover is fine. Pay attention to your kid. No private for $10k a year is better than MCPS for the majority of kids. Wait til HS and College for math alone your kid will be quite behind in academics.

Hoover is horrible. My son attended 6-8 and wanted out of MCPS forever. We put him in a private high school and it was the best money spent. We only wish we had done so for middle school. Our daughter is going to private K-12. MCPS never again. Oh, and, she is tracking to do Calc in high school, so she is fine. Nice try though.

As for MCPS high schools vs private high schools...there is no question...MCPS is a big FAIL. No mid term or final exams. 79 + 89 quarterly grades equals A for semester. SEVERE GRADE INFLATION!!!!!!!!!

No thank you MCPS. DS is now at a top 10 college thanks to his great education at his private Catholic school.

Potomac only has three Catholic schools, one k-8, two Catholic HS schools one all boys and other all girls

Not many straight kids like same sex High Schools

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero bullying? I went there 20 years ago, so the times may be different, but I was definitely bullied. And I can’t imagine the culture of Potomac has changed that much since then..,

Sorry my definition of bullying is physical violence. Sure kids say stuff like the N word pass thing or posting someone is fat on-line or not sitting near you on bus. But it is middle school not church

Kids have committed suicide over the very things you are describing. It matters.

DP

It’s public school. We are at a nonW middle school and the physical violence on a regular basis is pretty appalling, IMO.

The PP’s description sounds pretty tame to me.

It's still unhealthy. We are in a small private (about $10K a year tuition), and there is no bullying. Any issues are dealt with swiftly and the principal is always involved. I would never send another kid to Hoover or any MCPS middle school for that matter.

Oh, please no place is perfect.

MCPS can be great. Hoover is fine. Pay attention to your kid. No private for $10k a year is better than MCPS for the majority of kids. Wait til HS and College for math alone your kid will be quite behind in academics.

Hoover is horrible. My son attended 6-8 and wanted out of MCPS forever. We put him in a private high school and it was the best money spent. We only wish we had done so for middle school. Our daughter is going to private K-12. MCPS never again. Oh, and, she is tracking to do Calc in high school, so she is fine. Nice try though.

As for MCPS high schools vs private high schools...there is no question...MCPS is a big FAIL. No mid term or final exams. 79 + 89 quarterly grades equals A for semester. SEVERE GRADE INFLATION!!!!!!!!!

No thank you MCPS. DS is now at a top 10 college thanks to his great education at his private Catholic school.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, It's amazing how quickly every thread on DCUM turns into how racist MCPS is. It could be a thread about a parking lot and there will be someone who says it's racist because the asphalt is black.

I don't think anyone is saying MCPS is racist, but people are relating first-hand experiences with racialized bullying at Hoover. OP asked for opinions and experiences. Why would someone not mention something so important?

There are definitely some activities after school. My dd participated in a few last year and one this year. I wouldn't say there are a ton of options, though.

Music program (band/orchestra) is good. Also an optional jazz band for those who are interested.

Yes, Hoover is a large school.

It's Middle School. Many kids that is the hardest part of schooling socially. Pay attention to your kids. If they can function in a large school it's quite good. Feeds into Churchill not a bad feed either. Yes, socially can be tough, high income mean girls come to mind.

Again pay attention to your kid. MCPS can give your kid a great education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero bullying? I went there 20 years ago, so the times may be different, but I was definitely bullied. And I can’t imagine the culture of Potomac has changed that much since then..,

Sorry my definition of bullying is physical violence. Sure kids say stuff like the N word pass thing or posting someone is fat on-line or not sitting near you on bus. But it is middle school not church

Kids have committed suicide over the very things you are describing. It matters.

DP

It’s public school. We are at a nonW middle school and the physical violence on a regular basis is pretty appalling, IMO.

The PP’s description sounds pretty tame to me.

It's still unhealthy. We are in a small private (about $10K a year tuition), and there is no bullying. Any issues are dealt with swiftly and the principal is always involved. I would never send another kid to Hoover or any MCPS middle school for that matter.

Oh, please no place is perfect.

MCPS can be great. Hoover is fine. Pay attention to your kid. No private for $10k a year is better than MCPS for the majority of kids. Wait til HS and College for math alone your kid will be quite behind in academics.

My DD is in 8th grade this year and I have so many positive things to say about the school. She went to Beverly Farms for elementary and we did not love the school at all and were definitely nervous for Hoover. It has exceeded in all areas. She has been challenged but not to the point of failure. She is in all supported classes due to an IEP and we have loved every teacher and case manager she has had. They have taught her how to advocate for what she needs all while pushing her toward independence.

This is not to say that there is no bullying or unkind words at the school- it is a middle school! But she has found a great group of kids to hang out with. She has to learn to deal with reality and not be protected from everything and I feel that this happens at Hoover.

Wow, It's amazing how quickly every thread on DCUM turns into how racist MCPS is. It could be a thread about a parking lot and there will be someone who says it's racist because the asphalt is black.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero bullying? I went there 20 years ago, so the times may be different, but I was definitely bullied. And I can’t imagine the culture of Potomac has changed that much since then..,

Sorry my definition of bullying is physical violence. Sure kids say stuff like the N word pass thing or posting someone is fat on-line or not sitting near you on bus. But it is middle school not church

Kids have committed suicide over the very things you are describing. It matters.

DP

It’s public school. We are at a nonW middle school and the physical violence on a regular basis is pretty appalling, IMO.

The PP’s description sounds pretty tame to me.

It's still unhealthy. We are in a small private (about $10K a year tuition), and there is no bullying. Any issues are dealt with swiftly and the principal is always involved. I would never send another kid to Hoover or any MCPS middle school for that matter.

The real world will be a bitch one day

That is such BS.

My kid comes home and tells me about some crazy stuff that happens in MS. If that happened at my job (assault, harassment), someone would be calling the police ASAP. Instead, it’s just considered ‘regular’ MCPS MS behavior.