Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RGMS parents revealed just how privileged and self serving they are. Don't worry, the rest of the county has taken note.

I think that you could say this about a lot of the specialty programs. I get the sense that the current admin and the Board don't have a whole lot of empathy for them.
The county isn't required to offer these programs (except TAG, but that can be offered at regular schools). They are a privilege, not a right and they take a lot of resources away from neighborhood schools. I personally think that the county should only provide bus transportation for the FARMS/SPED kids that attend non-neighborhood schools.

From the DC-ist article "Catarina Correia, president of Hyattsville’s parent-teacher organization, posted a statement on Goddard’s parent-teacher organization Facebook page citing research from Penn State University which says that Prince George’s County Schools’ specialty programs, like Goddard’s, “have successfully advocated for their programs against the detriment of neighborhood schools that often lack the same well connected, economically advantaged, and vocal parents.”

“I understand why you were upset, but I truly believe that as your children have been at [the Goddard] school for so long, you are woefully unaware of what other PG County public schools deal with on a daily basis and how truly lucky you and your children have been,” Correia wrote to Goddard parents. “I hope we can work together to make the [county school system] work as best it can for ALL our students.”
https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3331/?fbclid=IwAR0K5Fg1cC10DpQH8f23V-Cc1dRxliWI75KstiH9hAtavJxBfmiGV2vBIbo

Buy isn't Hyattsville Middle a specialty school too? Performing arts?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RGMS parents revealed just how privileged and self serving they are. Don't worry, the rest of the county has taken note.

I think that you could say this about a lot of the specialty programs. I get the sense that the current admin and the Board don't have a whole lot of empathy for them.
The county isn't required to offer these programs (except TAG, but that can be offered at regular schools). They are a privilege, not a right and they take a lot of resources away from neighborhood schools. I personally think that the county should only provide bus transportation for the FARMS/SPED kids that attend non-neighborhood schools.

From the DC-ist article "Catarina Correia, president of Hyattsville’s parent-teacher organization, posted a statement on Goddard’s parent-teacher organization Facebook page citing research from Penn State University which says that Prince George’s County Schools’ specialty programs, like Goddard’s, “have successfully advocated for their programs against the detriment of neighborhood schools that often lack the same well connected, economically advantaged, and vocal parents.”

“I understand why you were upset, but I truly believe that as your children have been at [the Goddard] school for so long, you are woefully unaware of what other PG County public schools deal with on a daily basis and how truly lucky you and your children have been,” Correia wrote to Goddard parents. “I hope we can work together to make the [county school system] work as best it can for ALL our students.”
https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3331/?fbclid=IwAR0K5Fg1cC10DpQH8f23V-Cc1dRxliWI75KstiH9hAtavJxBfmiGV2vBIbo

Anonymous wrote:

What on earth are you talking about? Hyattsville Middle School is a Title 1 school with 82% FARMS rate (probably higher because MS kids don't want to fill in the forms). They have 24% of the student body as English Language Learners. Do you really think that those parents have the options of sending their kids to independent or parochial schools? Most parents can't just decide to send their kids to a specialty program. They either get in or they don't. And getting in most programs after Kindergarten is almost impossible. Do you really think that the families moving into low income housing in the Hyattsville area were informed that the school might be moved? Most of the kids who go to Hyattsville Middle don't live in SFH in University Park or Historic Hyattsville, those parents figure out a way to get into specialty programs or private schools. They live in

I understand that it SUCKS for RG parents but the 880 Hyattsville Middle School kids are much more vulnerable than the kids at RG. RG has a FARMS rate of 33% and zero English Language learners. And you too have the option of going to your in bounds elementary school.

If you don't like the FREE Montessori education that your kid gets, go somewhere else. I'm sure that you are in a better position to do so than the vast majority of Hyattsville Middle School parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RGMS parents revealed just how privileged and self serving they are. Don't worry, the rest of the county has taken note.

I think that you could say this about a lot of the specialty programs. I get the sense that the current admin and the Board don't have a whole lot of empathy for them.
The county isn't required to offer these programs (except TAG, but that can be offered at regular schools). They are a privilege, not a right and they take a lot of resources away from neighborhood schools. I personally think that the county should only provide bus transportation for the FARMS/SPED kids that attend non-neighborhood schools.

From the DC-ist article "Catarina Correia, president of Hyattsville’s parent-teacher organization, posted a statement on Goddard’s parent-teacher organization Facebook page citing research from Penn State University which says that Prince George’s County Schools’ specialty programs, like Goddard’s, “have successfully advocated for their programs against the detriment of neighborhood schools that often lack the same well connected, economically advantaged, and vocal parents.”

“I understand why you were upset, but I truly believe that as your children have been at [the Goddard] school for so long, you are woefully unaware of what other PG County public schools deal with on a daily basis and how truly lucky you and your children have been,” Correia wrote to Goddard parents. “I hope we can work together to make the [county school system] work as best it can for ALL our students.”
https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3331/?fbclid=IwAR0K5Fg1cC10DpQH8f23V-Cc1dRxliWI75KstiH9hAtavJxBfmiGV2vBIbo

I'd go even farther and say that the K-8 specialty programs are relics of mandated integration and a way to keep middle class Black and white families in the PGCPS system. They hoard valuable resources and I really question their value to the system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RGMS parents revealed just how privileged and self serving they are. Don't worry, the rest of the county has taken note.

I think that you could say this about a lot of the specialty programs. I get the sense that the current admin and the Board don't have a whole lot of empathy for them.
The county isn't required to offer these programs (except TAG, but that can be offered at regular schools). They are a privilege, not a right and they take a lot of resources away from neighborhood schools. I personally think that the county should only provide bus transportation for the FARMS/SPED kids that attend non-neighborhood schools.

From the DC-ist article "Catarina Correia, president of Hyattsville’s parent-teacher organization, posted a statement on Goddard’s parent-teacher organization Facebook page citing research from Penn State University which says that Prince George’s County Schools’ specialty programs, like Goddard’s, “have successfully advocated for their programs against the detriment of neighborhood schools that often lack the same well connected, economically advantaged, and vocal parents.”

“I understand why you were upset, but I truly believe that as your children have been at [the Goddard] school for so long, you are woefully unaware of what other PG County public schools deal with on a daily basis and how truly lucky you and your children have been,” Correia wrote to Goddard parents. “I hope we can work together to make the [county school system] work as best it can for ALL our students.”
https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3331/?fbclid=IwAR0K5Fg1cC10DpQH8f23V-Cc1dRxliWI75KstiH9hAtavJxBfmiGV2vBIbo

Anonymous wrote:RGMS parents revealed just how privileged and self serving they are. Don't worry, the rest of the county has taken note.

Anonymous wrote:This is nuts! Has this been covered by the press yet because this sounds like a crazy story.

Anonymous wrote:Wait...has the decision been reversed?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My question is, what are the other options?

I still don't know why the move is permanent. I would guess that they have other plans for that building once the new Middle School is done.

They need a huge number of middle school seats for the northern part of the county. It's likely that once HMS is built, the school will become another middle school for the area and relieve some of the overcrowding from William Wirt and Buck Lodge. There are also other schools in the northern part of the county that desperately need renovations: High Point, Langley Park, and HES spring to mind.

Anonymous wrote:My question is, what are the other options?

I still don't know why the move is permanent. I would guess that they have other plans for that building once the new Middle School is done.