Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some schools that are downright scary, as are the kids who attend them. Springbrook, Paint Branch, Gaithersburg, Wheaton, Watkins Mill, Kennedy, Northwood to name a few. If you look around the "less desireable" neighborhoods there are tons of thugs, druggies, drug dealers, welfare moms, illegal immigrants and low lives who do not give a shit about education. This county is in trouble if there are only a handful of good schools (6 or 8 out of 26), and only the wealthy can afford to live ion those neighborhoods. It is a devisive school system between the haves and have nots-leaving the true middle class with no good options.

Have you ever set foot in one of the schools you named? Ever known a child who goes there? These blanket generalizations that are repeated about the above named schools are almost always based on fear, racism, classism, and misinformation. I happen to live in a Northwood feeder neighborhood, and I strongly object to your characterization of me, my neighbors, and their children. My son attends Northwood and I can attest that it is a tight-knit community school where teachers and students support each other and where many strive to do their best. Is it perfect? No, but neither are the "good" schools that are considered so superior to all the others. I can understand concern about test scores, quality of instruction, violence and drug use (which also occurs in the "good" schools), but your assertion that "all these kids are thugs whose families don't care" is ridiculous and insulting.

Sounds like you are trying to make the best of the shitty options available to you and your kid-I am sure if you could afford to, you would be in a better school cluster. So many true middle class families would!

Why is it so difficult for people to understand that just because a school is not a "W" school, it is possible that it isn't a shitty school either? Or perhaps some people are happy in their neighborhoods without being in Bethesda or Potomac? Or even that they (gasp!) don't want to live in either one of those places?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is doing very well in what is probably the worst high school in the county.

The school has a lot of fights and "bad" kids from poor, broken homes. Plenty of under-achievers...BUT...

No one has ever bothered her - she has found her niche and has some really good friends who have similar values as she does. Seriously - the last thing on those kids' radar is the smart girl - there are many other things that can pull you into the wrong crowd or put you at risk, but good grades isn't one of them.

We were dreading when it was time for her to go to high school but didn't want to spend the money on private unless we had to. We montiored her like a hawk to make sure she didn't go down the wrong path or end up with a sketchy group of friends. That was never an issue and outside of some of the fascinating (and scary) stories she tells us sometimes, she is in her own bubble, meeting challenges and qualifying for a lot of opportunities she probably wouldn't have in the better schools.

Yes, I wished more of the kids wanted to succeed - currently, she is competing against a small group of achievers, but the high farms and poor grades of the other kids have not impacted her, as far as I can tell. The experience has opened our eyes to how shitty some people have it but also to how there are a lot of people out there who have given up and are at the point where they just don't care. It's sad.

Not all kids are the smart nerdy kids that keep to themselves. Many are influenced by who they attend school with, which is why people try and avoid those schools. The popular kids are thugs. They also don't offer as many AP classes because there aren't enough kids to take them. Less student clubs, PTA and positive community involvement at those schools too. So I am glad it works for you but it would not work for us.

I wonder if my child goes to the same school as the PP? I'll have to say that i NEVER thought I would fear for my child attending a school in MCPS. But I do. She is a follower so she would have gotten into trouble anywhere, but at this school, it is scary. I can't gether out of there, i can't afford private school and the BOE just does not care that a book-smart kid's furture is going down the drain because kids who have no interest in getting an education are allowed to attend public school. Our tax dollars are babysitting these thugs. its disgusting. In my home country - these kids would not be going to public school - they would be going to a remedial school at the parent's expense. I can't move - I am in what is considered one of the richest and better educated counites in the country and my child is dealing with incredible amounts of perr pressure to sleep around, listen to awful music, party and worry about getting a "man" vs getting good grades. She has so much promise in elementary school and now it's gone. I have written so many letters, made phone calls but the money I pay for taxes must not be worth as much as the money the folks in Potomac pay. I can't afford to live in potomac so myu family is being penalized and destroyed. I really hate this area and we are trapped.

Wow - what school does your daughter attend? It is almost unbelievable reading the last few posts that children attend schools with thugs. Does that really exist in MCPS? Forgive me, my kid goes to Sherwood - the Mayberry of montgomery County. What does a school system do when a school gets this out of control?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some schools that are downright scary, as are the kids who attend them. Springbrook, Paint Branch, Gaithersburg, Wheaton, Watkins Mill, Kennedy, Northwood to name a few. If you look around the "less desireable" neighborhoods there are tons of thugs, druggies, drug dealers, welfare moms, illegal immigrants and low lives who do not give a shit about education. This county is in trouble if there are only a handful of good schools (6 or 8 out of 26), and only the wealthy can afford to live ion those neighborhoods. It is a devisive school system between the haves and have nots-leaving the true middle class with no good options.

Have you ever set foot in one of the schools you named? Ever known a child who goes there? These blanket generalizations that are repeated about the above named schools are almost always based on fear, racism, classism, and misinformation. I happen to live in a Northwood feeder neighborhood, and I strongly object to your characterization of me, my neighbors, and their children. My son attends Northwood and I can attest that it is a tight-knit community school where teachers and students support each other and where many strive to do their best. Is it perfect? No, but neither are the "good" schools that are considered so superior to all the others. I can understand concern about test scores, quality of instruction, violence and drug use (which also occurs in the "good" schools), but your assertion that "all these kids are thugs whose families don't care" is ridiculous and insulting.

Sounds like you are trying to make the best of the shitty options available to you and your kid-I am sure if you could afford to, you would be in a better school cluster. So many true middle class families would!

Why is it so difficult for people to understand that just because a school is not a "W" school, it is possible that it isn't a shitty school either? Or perhaps some people are happy in their neighborhoods without being in Bethesda or Potomac? Or even that they (gasp!) don't want to live in either one of those places?