Anonymous wrote:Aah. Just another week of disrupted learning for the PARCC for my kid this week.

"Another week?" Your school is doing it wrong. My kid had one study hall session to go over test mechanics and then a few days with only partial-day disruption. Certainly not "weeks."

Aah. Just another week of disrupted learning for the PARCC for my kid this week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

^ My rural school bus ride was a lot longer than an hour - and no, you didn't get together with "neighbors" miles away that often because that required transportation. There were a handful that you could get together with regularly but otherwise we didn't know that many kids outside of school.

Same initial rural poster here. Who the heck do you think you saw on your bus ride? We talked to each other you know. A lot. You were pretty much forced to be with people who might have different interests, but that was not a bad thing.

Many of the kids I rode the bus with lived 20-30 miles away (and this isn't exactly Alaska or rural Montana, it was in rural Pennsylvania), it's not as though you were getting together every afternoon to hang out or study or so something with them. It's a very different concept from small town America, suburban America, or urban America. Very, very different.

If that's the standard, we're not at a neighborhood school either, and we're in MCPS.

Not with the current trend of mega Columbine style schools in public school systems...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

^ My rural school bus ride was a lot longer than an hour - and no, you didn't get together with "neighbors" miles away that often because that required transportation. There were a handful that you could get together with regularly but otherwise we didn't know that many kids outside of school.

Same initial rural poster here. Who the heck do you think you saw on your bus ride? We talked to each other you know. A lot. You were pretty much forced to be with people who might have different interests, but that was not a bad thing.

Many of the kids I rode the bus with lived 20-30 miles away (and this isn't exactly Alaska or rural Montana, it was in rural Pennsylvania), it's not as though you were getting together every afternoon to hang out or study or so something with them. It's a very different concept from small town America, suburban America, or urban America. Very, very different.

If that's the standard, we're not at a neighborhood school either, and we're in MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

There were some school related activities that got kids together, like sports, but otherwise it was all non-school oriented activities that got kids together, and they got together because of common interests, not "neighborhood" - "neighborhood" wasn't a particularly relevant concept to us growing up.

Who is answering this? Because it's not me, the person who first talked about going to a rural school. This person has no idea. It was a very relevant concept. We had a sportsman's club and park where the neighborhood got together for trap shooting, archery, etc. We had a recreation center where we got together and we had bowling alleys, theater, etc. I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't think you grew up in a rural area. If someone is sick or needs help, the community got together at the fire hall to have a fund raiser. One of the best things was when Santa Claus came to the fire hall. We also had a community band that played at the park, etc. Everyone went to the community baseball games where we played against other nearby small towns.

No idea? Sorry, but you cannot presume to speak for me or my experience.

Anonymous wrote:

^ My rural school bus ride was a lot longer than an hour - and no, you didn't get together with "neighbors" miles away that often because that required transportation. There were a handful that you could get together with regularly but otherwise we didn't know that many kids outside of school.

Same initial rural poster here. Who the heck do you think you saw on your bus ride? We talked to each other you know. A lot. You were pretty much forced to be with people who might have different interests, but that was not a bad thing.

Many of the kids I rode the bus with lived 20-30 miles away (and this isn't exactly Alaska or rural Montana, it was in rural Pennsylvania), it's not as though you were getting together every afternoon to hang out or study or so something with them. It's a very different concept from small town America, suburban America, or urban America. Very, very different.

^ My rural school bus ride was a lot longer than an hour - and no, you didn't get together with "neighbors" miles away that often because that required transportation. There were a handful that you could get together with regularly but otherwise we didn't know that many kids outside of school.

Same initial rural poster here. Who the heck do you think you saw on your bus ride? We talked to each other you know. A lot. You were pretty much forced to be with people who might have different interests, but that was not a bad thing.

There were some school related activities that got kids together, like sports, but otherwise it was all non-school oriented activities that got kids together, and they got together because of common interests, not "neighborhood" - "neighborhood" wasn't a particularly relevant concept to us growing up.

Who is answering this? Because it's not me, the person who first talked about going to a rural school. This person has no idea. It was a very relevant concept. We had a sportsman's club and park where the neighborhood got together for trap shooting, archery, etc. We had a recreation center where we got together and we had bowling alleys, theater, etc. I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't think you grew up in a rural area. If someone is sick or needs help, the community got together at the fire hall to have a fund raiser. One of the best things was when Santa Claus came to the fire hall. We also had a community band that played at the park, etc. Everyone went to the community baseball games where we played against other nearby small towns.

Anonymous wrote:^ My rural school bus ride was a lot longer than an hour - and no, you didn't get together with "neighbors" miles away that often because that required transportation. There were a handful that you could get together with regularly but otherwise we didn't know that many kids outside of school.

There were some school related activities that got kids together, like sports, but otherwise it was all non-school oriented activities that got kids together, and they got together because of common interests, not "neighborhood" - "neighborhood" wasn't a particularly relevant concept to us growing up.

^ My rural school bus ride was a lot longer than an hour - and no, you didn't get together with "neighbors" miles away that often because that required transportation. There were a handful that you could get together with regularly but otherwise we didn't know that many kids outside of school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what happens in charters? You get a group of kids who may live 10 miles away from each other but who share very common interests and pursuits, it's very intimate and community focused. As opposed to the mega public school which has 1800 kids in grades 9-12 where every kid is just a number.

I wouldn't generalize like that, if I were you.

"Actually, most school districts are even more neighborhood oriented. "

You shouldn't, generalize either - when kids sit on a bus for 45 minutes or an hour to get to school in a rural school district, it's not "neighborhood oriented"

I'm not the PP who went to a consolidated rural school. But again, you shouldn't generalize. The PP went to the consolidated rural school; you didn't; therefore, you are not qualified to judge whether or not the school was neighborhood-oriented.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what happens in charters? You get a group of kids who may live 10 miles away from each other but who share very common interests and pursuits, it's very intimate and community focused. As opposed to the mega public school which has 1800 kids in grades 9-12 where every kid is just a number.

I wouldn't generalize like that, if I were you.

"Actually, most school districts are even more neighborhood oriented. "

You shouldn't, generalize either - when kids sit on a bus for 45 minutes or an hour to get to school in a rural school district, it's not "neighborhood oriented"

Anonymous wrote:Guess what happens in charters? You get a group of kids who may live 10 miles away from each other but who share very common interests and pursuits, it's very intimate and community focused. As opposed to the mega public school which has 1800 kids in grades 9-12 where every kid is just a number.

I wouldn't generalize like that, if I were you.

Guess what happens in charters? You get a group of kids who may live 10 miles away from each other but who share very common interests and pursuits, it's very intimate and community focused. As opposed to the mega public school which has 1800 kids in grades 9-12 where every kid is just a number.

FCPS is suburban, as opposed to DCPS which is neighborhood focused but beyond that your characterization is incorrect. Roughly around 200 counties nationwide out of 3000+ are more urbanized like FCPS, the remainder are far more rural. Many parts of the country, like farming communities in places like Iowa have regional schools, one kid might live 10+ miles away from the next kid in his class, they aren't particularly "neighborhood" focused, in fact even far less so than FCPS.

Yes, I grew up in one of those rural districts in the middle of America. We knew the kid who lived 10 miles away. We knew that family and practically every family around us. I could point to any house within a 10 mile radius and tell you who lived there and I mean every member of the family. That was our "neighborhood". I had a great, very rich childhood experience in every way you can imagine. I am glad I had it. My grade school had 200 kids in 7 grades. I had to travel 10 miles to high school. It was one of the best high schools in my state. It still is. They have no charters in my home district, even now. It is hard to get a teaching job in my home district believe it or not. Many people want to live that lifestyle, but end up, like I did, in Fairfax County.