Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Principal is fantastic. He greets every child at the door every morning and would call them by their name. The teachers- every single teacher that my children had was excellent and dedicated to make sure that they were challenged at the appropriate level. Finally, the community of parents -parents who are non-pretentious and are actively involved with the school. The PTA events rock. This is a focus ES in Gaithersburg.

I bet you're at Strawberry Knoll.

Just wait until your kid hits middle and high.

What is your personal, first-hand, direct experience with Gaithersburg MS and Gaithersburg HS?

Let's just say that when you're in the system, you know a lot more . . . good or bad.

People, let me share some advice. "Buy" for the high school. Of course, there's no guarantee that the HS will be stellar 10 years from now, which is why people do buy out in the "sticks" (DCUM's favorite term). Years ago, people made fun of Howard County. Now it's the hottest thing since sliced bread.

But again, elementary schools are nurturing. Kids still love school, despite obstacles they face at home. Teachers are soft and sweet and to some degree, too giving of themselves, particularly bleeding hearts in some of the most challenging schools. So elementary schools are wonderful little places where everyone is welcome.

Once a kid matures, however, and realizes that his/her home life doesn't mirror Beav Cleaver's, the issues surface. So in areas with high poverty, for example, the middle school teachers become burdened with students' social-emotional issues. Attendance becomes an issue. Behaviors get worse. And with the new star rating system, teachers will be blamed for "failing" kids and not doing enough to save each one.

Content becomes harder. Kids are expected to pass state tests, even if they're reading at low levels. So they pass them along. What was once a C is now a B. Failing is not acceptable, which means many teachers across the county are expected to phone home for each kid with a D or E - this, in addition to sending out interims. (b/c they have all the time in the world to do so . . . )

been there, done that - no thanks!

moved . . . now in "the sticks" in a community where my kids are expected to behave, be resourceful, and study - emphasis on academic stamina and on content, not just skills! I want my children to appreciate an author's style, as reading Hemingway, for example, is more than studying the tone of his texts! They aren't simply examining the argument behind a primary document in history. They are LEARNING about the historical event in chronological order! That way they can see trends in human behaviors.

Our schools have midterms and final exams, which MCPS thinks are too much for its students.

sorry - no longer drinking the poisonous Kool Aid

MCPS has gone off the deep end.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Principal is fantastic. He greets every child at the door every morning and would call them by their name. The teachers- every single teacher that my children had was excellent and dedicated to make sure that they were challenged at the appropriate level. Finally, the community of parents -parents who are non-pretentious and are actively involved with the school. The PTA events rock. This is a focus ES in Gaithersburg.

I bet you're at Strawberry Knoll.

Just wait until your kid hits middle and high.

What is your personal, first-hand, direct experience with Gaithersburg MS and Gaithersburg HS?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Principal is fantastic. He greets every child at the door every morning and would call them by their name. The teachers- every single teacher that my children had was excellent and dedicated to make sure that they were challenged at the appropriate level. Finally, the community of parents -parents who are non-pretentious and are actively involved with the school. The PTA events rock. This is a focus ES in Gaithersburg.

I bet you're at Strawberry Knoll.

Just wait until your kid hits middle and high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Principal is fantastic. He greets every child at the door every morning and would call them by their name. The teachers- every single teacher that my children had was excellent and dedicated to make sure that they were challenged at the appropriate level. Finally, the community of parents -parents who are non-pretentious and are actively involved with the school. The PTA events rock. This is a focus ES in Gaithersburg.

I bet you're at Strawberry Knoll.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Principal is fantastic. He greets every child at the door every morning and would call them by their name. The teachers- every single teacher that my children had was excellent and dedicated to make sure that they were challenged at the appropriate level. Finally, the community of parents -parents who are non-pretentious and are actively involved with the school. The PTA events rock. This is a focus ES in Gaithersburg.

I bet you're at Strawberry Knoll.

Anonymous wrote:The Principal is fantastic. He greets every child at the door every morning and would call them by their name. The teachers- every single teacher that my children had was excellent and dedicated to make sure that they were challenged at the appropriate level. Finally, the community of parents -parents who are non-pretentious and are actively involved with the school. The PTA events rock. This is a focus ES in Gaithersburg.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the best thing about your school?

That the MCPS Public Relations department uses anonymous chat rooms to promote the brand.

OP here. We’re actually moving to MoCo over winter break from out of state and this board was giving me horrible buyer’s remorse. Just wanted to hear the good things. I get that DCUM seems to exist for the purpose of demonizing everything in the area and that people generally have to be masochists to post questions here, but I have found (most of) the answers heartening.

Thanks to those who answered thoughtfully.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to a diverse school with 30%+ FARMS but as far as I can tell they do an awesome job. There are lots of opportunities for differentiated learning and my kids have managed to score 99%+ on their MAP tests so seems to be working great at least for kids who are interested in school. This is why I'm skeptical of all the naysayers. Maybe if they spent a few minutes talking to their kids about school instead of complaining about MCPS incessantly their kids would do better too.

I'm not surprised and you shouldn't be either. There aren't that many outliers in a school like this and it gives the teachers a break from students who are struggling or have issues at home that keep them from succeeding in school. They also have very small class sizes. Your experience is very different from what we have in a school with almost no farms where the class sizes are at the max and teachers think everyone is a "snowflake" so they just throw worksheets at them all day and expect the parents to teach their kids at home. The teachers seem to barely lift a finger.

So, can you move to an area with more kids who are poor, so that your kids can go to better schools?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the best thing about your school?

That the MCPS Public Relations department uses anonymous chat rooms to promote the brand.

OP here. We’re actually moving to MoCo over winter break from out of state and this board was giving me horrible buyer’s remorse. Just wanted to hear the good things. I get that DCUM seems to exist for the purpose of demonizing everything in the area and that people generally have to be masochists to post questions here, but I have found (most of) the answers heartening.

Thanks to those who answered thoughtfully.