Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to ride a bus for 15 miles to school and it took an hour each way. Give me a break, the BCC cluster area is a few square miles. Who cares about going to school in your neighborhood, why not having your kids in a school near your workplace for example? That makes about as much sense.

Were you 5 years old? Did your bus pass 4-5 other separate (but equal) schools to get to that school 15 miles away? Was that burden involuntarily hoisted on your family by people with a hidden agenda? If you can answer yes to all of these questions, it was still wrong. Get over yourself.

Yes I was, yes it did go past the white schools through the banthoustan, but South Africa is so different...

Anonymous wrote:8:34 - Silver Spring International has the partial immersion program in French and Spanish. My DC attended SSI and both thrived there and were well-prepared for challenging high school programs.

In fact, I thought the plan was to discontinue the program at Westland due to over-enrollment there and at B-CC and the large portion (nearly 80%) of families who continue immersion at Westland and reside in the D-CC.

That was discussed but then taken off the table. I'm not sure when/if it will come up again. For now, the fifth graders can choose to go to Westland or SSI.

8:34 - Silver Spring International has the partial immersion program in French and Spanish. My DC attended SSI and both thrived there and were well-prepared for challenging high school programs.

In fact, I thought the plan was to discontinue the program at Westland due to over-enrollment there and at B-CC and the large portion (nearly 80%) of families who continue immersion at Westland and reside in the D-CC.

Despite the occasional bouts of vitriol, this is a very interesting discussion.

My child is in the Spanish Immersion program at RCF and so may continue on to Westland. However, it's an extremely long commute that would involve a 15 minute drive from our house followed by the long bus ride from RCF to Westland.

I think this is an important quality of life issue for our family. The more I think about it, the more I think it's more important for him to be closer to home. I know lots of people in our relatively high FARMS Silver Spring MS who are extremely happy -- these are smart kids from families whose parents are professional and very attentive to their education.

I do worry about how engaging the classes will be, because I think MCPS has taken the approach of elevating the lower performers and ignoring the higher performers. I'm not sure how different this is in west county middle schools, though. Do they offer, for example, GT English that's really GT? I've done some research and found that our local MS has GT and regular English but what they REALLY are teaching is on grade level English (called GT) and remedial English.

I wish MCPS would continue to emphasize high quality programs in local schools for kids who can handle more advanced material, rather than the "everyone is advanced" approach. If I could be assured that DS could take challenging classes, I would never even consider sending him to Westland.

Replaced long directions links with shortened versions (Urban Moms seems to be breaking the longer ones)

Paddington Square Apartments to Rosemary Hills (0.2 miles)

http://bit.ly/tR6IMf

Paddington Square Apartments to Bethesda Elementary (4.1 miles)

http://bit.ly/tEoMZ0


The county is going broke, folks. We can't afford to bus a few kids 20x further than necessary for this outdated, intrusive, experiment. How about the moms and dads in Paddington that want their kids to be walking distance from home? Get out of their lives, and quit assuming you know what's best for them.

Anonymous wrote:

So, the paddington kids who used to attend bethesda elementary will lose out on those benefits so east bethesda kids can ride a bus to east bethesda or be driven by their parents (as they will not be making that walk across wisconsim). In 2011, it boggles the mind that low income kids are being kicked out of bethesda elementary to make way for the children of wealth and privilege from east bethesda.

Have you looked at a map lately?

Paddington Square Apartments to Rosemary Hills (0.2 miles)

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Rosemary+Hills+Elementary+School,+Porter+Road,+Silver+Spring,+MD&daddr=8800+Lanier+Drive,+Silver+Spring,+MD+20910-2304+(Paddington+Square+Apartments)&hl=en&ll=39.000109,-77.064543&spn=0.045024,0.104628&sll=38.999609,-77.036133&sspn=0.021712,0.052314&geocode=FZsdUwIdzl9o-yGifRi53HMY7w%3BFRkYUwIdwlNo-yEB8_VLNx6uoyk3kv112si3iTETJGVlhsVImg&vpsrc=6&mra=ls&t=m&z=14

Paddington Square Apartments to Bethesda Elementary (4.1 miles)

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=bethesda+elementary+school&daddr=8800+Lanier+Drive,+Silver+Spring,+MD+20910-2304+(Paddington+Square+Apartments)&hl=en&ll=38.993705,-77.073212&spn=0.045028,0.104628&sll=38.987728,-77.087252&sspn=0.045032,0.104628&geocode=FQPjUgIdYY5n-yGFKuvaUp6BZw%3BFRkYUwIdwlNo-yEB8_VLNx6uoyk3kv112si3iTETJGVlhsVImg&vpsrc=6&mra=ls&t=m&z=14


What happened to Rosemary Hills being a good school? ....or does that only count when you're making the case for East Bethesda kids to go there?
What happened to the liberal, but worthy, causes of the environment and "going green" or saving tax dollars. You're espousing busing the kids 20x further than necessary? .....or does that only count when it suits the needs of the experiment.

Another example of hypocrisy, along with the misbehavior of "labeling" those that disagree with your cause (I use "your" in the generic as *you* specifically may not be the one labeling above).

The county is going broke, folks. We can't afford to bus a few kids 20x further than necessary for this outdated, intrusive, experiment.

Anonymous wrote:Obviously there is one poster on this thread with a strange obsessive hatred of Rosemary Hills. From her posts, she doesn't actually have a child there. Not sure why she feels the need to post excessive and oddly paranoid rants here, but the posts sound like a cry for help. I live within walking distance of another MCPS elementary but I'm thrilled with the education my child has received at RHPS and don't have any problems with a short 2 or 3 mile bus ride for an elementary school child, that's what I did as a child and it's pretty much the norm in suburban America. PP, do us all a favor and send your precious kids to private school, one that is within walking distance to your front door of course.

This is an easy one - you and 12:10 take the platform of a liberal, but wave the banner of mental illness, paranoia, and psychosis (12:10) in an to attempt to discredit those that disagree with you.
As the parent of a special needs kid who will likely be institutionalized after their parents pass away, how dare you take on the agenda of a social progressive, looking out for the weakest amongst us. Then, when it suits you, use "label" your those that disagree with you as members of that group. This is disgusting, repulsive, and hypocritical as several other posters here have already noted.

Do the math, for once. It's not 2-3 miles. It's 3000 miles, extra miles that is, for many east Bethesda kids bused to RH, and for Paddington kids bused to Bethesda Elementary.

Anonymous wrote:I used to ride a bus for 15 miles to school and it took an hour each way. Give me a break, the BCC cluster area is a few square miles. Who cares about going to school in your neighborhood, why not having your kids in a school near your workplace for example? That makes about as much sense.

Were you 5 years old? Did your bus pass 4-5 other separate (but equal) schools to get to that school 15 miles away? Was that burden involuntarily hoisted on your family by people with a hidden agenda? If you can answer yes to all of these questions, it was still wrong. Get over yourself.

Whether it is hurting their education or not, nobody asked them or their parents their opinion in the process. And they are not going to the same middle school any more.

BE, RHPS, CC, & NCC are all great schools and if you think tkaing the paddington sq kids out of BE is going to hurt their education you are wrong, any of those kids at any of those schools are going to be just fine. Besides they all end up at the same middle school and high school.

Anonymous wrote:Moco county was the subject of some research on this issue in the past. The changes in RHES FARMS/ESOL will have a negative impact on the low income kids who attend that school. High income SES kids will probably be ok but the low income kids will miss the life alterning cumulative positive measurable effects of attending a low FARMS.ESOL rate school. http://tcf.org/publications/2010/10/housing-policy-is-school-policy. actual study - http://tcf.org/publications/pdfs/housing-policy-is-school-policy-pdf/Schwartzppt.pdf. To my mind that is the only policy issue that matters - how these changes effect the measurable outcomes of the low income students involved.

So, the paddington kids who used to attend bethesda elementary will lose out on those benefits so east bethesda kids can ride a bus to east bethesda or be driven by their parents (as they will not be making that walk across wisconsim). In 2011, it boggles the mind that low income kids are being kicked out of bethesda elementary to make way for the children of wealth and privilege from east bethesda.

The sad world we live in today might be fine with that result, but please do not pretend that the kids who are kicked out of Bethesda do not miss out on tangible and measurable benefits.

Do the Paddington kids go to RHPS for K-2 and then to BE?

Moco county was the subject of some research on this issue in the past. The changes in RHES FARMS/ESOL will have a negative impact on the low income kids who attend that school. High income SES kids will probably be ok but the low income kids will miss the life alterning cumulative positive measurable effects of attending a low FARMS.ESOL rate school. http://tcf.org/publications/2010/10/housing-policy-is-school-policy. actual study - http://tcf.org/publications/pdfs/housing-policy-is-school-policy-pdf/Schwartzppt.pdf. To my mind that is the only policy issue that matters - how these changes effect the measurable outcomes of the low income students involved.

So, the paddington kids who used to attend bethesda elementary will lose out on those benefits so east bethesda kids can ride a bus to east bethesda or be driven by their parents (as they will not be making that walk across wisconsim). In 2011, it boggles the mind that low income kids are being kicked out of bethesda elementary to make way for the children of wealth and privilege from east bethesda.

The sad world we live in today might be fine with that result, but please do not pretend that the kids who are kicked out of Bethesda do not miss out on tangible and measurable benefits.

Anonymous wrote:You're then given the realization that your kid will be going to a school that's literally twice as far as the #1 closest school and that there are 4 other elementary schools that are literally *MILES* closer. Why you ask are the kids going to the 5th closest school and forced to commute TWICE as far? Oh, because we want to maintain the success of FARMS and ESOL integration at this #5 school. You do a little math and realize each of your little kids will be bused nearly 1000 extra miles per school year (nearly 3000 unnecessary toddler commuting miles over k-2) to help out in this involuntary social experiment. By no sensible measure is this a reasonable proposal.

At that point, if you don't support the structure in place to ensure diversity in all the schools (i.e., if you want your kid in an all white, all wealthy school), you choose not to buy a home in that neighborhood, or you decide to send your kid to private school. You are full of hatred and psychosis. A true representative of East Bethesda. I take it all back. We're better off with high FARMS and higher numbers of minority students, with you and your kids GONE. Good riddance.

I used to ride a bus for 15 miles to school and it took an hour each way. Give me a break, the BCC cluster area is a few square miles. Who cares about going to school in your neighborhood, why not having your kids in a school near your workplace for example? That makes about as much sense.

Obviously there is one poster on this thread with a strange obsessive hatred of Rosemary Hills. From her posts, she doesn't actually have a child there. Not sure why she feels the need to post excessive and oddly paranoid rants here, but the posts sound like a cry for help. I live within walking distance of another MCPS elementary but I'm thrilled with the education my child has received at RHPS and don't have any problems with a short 2 or 3 mile bus ride for an elementary school child, that's what I did as a child and it's pretty much the norm in suburban America. PP, do us all a favor and send your precious kids to private school, one that is within walking distance to your front door of course.