tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post1375932691505533714..comments2024-02-28T11:29:36.860-05:00Comments on just up the pike: kindergartners at overcrowded elementary could be sent to middle schoolDan Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594208011755406956noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-39244565821145244052009-12-14T10:28:43.810-05:002009-12-14T10:28:43.810-05:00ummmm, i believe that my likeness was used without...ummmm, i believe that my likeness was used without my permission on page 23 on that pdf...i want compensation!hockeypunkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11494432062758544675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-72219865334164316432009-12-14T08:45:11.603-05:002009-12-14T08:45:11.603-05:00@Meredith and Rich: It's not that I'm aga...@Meredith and Rich: It's not that I'm against parents choosing alternative schooling methods. But it's not a solution to this problem, although it might be a solution for individual families. We need to hold MCPS to their obligation, which is to provide an appropriate educational environment for all children in the county. You can bet that this is not happening in Potomac or "North Bethesda" schools. <br /><br />In this economy, particularly, many many families can't afford to have one parent stay home with children, even part time. To say, "just stay home with your kids more" is -- although I hate to use this word because it's been misappropriated by political causes I don't like -- elitist. Again, it's a perfectly fine solution for an individual family, but not for this school cluster as a whole.<br /><br />Let's not let MCPS off the hook! The school system's attitude is always: this is the way it is, take it or leave it. I hope the parents in this cluster don't give them the satisfaction.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00756267600387053864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-64599022384236852382009-12-14T07:12:54.421-05:002009-12-14T07:12:54.421-05:00Susan, yeah lighten up. There's a whole other...Susan, yeah lighten up. There's a whole other community of people out there who believe they - not the state - should play the lead in raising and educating their children.<br /><br />Meredith, my kids are all grown up. But I think I would have been interested in this hybrid approach if the school had offered it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11080395424129460241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-4231743079676071982009-12-14T06:19:09.403-05:002009-12-14T06:19:09.403-05:00@Susan: Sorry to offend Wrote those comments on d...@Susan: Sorry to offend Wrote those comments on different days and guess I forgot I had made my point.<br /><br />Just a couple responses. Hybrid Schooling neq Home Schooling. But the controversy over the latter is, I think, preventing the former from being seriously considered. Take your own response for example.<br /><br />Actually I know quite a few Moms and Dads who struggle with handing their babies over to the state come Kindergarten and who might appreciate another year, even if only in a collaborative role with the teacher.<br /><br />Sending Kindergartners to Middle School may be the only solution in the end. I was just trying to suggest there might be alternatives if we can think out of the box a little.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-91544103275818639862009-12-13T18:49:02.918-05:002009-12-13T18:49:02.918-05:00I attended Sligo when it was Sligo Junior High Sch...I attended Sligo when it was <i>Sligo Junior High School</i> (and that obviously dates me - I was [an <i>extraordinarily</i> unhappy] student [with a <i>terrible</i> attitude] there in the earliest 1970's), and attended numerous classes (English, French, Geography, and maybe some others) in those basement classrooms of Sligo, and in my opinion this idea is <b>nutty</b> for several reasons:<br /><br />1. The cafeteria is located on the other side (west side) of the school building from the basement classrooms, and for kindergarten kids, and that's a <b>long</b> walk through what presumably remains a middle school (I suppose this does not matter if Kindergarten is half-day, but it's a problem if the they are in all-day Kindergarten).<br /><br />2. Alighting and boarding of school buses would presumably take place at the front of the building, which is also one floor up from those basement classrooms and requires interaction with middle-school pupils.<br /><br />3. The basement classrooms face a faculty parking lot and M-NCP&PC's Sligo Creek Park on the east side. Were <b>I</b> a parent, it would seem to me that this could be a threat to the <i>safety</i> of my children, given the easy access to the park (I do not believe there is a fence between the school and park property).C. P. Zilliacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08535902582159859946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-80604933976051710052009-12-12T14:21:43.426-05:002009-12-12T14:21:43.426-05:00Calling hybrid schooling the "blindingly obvi...Calling hybrid schooling the "blindingly obvious solution" (twice, no less) is just silly and doesn't address the real issue.<br /><br />Homeschool if you like, more power to you. But many families are unable to or (gasp!!) just don't want to. And as for your assertion that many parents haven't returned to work yet, I would highly doubt that this is the case.<br /><br />MCPS needs to provide real and appropriate answers to families' needs, and that includes school facilities suitable for the ages of the kids it serves.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00756267600387053864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-36602791455142681242009-12-12T07:15:07.514-05:002009-12-12T07:15:07.514-05:00@Kate: McKenney Hills is still being torn down now...@Kate: McKenney Hills is still being torn down now.<br /><br />@FunkyGawy: Yeah and these kids were all born in area hospitals in the years before, so it's not like the population growth wasn't expected.<br /><br />Yeah, the county needs to rethink its hostility to homeschooling. Parents of K and 1st graders who would like to collaborate with teachers on the three R's and relieve the school of another child at lunchtime, should be allowed to do so.<br /><br />Hybrid Schooling is the blindingly obvious solution here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-66904811023882013372009-12-11T22:05:42.540-05:002009-12-11T22:05:42.540-05:00How Jerry Weast has taken the bathrooms out of kin...How Jerry Weast has taken the bathrooms out of kindergarten classrooms, making this proposal seem sensible when it is not:<br /><br />http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2009/12/weast-takes-toilets-from-tots.htmlJanis Sartuccihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17027024806736232367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-69456241164083586442009-12-11T21:19:18.122-05:002009-12-11T21:19:18.122-05:00How about this solution:
Use some space at Stephen...How about this solution:<br />Use some space at Stephen Knolls School, which is practically withing walking distance of Oakland Terrace. Try some really innovative "reverse mainstreaming."<br />Lyda AstroveLyda Astrovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17664956786417563174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-61890179293451915462009-12-11T19:03:11.150-05:002009-12-11T19:03:11.150-05:00No, McKenney Hills was torn down in November.No, McKenney Hills was torn down in November.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-34798880110302661662009-12-11T16:58:53.561-05:002009-12-11T16:58:53.561-05:00Interestingly enough, my (former) Sligo children a...Interestingly enough, my (former) Sligo children are with a (former) Oakland Terrace student - whose little sister would be in kindgergarten there next year - and together they're doing (decidedly nonreligious) homeschool today. So this one hits close to home!<br /><br />It's equally insane to put kindergarteners or 4th/5th graders in the Sligo environment.<br /><br />What I do not understand is how it is taking close to 4 years to get McKenney Hills back to an elementary school. That decision happened in 2008, right? I look at the timeline and it takes 3 years just to award the contract. Mindboggling. The building is there, isn't it?Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16665094681845048584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-85063891453318786972009-12-11T13:09:38.970-05:002009-12-11T13:09:38.970-05:00I just wish the homeschooling movement could shed ...I just wish the homeschooling movement could shed it's "religious" stigma. If the county weren't so hostile to homeschooling, it would see the blindingly obvious solution here: invite parents of Kindergartners and 1st graders to "hybrid" school their children. Many of these parents haven't returned to work and would relish another year or two with their babies, even if for only half the day. The school wins with fewer kids in the lunchroom. The parents win with more time with their children. The children win with the best of both worlds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com