Bierce Aly
Silver spring, MD 20906

We love ESS. It is a focus school so class sizes are small, and it’s a smaller school with mostly walkers. Two of our teachers have been fantastic, one was not and resigned but the administration communicated well with parents and ensured a smooth transition. I like how families are so engaged with the school and practically everyone comes to school events. The school also has a magical atrium garden that grows tons of food for students, including grapes, strawberries, paw paws, and salad. The school is diverse and always communicates in 3 languages (English SpaniSh and Amharic). If you want a school with engaged families, good teachers, and diversity, come here!

My daughter attended the Math and Science magnet at Blair, and it provided an extraordinary education for her. She was admitted to an Ivy League school and she has told us that she would not have survived majoring in a STEM subject without the rigorous preparation she received in the magnet, especially in mathematics. She pointed specifically to the extraordinary teachers in the magnet, some with PhDs in their subject, and their commitment, even during COVID, to ensuring student learning. They deserve a lot more recognition than they get! I had some reluctance for her to attend the Blair magnet, because the Takoma Park middle school magnet did not cultivate student cooperation, and let really destructive competitive behavior run rampant. By contrast, Blair magnet students were encouraged by teachers and the magnet principal to work with each other and support each other. (BTW, I am concerned that if Blair is destroyed as a county-wide STEM magnet, that this wonderful county resource will be lost.) The overall Blair HS administration did not harm the magnet, and that was all that was needed for the magnet to thrive. Other positives: the music theory class was amazing, and a great AP prep. My only negatives: the English program was appalling-- the teachers in that department were apathetic (especially during remote learning), students barely read anything for their classes, there were not many writing assignments, and my daughter had to catch up for college work by reading and writing in her spare time. And the school makes parents feel unwelcome-- I get the security concerns-- but by the time you go through all the security checkins, you are made to feel like a suspicious outsider rather than a partner in your child's education. And the sports facilities, while in good shape for this large student body, are not as open to the community outside of school hours as they should be. But overall, I recommend the science and math magnet to all students with a keen STEM interest!

My child has had some caring teachers at this school that have gone the extra mile for them, and to those people I am grateful. However, the education is not an 8/10. We moved here for the schools. We were happy with the elementary schools. Maybe 1 underwhelming teacher out of 8. Solid administration. True 0 tolerance for bullying, and caring staff. But, something has to come forward about the culture of the middle school, because I know kids now in their mid-20s who suffered here, and now it's my child. I've spoken with a lot of different parents, and anyone, regardless of style, who had to take on the school regarding a violation of the law or policy became an enemy. This is not a place where one feels that the administration and counseling offices, in particular, are there for the love of children. Bullying is not addressed seriously whether relational, discriminatory, or threats of violence. And teachers and students are both guilty. In 6th grade, my child reported their friends were depressed, by 7th/8th grade their friends became the bullies or went silent, because that is what it is to survive here when you know adults will not have your back, at home or school. So many kids feel this way and speak of it to each other, but the adults at home remain ignorant as children think mine is odd for speaking to their parent, and the school is worse - even when they know, they don't act, and they mandate silence, so other parents do not know what threats exist. Schools are rated partially on how much they use suspension, but when their "creative solutions" are not creating a safe atmosphere, stepping up their game may be needed to show kids that 0 tolerance is 0 tolerance when it comes to bullies. Here, children know that bullying IS tolerated, and it's the way to stay safe. There should not be this many middle schoolers considering whether it is worth it to keep living, and there should not be this many middle schoolers turning to brutality towards each other as a result of that hopelessness. The brutality is desperation. Lack of early intervention leads to more serious problems. Children are driven into medical and mental crises from stress. I am personally exhausted by fighting for what are literally bare minimum laws and policies. MCPS relies on the fact that it is expensive and difficult to win litigation against schools, and many would not see private school tuition as a win in this area. Simply wanting schools that follow the law is too much to ask.