34 Hollyberry Ct
Rockville, MD 20852

My children have gone to this school for many years, but over the past few years, there have been changes to the school that have significantly lowered my opinion of the school. The current principal clearly caters to the whims of white, wealthy parents. In the past, diversity was embraced, but now it is white-washed and ignored. Children used to learn about different cultures and traditions in their classrooms. Parent volunteers would come in share about different traditions in their cultures, kids would learn about the origins of the Hanukkah dreidel, they would do a craft for the Chinese New Year, and learn about why people celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Day of the Dead, or Diwali. However, that is gone now. There are no lanterns hanging for Chinese New Year. Children no longer celebrate Halloween by wearing costumes and participating in a parade. Kids no longer pass out cards spreading kindness on Valentine’s Day or do traditional holiday crafts, such as decorating boxes to collect Valentines. Classroom parties are on random days of the year and devoid of food (presumably because parents of wealthy kids think that their kids don’t need more sweets). This, of course, ignores the fact that cupcakes and candy are a treat for kids whose families who can’t afford them. These changes were supposedly made because Farmland is a diverse community and the school is trying to accommodate all families, but by ignoring cultural traditions, the opportunity to teach and embrace the traditions of others is lost. Kids are left to think that cultural traditions are things that you hide from others, because others may not like them. This year, they cancelled the open house for parents to come see what their kids do in the classroom during the school day. The announcement of the open house cancellation was made the day beforehand without explanation or consideration of the fact that some working parents took the day off work to come to the open house. They seem to assume that most parents who come to the open house don't work or have flexible work schedules. The school has a number of good teachers and overall, I have been happy with most of them. However, some of the good teachers have left to teach at other schools. The teachers are often the ones who have to announce and implement changes to school policies, and sometimes they seem to be left doing the dirty work of implementing policies and changes that are unlikely to be favorably received by parents at Farmland.

Really bad experience for my son. He was introverted and needed support. Social scene awful. Too big. Not enough attention. Academics strong. Emotional and social support terrible. I should have pulled my son out. Tough tough place!

My son entered sixth grade. White, but with curly hair, he was harassed by other boys throughout his time at school. When I told him to ask for help he said he had already asked and no one did anything, when I said I would communicate he begged saying it would be worse. He suffered physical and verbal aggression for 1 and a half years until the day he retaliated and hit another boy. He got a suspension and I was sure at that moment that the prejudice against immigrants came from professionals who aggravated what children already bring home. A structural problem that needs to be resolved and this can only be achieved with efficient management prepared to care for teenagers. Bad experience for my son and other immigrants who suffer from the reality at Tilden.