Open House to Remember RCF's Beloved Old Building

 Neighbors, Alums, Former Staff- 

Come one and all to the RCF Open House tonight Friday June 7 from 6-9 pm! It's a last chance to walk the halls and remember what it was like back in the day. You will have a chance to see old friends and neighbors, say hello to Mr. Conti, Mrs. Walker, and other teachers, sign the wall, and buy your own Rock Creek Forest momento in support of our wonderful PTA!

New Middle School Site Selection Released

The board of education and Dr. Weast released yesterday the recommendation that a new middle school to serve the eastern half of the BCC cluster be built on the site of the current Coffield Center and park.

The site was identified by a group of parents who represented each of the PTAs in the cluster and MCPS staff as being the best available for a new school. Among the considerations used are the size of the lot, which is quite a hurdle in this very congested area. MCPS recommends that a middle school have 20 acres of land.

Neighbors have been very surprised to find out that the parkland they have grown accostomed to, and indeed purchased their homes for, may be in jeopardy. As is often the case, MCPS has done a terrible job explaining the process and has left these neighbors feeling like this recommendation is a done deal and the true process was hidden away.

These feelings have been compounded by the rush to bring this recommendation to a vote on Monday, March 28.

Having spent more time than I like on MCPS facilities issues, I am not surprised at the recommendation to try to locate the school at Coffield Center: Show me another parcel in the cluster that matches it for size, county ownership and accessibilty via Grubb Road/Lyttonsville.

However, I would like to see the Board of Education delay this vote and send the planning office out to meet with the community to explicitly explain the process of site selection and the process for feasibility studies going forward.

Neighbors are concerned that a new building will be dropped in their midst tomorrow and want to know what it will look like, where it will go, how many kids and buses, where the entrance will be and how much greenspace will remain.

MCPS has not figured any of these things out yet, but the process is so confusing that anyone who has not spent way too much time with the CIP would not know that all this recommendation is is the first step in a multi year process. Literally all the site selection committee does is point to the most likely piece of land and recommend it.

So, MCPS/BOE - delay this vote, take some time to explain the process to the neighborhood and then decide if this really is the best site.

Board of Education Meets at Rock Creek Forest

Last night, the board of education came to Rock Creek Forest to hear presentations from the BCC cluster schools. Many members of the Student Government Association with support from Srta. Garcia gave tours to members of the BOE who came early. Then, each school had five minutes to present about their programs, achievements and challenges.

It was interesting to hear many of the common themes: over-crowding and staff reductions, chief among them.

When I had an opportunity to testify, I shared a power point illustrating our challenges and our successes.

BOE Presentation

Many thanks to Craig Brown, Jack Hauser, and Joy White, our cluster coordinators, who organized the event, the many Rock Creek Forest parents, teachers and staff who came out to support their school and, as always, the building service team.

Testimony at the Board of Education

Thursday, October 15, 2009

It was a dark and stormy night. No really, it was. Traffic was miserable, but the cause was important-- making sure the Montgomery County Board of Education knew how important our teachers are to us.

Rock Creek Forest ES is a complicated but exciting place to be and one of the most important parts of our community are the teachers.So when the BOE put forward the opportunity to testify on where they should place their priorities in "difficult economic times," we knew we would be there.

The teaching staff at RCF is terrific and we don't want to lose anyone. Moreover, with full classes in our Spanish Immersion lower grades and with an additional class in the English Academy first grade as well as one giant class in the EA 5th grade, we are full up. We need every teacher we have and a few more to boot. Not to mention the overcrowding -- did you know that we are at about 130% of capacity?

I have attached my testimony as a separate post, but I wanted to share one other thing. One of the most fascinating things about being a PTA leader is getting to see some of the exciting programs happening around the county -- it's more than a little humbling. Testimony was offered from a program called Identity which offers assistance to recent immigrants with little education and few English language skills. We also heard from UDL -- Universal Design for Living -- which advocates for the most serverly challenged kids to have adaptive technology in their education. Students testified on behalf of the Wellness Center at Northwood HS about the many service offered to keep them healthy and self reliant. It is more than a little humbling, but makes me proud of the many ways our communities strive to find solutions to our problems