How does public school enrollment work in Baltimore? What do parents need to know?
Read all 11 answers >
|
|
Parent Answers to "How does public school enrollment work in Baltimore? What do parents need to know?"
View 11 answers: Newest-Oldest,
Oldest-Newest Display fewer answers
There's a lot of misinformation being put out here and a lot of personal opinions not grounded in facts. I would suggest you contact the school in which you are interested. Students and parents have several choices.
For Elem. School you can go to your zone school or enter a lottery for a charter or special program. For Middle you can go to your zone school, test into an Ingenuity or Advanced program, or enter a lottery for a charter or special program. A school principal also has some discretion in admission so unless the school is full with students from "in-zone" principals will usually let staff members enroll their children. Some principals will let you enroll your child if you commit to good attendance and behavior. If a school gets filled to its capacity, then they usually close enrollment.
For HS you go through the school choice process. Every kid has a choice, but their previous academic work and behavior has consequences and may expand or limit their choices. Criteria academic schools (City, Poly, Western, and Dunbar) have a minimum test and GPA to get in. Lottery charter schools (tend to be smaller and may have a special focus) and innovation schools (tend to be smaller, focus in struggling learners or special programs like law or public policy) are open to everyone. There are some amazing little schools in this category and they specialize in meeting kids needs in small settings. Renaissance Academy, ConneXions, ACCE, Independence, and Friendship Science and Technology are examples. Criteria vocational schools (MerVo, Carver, Edmondson, Patterson) focus on job readiness and have a entrance criteria based on attendance and GPA (above a 70). Zone schools are open to everyone but they are also the default school for children who do not make a choice.
I have gone through this process twice and find it to be a reasonably fair one. It does mean you have to take the time to go to the information sessions, attend the HS fair, and meet with your kids' guidance counselors. Sometimes kids don't take the process seriously. My son's best friend and his mom kept insisting that he would get into Dunbar or City because he could play football well. But his grades were below an 80 and his disciplinary record was very long. He didn't get in to either because his grades weren't good enough. His mom went to plead his case, and the principals took one look at his disciplinary record and said "no way." She wants to blame the school system, but the truth is she needs to look in the mirror. She's my friend and I feel badly for her, but the truth is, her son is a nice kid but at school he disrespectful, entitled, and has crappy grades. Now he goes to his zone school (Reginald F. Lewis) and my son (who is at MerVo and has an IEP) is spending less and less time with him.
For Elem. School you can go to your zone school or enter a lottery for a charter or special program. For Middle you can go to your zone school, test into an Ingenuity or Advanced program, or enter a lottery for a charter or special program. A school principal also has some discretion in admission so unless the school is full with students from "in-zone" principals will usually let staff members enroll their children. Some principals will let you enroll your child if you commit to good attendance and behavior. If a school gets filled to its capacity, then they usually close enrollment.
For HS you go through the school choice process. Every kid has a choice, but their previous academic work and behavior has consequences and may expand or limit their choices. Criteria academic schools (City, Poly, Western, and Dunbar) have a minimum test and GPA to get in. Lottery charter schools (tend to be smaller and may have a special focus) and innovation schools (tend to be smaller, focus in struggling learners or special programs like law or public policy) are open to everyone. There are some amazing little schools in this category and they specialize in meeting kids needs in small settings. Renaissance Academy, ConneXions, ACCE, Independence, and Friendship Science and Technology are examples. Criteria vocational schools (MerVo, Carver, Edmondson, Patterson) focus on job readiness and have a entrance criteria based on attendance and GPA (above a 70). Zone schools are open to everyone but they are also the default school for children who do not make a choice.
I have gone through this process twice and find it to be a reasonably fair one. It does mean you have to take the time to go to the information sessions, attend the HS fair, and meet with your kids' guidance counselors. Sometimes kids don't take the process seriously. My son's best friend and his mom kept insisting that he would get into Dunbar or City because he could play football well. But his grades were below an 80 and his disciplinary record was very long. He didn't get in to either because his grades weren't good enough. His mom went to plead his case, and the principals took one look at his disciplinary record and said "no way." She wants to blame the school system, but the truth is she needs to look in the mirror. She's my friend and I feel badly for her, but the truth is, her son is a nice kid but at school he disrespectful, entitled, and has crappy grades. Now he goes to his zone school (Reginald F. Lewis) and my son (who is at MerVo and has an IEP) is spending less and less time with him.
Verawilliams35--It's good to hear that you did not listen to them about medicating your child. Years ago, my son was diagnosed with Autism at 4, due to my diligence in noticing beforehand that he had a problem. He never took any medication although the school had someone come in to observe him when he was in kindergarten during the last week of school. This individual had the nerve to not only appear an hour before the end of school, but after telling me how smart he was he felt that he needed medication. This was due to the fact that in class my son would find small items to play with while the teacher was speaking and this seemed like he was not paying attention but when called upon he knew the answer.
This person actually, pulled out a prescription pad and wrote a prescription for my son on the spot. I ripped it up right there. My son is now in the 10th grade, never been in special ed classes and does quite well in a regular classroom setting. His cognitive learning is still an issue but improves everyday.
We have too many of our students being diagnosed due more to their sugar intake, sometimes born with either alcohol or drugs in their systems then having ADHD. Schools are quick to label our students and medicate them, unfortunately parents are too quick to take the medication instead of finding an alternative.
Also, if more parents would visit their childs schools at least once a week or even once a month. It will give them a better understanding of their child and maybe they can sit with teachers and principals to discuss a different way of helping their child to not do certain things or to be able to grasp the work better.
Teachers I feel should also consider having the buddy system in class.
When my son was in MS there was a "problem student" who after a lot of issues occurred asked his teacher one day if he could sit with my son and help him concentrate and my son could help him with his math. Myself, the teacher and his mother was surprised at this. It worked, and both kids received something from this.
Our children are a lot smarter than schools think they are, I have held classes as a volunteer with the special ed kids and speaking with them about who they are and what they like is amazing. Giving them paper and pencil you would be amazed at the writings and artwork that these students have. A lot of these kids would and could function in a regular classroom setting as well as limited medication if at all.
I could go on but will stop. I have been a parent volunteer since my children were in pre-k, working and not working.Now as a member of BCPS, I feel even stronger about what is not being done in our system that should be done.
This person actually, pulled out a prescription pad and wrote a prescription for my son on the spot. I ripped it up right there. My son is now in the 10th grade, never been in special ed classes and does quite well in a regular classroom setting. His cognitive learning is still an issue but improves everyday.
We have too many of our students being diagnosed due more to their sugar intake, sometimes born with either alcohol or drugs in their systems then having ADHD. Schools are quick to label our students and medicate them, unfortunately parents are too quick to take the medication instead of finding an alternative.
Also, if more parents would visit their childs schools at least once a week or even once a month. It will give them a better understanding of their child and maybe they can sit with teachers and principals to discuss a different way of helping their child to not do certain things or to be able to grasp the work better.
Teachers I feel should also consider having the buddy system in class.
When my son was in MS there was a "problem student" who after a lot of issues occurred asked his teacher one day if he could sit with my son and help him concentrate and my son could help him with his math. Myself, the teacher and his mother was surprised at this. It worked, and both kids received something from this.
Our children are a lot smarter than schools think they are, I have held classes as a volunteer with the special ed kids and speaking with them about who they are and what they like is amazing. Giving them paper and pencil you would be amazed at the writings and artwork that these students have. A lot of these kids would and could function in a regular classroom setting as well as limited medication if at all.
I could go on but will stop. I have been a parent volunteer since my children were in pre-k, working and not working.Now as a member of BCPS, I feel even stronger about what is not being done in our system that should be done.
It is sad that our children (no offense) to other races, that our children are targeted and not being acknowledge for their true learning. I am so sick of the school systems. Another story I have about my oldest son he had attended #64 school. My son was receiving services for speech and language. As he progress through the school they told me that he will need medicine to help him focus better. Well I did not budge on that because my child was not hyper active or a drug addicted child what he needed was a smaller class size. Well the pshychiatrist really wanted me to get him that medicine because her son was on it and it helped him focus. No if a child does not need medicine why should I let baltimore city public schools say medicate my child. Do you know the side affects of that medicine. Well my son did not get the medicine and did pretty well. He needed more time to process his information not medicate it. The medicine makes them look like a zomby and it has strong side affects. There are so many ways to deal with children with out medicating them. We must pay attention to all the things that go on in your childs school and be careful how they persuade into something you may not know. It all depends on a childs ability but do not assume because a teacher has 20 something or 30 something kids in her class and maybe only 6 may catch on to her learning while the other half of the class is lost and when the classes are not closed in and have nothing but made up boards beside another class, How is a child suppose to focus? Also, if there is a child with behavior problems that are severe the parents involvement needs to be implemented. Everything also can not be blame on the teachers as well.
I am so glad to hear that you fight for your boys. I am the mother of four and I feel like Baltimore City Schools failed my children. I have one that was placed in advanced academics and I did not find out until someone attacked him on his way to school. He is now 21 and still has not found his way. My eldest tested genius IQ and I did not find out about that until he got in some trouble with at teacher. That would make me assume that he was not being challenged enough. Boys are falling behind in school and no one seems to care. May I recommend two books? One is Raising Black Boys by Dr.Kunjufu. The other is The Mind of Boys by Micheal Gurian.
I agree when I called there for my seven year old the secretary said,"Your child will have to live in the district area." I thought to myself there are some kids who do not live in that area but attend that school because they did well in the previous schools they had attended. My son is very smart in math and recieved a pretty high score for his age but the elementary school he attended never acknowledge the academic nor did they even try to place him in some kind class that would not keep him bored. Well he got bored and told me the work was to easy and that it was not challenged enough. He's seven but now eight and was doing multiplication already while the other students were still doing addition. So this fall he will be attending cross country and he is excited about it. I hope he will be challenged. It is sad that some of these schools do not acknowledge children really do well. They are not challenged enough because the school system is so worried about these children passing test and that is not the way they need to learn. When they get to college for some of them will not have the basic skills to pass the college test and it is sad.
What this parent says is so true. I also found out that there are a lot of politics in Baltimore City School. For instance there is a school called Roland Park Elementary. Most of the teachers have their children in that school. A high I.Q. should not be considered in getting in a school. We all know that emotional intelligence is more important than academic. Especially for boys who mature and learn differently. We have to start putting the pressure on these politicians. We want school choice! Most of the children want to learn but they are not being challanged enough. A lot ot the teachers do care but their hands are tied due to politics! They do not even care about the children dropping out. I would love to know what happens to the funding for those students that drop out.
So untrue my son could not even go to poly because he was quote not academically smart enough even though he had great grades at cross country I was told send him to a charter school it is better for him. I thought it would have been a great school for him especially the atmosphere of professional teacher who gave a damn about teaching. Well the only thing stopped him more so than anything was his IEP when there are students with IEP's that go there. Why can't children who want to learn and go to the school of their choice without being treated as a outkast. Why should my child be subjected to these sorry schools in their area where the kids don't care about learning and the handfull of teachers who do not care just give them a paycheck. That concern's me. No child should be denied if they want to learn and are willing to try. My son also wanted join their sports at the school and I felt bad because there was nothing I could do to get him in that school. Every child learns differently and they should not be pushed away because they do not have a IQ of a genious. Because genious kids can barely function themselves socially.
That is not a true statement about having choice of High Schools in Baltimore City. Many of the schools have entrance criterias. They usually base high school on the 7th grade grades and attendance. There are three preferable schools City, Poly and Dunbar High. If you have a child who is not quite mature enough to have what they call a composite score of say a 620 your child will not get in. I graduated from Baltimore City Schools years ago and have had four boys attended them. I have not been satisfied with the schools but with the new charter schools there is more of an option. The main problem in Baltimore City is your child getting too and from school safely. The school system in Baltimore also claim that they want more parental input but when it is given they get on the defensive in my opinion.
Parents and students have choice in the placement of students in high school in Baltimore City. We offer full city-wide choice through a process that takes place in December/January for rising 8th graders. Transfers into the district should visit the Office of Student Placement or visit some of our schools to get more information about Great Schools options. The Office of Student Placement can be contacted by calling 443-984-2000.
You are unfortunately, zoned according to where you live. The magnet schools you have to be accepted in or know someone. You have to have proof of address(phone bill,lease etc), photo id, birth certificate, and shoot records.
Contact the Board of Education for your county or city.
They will tell you your home school based on your address. If your child is in High School he might be eligible for a magnet placement.
Simply contact the school. Have previous school records - or transfers - and all of your child's immunization records. They will direct you through the process!
Good Luck!
They will tell you your home school based on your address. If your child is in High School he might be eligible for a magnet placement.
Simply contact the school. Have previous school records - or transfers - and all of your child's immunization records. They will direct you through the process!
Good Luck!
Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of
GreatSchools. GreatSchools does not check for accuracy in community posts or verify the contributor’s
identity. If you are searching for health-related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical
support. View our Community Guidelines for more details.
Local Q&A is brand new! What do you think? Give us your feedback in our feedback forum.
Read our community guidelines and FAQ
