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I'm relocating to Ellicott City Maryland. I need some assistance about some of the schools. I've already research GreatSchools and The Howard County Public School website. However, it will be great to receive additional information from parents and staff. I will greatly appreciate any information that you have.
Does anyone (parents or staff) have firsthand experiences with any of the following schools below?
ELEMENTARY: Veterans, Worthington, Hollifield, and Centennial Lane
MIDDLE: Ellicott Mills, Patapsco, and Burleigh Manor
HIGH: Centennial, Howard, and Mt. Hebron
What are the pros and cons about the school?
How is the PTA at the school?
How are the programs and extracurricular activities?
Besides test scores, what are the positives about the school?
How does your child's school handle concerns when problems arise?
Are teachers and administrators supportive or combative?
Teacher/Staff: Do you find the administration supportive of your goals? Is it a great atmosphere to work in?
How does the school handle bullying? Is there an established bullying policy?
How does the school handle disciplinary problems (good, fair, not so good)?
What are the student/teacher ratios? Is overcrowding an issue?
Do kindergartners have to take naps?
Are there aides or assistant teachers in the kindergarten classrooms?
Do parents have to pay any fees for AP or advance level courses in the high schools?
Do the school counselors do a great job with assisting high schoolers with college preparation?
Do parents have to pay fees for electives like Music, Art, etc.?
Besides the proposed new elementary school in Elkridge, will there be any other new schools built within the next 3 years?
Do you know if there will be any school zone changes within the next 3 years?
Are there any budget or financial concerns?
If you have any other information about any of these schools, then feel free to share. Even if you've had experience with only one of the above schools, then I would still appreciate the information that you provide. Also, if you're uncomfortable about sharing your experiences on a public forum, then please send me a direct message about the school.
I truly apologize for asking so many questions. I will be visiting Ellicott City during my children's Springbreak March 10th- March 16th. Can you recommend a few neighborhoods that I should explore during my visit?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to assist me!
I'm not sure why you are limiting your list to Ellicott City if you are looking at Howard County, and your list is not exhaustive (Dunloggin? Northfield?). Also, it is quite possible to live in Ellicott City and be districted to a Columbia school, as our family is. When looking at property you cannot assume that the closest school is the districted school; it is best to check the address on the HCPSS site.
However, that said, the one school on your list that I know something about is Veteran's, as we have folks at our school who moved to ours from there. Veteran's is pretty crowded and if you google you can find some press on the situation.
In general, all schools in Howard County are teaching to the same curriculum. The bullying policy is countywide. There are no naps in kindergarten anywhere. I've never heard of additional fees for classes anywhere. Budgets are county-wide, and it is also easy to find press on this. Howard County Schools are currently in the middle of a school board election and a search for a new superintendent, so I would expect some changes in the next few years, but I don't think anyone could say what those will be.
Howard County is redistricting in the next couple of years, and you can find information on those plans on their web site. If you want to read press on it try explorehoward.com and ellicottcity.patch.com and columbia.patch.com .
I would choose neighborhoods based on budget and homes available at this time. You can find some past threads on this topic by searching this board. Good luck.
What are the pros and cons about the school? It's small (500 kids) and feels like a neighborhood school. 4 classes (or so) per grade. The best thing is the positive reinforcement introduced in Kindergarten. In addition to the 10 stickers = toy from the treasure box, they have a PAWS program (Postive Attitude, Always Prepared, Working Hard, Staying Safe). School wide a student can get a PAW Pat - just recognition that you were displaying one of the behaviors - from the librarian, custodian, music teacher, etc. In Kindergarten, after 3 Paw Pats, they let the student call their parent on the "Mickey" phone in the front office. They kids are sooo excited when they get a paw pat and their names are announced at the end of the day. (The school I'm at now only punishes by taking away recess if a child misbehaves, there's no positive incentives.). LOVE the field trips (maybe all HoCo schools go the same places). Con - small parking area, a little to "affluent" perhaps although nicely diverse ethnically.
How is the PTA at the school? Love the Cultural Arts events supported by the PTA. Active and welcoming. Runs/coordinates the after school programs. Love the Secret Santa Shop in December. Do a lot of staff appreciation activities.
How are the programs and extracurricular activities? Before and aftercare is run by the columbia association (and there's a waiting list). The PTA coordinates after school programs (and before school chess club). Drama kids, abrakadoodle, golf, it various fall and spring, year to year.
Besides test scores, what are the positives about the school? Sad to say, but there are no rental properties (besides houses) in the neighborhood. The parents are highly educated and care deeply (some of them a little TOO much) about their child's education. Math Night is huge and Everyone has an opinion about not just what junior should be learning - but how. However, there is a good group that cares about the education of all the children and not just in terms of acedemics, but arts, culture, physical wellbeing.
How does your child's school handle concerns when problems arise? Never had a problem. But there is a school counselor for kid-kid issues. The teachers are receptive to informal meetings to discuss problems and the principals door seems always open (at least it is whenever I'm in the office volunteering).
Are teachers and administrators supportive or combative? Generally I would say very supportive, however, there are certain district wide "rules" that can sometime seem goofy. They sometimes seem to take too much effort to prevent cliques (good/bad, you decide). Some of the PTA's idea's can get shot down because we don't want to 'alienate' anyone - once again good/bad. Overall, when you approach with an open mind, you don't immediately hit this defensive brick wall.
Staff/Teachers: Here's a good question. How many of the teachers don't live in the neighborhood and still have their children enrolled in this school. ASK EVERY SCHOOL this question. I can think of 5 teachers with their children at Worthington (and I don't think it's just because it makes the commute easier).
How does the school handle bullying? Is there an established bullying policy? Yes, they follow the county policy. There are incidences (of course), but they seem to be immediately handled. Although in reality it's hard to watch a student being ostracized by their classmates (I've only witnessed this in the 5th grade). Unlike some schools, lunch is open seating, you don't walk into the cafeteria in a line and sit in the same line. Kids pick who they sit next to. Once again good/bad?
How does the school handle disciplinary problems (good, fair, not so good)? Not sure. However, I've seen kids in the principals office "hanging out having lunch" instead of being with their class. (I presume they're 'in trouble'). Any discussions of course are behind closed doors.
What are the student/teacher ratios? Is overcrowding an issue? Definately not in the K-2nd grade level. In Kindergarten there is a paraeducator for 2 teachers and class sizes are about 18-22. 1st and 2nd grade have 1 paraeducator for the whole section - class sizes range from 16 to 22 kids. 3rd-5th grade I think the max is 28 per class, but the principal has some discretion and it depends on the number of kids enrolled. Once we started with 4 classes of 22-24 kids, and in October (after late enrollments) we got another teacher, so we had 5 classes of 16-18 kids. The prinicipal (probably everywhere) will work hard to get an extra teacher. Also in K and 1st grades, parents are encouraged to volunteer IN the classroom. You help with literacy centers, math projects, science experiments, etc. So it's like having another aide. Parent will complain that their 4th grader has 28 kids in their class. It depends on what you're use to.
Do kindergartners have to take naps? No
Are there aides or assistant teachers in the kindergarten classrooms? See above.
Do parents have to pay any fees for AP or advance level courses in the high schools? Not that I'm aware of. I would check the HCPSS website.
Besides the proposed new elementary school in Elkridge, will there be any other new schools built within the next 3 years? YES - a new middle school will be built in the northeast section of HoCo (Elkridge, EC). So students currently at Ellicott Mills will get redistricted to the new school at that time. It's just unknown where those students will come from (and that often depends on which neighborhood has the loudest voice).
Do you know if there will be any school zone changes within the next 3 years? Yes -see above. Also, with the new elementary school there will be some shifting. See Howard County Public School System
Are there any budget or financial concerns? With HCPSS or the county in general? Oh perhaps, but our Democratic governor makes sure there is plenty of money for schools (unlike California). Occasionally we all have to send emails to our state representatives telling them how important the schools are and that "aren't you lucky we pay such high taxes here in Maryland and Yes, we would like that money to go to our schools" and "we don't want our AAA bond rating to suffer because you decided to short change education"...la de da...
I'm not sure why you are limiting your list to Ellicott City if you are looking at Howard County, and your list is not exhaustive (Dunloggin? Northfield?). Also, it is quite possible to live in Ellicott City and be districted to a Columbia school, as our family is. When looking at property you cannot assume that the closest school is the districted school; it is best to check the address on the HCPSS site.
However, that said, the one school on your list that I know something about is Veteran's, as we have folks at our school who moved to ours from there. Veteran's is pretty crowded and if you google you can find some press on the situation.
In general, all schools in Howard County are teaching to the same curriculum. The bullying policy is countywide. There are no naps in kindergarten anywhere. I've never heard of additional fees for classes anywhere. Budgets are county-wide, and it is also easy to find press on this. Howard County Schools are currently in the middle of a school board election and a search for a new superintendent, so I would expect some changes in the next few years, but I don't think anyone could say what those will be.
Howard County is redistricting in the next couple of years, and you can find information on those plans on their web site. If you want to read press on it try explorehoward.com and ellicottcity.patch.com and columbia.patch.com .
I would choose neighborhoods based on budget and homes available at this time. You can find some past threads on this topic by searching this board. Good luck.
J_Lurk,
Thanks for sharing those websites!
The reason why I'm limiting myself to the schools in those areas is because they meet my criterias. One of my criteria is to avoid being zoned to certain high schools. When I looked at the school maps, I saw that a few Dunloggin communities are zone to Wilde Lake even though Centennial is closer. Other than that, I will have no problems living in the other communities zoned to Dunloggin. I used to reside in Maryland many years ago. So, I'm somewhat familiar with the Ellicott City area. I want to be far east of 29 and northeast of Montgomery Road as much as possible. If a neighborhood changes from Mt. Hebron to Centennial or vice versa, then that's okay with me.
I've already factor in my housing budget and the schools in those areas meet them. My primary concern now are the schools.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all of my questions!
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