Marcella

Besides having a precious heart and spirit, Dr. Barrens-Alexander is an education realist, and those are hard to come by.  I solicited Dr. Barrens-Alexander’s advice when my son was about to start kindergarten.  Prior to that he had been in private pre-school, so the world of public education (outside of  my own in another state) was new to me.  Layered on top of it being new territory, I was faced with the “reputation” associated with PG County Schools, that being if you live in PG County and care about your child’s education, you send them to private school.  Having received part of my education through private school (in another state), this was not as foreign to me and made it somewhat easy for me to blindly opt for that route, and accepting the financial responsibilities that would come with that choice.   However, I mentioned my issues to Dr. Barrens-Alexander, and she reminded me to be realistic. 

 

Dr. Barrens-Alexander forced me to identify and explain the true source of my concern and opened my point of view to all of the wonderful benefits that the PG County Public Schools System had/has to offer.  She also made me focus on what was fact versus fiction about the County’s school system based upon her vast knowledge as a front line educator and as an administrator – don’t believe the hype!  She taught me a lesson – which is something that I often preach to others – your child’s education is what you make it because your child will only care as much about school (whether public or private) based upon how much you care about school. A true education realism.   After all, I know plenty of kids from my own experience who attended top notch private schools and still don’t have college degrees to this day – 20+ years later!   So, thanks to Dr. Barrens-Alexander, all of my children are enrolled in one of the County’s many magnet programs, and all are excelling – well two are currently, the third will start kindergarten in the fall.

 

So, thanks to you, Dr. Barrens-Alexander, my education realist.

- Marcella