Intel Semifinalists

[Anonymous]

Thought this might be of interest:

TJ - 15
Montgomery Blair - 12
GDS - 1
Sidwell - 1
Maret - 0
St. Albans - 0
NCS - 0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought this might be of interest:

TJ - 15
Montgomery Blair - 12
GDS - 1
Sidwell - 1
Maret - 0
St. Albans - 0
NCS - 0

why??? please explain

[Anonymous]

Presumably because it suggests that TJ and Montgomery Blair are likely to be a better fit than the "top" private schools for kids with a special interest in and aptitude for math/science.

[Anonymous]

And they probably are.

[Anonymous]

Funny, I was thinking just this morning that we may be investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in an outmoded education. I believe in the virtues of a liberal arts education, but I'm sure many English families believed just as strongly in the merits of Latin and ancient Greek and the mandarins of imperial China thought the same of classical poetry.

[Anonymous]

Hey, don't knock the Latin! DD rocked the PSATs

[Anonymous]

Kids that are well suited for TJ and Montgomery Blair and who would develop into Intel Semifinalists are a very special group that are easily identified by their parents and schools. Yes, they are better served by these schools than even the most elite privates. But for the rest of us, the privates and other public schools are quite possibly a superior fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny, I was thinking just this morning that we may be investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in an outmoded education. I believe in the virtues of a liberal arts education, but I'm sure many English families believed just as strongly in the merits of Latin and ancient Greek and the mandarins of imperial China thought the same of classical poetry.

You seem to presume that they were wrong to do so. To me, that is hardly clear. It's difficult to see how being exposed at an early age to material--in any discipline--that is both rigorous and intrinsically beautiful can be "outmoded." Not everyone wants or needs to be a physicist or engineer. The world needs doctors, journalists, historians, social scientists, poets, philosophers, dancers, musicians, artists and lots of other things, too. (There has been, by the way, an explosion in the number of middle and secondary school students taking Latin in recent years--an article in the New York Times a few months ago chronicled this. Sub sole nihil novi est.)

Moreover, many significant scientific advances were pioneered by individuals who were themselves the products of the educational systems you worry might be outmoded. Thus, it would appear that a classical education is not an impediment to scientific genius, let alone literacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought this might be of interest:

TJ - 15
Montgomery Blair - 12
GDS - 1
Sidwell - 1
Maret - 0
St. Albans - 0
NCS - 0

How many students attend each of these schools? While they are all "exclusive," I thought TJ and MB were much larger than the private ones...

[Anonymous]

Montgomery Blair's magnet has about 100 kids per class (it's a school within a school). About the same size as some of these privates. TJ has about 450 kids per class.


http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/39474.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moreover, many significant scientific advances were pioneered by individuals who were themselves the products of the educational systems you worry might be outmoded. Thus, it would appear that a classical education is not an impediment to scientific genius, let alone literacy.

That may be true at the individual level but not at the national level. Look, I said I believe in the merits of a liberal arts education. But at the same time I think it is easy to become complacent about such things. It's easy to say that such a liberal arts education teaches critical thinking and an appreciation for beauty and the human condition and stop there--without asking whether that is enough or whether this is the only way to impart such values and skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That may be true at the individual level but not at the national level. Look, I said I believe in the merits of a liberal arts education. But at the same time I think it is easy to become complacent about such things. It's easy to say that such a liberal arts education teaches critical thinking and an appreciation for beauty and the human condition and stop there--without asking whether that is enough or whether this is the only way to impart such values and skills.

I'm 11:15. I think we don't actually disagree. I would never suggest that a liberal arts education is the only way to impart humanistic values. There are many educational traditions in the world, and I don't think that any of them can plausibly claim to be the only (or even universally best) path to enlightenment. I am sorry if I read too much into your message, as it seems I probably did. I'm just uncomfortable with the idea that a liberal education is somehow inadequate to the demands of modern life, or that my children would be better prepared for the future if they read more mechanical engineering and less poetry.

[Anonymous]

Can kids who aren't Va. based apply to TJ, or non-Md. kids apply for Blair?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can kids who aren't Va. based apply to TJ, or non-Md. kids apply for Blair?

Certainly.....for a "small" fee, you can send your kids wherever you want. You would pay out of state tuition.

[Anonymous]

MD and VA schools do take out-of-boundary kids who pay tuition. BUT they will only put them in schools/programs which are undersubscribed. Blair and TJ are wildly popular, and as hard/harder to get into than the DC private high schools. There would be a huge outcry if out-of-boundary kids were taken into those programs over residents who wanted to attend.