Parkland Middle School
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Anonymous
| My fifth grade DD has always been interested in math and engineering. She really wants to go to Parkland Magnet middle school. How good is the program? Are all students part of the magnet program? How about the extras like science fair, etc.? Her home school would be JW. |
Anonymous
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http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/755198.page
I'm going to point you to this thread, because it includes several posts describing the Parkland program in details. 
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Anonymous
| Many kids in the program do not actually have an interest in STEM. A friend taught there and was miserable trying to balance the kids who loved aerospace science and those who had other interests they could not pursue. |
Anonymous
| Thanks. There was some good info in that thread. What are the other students like? |
Anonymous
| I know two kids who has giid experiences there after the GT program at Barnsley. It was much closer that Takoma..not the same program obviously but gave them access to some advanced classes. They would have gone to JW. |
Anonymous
Very true. My son went to Parkland but didn't enjoy his time there. There was 2 group of kids there 1st group is the kid who are passionate about STEM and the 2nd group are kids who go there because it was their home school, "building robots seemed fun", or because the lottery process screw them over. My son ended up going to Einstein instead of a school with a STEM program. |
Anonymous
I didn't see any specific description of the Parkland program here. |
Anonymous
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Check out the PARCC scores for Parkland as a whole.
We have friends whose daughter attended Parkland and the mom really didn’t recommend it. She said it’s just as another PP described. Some kids who want to be there, but some who really don’t (parents forced them to try for the lottery, etc). We hear fantastic things about West and if you’re choosing West versus Parkland, I’d pretty strongly go with West. We live in that area and are zoned for Wood, which is the next middle school over. |
Anonymous
Copied from the other thread here: "First - because they are an 8 period block schedule, students get an extra class over other middle schools. All students have English, Math, World Studies, Science, and PE (like all middle schools) and then 3 elective choices instead of two, which was typically a language, band/orchestra, and the focus electives. Each school has a focus area for one of the elective tracks - Parkland is Aerospace and Robotics and all students take two science classes each year, including one for high school credit in 8th grade. Argyle is Computer Science and Loiederman is Performing Arts - I don't know their exact courses, but I'm sure it's on their websites. In addition to the doubled science classes, Parkland offered special electives including Astronomy, Research in Astronomy, Flight, Robotics 1, Robotics 2, and Introduction to Engineering Design (HS tech credit and 1st Project Lead the Way course). Due to high language demand, Parkland offers Spanish and French levels 1, 2, and 3, and Chinese 1A, 1B, and 2 all at the school (might have changed in the past few years). And while my kid was there, they had enough students to offer Algebra 2 at the middle school, instead of busing them to high school. Many kids entered high school with 8 credits - Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, French/Spanish 1, 2, 3, Honors Physics, and IED. And this was while we still had final exams and middle school students had to pass the exams to earn HS credit. This program was absolutely beyond the general middle school program, and arguably more rigorous than the middle school math/science program (and I've had a kid in that too.) " |
Anonymous
I taught there too and always felt bad for the kids whose parents decided for them that they had to go to Parkland, even though science wasn't their thing. If you love science, math, and technology, then taking 2 or 3 science classes each year, completing a big science fair project every year, going on science related school field trips, and having access to science and tech related clubs is wonderful. If you don't love science, it's science overload. |
Anonymous
Thanks! I’m OP - my DD really, really wants to go to Parkland because she really enjoys math and engineering. My DD probably falls into your first group. How much, if any, would the kids in the 2nd group lessen the experience for her? |
Anonymous
Your DD probably won't notice them, because she'll have found "her people" and be busy with kids like her. The 2nd group doesn't bring down the experience for other students, it's just that they are taking 3-4 math, science, and tech classes, when really they'd prefer only 2 and to have more English, World Studies, or Art electives. |
Anonymous
Well from my sons experience , those 2nd group of kids can be very disrespect to teachers. My son wasn't that way even though he hated the material, but outside the core classes my son just took the very few art classes they offer at the time. Please make sure your child finds a great support system in the 1st group of students, because it's middle school and kids can be cruel. |
Anonymous
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The poster on the other thread about Parkland was very excited that they finally had enough students to fill an Algebra 2 class and not bus kids to the high school. This is REALLY worrisome as most high and mid performing schools have plenty of students taking Algebra 2 in MS. How on earth does a "STEM" magnet barely have enough kids to qualify for Algebra 2 in 8th grade??
OP- is your child academically strong enough to apply to TPMS? Parkland does not sound like an advanced STEM program and the test scores pretty much support that too. |
Anonymous
Tilden doesn’t teach Alg 2 at the school (students go to WJ), but it is considered “high performing”. |