TPMS magnet

[Anonymous]

Hi,

We are considering the TPMS magnet (Takoma Park Middle School Math, Science and Computer Science Magnet) for our going-to-be 6th grader next year. Would families that are currently in the magnet program at TPMS be willing to share their thoughts on the program?

Thank you very much for your insights.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if I'd do this if the commute were an hour and my home school was decent, but it is an excellent program. There is nothing comparable. It's great preparation for Blair SMCS.

[Anonymous]

This depends on your home school.

Our child attended TPMS and now attends a W high school. So my comments only apply to families in bounds for the "great" MCPS schools.

Knowing now what we didn't know then, I would absolutely accept and attend if the commute is no big deal. If the commute is a hardship or has potential to negatively impact parents or child, I would stay at the home school.

For us it was an excellent program with a short commute. Our child also attended when the admissions were not a lottery after the initial cut-off, which I understand has had minor impacts on the cohort.

[Anonymous]

So many threads. Did you bother to search at all?

[Anonymous]

There are older threads, but it would be good to hear recent experiences.

[Anonymous]

All the info in the old threads is still true.

[Anonymous]

Original poster here: Thank you to those that have replied! I did find many older posts on the TPMS magnet, I was hoping to learn from current families as school environments are dynamic. I believe all families need to make a decision by March 1.

For what is it worth, we are not thinking about what high school follows this middle school. We are concerned with finding a place where our child will be engaged and will be with other students that want to learn and be at school.

Thank you again for any insights you might be able to provide. Have a great Saturday!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Original poster here: Thank you to those that have replied! I did find many older posts on the TPMS magnet, I was hoping to learn from current families as school environments are dynamic. I believe all families need to make a decision by March 1.

For what is it worth, we are not thinking about what high school follows this middle school. We are concerned with finding a place where our child will be engaged and will be with other students that want to learn and be at school.

Thank you again for any insights you might be able to provide. Have a great Saturday!

I've had two kids go through there over the past 8 years. One is there now. It seems the same to me.

[Anonymous]

We would have considered the TP program, but was accepted at Eastern for our daughter and that seemed not worth it. The little bit of enhanced rigger to pull a child out of where they were already established with a similar baked in peer group compounded with a tough commute everyday. You really have to analyze what you hope to build on. While walking Eastern we were reminded that we specifically opted to avoid schools like that so it didn’t make sense to opt back in and pay a logistics premium for the privilege. TP might be better but if your home school is high achieving and your kid is well acclimated I would posture why. Just those hours of commuting every day could be spent doing extracurriculars which will pay greater dividends towards most college acceptances. If your kid is purely Academic and could use a social reset (which many could during middle school) then try it for a year and reassess.

[Anonymous]

The science and math go deeper than anything available elsewhere. The CS also introduces them to the basics but very gradually. Overall, it's a wonderful program that I wish had many more seats. It also does a great job preparing students for programs like SMCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We would have considered the TP program, but was accepted at Eastern for our daughter and that seemed not worth it. The little bit of enhanced rigger to pull a child out of where they were already established with a similar baked in peer group compounded with a tough commute everyday. You really have to analyze what you hope to build on. While walking Eastern we were reminded that we specifically opted to avoid schools like that so it didn’t make sense to opt back in and pay a logistics premium for the privilege. TP might be better but if your home school is high achieving and your kid is well acclimated I would posture why. Just those hours of commuting every day could be spent doing extracurriculars which will pay greater dividends towards most college acceptances. If your kid is purely Academic and could use a social reset (which many could during middle school) then try it for a year and reassess.

"schools like that"? What's that supposed to mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would have considered the TP program, but was accepted at Eastern for our daughter and that seemed not worth it. The little bit of enhanced rigger to pull a child out of where they were already established with a similar baked in peer group compounded with a tough commute everyday. You really have to analyze what you hope to build on. While walking Eastern we were reminded that we specifically opted to avoid schools like that so it didn’t make sense to opt back in and pay a logistics premium for the privilege. TP might be better but if your home school is high achieving and your kid is well acclimated I would posture why. Just those hours of commuting every day could be spent doing extracurriculars which will pay greater dividends towards most college acceptances. If your kid is purely Academic and could use a social reset (which many could during middle school) then try it for a year and reassess.

"schools like that"? What's that supposed to mean?

It’s a variation on that old racist classic “People like you”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would have considered the TP program, but was accepted at Eastern for our daughter and that seemed not worth it. The little bit of enhanced rigger to pull a child out of where they were already established with a similar baked in peer group compounded with a tough commute everyday. You really have to analyze what you hope to build on. While walking Eastern we were reminded that we specifically opted to avoid schools like that so it didn’t make sense to opt back in and pay a logistics premium for the privilege. TP might be better but if your home school is high achieving and your kid is well acclimated I would posture why. Just those hours of commuting every day could be spent doing extracurriculars which will pay greater dividends towards most college acceptances. If your kid is purely Academic and could use a social reset (which many could during middle school) then try it for a year and reassess.

"schools like that"? What's that supposed to mean?

It’s a variation on that old racist classic “People like you”.

Yep, more of the same...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would have considered the TP program, but was accepted at Eastern for our daughter and that seemed not worth it. The little bit of enhanced rigger to pull a child out of where they were already established with a similar baked in peer group compounded with a tough commute everyday. You really have to analyze what you hope to build on. While walking Eastern we were reminded that we specifically opted to avoid schools like that so it didn’t make sense to opt back in and pay a logistics premium for the privilege. TP might be better but if your home school is high achieving and your kid is well acclimated I would posture why. Just those hours of commuting every day could be spent doing extracurriculars which will pay greater dividends towards most college acceptances. If your kid is purely Academic and could use a social reset (which many could during middle school) then try it for a year and reassess.

"schools like that"? What's that supposed to mean?

It’s a variation on that old racist classic “People like you”.

Yep, more of the same...

Come on, now, be fair: I'm sure there's a decent helping of classism folded in there as well.

I mean, they so kindly went out of their way to bring in an entirely different school from the one OP asked about—when their own kid didn't even attend either Eastern or TPMS—just to be sure the OP was sufficiently warned about "schools like that."

[Anonymous]

Getting back to the original question:

I have 1 child who went through TPMS and one who went through a high performing middle school (not by choice, they were not selected in the lottery). TPMS is a strong program academically and certainly things like CS classes, variety of clubs, Difference makers etc are huge benefits. However, you need to compare that against your home school. If your home school is one of the top middle schools in MCPS (pyle, hoover, cabin john, frost etc), you are not missing much staying at the home school and forgoing the commute. So it is very hard to answer your question without knowing what you are comparing against and what your childs interests are. In my case, we like TPMS but we also like our home school