I'm an old mom who attended the Center and magnets for MS and HS-- AMA

[Anonymous]

For entertainment purposes only.

I attended the Center (now CES, then CHG-- Center for the Highly Gifted) and then the magnets at Eastern and Blair. My kid is now in 3rd grade in MCPS, so I'm starting to think about these things. It's all... pretty different! I lived away from MoCo for most of the past 25 years-- so I'm still wading through and trying to understand the ins and outs-- but all of these programs have obviously evolved in the last 30 years. Happy to talk about my experiences, relevant or irrelevant as they may be.

[Anonymous]

Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

This board is very much not real life.

-OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

This board is very much not real life.

-OP

What?!? You don't say

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

This board is very much not real life.

-OP

OMG! Who knew?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

This board is very much not real life.

-OP

To elaborate-- MoCo as a whole seems very similar to the way it was when I was growing up here. Probably more racially diverse, but I attended Eastern and Blair when they were already majority POC, so the difference for me, personally, isn't that noticeable. There are more Asian Americans, though, especially in certain locales (e.g. Potomac). But I had tons of Asian American friends and family growing up, so on a personal level, doesn't seem that different. (NB: I am white.)

You have a lot of 9.9%ers (per article) striving and complaining, which thankfully I was more sheltered from as a kid, but I do see a lot of that on DCUM. And I did see it in school board meetings and so on in the 80s and 90s. Very similar attitudes and complaints. Please know this has always been the case.

Schools seem pretty great to me, still, though I suppose it's all relative. It may be true that there are now more competitive or "world class" school districts elsewhere-- so maybe MoCo doesn't seem as great in comparison as it used to. But as long as MoCo is serving families reasonably well*, I couldn't care less about other districts. Maybe some people want to move to wherever the schools are best of the best of the best, but I'm highly skeptical of both things like GS and USNews, as well as self reports from the striving 9.9%, so I find it a bit futile to try and rank them.

*I am under no illusions that it's anywhere near perfect, and just as it was in my youth, there's a need to push for more and better, always. But relatively speaking, it's a very good school district IMO.

-OP

[Anonymous]

No one cares

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

Just stop.

MCPS is one of the top school districts in the country.

Move to Alabama or MO then come back and try again.

I am so tired of this garbage. You don't like it move or put your kids in a private school that most likely is sub par to MCPS particularly in math & Science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

Just stop.

MCPS is one of the top school districts in the country.

Move to Alabama or MO then come back and try again.

I am so tired of this garbage. You don't like it move or put your kids in a private school that most likely is sub par to MCPS particularly in math & Science.

MCPS ranked #7 in Maryland based on state assessment tests. Where do you see MCPS is one of the top school district?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

Just stop.

MCPS is one of the top school districts in the country.

Move to Alabama or MO then come back and try again.

I am so tired of this garbage. You don't like it move or put your kids in a private school that most likely is sub par to MCPS particularly in math & Science.

MCPS ranked #7 in Maryland based on state assessment tests. Where do you see MCPS is one of the top school district?

My bad. MCPS ranked #8 in Maryland, not #7.
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/MD/districtrank.aspx

[Anonymous]

Oy vey. This is rapidly devolving into the same arguments about whether MCPS is going to heck, just like every other thread here. I should have known better. :/

Oh, well. I was going to share things like... well, for the Center...

At that time (late 80s), AS I RECALL:

-It was for 4th-6th grades, as 6th was still a part of ES.

-We had our grade-level teachers for most of the day, especially for reading and so on-- but the 4th grade teacher taught science to all of the grades (in a rotation), the 5th grade taught us all social studies, and 6th, math-- for all three years.

-I think MCPS had 3 "Areas" (do they... still divide the county this way?), basically 1) downcounty east, 2) downcounty/midcounty west and 3) upcounty. Each area had one CHG school, and each CHG school was a regular school, but with one class each of CHG students, about 24 per class. So in the Center program, countywide, total, there were only about 70-80 kids per grade. I guess about 1% of the total students at the time in those grades.

-I'm pretty sure my parents had to apply, and maybe have me tested in some way, specifically for the program. But I think part of admission could be based on privately-tested IQ scores, which I had. I remember hearing that the IQ cutoff was 135 (minimum, just to be considered).

Etc.

-OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oy vey. This is rapidly devolving into the same arguments about whether MCPS is going to heck, just like every other thread here. I should have known better. :/

Oh, well. I was going to share things like... well, for the Center...

At that time (late 80s), AS I RECALL:

-It was for 4th-6th grades, as 6th was still a part of ES.

-We had our grade-level teachers for most of the day, especially for reading and so on-- but the 4th grade teacher taught science to all of the grades (in a rotation), the 5th grade taught us all social studies, and 6th, math-- for all three years.

-I think MCPS had 3 "Areas" (do they... still divide the county this way?), basically 1) downcounty east, 2) downcounty/midcounty west and 3) upcounty. Each area had one CHG school, and each CHG school was a regular school, but with one class each of CHG students, about 24 per class. So in the Center program, countywide, total, there were only about 70-80 kids per grade. I guess about 1% of the total students at the time in those grades.

-I'm pretty sure my parents had to apply, and maybe have me tested in some way, specifically for the program. But I think part of admission could be based on privately-tested IQ scores, which I had. I remember hearing that the IQ cutoff was 135 (minimum, just to be considered).

Etc.

-OP

No, just the clusters and different catchments for special programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Of course it's not true. The demographics of the county has changed greatly over the years but the same high quality education is available today that was available when I attended the Blair magnet 20 plus years ago. In many ways I feel my children's education is superior to mine but I also don't rely on the school to do everything. Neither did my parents.

[Anonymous]

Demographics are destiny.