DC wants to withdraw from magnet program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom is in her 80's. She had long commutes to private
schools from grade 2nd to 12 when her local public
were good.

She still complains about the commutes (70 years later)

Listen to your kid.

Let me guess: your mother never went to college.

I'm not that pp, but I was bused to a private school for 12 long years and still complain about it. So does my best friend from said private school, we both think we would have been better served by public school and a shorter commute. It was 30+ years ago, we both graduated from college, and both earned master's degrees. As did many of my public school friends.

[Anonymous]

And...we became best friends because we were on the bus together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let her go back to home school. I’d rather my kid have a positive experience at “regular” home school than suffer from anxiety at a magnet.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP just know MCPS is all about inertia. They always advise wait. But the reality usually is the problems you face won't go away. You will get used to them and then the costs of changing your direction will grow as you have spent time learning a new system, making a few contacts. Same for DC. Maybe that's an ok outcome. But it is intentional on the part of the system (MCPS) because, in no small part, it's easier for the system. Is that an ok outcome for a particular family? Often no. btdt.

You know what? This PP is strangely on point. I agree!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing that this is TPMS. TPMS and in general MCPS does a really bad with managing middle school behaviors. The behaviors at many schools, not just TPMS, can get very out of control. Its a combination of the age when kids are trying to act cool or tough for other kids and have low impulse control with very little oversight from teachers and admin. It doesn't help that there is not much outdoor time or breaks so PE and lunch tend to be lord of the flies. If your child is coming from a small elementary with mostly nerdy or quieter kids and then going into a huge schools with lots of kids acting out can be really hard.

Your home middle school is not going to be as well run and nurturing as your small elementary school was but it could be much better depending on the group of kids. It is far easier for admins/teachers to deal with a few kids acting out than deal with a large number acting act so it stays calmer. It may also help your DC if he or she has a larger set of friends in the home school.

I agree that high school is different. There are different problem but the pooping all over the bathroom, shrieking and cursing in the locker room and other gross middle school behaviors get replaced by other things that tend to stay more confined to different groups.

When my DC was in the TPMS Magnet, by the time the first quarter was over, she realized that lunch much better and more fun in her Science Teacher's classroom. There were many of her classmates with her there and she made a bunch of friends. I definitely say give it time. You are going to be hard pressed to find better MS teachers than they have in the TPMS magnet and if that can springboard to the Blair Magnet, it only gets better.

Your kid eats lunch in the science room?

Yes, in 7th grade, there is even a name for it "Goehring Lunch".

That is sad

[Anonymous]

In our home MS, my DD and her friends ate lunch in the band room with the music teacher. It was quiet, they could hang out together, and she was their favorite teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing that this is TPMS. TPMS and in general MCPS does a really bad with managing middle school behaviors. The behaviors at many schools, not just TPMS, can get very out of control. Its a combination of the age when kids are trying to act cool or tough for other kids and have low impulse control with very little oversight from teachers and admin. It doesn't help that there is not much outdoor time or breaks so PE and lunch tend to be lord of the flies. If your child is coming from a small elementary with mostly nerdy or quieter kids and then going into a huge schools with lots of kids acting out can be really hard.

Your home middle school is not going to be as well run and nurturing as your small elementary school was but it could be much better depending on the group of kids. It is far easier for admins/teachers to deal with a few kids acting out than deal with a large number acting act so it stays calmer. It may also help your DC if he or she has a larger set of friends in the home school.

I agree that high school is different. There are different problem but the pooping all over the bathroom, shrieking and cursing in the locker room and other gross middle school behaviors get replaced by other things that tend to stay more confined to different groups.

When my DC was in the TPMS Magnet, by the time the first quarter was over, she realized that lunch much better and more fun in her Science Teacher's classroom. There were many of her classmates with her there and she made a bunch of friends. I definitely say give it time. You are going to be hard pressed to find better MS teachers than they have in the TPMS magnet and if that can springboard to the Blair Magnet, it only gets better.

Your kid eats lunch in the science room?

Yes, in 7th grade, there is even a name for it "Goehring Lunch".

That is sad

Why is that sad? According to DC, kids had fun and also could get some work done on chromebooks. DC generally had lunch with friends in the cafetaria, but sometimes used to go to the "Goehring lunch." DC did not know anyone who did this just to avoid the cafetaria.

[Anonymous]

I know some folks want to turn the "my child eats in the Science room" into some sort of comment on the safety or environment of the middle school (and by default the non-magnet population) but this sort of thing happens in every school.

At my super homogenous, almost entirely white and Asian, middle and high schools, I ate almost every meal in the yearbook/newspaper office. For 7 years. The broader school wasn't unkind or unsafe, but my "people" were in the newspaper office, so that's where I was as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know some folks want to turn the "my child eats in the Science room" into some sort of comment on the safety or environment of the middle school (and by default the non-magnet population) but this sort of thing happens in every school.

At my super homogenous, almost entirely white and Asian, middle and high schools, I ate almost every meal in the yearbook/newspaper office. For 7 years. The broader school wasn't unkind or unsafe, but my "people" were in the newspaper office, so that's where I was as well.

How long ago and far away was this?

[Anonymous]

I had a child at Eastern. He was very unhappy there his sixth grade year but I told him I wanted him to give it the year. For one thing, 6th graders at Eastern take a Media class that is not available elsewhere. So he would have had a different schedule at the home school. For another thing, it did seem like a lot of the transition difficulties were the typical middle school issues. By the end of the 6th grade year he was very happy and was glad he stayed with the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing that this is TPMS. TPMS and in general MCPS does a really bad with managing middle school behaviors. The behaviors at many schools, not just TPMS, can get very out of control. Its a combination of the age when kids are trying to act cool or tough for other kids and have low impulse control with very little oversight from teachers and admin. It doesn't help that there is not much outdoor time or breaks so PE and lunch tend to be lord of the flies. If your child is coming from a small elementary with mostly nerdy or quieter kids and then going into a huge schools with lots of kids acting out can be really hard.

Your home middle school is not going to be as well run and nurturing as your small elementary school was but it could be much better depending on the group of kids. It is far easier for admins/teachers to deal with a few kids acting out than deal with a large number acting act so it stays calmer. It may also help your DC if he or she has a larger set of friends in the home school.

I agree that high school is different. There are different problem but the pooping all over the bathroom, shrieking and cursing in the locker room and other gross middle school behaviors get replaced by other things that tend to stay more confined to different groups.

When my DC was in the TPMS Magnet, by the time the first quarter was over, she realized that lunch much better and more fun in her Science Teacher's classroom. There were many of her classmates with her there and she made a bunch of friends. I definitely say give it time. You are going to be hard pressed to find better MS teachers than they have in the TPMS magnet and if that can springboard to the Blair Magnet, it only gets better.

Your kid eats lunch in the science room?

Yes, in 7th grade, there is even a name for it "Goehring Lunch".

That is sad

DP. I’ve taught in a variety of MCPS settings. Students eating in small groups in a teacher’s room is pretty commonplace and involves students from diverse backgrounds, not just magnet kids.

[Anonymous]

It’s been a few years but we knew of several kids at Eastern and TPMS that chose to transfer back to their home schools at the end of 6th. They were miserable for all different reasons but most complained of the long bus ride and being away from friends. I do know of one who complained of generally disruptive behavior at the magnet that made her uncomfortable. Regardless all these kids switched back to their home school with no regrets. If your child is being bullied then I would let them change schools. My own child was bullied at her non-magnet middle school and it made for a truly miserable experience that has had long-term ramifications even though the bullying situation has long since resolved.

[Anonymous]

Social kids do not do well in the magnet programs outside of their own cluster. Losing their friends, the long drives, the issues with their own new school all make for a crappy experience. The kids that do well are the geeks and introverts that never fit in their own cluster schools to begin with, and now have some introverts to be introverted with. They found their people and never look back longingly at their old cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Social kids do not do well in the magnet programs outside of their own cluster. Losing their friends, the long drives, the issues with their own new school all make for a crappy experience. The kids that do well are the geeks and introverts that never fit in their own cluster schools to begin with, and now have some introverts to be introverted with. They found their people and never look back longingly at their old cluster.

Oh good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Social kids do not do well in the magnet programs outside of their own cluster. Losing their friends, the long drives, the issues with their own new school all make for a crappy experience. The kids that do well are the geeks and introverts that never fit in their own cluster schools to begin with, and now have some introverts to be introverted with. They found their people and never look back longingly at their old cluster.

Oh good grief.

I mean, it's not universal, but it's not without its grain of truth. At least, this is how the CES has been for my daughter.