seeking information middle school options

[Anonymous]

My son is currently in fifth grade at a DCPS elementary school that feeds into Deal and Jackson-Reid. He does well in school and scored in the 99th percentile on his fourth grade PARCC tests in both math and ELA.

We are committed to public school as opposed to privates or DC charters. We would love for son to attend School Without Walls for high school, but I am skeptical of his admission chances because demand is so high and son fits a very typical white, upper middle class profile.

Son is the kind of kid who craves validation from peers. To increase the odds of that working in his favor, I would like him to be surrounded by other high-ability kids who prioritize academic performance. For that reason, we were disappointed to learn that Deal does not group students by ability, except for the option to test into pre-algebra in grade 6.

We are thinking of moving to Montgomery County to find a middle and high school pyramid that still groups students by ability for ELA, social studies, and ideally, science. An IB program would be great. We're open to pursuing a magnet program, but would be just as happy at a neighborhood school that groups kids by ability outside of math.

Can anyone tell me what specific middle and high schools in Bethesda and Potomac fit these criteria?

Are there any web sites or publications that outline all the magnet programs and ability-based learning tracks in the county?

What's the deal with Poolesville schools? I understand that there is a county magnet program there, but what does that mean for kids who actually live in Poolesville?

Can anyone recommend a consultant who can help us find the right program and sort out the testing and admissions process?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

If differentiated instruction is your main concern for MS I would not bother moving to MCPS. The MS magnets are done by lottery out of a qualified pool. Since your kid is in 5th grade, s/he has missed out on the identification and subsequent lottery process for next year.

Poolesville HS houses 3 test-in magnets I believe and there are set aside seats for in boundary Poolesville kids, so, it is easier to get into if you are in bounds. It has been a while since I've looked into this, so maybe someone can provide more up to date info.

[Anonymous]

Poolesville, then a feeder into Churchill is probably a better option than others. At least at these two schools, the programs are good for both magnet / non-magnet students and are less likely to be messed with.

The issue is not that there aren't good programs DCC. The issue is that it's a crapshoot. School boundaries will likely change and most choice programs went lottery.

"Schools of particular interest included:
• Elementary Schools: Wayside, Bells Mill, Beverly Farms, Ashburton, Burning Tree, Potomac
• Middle Schools: Cabin John, North Bethesda, Rosa Parks
• High Schools: Walter Johnson, Richard Montgomery, Sherwood"
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/publicinfo/Boundary_Analysis/BoundaryAnalysis_Final%20Report.pdf

Notice MCPS was very careful not to publish actual boundary maps and you'll have to reference the boundary analysis tool.

Tool: https://interactiveboundaryexplorer.com/combined.html#interactive-tool
Overview: https://interactiveboundaryexplorer.com/combined.html

It was pretty sneaky how MCPS solicited input. It was done during the height of covid with little fanfare (ex. announcement by most PTA's) and they only showed the tool, not specific proposals of what plans MCPS had for specific boundary changes. The way MCPS works is they'll probably make a last-minute release of actual boundaries in a very short time-period to minimize the possibility of delay. Typically there's been "for show" discussions but an option seems to be pre-selected with little chance for input from families living in the area. Expect "talk to the hand" versus "interactive discourse" when it comes to MCPS boundaries.

The problem is the current BOE. Only two incumbents were replaced this year and it's still very "equity" over "equality". You could very well buy a house in a school boundary and find out it's been boundary swapped down the road. Same goes for McKnight and the lottery-based magnet under her tenure (as well as financial management and overall leadership) has been a disaster, imho. Until Wolfe is voted out and the other legacy board members change, it will be difficult to fire McKnight.

There are people on this thread who will push you towards Takoma Park (especially the "blair envy" person). If you want specifics about particular schools as a non-magnet/non-choice home school program, I would Google your school name and Profile PDF. For safety, I would avoid a UofMD score under 80%, or a has a suspension rate in Middle or Elementary school.

[Anonymous]

I think all Bethesda and Potomac schools do ability grouping for math and history. I think the other schools are supposed to do that too but I'm not sure all of them offer HIGH and the other cohorted social studies.

[Anonymous]

MS magnets are lottery now. https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/middle/

[Anonymous]

If you want IB magnet, pick the RMHS cluster, and close to RM because they will go through boundary changes with Crown HS opening in 2027 or so.

There are non IB magnets, too. - BCC, Rockville HS, and several regional IB magnets all in east county.

I would pick BCC if you want a higher chance of your kid being surrounded by more higher performing students. While the other IB programs are fine, the percentage of students who are higher achieving is lower in the other HSs.

In order of high achieving cohort for IB:
RMHS
BCC
Rockville
East County regionals (there are four)

[Anonymous]

You missed the lottery for the middle school magnet process, which is 6th - 8th. So high school is your next chance.

The big programs for selective magnets are:
Richard Montgomery IB
Blair CAP
Blair STEM (MSCSM)
some others such as Wheaton Biomedical and Engineering (that's two)

The schools in Bethesda and Potomac don't host magnets. But they are strong schools. They do have some selective programs within the school but they are open to the school pyramid only (example Apex at Walter Johnson).

I think if you choose a W feeder you will be happy. That is the safest bet. Not a great idea to move for proximity to a magnet without guaranteed admission, especially in a county where the go back and forth between criteria and lots and lots of kids test at 99%.

[Anonymous]

OP, to answer your question about middle schools and grouping by ability: this only happens in math and, to some extent, social studies. There is no grouping by ability in ELA or science in regular MCPS middle schools. You will still see two levels of English classes listed in the course bulletin, but in reality everyone is assigned to Advanced English. And as mentioned the MS magnet program admissions are by lottery.

[Anonymous]

Poolesville HS hosts 2-3 magnets and it's supposed to be a really great school.

The accelerated social studies classes at DC's MS are my child's favorite classes. There are not a lot of sections so they do really have high performing kids. Math has been really good too. The advanced or cohorted pre-algebra was called AIM but I think they changed the math sequence recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is currently in fifth grade at a DCPS elementary school that feeds into Deal and Jackson-Reid. He does well in school and scored in the 99th percentile on his fourth grade PARCC tests in both math and ELA.

We are committed to public school as opposed to privates or DC charters. We would love for son to attend School Without Walls for high school, but I am skeptical of his admission chances because demand is so high and son fits a very typical white, upper middle class profile.

Son is the kind of kid who craves validation from peers. To increase the odds of that working in his favor, I would like him to be surrounded by other high-ability kids who prioritize academic performance. For that reason, we were disappointed to learn that Deal does not group students by ability, except for the option to test into pre-algebra in grade 6.

We are thinking of moving to Montgomery County to find a middle and high school pyramid that still groups students by ability for ELA, social studies, and ideally, science. An IB program would be great. We're open to pursuing a magnet program, but would be just as happy at a neighborhood school that groups kids by ability outside of math.

Can anyone tell me what specific middle and high schools in Bethesda and Potomac fit these criteria?

Are there any web sites or publications that outline all the magnet programs and ability-based learning tracks in the county?

What's the deal with Poolesville schools? I understand that there is a county magnet program there, but what does that mean for kids who actually live in Poolesville?

Can anyone recommend a consultant who can help us find the right program and sort out the testing and admissions process?

Thank you!

That will not be your child’s MS experience in MCPS unless he gets into a magnet.
And the middle years IB for MS is whole school IB, rather than interested and capable students. I loved the methodology and topics, but it was a diluted experience in order to make it “accessible to all”.
—MCPS MS teacher and parent

[Anonymous]

There is little ability grouping in MS in MCPS. Don’t move hoping for that.

[Anonymous]

My kid had a good experience in the IB program at BCC. He had a good enough experience at Westland (some very good teachers but MS is MS).

If you are specifically looking for differentiation for MS that may be hard in MS but you can find it in HS.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, everyone, for all this feedback. I need to digest it further, but this has been helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is currently in fifth grade at a DCPS elementary school that feeds into Deal and Jackson-Reid. He does well in school and scored in the 99th percentile on his fourth grade PARCC tests in both math and ELA.

We are committed to public school as opposed to privates or DC charters. We would love for son to attend School Without Walls for high school, but I am skeptical of his admission chances because demand is so high and son fits a very typical white, upper middle class profile.

Son is the kind of kid who craves validation from peers. To increase the odds of that working in his favor, I would like him to be surrounded by other high-ability kids who prioritize academic performance. For that reason, we were disappointed to learn that Deal does not group students by ability, except for the option to test into pre-algebra in grade 6.

We are thinking of moving to Montgomery County to find a middle and high school pyramid that still groups students by ability for ELA, social studies, and ideally, science. An IB program would be great. We're open to pursuing a magnet program, but would be just as happy at a neighborhood school that groups kids by ability outside of math.

Can anyone tell me what specific middle and high schools in Bethesda and Potomac fit these criteria?

Are there any web sites or publications that outline all the magnet programs and ability-based learning tracks in the county?

What's the deal with Poolesville schools? I understand that there is a county magnet program there, but what does that mean for kids who actually live in Poolesville?

Can anyone recommend a consultant who can help us find the right program and sort out the testing and admissions process?

Thank you!

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If differentiated instruction is your main concern for MS I would not bother moving to MCPS. The MS magnets are done by lottery out of a qualified pool. Since your kid is in 5th grade, s/he has missed out on the identification and subsequent lottery process for next year.

Poolesville HS houses 3 test-in magnets I believe and there are set aside seats for in boundary Poolesville kids, so, it is easier to get into if you are in bounds. It has been a while since I've looked into this, so maybe someone can provide more up to date info.

They're not actually done by lottery. It's a lottery of the top 15% and that is just a temporary measure for covid that ends this year.