Newport mill and Einstein input?

[Anonymous]

Hi all, I'm seeking input on Newport Mill MS and Einstein HS. I'm wondering about homework load, level of support from teachers and staff (including w/ 504 plans but also just in general), academic culture (high pressure, lot of focus on getting into "good" colleges, class ranks, etc from staff or peer culture around this), addressing bullying or other problems. Main issues that are of concern that would be helpful to know about before choosing to live in this school feeder zone? I understand that it is diverse and that brings rankings down so I'm not so concerned about rankings and think diversity is a pro. Considering moving to Frederick for a more laid back academic culture than MoCo but I want to make sure that I'm not trying to leave something that isn't a concern at this school. I'm a psychologist and have heard enough from the kids to be concerned about the high homework loads and pressure, but also know that there may be significant differences between schools so want to be well informed.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I don't have NMMS experience, but have had 2 kids at Einstein, one currently. It has not been a high pressure school. My kids have less than an hour of homework most nights, sometimes less. There are no class ranks (in MCPS overall I think), no focus on getting into "good" colleges, more of an encouraging everyone to look into college vibe, with a big college fair being an annual tradition.There is an IB diploma program and a lot of kids take some IB classes a la carte. Also many students interested in the arts, especially visual and theater/dance. We have not personally experienced bullying, but I'm sure it is a problem everywhere. There have been some staffing problems this year, given the teacher shortage and a couple math teachers who left unexpectedly due to family reasons. The principal has been open about the situation and attends the monthly PTSA meetings with progress reports.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much! Super helpful. Do the counselors push kids to take AP and IB courses? I read that comment from one student and wondering if others would agree. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have NMMS experience, but have had 2 kids at Einstein, one currently. It has not been a high pressure school. My kids have less than an hour of homework most nights, sometimes less. There are no class ranks (in MCPS overall I think), no focus on getting into "good" colleges, more of an encouraging everyone to look into college vibe, with a big college fair being an annual tradition.There is an IB diploma program and a lot of kids take some IB classes a la carte. Also many students interested in the arts, especially visual and theater/dance. We have not personally experienced bullying, but I'm sure it is a problem everywhere. There have been some staffing problems this year, given the teacher shortage and a couple math teachers who left unexpectedly due to family reasons. The principal has been open about the situation and attends the monthly PTSA meetings with progress reports.

Are your kids in IB and AP classes? My kid is and has claims to have more than one hour of HW a night. Curious if he may be exaggerating and playing video games instead! He gets almost entirely As tho - do your kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much! Super helpful. Do the counselors push kids to take AP and IB courses? I read that comment from one student and wondering if others would agree. Thanks again!

I have an upperclassman at Einstein.

Almost all of the NON AP and IB classes are Honors. Thus, the honors classes have kids from the very bottom of the class in them.

If your kid does not take AP and IB classes, they are severely limiting their college options. Their options will likely be limited to community college or super expensive private colleges that are not ranked high.

What are your ambitions for your kids? Why don't you want them to achieve at a high level academically?

To answer your question, no, I do not think Einstein has a peer cohort where lots of kids are gunning for Ivies etc and are super driven. But are you sure that is what you want? Because I think having an unmotivated peer cohort can make kids less motivated and driven. Studies have shown that.

Are your kids not very smart or good at school so you think sending them to a place with a less competitive environment will make them feel better about themselves?

Just trying to figure out what your goal is. Personally, I want my kids to be driven and succeed academically. You seem to not want that. What DO you want for them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much! Super helpful. Do the counselors push kids to take AP and IB courses? I read that comment from one student and wondering if others would agree. Thanks again!

I've seen them say things about them encouraging kids to take challenging courses, which means AP and IB, because it's pretty widely understood that the Honors classes are not challenging (true at all schools). But I don't think that my kids felt pushed into something they weren't ready for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have NMMS experience, but have had 2 kids at Einstein, one currently. It has not been a high pressure school. My kids have less than an hour of homework most nights, sometimes less. There are no class ranks (in MCPS overall I think), no focus on getting into "good" colleges, more of an encouraging everyone to look into college vibe, with a big college fair being an annual tradition.There is an IB diploma program and a lot of kids take some IB classes a la carte. Also many students interested in the arts, especially visual and theater/dance. We have not personally experienced bullying, but I'm sure it is a problem everywhere. There have been some staffing problems this year, given the teacher shortage and a couple math teachers who left unexpectedly due to family reasons. The principal has been open about the situation and attends the monthly PTSA meetings with progress reports.

Are your kids in IB and AP classes? My kid is and has claims to have more than one hour of HW a night. Curious if he may be exaggerating and playing video games instead! He gets almost entirely As tho - do your kids?

My 9th grader has one AP and has some, but usually not a lot of work. My '21 grad had 8 or 10 altogether and had more homework in junior and senior years, although part of that was during the pandemic virtual school, so who knows.

[Anonymous]

I have a PhD. So does my son's father. I was driven to succeed but didn't have academic pressure, any competitiveness, nor large homework loads. I spent my childhood hanging out with my friends, playing basketball, and riding my horse, not up late doing homework every night, constantly stressed like the kids I have seen as a practicing psychologist here the past 6 years. My kid will be as successful as he wants to be, he is very bright. He doesn't need to be all stressed out and overworked to do that. Not being stressed and feeling like he has to be an overachiever does not mean he will be a slacker. I put his mental health above all else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much! Super helpful. Do the counselors push kids to take AP and IB courses? I read that comment from one student and wondering if others would agree. Thanks again!

I have an upperclassman at Einstein.

Almost all of the NON AP and IB classes are Honors. Thus, the honors classes have kids from the very bottom of the class in them.

If your kid does not take AP and IB classes, they are severely limiting their college options. Their options will likely be limited to community college or super expensive private colleges that are not ranked high.

What are your ambitions for your kids? Why don't you want them to achieve at a high level academically?

To answer your question, no, I do not think Einstein has a peer cohort where lots of kids are gunning for Ivies etc and are super driven. But are you sure that is what you want? Because I think having an unmotivated peer cohort can make kids less motivated and driven. Studies have shown that.

Are your kids not very smart or good at school so you think sending them to a place with a less competitive environment will make them feel better about themselves?

Just trying to figure out what your goal is. Personally, I want my kids to be driven and succeed academically. You seem to not want that. What DO you want for them?

Not OP but we are considering moving IB for Einstein and have similar questions to OP, so following this thread closely.

For us, we want our kid to be at a school where the option of high academic achievement is there, especially as our oldest is very academically inclined and we do expect that she will pursue the IB diploma if offered and will want to take IB/AP classes and pursue the best possible college she can get into.

However, we don't love school environments where every kid is like that. We actually want our academically high-achieving kid to be exposed to different kinds of students and also to have options to do non-academic activities that will give her a well-rounded preparation for life. We also have a younger child who is a lot less academically inclined. Does fine in school, but must be reminded/encouraged to do homework and needs more encouragement and help to get through the school year. But is extremely into the arts. We could see this child taking some AP/IP classes in favored subjects but not in others, and I don't see her pursuing an IB diploma. We would like her to be able to go to a high school where that is also supported and where she can take a more average course load, get lots of opportunities to explore art. I also expect she is college bound, but I could see that ranging from community college to a public school with a good arts program. We likely do not have the money to be full pay at a private college.

So far, what you and others at Einstein are describing sounds like it could meet both our kids' needs. I think kids are different and I while I will make sure my kids get the baseline education they need for life, I'm not going to push them to get straight As or do all IB/AP or apply to very competitive schools if that is not THEIR goal in life. I worry about sending them to a HS where that is considered the only option because I think it can really screw kids up, whether they are academic achievers like my oldest or on a different path like my youngest. Intense pressure to achieve at a very high level, without regard for what the kids actually want or need, seems like a bad idea to me, which is why some of the other schools in MoCo don't feel like a good fit for our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much! Super helpful. Do the counselors push kids to take AP and IB courses? I read that comment from one student and wondering if others would agree. Thanks again!

I have an upperclassman at Einstein.

Almost all of the NON AP and IB classes are Honors. Thus, the honors classes have kids from the very bottom of the class in them.

If your kid does not take AP and IB classes, they are severely limiting their college options. Their options will likely be limited to community college or super expensive private colleges that are not ranked high.

What are your ambitions for your kids? Why don't you want them to achieve at a high level academically?

To answer your question, no, I do not think Einstein has a peer cohort where lots of kids are gunning for Ivies etc and are super driven. But are you sure that is what you want? Because I think having an unmotivated peer cohort can make kids less motivated and driven. Studies have shown that.

Are your kids not very smart or good at school so you think sending them to a place with a less competitive environment will make them feel better about themselves?

Just trying to figure out what your goal is. Personally, I want my kids to be driven and succeed academically. You seem to not want that. What DO you want for them?

Not OP but we are considering moving IB for Einstein and have similar questions to OP, so following this thread closely.

For us, we want our kid to be at a school where the option of high academic achievement is there, especially as our oldest is very academically inclined and we do expect that she will pursue the IB diploma if offered and will want to take IB/AP classes and pursue the best possible college she can get into.

However, we don't love school environments where every kid is like that. We actually want our academically high-achieving kid to be exposed to different kinds of students and also to have options to do non-academic activities that will give her a well-rounded preparation for life. We also have a younger child who is a lot less academically inclined. Does fine in school, but must be reminded/encouraged to do homework and needs more encouragement and help to get through the school year. But is extremely into the arts. We could see this child taking some AP/IP classes in favored subjects but not in others, and I don't see her pursuing an IB diploma. We would like her to be able to go to a high school where that is also supported and where she can take a more average course load, get lots of opportunities to explore art. I also expect she is college bound, but I could see that ranging from community college to a public school with a good arts program. We likely do not have the money to be full pay at a private college.

So far, what you and others at Einstein are describing sounds like it could meet both our kids' needs. I think kids are different and I while I will make sure my kids get the baseline education they need for life, I'm not going to push them to get straight As or do all IB/AP or apply to very competitive schools if that is not THEIR goal in life. I worry about sending them to a HS where that is considered the only option because I think it can really screw kids up, whether they are academic achievers like my oldest or on a different path like my youngest. Intense pressure to achieve at a very high level, without regard for what the kids actually want or need, seems like a bad idea to me, which is why some of the other schools in MoCo don't feel like a good fit for our family.

I think you would be in sync with a lot of Einstein parents. It's a very diverse school community, in many ways.

[Anonymous]

If I’m reading between the lines- your child is still in elementary school? You don’t know what kind of a kid they’ll be in high school. Puberty and middle school change everything. I applaud your laidback parenting approach and Einstein does sound like a good fit for you.

[Anonymous]

The babysitter we use goes to Einstein. He is definitely college bound but has time to babysit for us twice a week after school, and he doesn’t seem stressed out. He definitely has homework but it seems manageable.

For NMMS, our neighbors like it. Middle school is tough and probably MCPS’s weakest link county wide, but it’s not a pressure cooker academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much! Super helpful. Do the counselors push kids to take AP and IB courses? I read that comment from one student and wondering if others would agree. Thanks again!

I have an upperclassman at Einstein.

Almost all of the NON AP and IB classes are Honors. Thus, the honors classes have kids from the very bottom of the class in them.

If your kid does not take AP and IB classes, they are severely limiting their college options. Their options will likely be limited to community college or super expensive private colleges that are not ranked high.

What are your ambitions for your kids? Why don't you want them to achieve at a high level academically?

To answer your question, no, I do not think Einstein has a peer cohort where lots of kids are gunning for Ivies etc and are super driven. But are you sure that is what you want? Because I think having an unmotivated peer cohort can make kids less motivated and driven. Studies have shown that.

Are your kids not very smart or good at school so you think sending them to a place with a less competitive environment will make them feel better about themselves?

Just trying to figure out what your goal is. Personally, I want my kids to be driven and succeed academically. You seem to not want that. What DO you want for them?

NP - high pressure schools actually increase risk for adverse mental health outcomes later in kids. Look up Suniya Luthar’s work. You couldn’t pay me to send my kids to a W school.

[Anonymous]

Einstein is part of the DCC so if Einstein is not a good fit, in 8th grade you get to rank your choices within the consortium and then it's a lottery. There are also specialized programs kids can apply to.

Kids being stressed will depend on the courses and track they choose. There will be a huge difference in regular/honors track and the honors/AP track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Einstein is part of the DCC so if Einstein is not a good fit, in 8th grade you get to rank your choices within the consortium and then it's a lottery. There are also specialized programs kids can apply to.

Kids being stressed will depend on the courses and track they choose. There will be a huge difference in regular/honors track and the honors/AP track.

Yes but you aren’t guaranteed to get any other placement. (It’s very difficult to get Blair, for example.). If you’re moving here, you need to be okay with Einstein because there is a good chance that’s where you will be.