Poolesville High School as a local, non magnet student

[Anonymous]

Any experience with this? We are considering a move to this HS and our DC would not be in a magnet program. Do non-magnet kids feel like they belong?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. I have a magnet kid and a non and they both have tons of friends in all magnets (ISP is also a magnet.) The biggest difference I see is that the three magnet houses that draw from outside of Poolesville have very clear academic paths and ISP kids have more choices - which means they can choose to challenge themselves more or less than the kids in the Humanities, SMCS and Global magnets. Sports and clubs are fantastic unifiers and great ways to make lots of friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely. I have a magnet kid and a non and they both have tons of friends in all magnets (ISP is also a magnet.) The biggest difference I see is that the three magnet houses that draw from outside of Poolesville have very clear academic paths and ISP kids have more choices - which means they can choose to challenge themselves more or less than the kids in the Humanities, SMCS and Global magnets. Sports and clubs are fantastic unifiers and great ways to make lots of friends.

Agreed. I have had two magnet kids at PHS. My younger one went through JPMS and has friends that are in magnet/ non-magnet. His non- magnet are just as smart/ hardworking and no one makes a big deal about it. The kids don’t care. There are a few more limitations in terms of classes advanced classes freshman can take (some are only for magnet) but after that Sky is the limit.

[Anonymous]

From what I have seen, this is not a problem. The construction is a problem, though for the next year or so.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I have read differing views on PHS as a whole. Is the school community (and related parent population) much different then W clusters or BCC? We are trying to make an informed decision if we move to Poolesville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have read differing views on PHS as a whole. Is the school community (and related parent population) much different then W clusters or BCC? We are trying to make an informed decision if we move to Poolesville.

My understanding is that it's not as international and culturally-diverse as the closer-in MoCo schools. Since we're an international family, that would be a deal-breaker. But if you're culturally similar to the majority of the Poolesville residents, then you'll have no problems.

[Anonymous]

The Poolesville magnets draw from places like Gaithersburg, Germantown, and Clarksburg, which are actually much more diverse than the W school districts (ethnically and socioeconomically). Even if the elem/middle are not very diverse, by high school I don't think it's even remotely an issue. We know at least 15 kids who attend there, and all but 2 are non-white.