Question about moving to MCPS mid year
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Anonymous
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Hi all! We are moving your way from across the country and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole process. Thanks to the forum, I have found answers to most of my questions, though one major question still remains: what will my high school child have access to/not have access to as a student moving in mid year?
For some background, we will likely move in October or November. I don't know which school yet, so this is a general catchall question. Will any sports be open to him if the team has room? (For reference, he runs cross country here and they'll pretty much take anyone, anytime at his current school.) I assume marching band is out, but what about other bands? Again, I'm assuming he won't be able to hop into any magnets at that point, but will he ever have the chance to apply or is that something you only get to do before 9th grade? We've been assuming that we'll just send him to the school we're zoned for, but is that even a guarantee so late in the semester? Thank you for any suggestions or information you can give me. I'm much less concerned about the younger siblings, as we'll have time to figure out the district before they make it to HS. At this point, we are not looking at charter or private schools, so just plain ol' public school information, please. |
Anonymous
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They’ll try to match your child’s schedule as best as they can to finish out the semester, but for 2nd semester (starting mid to late January), your child should get the classes he wants including band.
You will be moving toward the end of the fall athletic season (it starts early August) so it would make sense to hone in on Winter and Spring sports. For running, those will be indoor and outdoor track. Then your child can do cross country next year. You get your zoned school 200% of the time- don’t stress about that. However, I am not sure how they work magnets. What grade is your child entering? Is he already in a magnet? As you are new, it might be better to be in your home school to meet kids from the neighborhood. Also, sports practices are 5-6 days a week that you’d have to deal with transporting if you are not at your home school. Hope this helps! |
Anonymous
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There are three separate seasons for HS athletics, depending on the sport: fall, winter, and spring. Winter sports tryouts are in November, and spring sports tryouts are in March.
I'm not sure about band, that may be school-specific. There are lots of application programs that students can apply for after beginning high school: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q4B0LGwpmi6pnD68FEmlQeHBLm2EZ6akvsIVyccuAqg/edit Yes, you're guaranteed to go to the school your address is zoned for, even if you start mid-year. If you move into the Downcounty or Northeast Consortium area, and you want to try for a different consortium school the following year, you can apply during the choice process round two in February. More details here: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/schoolchoice/#tab-371712-2 |
Anonymous
| You will be able to enroll your kid in the school for which you are zoned. The only hitch I can foresee is that your kid might have less choices as far as electives go if classes are already full. Though schools do make exceptions. So maybe less choices is a good way to put it. As far as sports, it depends upon the start of the season. Look at the calendar for the school to see when each season starts and which sports are offered during each season. |
Anonymous
| It's very school specific. Some marching bands take everyone, ours does so its a non-issue but if its a speciality instrument like percussion there are tryouts and the teacher may or may not let your child in. The magnets are probably a no, but your child can take the classes if they are at that school. Or, they can take classes at community college. You go to the school you are zoned for except the DCC like others have said but it may be to late to do that for next year. If you can, you should try to move in late August vs. mid-school year. |
Anonymous
Thanks for the reply! He’s entering 10th grade. We’re coming from out of state and our district does not have magnets at all, which is part of the stress here for me. |
Anonymous
Thank you! So what I’m hearing is we might be able to pick another DCC school, but that would be dependent on space? I may give the district a call and ask. I appreciate the info! |
Anonymous
Yes, but you would need to live within a particular part of the county in order to be eligible for that. Otherwise you just go to the HS you’re zoned for (excluding magnet programs). |
Anonymous
| Look up your potential future addresses here to see which schools you would be zoned for. It will tell you if the area is part of a consortium or not: http://gis.mcpsmd.org/SchoolAssignmentTool2/Index.xhtml |
Anonymous
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OP we just left MCPS and moved across country mid-10th grade. The new school was far more helpful and accommodating than MCPS was when we were leaving. But that aside, the new school will attempt to match your kids classes where available. My kid was taking AP US History and their new school didn't normally let kids take that till 11th grade, but they put him in the class as he'd done half the year. The language class did not match up, he was in Spanish 5 in MCPS and there was only 3 or AP available at the new school. The AP class proved too much so he went down to 3 and finished the year there. I should add, the Spanish 3 was way beyond the Spanish 3 & 4 in MCPS where it is diluted slightly as it starts in MS and in order to last until the AP later on.
There are EC classes that are often full at the beginning of the year which your kid likely won't get a space in, things like piano where the numbers are kept very small, and there might be classes he's obliged to take which he wasn't in your origin school. Intro to computer science, health x 2 semesters, PE etc. You should speak to the admissions secretary as soon as possible and get linked to the guidance counselor available to advice. Good luck. |
Anonymous
It would be very hard to start a magnet in 10th. Some might allow it but it's a very regulated curriculum. It's really not necessary. The real magnets - there are two, only have 100 students each grade. Its near impossible to get in. |
Anonymous
You can see if you can request to get into another school but with multiple kids/transportation you may want to just pick a house where you want the kids to go to school instead. It is space dependent and it's generally a "lottery" so mid-year you'd have to do a COSA (request) and most schools are overcrowded. You will have an easier time doing things like band and sports in a "lower" income area school vs. the higher income area schools. Our marching band is open to everyone and encouraged but the higher level music classes are test in. What areas are you looking at? |
Anonymous
Say what now? Do you even live in the county? |
Anonymous
Yes, I do and most of the other magnets are lottery or other means in and not true magnets, they are just focused programs. |
Anonymous
MCPS prefers to call the magnets "application programs." There are three countywide, six regional, and four consortial. https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high |