8th grade Alg II

[Anonymous]

We are moving to Mont Cty. My child is in 8th grade and currently taking Alg II. I was told he will be bussed to the HS for this class. I was looking at the MCPS course catalog. It looks like there are 2 levels of Alg II available —Alg 2A and Hon Alg2A.

The class that my kid was placed in is Alg 2A not the honors section. Apparently it’s the section that all the MS kids are in. It’s my understanding that Alg 2 counts towards GPA and the honors section is weighted higher.

So if a kid is advanced why wouldn’t they be placed in the higher level?

[Anonymous]

The question is what makes you think your kid is advance? Is you kid coming from an Honors Alg 2 class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question is what makes you think your kid is advance? Is you kid coming from an Honors Alg 2 class?

Yes

[Anonymous]

It could be any number of things, including that the non-Honors section was the one being offered Period 1, which is the time that MS aged kids can attend a HS class.

I'd let it go. On balance, having your child be with all of the other middle schoolers is the most important thing. Algebra II is going to have kids up to seniors in high school. Let him stay in the class with his grade and age-level peers.

As for the GPA, grades earned in MS only "count" if they help the weighted GPA. But also you need to simmer down. Your child is obviously advanced, or at least extremely well-supported, and will do fine even if they have to take a "regular" A in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It could be any number of things, including that the non-Honors section was the one being offered Period 1, which is the time that MS aged kids can attend a HS class.

I'd let it go. On balance, having your child be with all of the other middle schoolers is the most important thing. Algebra II is going to have kids up to seniors in high school. Let him stay in the class with his grade and age-level peers.

As for the GPA, grades earned in MS only "count" if they help the weighted GPA. But also you need to simmer down. Your child is obviously advanced, or at least extremely well-supported, and will do fine even if they have to take a "regular" A in 8th grade.

Thank you for this response. I appreciate the feedback and insight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It could be any number of things, including that the non-Honors section was the one being offered Period 1, which is the time that MS aged kids can attend a HS class.

I'd let it go. On balance, having your child be with all of the other middle schoolers is the most important thing. Algebra II is going to have kids up to seniors in high school. Let him stay in the class with his grade and age-level peers.

As for the GPA, grades earned in MS only "count" if they help the weighted GPA. But also you need to simmer down. Your child is obviously advanced, or at least extremely well-supported, and will do fine even if they have to take a "regular" A in 8th grade.

I think you also have the choice of whether to include MS grades. I'd be more concerned whether taking regular Algebra 2 prepares them for Honors or AP Precalc if that's their next step. I don't know about this since our non-W school didn't offer math acceleration in ES which sets kids up for this.

[Anonymous]

It is probably school based. At our MS school, 8th graders taking Alg 2 are all enrolled in the honor one.

[Anonymous]

It is school based, not probably. High schools only offer certain classes first period.

[Anonymous]

No one will look at the MS grades. As PP pointed out they are used in our school district if they help the HS GPA automatically and not used if they don't. You also have power to decide if you want the grade included.

All colleges recalculate the GPA and none will use middle school.

This is not a concern.

[Anonymous]

Frost Middle has Hon Algebra 2 on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Mont Cty. My child is in 8th grade and currently taking Alg II. I was told he will be bussed to the HS for this class. I was looking at the MCPS course catalog. It looks like there are 2 levels of Alg II available —Alg 2A and Hon Alg2A.

The class that my kid was placed in is Alg 2A not the honors section. Apparently it’s the section that all the MS kids are in. It’s my understanding that Alg 2 counts towards GPA and the honors section is weighted higher.

So if a kid is advanced why wouldn’t they be placed in the higher level?

How do you know it's not Honors? Is it based on the schedule you received?
What's the exact course title/code on your document.

If it's not Honors, the reason is probably due to scheduling conflict for 1st or 7th period when your child visits from middle school.


Ask the teacher to pull a copy of the Honors homework from another section, as a supplement.

The classmates might not be the best academic influence, and might be in 10th or 11th grade.

It's not a huge deal. Your child should already be enriching at home (Calculus or similar) if they have that much talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frost Middle has Hon Algebra 2 on campus.

I doubt OP wants to move again this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It could be any number of things, including that the non-Honors section was the one being offered Period 1, which is the time that MS aged kids can attend a HS class.

I'd let it go. On balance, having your child be with all of the other middle schoolers is the most important thing. Algebra II is going to have kids up to seniors in high school. Let him stay in the class with his grade and age-level peers.

As for the GPA, grades earned in MS only "count" if they help the weighted GPA. But also you need to simmer down. Your child is obviously advanced, or at least extremely well-supported, and will do fine even if they have to take a "regular" A in 8th grade.

If the middle school is sending 8th graders to the high school, it's because they don't have enough 8th graders for a middle school class. The non honors class will have older students on average than a honors class.

[Anonymous]

If your student was extremely advanced in Algebra, and is a self-studier, I would beg the MS to give the kid an Algebra 2 assessment and then let the kid sit in the back of a geometry class and do independent study with Khan or something and take school Algebra 2 tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Mont Cty. My child is in 8th grade and currently taking Alg II. I was told he will be bussed to the HS for this class. I was looking at the MCPS course catalog. It looks like there are 2 levels of Alg II available —Alg 2A and Hon Alg2A.

The class that my kid was placed in is Alg 2A not the honors section. Apparently it’s the section that all the MS kids are in. It’s my understanding that Alg 2 counts towards GPA and the honors section is weighted higher.

So if a kid is advanced why wouldn’t they be placed in the higher level?

How do you know it's not Honors? Is it based on the schedule you received?
What's the exact course title/code on your document.

If it's not Honors, the reason is probably due to scheduling conflict for 1st or 7th period when your child visits from middle school.


Ask the teacher to pull a copy of the Honors homework from another section, as a supplement.

The classmates might not be the best academic influence, and might be in 10th or 11th grade.

It's not a huge deal. Your child should already be enriching at home (Calculus or similar) if they have that much talent.

Alcumus not Calculus!