Explain MCPS magnets to me?

[Anonymous]

I’ve read loads of threads on this board and still don’t understand how students get selected for magnets like Blair. Can someone explain to me like I’m a child?

Context is that we have a fourth grader in DCPS and are contemplating moving to MD for middle school. Older child seems to be strong in math (top scorer on national competitions) so magnets may be appealing but I know are not guaranteed. The plan would be to choose a good neighborhood high school but I struggle to understand whether magnets would be something remotely possible or not. Other options are private school and staying put in DCPS (probably the leading contender). Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Magnets in MOCO are geography based, test based. Basically kid tests in get an option of a magnet either Math or Humanities based.

One does not need a magnet if at top HS in MOCO.

Most public home HS have all the advanced classes except IB.

Top publics in MD are way better than any DC private particuarly math and science.

[Anonymous]

Middle School: there is a down-county STEM magnet (TPMS) and a down-county Humanities magnet (Eastern) and there are up-county counterparts (won't get into it since coming from DC I assume you're gonna stick to down county).

Your kid applies in Fall of 5th grade and is notified in late Winter of 5th grade. This used to be via essay/testing/scores, but now it is more of a "you made the cut, do you want to enter the lottery?" thing and I don't know if the kids are involved or write an essay because my kid did it 4+ years ago when the process was selective beyond the initial cut. Yes, the cohorts used to be filled with even higher-testing more motivated kids. Yes, the cohorts are still very strong.

High School: if you move you'll know what to do, but basically the big ones are as follows:
- Blair SMACS - eligible if you live down-county
- Richard Montgomery IB - I forget if it's all county but if you live in the down-county portion you're eligible
- Blair CAP (Humanities) - eligible if you are zoned for Blair, Einstein, Kennedy, Wheaton, or Northwood or attended a middle school magnet at TPMS or Eastern
- Wheaton Engineering or Wheaton Biomed (same eligibility as CAP, I think?) - these are selective magnets, Wheaton also has focused programs in these subjects but they are not the same rigor/selection
- Poolesville has a Global Ecology program that is open to the entire county - focused on field trips and sustainability and hands-on science stuff.

You apply for HS magnets in fall of 8th grade and are notified in late Jan/early Feb.

If you live to the west and are zoned for Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, or Walter Johnson, your entire school pyramid will be solid. Some kids opt for magnets if offered a spot, some pass, some do them and return for high school, but any way you slice it these four high schools are excellent. People complain that they don't have special programs but they don't need them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle School: there is a down-county STEM magnet (TPMS) and a down-county Humanities magnet (Eastern) and there are up-county counterparts (won't get into it since coming from DC I assume you're gonna stick to down county).

Your kid applies in Fall of 5th grade and is notified in late Winter of 5th grade. This used to be via essay/testing/scores, but now it is more of a "you made the cut, do you want to enter the lottery?" thing and I don't know if the kids are involved or write an essay because my kid did it 4+ years ago when the process was selective beyond the initial cut. Yes, the cohorts used to be filled with even higher-testing more motivated kids. Yes, the cohorts are still very strong.

High School: if you move you'll know what to do, but basically the big ones are as follows:
- Blair SMACS - eligible if you live down-county
- Richard Montgomery IB - I forget if it's all county but if you live in the down-county portion you're eligible
- Blair CAP (Humanities) - eligible if you are zoned for Blair, Einstein, Kennedy, Wheaton, or Northwood or attended a middle school magnet at TPMS or Eastern
- Wheaton Engineering or Wheaton Biomed (same eligibility as CAP, I think?) - these are selective magnets, Wheaton also has focused programs in these subjects but they are not the same rigor/selection
- Poolesville has a Global Ecology program that is open to the entire county - focused on field trips and sustainability and hands-on science stuff.

You apply for HS magnets in fall of 8th grade and are notified in late Jan/early Feb.

If you live to the west and are zoned for Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, or Walter Johnson, your entire school pyramid will be solid. Some kids opt for magnets if offered a spot, some pass, some do them and return for high school, but any way you slice it these four high schools are excellent. People complain that they don't have special programs but they don't need them.

Not any more. There is no applying in 5th grade. There is a universal review of 5th graders instead. For the HS magnets there is still an application process which happens in the fall of 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle School: there is a down-county STEM magnet (TPMS) and a down-county Humanities magnet (Eastern) and there are up-county counterparts (won't get into it since coming from DC I assume you're gonna stick to down county).

Your kid applies in Fall of 5th grade and is notified in late Winter of 5th grade. This used to be via essay/testing/scores, but now it is more of a "you made the cut, do you want to enter the lottery?" thing and I don't know if the kids are involved or write an essay because my kid did it 4+ years ago when the process was selective beyond the initial cut. Yes, the cohorts used to be filled with even higher-testing more motivated kids. Yes, the cohorts are still very strong.

High School: if you move you'll know what to do, but basically the big ones are as follows:
- Blair SMACS - eligible if you live down-county
- Richard Montgomery IB - I forget if it's all county but if you live in the down-county portion you're eligible
- Blair CAP (Humanities) - eligible if you are zoned for Blair, Einstein, Kennedy, Wheaton, or Northwood or attended a middle school magnet at TPMS or Eastern
- Wheaton Engineering or Wheaton Biomed (same eligibility as CAP, I think?) - these are selective magnets, Wheaton also has focused programs in these subjects but they are not the same rigor/selection
- Poolesville has a Global Ecology program that is open to the entire county - focused on field trips and sustainability and hands-on science stuff.

You apply for HS magnets in fall of 8th grade and are notified in late Jan/early Feb.

If you live to the west and are zoned for Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, or Walter Johnson, your entire school pyramid will be solid. Some kids opt for magnets if offered a spot, some pass, some do them and return for high school, but any way you slice it these four high schools are excellent. People complain that they don't have special programs but they don't need them.
For HS magnet, there is also Regional IB programs.

[Anonymous]

For HS magnet, there is also Regional IB programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle School: there is a down-county STEM magnet (TPMS) and a down-county Humanities magnet (Eastern) and there are up-county counterparts (won't get into it since coming from DC I assume you're gonna stick to down county).

Your kid applies in Fall of 5th grade and is notified in late Winter of 5th grade. This used to be via essay/testing/scores, but now it is more of a "you made the cut, do you want to enter the lottery?" thing and I don't know if the kids are involved or write an essay because my kid did it 4+ years ago when the process was selective beyond the initial cut. Yes, the cohorts used to be filled with even higher-testing more motivated kids. Yes, the cohorts are still very strong.

High School: if you move you'll know what to do, but basically the big ones are as follows:
- Blair SMACS - eligible if you live down-county
- Richard Montgomery IB - I forget if it's all county but if you live in the down-county portion you're eligible
- Blair CAP (Humanities) - eligible if you are zoned for Blair, Einstein, Kennedy, Wheaton, or Northwood or attended a middle school magnet at TPMS or Eastern
- Wheaton Engineering or Wheaton Biomed (same eligibility as CAP, I think?) - these are selective magnets, Wheaton also has focused programs in these subjects but they are not the same rigor/selection
- Poolesville has a Global Ecology program that is open to the entire county - focused on field trips and sustainability and hands-on science stuff.

You apply for HS magnets in fall of 8th grade and are notified in late Jan/early Feb.

If you live to the west and are zoned for Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, or Walter Johnson, your entire school pyramid will be solid. Some kids opt for magnets if offered a spot, some pass, some do them and return for high school, but any way you slice it these four high schools are excellent. People complain that they don't have special programs but they don't need them.

Poolesville also has a SMCS Magnet (math science computer science) for the rest of the county that does not feed to Blair.

[Anonymous]

If your kid is enrolled in MCPS in the fall of 5th grade, they will be automatically considered for the middle school magnet programs (both the math and humanities programs). Test scores and grades are considered, and those meeting a certain level are placed in a lottery for available spots.

For high school magnets, kids have to actively apply in the fall of 8th grade. Options include the math/science/computer science magnet, the county-wide IB (at Richard Montgomery), the regional IB programs, and the global ecology program at Poolesville, as well as some options available only in certain high school clusters.

There's a lot of information here: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Magnets in MOCO are geography based, test based. Basically kid tests in get an option of a magnet either Math or Humanities based.

One does not need a magnet if at top HS in MOCO.

Most public home HS have all the advanced classes except IB.

Top publics in MD are way better than any DC private particuarly math and science.

What do you mean by "One does not need a magnet if at a top HS in MOCO"? Please explain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magnets in MOCO are geography based, test based. Basically kid tests in get an option of a magnet either Math or Humanities based.

One does not need a magnet if at top HS in MOCO.

Most public home HS have all the advanced classes except IB.

Top publics in MD are way better than any DC private particuarly math and science.

What do you mean by "One does not need a magnet if at a top HS in MOCO"? Please explain.

NP. They mean that if you attend one of the top HS in Montgomery county, the course offerings will be very solid to challenge any kid, and the cohort will be strong too. I agree with one of the previous posts that name 4 very strong HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magnets in MOCO are geography based, test based. Basically kid tests in get an option of a magnet either Math or Humanities based.

One does not need a magnet if at top HS in MOCO.

Most public home HS have all the advanced classes except IB.

Top publics in MD are way better than any DC private particuarly math and science.

What do you mean by "One does not need a magnet if at a top HS in MOCO"? Please explain.

NP. They mean that if you attend one of the top HS in Montgomery county, the course offerings will be very solid to challenge any kid, and the cohort will be strong too. I agree with one of the previous posts that name 4 very strong HS.

By "strong," they mean having a higher percentage of white and Asian students and a lower percentage of students receiving subsidized meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magnets in MOCO are geography based, test based. Basically kid tests in get an option of a magnet either Math or Humanities based.

One does not need a magnet if at top HS in MOCO.

Most public home HS have all the advanced classes except IB.

Top publics in MD are way better than any DC private particuarly math and science.

What do you mean by "One does not need a magnet if at a top HS in MOCO"? Please explain.

NP. They mean that if you attend one of the top HS in Montgomery county, the course offerings will be very solid to challenge any kid, and the cohort will be strong too. I agree with one of the previous posts that name 4 very strong HS.

These 4 HS may be strong but they don't have the rigor of the magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle School: there is a down-county STEM magnet (TPMS) and a down-county Humanities magnet (Eastern) and there are up-county counterparts (won't get into it since coming from DC I assume you're gonna stick to down county).

Your kid applies in Fall of 5th grade and is notified in late Winter of 5th grade. This used to be via essay/testing/scores, but now it is more of a "you made the cut, do you want to enter the lottery?" thing and I don't know if the kids are involved or write an essay because my kid did it 4+ years ago when the process was selective beyond the initial cut. Yes, the cohorts used to be filled with even higher-testing more motivated kids. Yes, the cohorts are still very strong.

High School: if you move you'll know what to do, but basically the big ones are as follows:
- Blair SMACS - eligible if you live down-county
- Richard Montgomery IB - I forget if it's all county but if you live in the down-county portion you're eligible
- Blair CAP (Humanities) - eligible if you are zoned for Blair, Einstein, Kennedy, Wheaton, or Northwood or attended a middle school magnet at TPMS or Eastern
- Wheaton Engineering or Wheaton Biomed (same eligibility as CAP, I think?) - these are selective magnets, Wheaton also has focused programs in these subjects but they are not the same rigor/selection
- Poolesville has a Global Ecology program that is open to the entire county - focused on field trips and sustainability and hands-on science stuff.

You apply for HS magnets in fall of 8th grade and are notified in late Jan/early Feb.

If you live to the west and are zoned for Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, or Walter Johnson, your entire school pyramid will be solid. Some kids opt for magnets if offered a spot, some pass, some do them and return for high school, but any way you slice it these four high schools are excellent. People complain that they don't have special programs but they don't need them.

Not any more. There is no applying in 5th grade. There is a universal review of 5th graders instead. For the HS magnets there is still an application process which happens in the fall of 8th grade.

Not quite correct. There is a universal review for the Math /Science and Humanities magnets for 5th. The speciality magnets like Aerospace, Performing Arts, Design & Development students still have select/apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magnets in MOCO are geography based, test based. Basically kid tests in get an option of a magnet either Math or Humanities based.

One does not need a magnet if at top HS in MOCO.

Most public home HS have all the advanced classes except IB.

Top publics in MD are way better than any DC private particuarly math and science.

What do you mean by "One does not need a magnet if at a top HS in MOCO"? Please explain.

NP. They mean that if you attend one of the top HS in Montgomery county, the course offerings will be very solid to challenge any kid, and the cohort will be strong too. I agree with one of the previous posts that name 4 very strong HS.

By "strong," they mean having a higher percentage of white and Asian students and a lower percentage of students receiving subsidized meals.

This is a classic "causation vs. correlation" FAIL. Unfortunately all too common with many people.

The good news is that the kids at BOTH the magnets and those "top" HS aren't likely to fall into this logic trap so there's hope.

[Anonymous]

OP: There are also other programs such as CTE, Dual Enrollment, academies, etc. A motivated student can get a great education at any McPS HS.

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