Takoma Park MS Magnet - 25 inbound seats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSIMS has more high performers on the upper bounds of the highly able cohort than TPMS. If the inbound seats were open to the entire DCC, SSIMS would dominate them.

SSIMS is a GS6? Sure that's similar to B-CC and lightyears better than Whitman but hardly anything to boast about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSIMS has more high performers on the upper bounds of the highly able cohort than TPMS. If the inbound seats were open to the entire DCC, SSIMS would dominate them.

Cold Spring deserves them more. Keep your grubby DCC mitts off em!

LOLZ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSIMS has more high performers on the upper bounds of the highly able cohort than TPMS. If the inbound seats were open to the entire DCC, SSIMS would dominate them.

SSIMS is a GS6? Sure that's similar to B-CC and lightyears better than Whitman but hardly anything to boast about.

I am no Great schools fan but BCC is a 9 and Whitman is up there too

[Anonymous]

It's ok you guys...whether your child attends the Takoma magnet or not will have very little impact on their life, including their future success and happiness. It's not worth all this anxiety and nastiness. Be nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But I keep reading that TPMS is an impossible distance from Bethesda and Potomac, and so nobody from Bethesda and Potomac goes there? Or is that Blair? I can never keep this stuff straight.

Many white families in Bethesda and Potomac have not historically applied to either TPMS or Blair. It has been the Asian-American families choosing the long bus ride.

Wootton is the biggest feeder into Blair and was the biggest feeder into TPMS. I have no idea how kids from Wootton can stand that bus ride. The area that feeds Wootton is somewhere between Darnestown, Gaithersburg, Rockville and Western Potomac. Its very far out there.

According to the magnet student directory, Blair is the biggest feeder into Blair.

There is no magnet student directory

That’s odd since a half-dozen magnet parents were discussing it here just last week. See for yourself.

I think you're thinking of TPMS. THey ave a directory. I have not seen one for Blair magnet (have kids in both). Also in-boundary, and my kids are definitely not dregs of the magnet as some Cold Spring parents might like everyone to believe (though some of those kids try to intimidate mine & others because they've had extra prep -- once my kid asked a question math & one of them said "You're asking that?!" Yes. because my kid is a keen learner and has not had tons of extra enrichment). FWIW, my kids have gotten into all the HS magnets, on Functions track at Blair, state/nat'l level achievements in the arts and won first place at Science Montgomery fair. In boundary.

And again to reiterate, in-boundary kids take 0 seats from other kids. It's a way to make more room for everyone. TPMS is at capacity, even if more out of boundary students were selected for the extra 25 seats, there is no room. The real problem here is not enough seats across the county. Don't try to denigrate TP kids for that. Talk about bitter!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSIMS has more high performers on the upper bounds of the highly able cohort than TPMS. If the inbound seats were open to the entire DCC, SSIMS would dominate them.

Where is this mis-info from? When my kids were at HGC (when it was just Pine Crest & Oak View), there were definitely more headed to TPMS than SSIMS. PBES used to have #s in the teens going to HGC. Way more than SCES & RTES together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The in-boundary kids I've known all have thrived in the program. Many even go on to attend Blair SMCS. Further, there's 0 impact on: the out of boundary kids, overcrowding @TPMS, or busing costs. There's basically no downside.

The real issue which has been clear for some time is there aren't enough seats to accommodate qualified students. The county really should create an additional MS magnet to address this.

What this thread boils down to is some parents feel that because there isn't sufficient space in this program for their kid that nobody else should benefit.

Perhaps, if more parents put some thought into their choice of schools instead of relying on nonsense like GS,, they'd have avoided this mess.

+1 I thought I wrote this at first!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSIMS has more high performers on the upper bounds of the highly able cohort than TPMS. If the inbound seats were open to the entire DCC, SSIMS would dominate them.

Where is this mis-info from? When my kids were at HGC (when it was just Pine Crest & Oak View), there were definitely more headed to TPMS than SSIMS. PBES used to have #s in the teens going to HGC. Way more than SCES & RTES together.

SSIMS Is a fine school but that’s out of touch. More likely written by a bitter unaffiliated parent trying to stir the pot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSIMS has more high performers on the upper bounds of the highly able cohort than TPMS. If the inbound seats were open to the entire DCC, SSIMS would dominate them.

Where is this mis-info from? When my kids were at HGC (when it was just Pine Crest & Oak View), there were definitely more headed to TPMS than SSIMS. PBES used to have #s in the teens going to HGC. Way more than SCES & RTES together.

SSIMS Is a fine school but that’s out of touch. More likely written by a bitter unaffiliated parent trying to stir the pot.

That's what I thought. BTW, I have heard nothing but great things about SSIMS, not trying to downplay SSIMS here, just that those boasts did not seem supported by the data I've observed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're talking about both sides of your mouth. First you obnoxiously claim that in bound TPMS students are so much smarter than the rest of the DCC kids that they would get into those spots even competing fairly against the rest of the DCC. Second, you flip around and claim that the in bound seats can't be shared with the rest of the DCC because that would overcrowd TPMS by 75 kids -25 per grade.

Its utterly wrong that the in bound neighborhoods get to claim ownership and not compete fairly with the rest of the consortium. There are neighborhoods that feed into SSIMS and Sligo MS that are closer to TPMS than some of the in boundary neighborhoods. There are areas in Silver Spring that are right next Blair but are zoned for Northwood and others that drive past Blair to get to Northwood. You can't argue that the neighborhoods closest to where the magnets reside somehow have ownership when neighbors that live closer to the school than you are not getting the same breaks.

TPMS in bound residents already enjoy an advantage in the test score bump that 150 OOB extra high performers bring to the school. On top of that you want special access and not to have to compete against the rest of the DCC which has as much right to special privileges as you do.

I think you're responding to me, but also assuming that all previous comments were me. I promise there are many parents posting on this thread, not just one. I live in the SSIMS feeder, so it was others who made claims about DCs who would have gotten in anyway, went on to Blair, etc. My only claim is that even though we have zero data on how the inbound students rate compared to the out-of-bounds, we know by the size of TP and the talent that's there, that some non-negligible number would go to TP either way. I doubt it's 25 but I also doubt it's less than 10. Since the argument seems to be heading into comparing SSIMS students to TP--having had kids at SSIMS and some knowledge of who went to TP instead, and how very few go to SMACS--I suspect there are more high fliers inbound at TP, but you suspect otherwise. I've been observing the how-do-kids stack up game from ES to college now, but maybe you're running off just as many years of anecdotes, (and, yeah, anecdotes aren't data, but that's all either of us have behind our biases, and we're not going to come to agreement, clearly).

As far as the set aside, it only works for inbounds. You think 25, 75 students is nothing, but it's not, that's a staffing issue. Three classrooms of kids is three physical rooms occupied in the school, it's at least three full time employees. DCC boundaries may be adjacent and weirdly drawn, but unless 75 TP students, chosen at random get tossed across that boundary, it does not work to expand the set aside to the whole DCC. Now argue all you want about the set aside, and TP government cutting out perks for their families, it's still separate. For now, the set aside is there, it only works for inbound students, and it likely frees up a few extra spots for out-of-bounds students whether in the DCC or elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're talking about both sides of your mouth. First you obnoxiously claim that in bound TPMS students are so much smarter than the rest of the DCC kids that they would get into those spots even competing fairly against the rest of the DCC. Second, you flip around and claim that the in bound seats can't be shared with the rest of the DCC because that would overcrowd TPMS by 75 kids -25 per grade.

Its utterly wrong that the in bound neighborhoods get to claim ownership and not compete fairly with the rest of the consortium. There are neighborhoods that feed into SSIMS and Sligo MS that are closer to TPMS than some of the in boundary neighborhoods. There are areas in Silver Spring that are right next Blair but are zoned for Northwood and others that drive past Blair to get to Northwood. You can't argue that the neighborhoods closest to where the magnets reside somehow have ownership when neighbors that live closer to the school than you are not getting the same breaks.

TPMS in bound residents already enjoy an advantage in the test score bump that 150 OOB extra high performers bring to the school. On top of that you want special access and not to have to compete against the rest of the DCC which has as much right to special privileges as you do.

I think you're responding to me, but also assuming that all previous comments were me. I promise there are many parents posting on this thread, not just one. I live in the SSIMS feeder, so it was others who made claims about DCs who would have gotten in anyway, went on to Blair, etc. My only claim is that even though we have zero data on how the inbound students rate compared to the out-of-bounds, we know by the size of TP and the talent that's there, that some non-negligible number would go to TP either way. I doubt it's 25 but I also doubt it's less than 10. Since the argument seems to be heading into comparing SSIMS students to TP--having had kids at SSIMS and some knowledge of who went to TP instead, and how very few go to SMACS--I suspect there are more high fliers inbound at TP, but you suspect otherwise. I've been observing the how-do-kids stack up game from ES to college now, but maybe you're running off just as many years of anecdotes, (and, yeah, anecdotes aren't data, but that's all either of us have behind our biases, and we're not going to come to agreement, clearly).

As far as the set aside, it only works for inbounds. You think 25, 75 students is nothing, but it's not, that's a staffing issue. Three classrooms of kids is three physical rooms occupied in the school, it's at least three full time employees. DCC boundaries may be adjacent and weirdly drawn, but unless 75 TP students, chosen at random get tossed across that boundary, it does not work to expand the set aside to the whole DCC. Now argue all you want about the set aside, and TP government cutting out perks for their families, it's still separate. For now, the set aside is there, it only works for inbound students, and it likely frees up a few extra spots for out-of-bounds students whether in the DCC or elsewhere.

The poster you're attempting to reason with doesn't live in the DCC. They're a bitter parent whose kid didn't make the cut and are simply trying to stir up trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're talking about both sides of your mouth. First you obnoxiously claim that in bound TPMS students are so much smarter than the rest of the DCC kids that they would get into those spots even competing fairly against the rest of the DCC. Second, you flip around and claim that the in bound seats can't be shared with the rest of the DCC because that would overcrowd TPMS by 75 kids -25 per grade.

Its utterly wrong that the in bound neighborhoods get to claim ownership and not compete fairly with the rest of the consortium. There are neighborhoods that feed into SSIMS and Sligo MS that are closer to TPMS than some of the in boundary neighborhoods. There are areas in Silver Spring that are right next Blair but are zoned for Northwood and others that drive past Blair to get to Northwood. You can't argue that the neighborhoods closest to where the magnets reside somehow have ownership when neighbors that live closer to the school than you are not getting the same breaks.

TPMS in bound residents already enjoy an advantage in the test score bump that 150 OOB extra high performers bring to the school. On top of that you want special access and not to have to compete against the rest of the DCC which has as much right to special privileges as you do.

I think you're responding to me, but also assuming that all previous comments were me. I promise there are many parents posting on this thread, not just one. I live in the SSIMS feeder, so it was others who made claims about DCs who would have gotten in anyway, went on to Blair, etc. My only claim is that even though we have zero data on how the inbound students rate compared to the out-of-bounds, we know by the size of TP and the talent that's there, that some non-negligible number would go to TP either way. I doubt it's 25 but I also doubt it's less than 10. Since the argument seems to be heading into comparing SSIMS students to TP--having had kids at SSIMS and some knowledge of who went to TP instead, and how very few go to SMACS--I suspect there are more high fliers inbound at TP, but you suspect otherwise. I've been observing the how-do-kids stack up game from ES to college now, but maybe you're running off just as many years of anecdotes, (and, yeah, anecdotes aren't data, but that's all either of us have behind our biases, and we're not going to come to agreement, clearly).

As far as the set aside, it only works for inbounds. You think 25, 75 students is nothing, but it's not, that's a staffing issue. Three classrooms of kids is three physical rooms occupied in the school, it's at least three full time employees. DCC boundaries may be adjacent and weirdly drawn, but unless 75 TP students, chosen at random get tossed across that boundary, it does not work to expand the set aside to the whole DCC. Now argue all you want about the set aside, and TP government cutting out perks for their families, it's still separate. For now, the set aside is there, it only works for inbound students, and it likely frees up a few extra spots for out-of-bounds students whether in the DCC or elsewhere.

The poster you're attempting to reason with doesn't live in the DCC. They're a bitter parent whose kid didn't make the cut and are simply trying to stir up trouble.

You must be right, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think you're thinking of TPMS. THey ave a directory. I have not seen one for Blair magnet (have kids in both). Also in-boundary, and my kids are definitely not dregs of the magnet as some Cold Spring parents might like everyone to believe (though some of those kids try to intimidate mine & others because they've had extra prep -- once my kid asked a question math & one of them said "You're asking that?!" Yes. because my kid is a keen learner and has not had tons of extra enrichment). FWIW, my kids have gotten into all the HS magnets, on Functions track at Blair, state/nat'l level achievements in the arts and won first place at Science Montgomery fair. In boundary.

And again to reiterate, in-boundary kids take 0 seats from other kids. It's a way to make more room for everyone. TPMS is at capacity, even if more out of boundary students were selected for the extra 25 seats, there is no room. The real problem here is not enough seats across the county. Don't try to denigrate TP kids for that. Talk about bitter!

If someone tries to intimidate your kid or others, it is not because they had extra prep, it is because they do not behave properly.

It is quite often to see such a hostile mentality toward "prep". So in many people's mind, doing prep ( I don't send my kid out for those since I can work with them myself) is a bad thing. Yet learning (in forms other than prep) is good (otherwise I don't see why you emphasize the "keen learner" part)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think you're thinking of TPMS. THey ave a directory. I have not seen one for Blair magnet (have kids in both). Also in-boundary, and my kids are definitely not dregs of the magnet as some Cold Spring parents might like everyone to believe (though some of those kids try to intimidate mine & others because they've had extra prep -- once my kid asked a question math & one of them said "You're asking that?!" Yes. because my kid is a keen learner and has not had tons of extra enrichment). FWIW, my kids have gotten into all the HS magnets, on Functions track at Blair, state/nat'l level achievements in the arts and won first place at Science Montgomery fair. In boundary.

And again to reiterate, in-boundary kids take 0 seats from other kids. It's a way to make more room for everyone. TPMS is at capacity, even if more out of boundary students were selected for the extra 25 seats, there is no room. The real problem here is not enough seats across the county. Don't try to denigrate TP kids for that. Talk about bitter!

If someone tries to intimidate your kid or others, it is not because they had extra prep, it is because they do not behave properly.

It is quite often to see such a hostile mentality toward "prep". So in many people's mind, doing prep ( I don't send my kid out for those since I can work with them myself) is a bad thing. Yet learning (in forms other than prep) is good (otherwise I don't see why you emphasize the "keen learner" part)?

I don't have a problem with prep. I have a problem mistake better prep for being more able (or smarter). This happens a lot (amongst moms and kids). We also know kuds who prep and ate really really nice. And, even the hotshots can be nice, but it just has to be addressed that better prep does not mean smarter, and making someone feel dumb because you already took Alg at Saturday school does not make you smarter.

I will say I do have an issue with the extent of prep. Some kids are up at 5:30, on the bus, working at academics and intense music practice until past midnight. As middle schoolers. They do Hopkins cty, music festivals and computer camps all summer. Everything is about getting ahead. I think it is not great for them or for those who kids who also prize academics and music profiency and spend time on these things but who also spend time wandering in the woods and being a kid. These kids can't compete with the ones who work dawn to dusk. It just escalates the whole intensity. I'll be honest, it bothers me.

[Anonymous]

^^^ugh, I am terrible at typing. Sorry!