Why don’t the W schools have special programs?

[Anonymous]

Why don’t the W schools have magnet programs, immersion, or other specialty programs like other schools in the county?

[Anonymous]

I think the idea is that they're already well provided for because of the PTA and generally families are more well off.

If you consider BCC a W school, it has the IB program

[Anonymous]

WJ has APEX and ACES (science)

[Anonymous]

Those programs are typically placed in less desirable schools to increase appeal. The Ws don’t need that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the W schools have magnet programs, immersion, or other specialty programs like other schools in the county?

Potomac ES has the Chinese immersion magnet, which is functionally set aside for their use only.

Chevy Chase ES and Cold Spring ES have elementary school magnets.

Westland MS has the Spanish immersion magnet at the MS level and the IB MYP, and Hoover has Chinese immersion at the MS level.

Whitman has the application-based social justice program, and all of the other W high schools have "signature programs."

[Anonymous]

Because the “special programs” are used to pull kids from the rich (W schools) into the less funded schools. They are the last vestiges of integration and busing programs, made attractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the W schools have magnet programs, immersion, or other specialty programs like other schools in the county?

I am not at a “W” but I’ve heard people talk about multiple special programs there. Like this one?

https://sites.google.com/mcpsmd.net/wwhs-special-program-lasj/home

Why do you assume they don’t have any specialty, magnet, or immersion programs?

If you are asking why they don’t host the larger magnets, I think part of that is geography. They need to find more centralized schools if kids are going to commute from across the lower county. It is one of the reasons I expect the DCC, and Blair in particular host so many of the lower county specialty programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because the “special programs” are used to pull kids from the rich (W schools) into the less funded schools. They are the last vestiges of integration and busing programs, made attractive.

So why can’t the W schools be used to attract kids from the “less funded” schools? Shouldn’t all MCPS students be offered the same opportunities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the “special programs” are used to pull kids from the rich (W schools) into the less funded schools. They are the last vestiges of integration and busing programs, made attractive.

So why can’t the W schools be used to attract kids from the “less funded” schools? Shouldn’t all MCPS students be offered the same opportunities?

Aren't they? It just might be that students at W schools have to travel to take advantage of them (which is generally true of non-W students as well)

[Anonymous]

Some of the programs mentioned above are "signature" programs only available to in-zone students.

Walt Whitman opened up a social justice program to more of the county (not sure whole or regional) - new this fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because the “special programs” are used to pull kids from the rich (W schools) into the less funded schools. They are the last vestiges of integration and busing programs, made attractive.

This, magnets, consortiums and the lot are used not for enrichment but as reverse bussing programs to help prop up schools with slipping attendance like Poolesville or Blair’s changing demographics. It’s a perception and student balancing act. When whole areas have a stigma they created the consortiums so that the middle class could still sell their houses even if zoned for a Kennedy or Einstein since the new owners would default to a “choice”.

They don’t have the sweeten pot for the W’s, the peer group does it for them. They have the opposite problem of keeping people out and don’t want to create too many ways in save for large mortgages. BCC fought like hell to stay out of the consortium and for other proposals over the years like closing Rosemary Hills back in the 80s that allowed poor silver spring kids to go to BCC. The program at Whitman is a token to introduce a few high achieving Spanish and Black kids to the richest and least diverse school in the county to combat the Whiteman stigma and prop up that schools diversity achievement scores which are now used in rankings. Again central office engineering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the “special programs” are used to pull kids from the rich (W schools) into the less funded schools. They are the last vestiges of integration and busing programs, made attractive.

So why can’t the W schools be used to attract kids from the “less funded” schools? Shouldn’t all MCPS students be offered the same opportunities?

The magnet programs like global studies and such are open to students across the area so yes all students are offered this. W school students apply just like everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the idea is that they're already well provided for because of the PTA and generally families are more well off.

If you consider BCC a W school, it has the IB program

We don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the “special programs” are used to pull kids from the rich (W schools) into the less funded schools. They are the last vestiges of integration and busing programs, made attractive.

So why can’t the W schools be used to attract kids from the “less funded” schools? Shouldn’t all MCPS students be offered the same opportunities?

Because the schools are full and there is not room to attract any more kids. The ones in my neighborhood pay to go private to avoid our local overstuffed full W school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the “special programs” are used to pull kids from the rich (W schools) into the less funded schools. They are the last vestiges of integration and busing programs, made attractive.

So why can’t the W schools be used to attract kids from the “less funded” schools? Shouldn’t all MCPS students be offered the same opportunities?

There aren’t seats. The use the magnets to pull kids into schools that are otherwise undersubscribed like RM. there was some talk about making the new Woodward High a magnet but they didn’t want to put the money into it to make it happen. If they pulled out of neighborhood kids into a school like WJ, they couldn’t fit the neighborhood kids (which already are overflowing the school).