Humanities high school magnets?

[Anonymous]

Can folks help me understand the high school magnet situation for kids who are gifted in/interested in the humanities? (Tried to research it myself but just got confused.)

Poolesville is one of the humanities magnets for part of the county, right? What are the others? Are they pretty similar or is there significant variation?

What kinds of courses are offered? (Particularly in 9th and 10th grade which seems like a weak spot in non-magnet schools.) How strong is the writing instruction? Do folks generally think of them as better than, worse than, or roughly similar to the middle school humanities magnets?

What are the criteria to get in, roughly? I know it's not as clearcut as the middle school magnet lottery cutoffs, but is there a general sense of MAP scores or other indicators needed?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

This is a helpful document about all the programs and which clusters can go to them:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kww20_552tnY8jPTKhnjI04ZxBF-m66zk6RPJOea8R0/preview

[Anonymous]

It's a little complicated, OP.

If you are in-bounds for the DCC or attended MS in the DCC, you can apply to the Communication Arts Program at Blair.

If you are IB for Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, Magruder, Northwest, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Seneca Valley, or Watkins Mill, you can apply to the Poolesville Humanities program.

Both of these programs emphasize cross-disciplinary approaches. I can only speak to CAP, but the CAP-specific classes are cohorted. That means US History, English, Drama, and Photography/Screenwriting in 9th grade, and then AP Government, English, Film, and Journalism in 10th grade are just with the child's CAP cohort.

Alternatively, RMIB and the regional IB magnets are not specifically Humanities programs, but they do provide cohorted classes in the underclassmen years and take a well-rounded approach that emphasizes critical thinking, comparative approaches, etc.

[Anonymous]

RMIB has the strongest writing program.

[Anonymous]

This is the problem (one of) with mcps. They do not offer the same programs to all schools or regions. CAP in the DCC is not a humanities program. Only Poolesville seems to have an actual humanities program, but that’s only open to that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the problem (one of) with mcps. They do not offer the same programs to all schools or regions. CAP in the DCC is not a humanities program. Only Poolesville seems to have an actual humanities program, but that’s only open to that area.

Can you say more about the ways CAP is not really a humanities program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the problem (one of) with mcps. They do not offer the same programs to all schools or regions. CAP in the DCC is not a humanities program. Only Poolesville seems to have an actual humanities program, but that’s only open to that area.

Can you say more about the ways CAP is not really a humanities program?

You can check out their page on the Blair website to see what you think. It seems very focused on the communication aspect: drama, journalism, photography, tv production. The Poolesville humanities program seems to have much more of a traditional humanities focus.

[Anonymous]

From the outside CAP looks like neither fish nor fowl: not a theatre program or a journalism program, and certainly not really an academic humanities program. My DC is very into drama but CAP doesn't look like it will really feed that - my impression is that theatre in CAP is really there to cultivate public-presentation skills. Which is fine, but not as much of an asset for a kid who might major in theatre/drama in college.

CAP veterans, can you help me understand the program better?

[Anonymous]

CAP is definitely an interdisciplinary Humanities program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What kinds of courses are offered? (Particularly in 9th and 10th grade which seems like a weak spot in non-magnet schools.) How strong is the writing instruction? Do folks generally think of them as better than, worse than, or roughly similar to the middle school humanities magnets?

9th grade: AP Gov (also called AP NSL), Humanities English 9 (weighted as honors), Criticism in the Humanities (course specifically designed for the program, only offered there)

10th grade: AP Seminar, APUSH, and a class similar to Criticism but centered around culture instead of specifically art. I think it’s maybe Culture in Literature? This class is new as of this school year. Last year, sophomores took English.

11th grade: AP Lang, AP World History, AP Art History

12th grade: AP Lit, AP Research (this, along with Seminar from 10th gets them AP Capstone)

There is a very strong focus on interdisciplinary learning, particularly in 9th-11th. They have numerous projects that involve all 3 classes working together. This is the main draw of Humanities. Yes, you can take classes like AP Lang or AP World anywhere, but the interdisciplinary learning is unique. And of course the non AP classes are pretty tailored to their curriculum too.

The writing instruction is strong. There was less of a focus on writing in 9th grade, which leans more toward art, literature, and government. But with Seminar and then Lang, 10th and 11th grades are very writing intensive. So is 12th, as AP Research entails a 4-5k word paper. There’s also a strong focus on historical research throughout.

The program is more serious than the middle school one. The cohort is noticeably more advanced than the middle school cohort. They’re also more tightly bonded than the middle school Humanities kids were. This is helped by all the projects that require “blocking” (the whole cohort is together for a 3 period long “block” instead of broken into different periods).

Humanities is the place for strong writers and readers, who like history, art, and culture, and value a close community of peers.

Other notes: it has roughly 55-60 kids, and a significant number (10-20) come from the Humanities program at MLK. Humanities is hard but manageable. It’s the same size as SMCS whereas Global has ~90 kids.

— mom of a current Poolesville Humanities junior/former MLK Humanities student

[Anonymous]

If you are interested in this be sure to watch the conversations about the HS program analysis and complete the survey they sent out today. It was discussed at the last board meeting too. They presented two options, but really seemed to lean towards an option that would revamp the entire magnet/special programs offerings in the county- my impression was more consistency across the county and more sites, of fewer different programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What kinds of courses are offered? (Particularly in 9th and 10th grade which seems like a weak spot in non-magnet schools.) How strong is the writing instruction? Do folks generally think of them as better than, worse than, or roughly similar to the middle school humanities magnets?

9th grade: AP Gov (also called AP NSL), Humanities English 9 (weighted as honors), Criticism in the Humanities (course specifically designed for the program, only offered there)

10th grade: AP Seminar, APUSH, and a class similar to Criticism but centered around culture instead of specifically art. I think it’s maybe Culture in Literature? This class is new as of this school year. Last year, sophomores took English.

11th grade: AP Lang, AP World History, AP Art History

12th grade: AP Lit, AP Research (this, along with Seminar from 10th gets them AP Capstone)

There is a very strong focus on interdisciplinary learning, particularly in 9th-11th. They have numerous projects that involve all 3 classes working together. This is the main draw of Humanities. Yes, you can take classes like AP Lang or AP World anywhere, but the interdisciplinary learning is unique. And of course the non AP classes are pretty tailored to their curriculum too.

The writing instruction is strong. There was less of a focus on writing in 9th grade, which leans more toward art, literature, and government. But with Seminar and then Lang, 10th and 11th grades are very writing intensive. So is 12th, as AP Research entails a 4-5k word paper. There’s also a strong focus on historical research throughout.

The program is more serious than the middle school one. The cohort is noticeably more advanced than the middle school cohort. They’re also more tightly bonded than the middle school Humanities kids were. This is helped by all the projects that require “blocking” (the whole cohort is together for a 3 period long “block” instead of broken into different periods).

Humanities is the place for strong writers and readers, who like history, art, and culture, and value a close community of peers.

Other notes: it has roughly 55-60 kids, and a significant number (10-20) come from the Humanities program at MLK. Humanities is hard but manageable. It’s the same size as SMCS whereas Global has ~90 kids.

— mom of a current Poolesville Humanities junior/former MLK Humanities student

The Poolesville Humanities program should be regionalized like IB across 4 or 5 total sites. SMCS, too, of course. Performing arts, creative arts, business & engineering each might have a good argument for the same, but those three are no-brainers, with plenty of kids who would fill the seats at any site that didn't get a watered-down version.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the outside CAP looks like neither fish nor fowl: not a theatre program or a journalism program, and certainly not really an academic humanities program. My DC is very into drama but CAP doesn't look like it will really feed that - my impression is that theatre in CAP is really there to cultivate public-presentation skills. Which is fine, but not as much of an asset for a kid who might major in theatre/drama in college.

CAP veterans, can you help me understand the program better?

Parent of a theater-focused CAP graduate here. I think that in the absence of a true performing arts magnet in MCPS, a lot of those kids do congregate in CAP but it is as you say not a performing arts program. It is an integrated humanities program. The history/English/media teachers work together to guide big projects and deepen understanding of the curriculum by exploring it from different perspectives. Because so much of the learning is project based, kids can leverage their particular interests/talents. So a theater kid can write and perform a monologue for, say, National History Day whereas a more fine arts focused or documentary film making kid might tackle the same subject through a different medium. As the PHS parent said, the interdisciplinary approach is the draw.

Second semester of 10th grade is very focused on making a short film, and the theater and crew kids tend to really shine in that project with elaborate sets, scripts, and props. Junior year is more focused on a long form research paper, which means that all of the research and writing skills from the journalism classes get channeled into a more traditionally academic direction.

Just a side note that the theater program at Blair is also very strong, for kids who want to do HS theater. They are a little under the radar compared to some of the other schools, partially because they double cast and therefore don't compete in the various review/competitions around town, but the performances quite good and (more importantly) the culture of the program is positive and produces plenty of young people who apply to performing arts/theater programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the outside CAP looks like neither fish nor fowl: not a theatre program or a journalism program, and certainly not really an academic humanities program. My DC is very into drama but CAP doesn't look like it will really feed that - my impression is that theatre in CAP is really there to cultivate public-presentation skills. Which is fine, but not as much of an asset for a kid who might major in theatre/drama in college.

CAP veterans, can you help me understand the program better?

Parent of a theater-focused CAP graduate here. I think that in the absence of a true performing arts magnet in MCPS, a lot of those kids do congregate in CAP but it is as you say not a performing arts program. It is an integrated humanities program. The history/English/media teachers work together to guide big projects and deepen understanding of the curriculum by exploring it from different perspectives. Because so much of the learning is project based, kids can leverage their particular interests/talents. So a theater kid can write and perform a monologue for, say, National History Day whereas a more fine arts focused or documentary film making kid might tackle the same subject through a different medium. As the PHS parent said, the interdisciplinary approach is the draw.

Second semester of 10th grade is very focused on making a short film, and the theater and crew kids tend to really shine in that project with elaborate sets, scripts, and props. Junior year is more focused on a long form research paper, which means that all of the research and writing skills from the journalism classes get channeled into a more traditionally academic direction.

Just a side note that the theater program at Blair is also very strong, for kids who want to do HS theater. They are a little under the radar compared to some of the other schools, partially because they double cast and therefore don't compete in the various review/competitions around town, but the performances quite good and (more importantly) the culture of the program is positive and produces plenty of young people who apply to performing arts/theater programs.

This is extremely helpful and I really appreciate it - thank you! We are DCC but not zoned for either Einstein (where DC wants to go) or Blair, so a CAP application might be one of the only ways for DC to get to one of those two schools. (Defaulting into our home school isn't the best choice for DC"s interests.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the outside CAP looks like neither fish nor fowl: not a theatre program or a journalism program, and certainly not really an academic humanities program. My DC is very into drama but CAP doesn't look like it will really feed that - my impression is that theatre in CAP is really there to cultivate public-presentation skills. Which is fine, but not as much of an asset for a kid who might major in theatre/drama in college.

CAP veterans, can you help me understand the program better?

Parent of a theater-focused CAP graduate here. I think that in the absence of a true performing arts magnet in MCPS, a lot of those kids do congregate in CAP but it is as you say not a performing arts program. It is an integrated humanities program. The history/English/media teachers work together to guide big projects and deepen understanding of the curriculum by exploring it from different perspectives. Because so much of the learning is project based, kids can leverage their particular interests/talents. So a theater kid can write and perform a monologue for, say, National History Day whereas a more fine arts focused or documentary film making kid might tackle the same subject through a different medium. As the PHS parent said, the interdisciplinary approach is the draw.

Second semester of 10th grade is very focused on making a short film, and the theater and crew kids tend to really shine in that project with elaborate sets, scripts, and props. Junior year is more focused on a long form research paper, which means that all of the research and writing skills from the journalism classes get channeled into a more traditionally academic direction.

Just a side note that the theater program at Blair is also very strong, for kids who want to do HS theater. They are a little under the radar compared to some of the other schools, partially because they double cast and therefore don't compete in the various review/competitions around town, but the performances quite good and (more importantly) the culture of the program is positive and produces plenty of young people who apply to performing arts/theater programs.

This is extremely helpful and I really appreciate it - thank you! We are DCC but not zoned for either Einstein (where DC wants to go) or Blair, so a CAP application might be one of the only ways for DC to get to one of those two schools. (Defaulting into our home school isn't the best choice for DC"s interests.)

Looking at the two explanations, the PHS Humanities and Blair CAP programs look more similar than different. PHS does Government, then US History. Blair does CAP US History, then AP Government. PHS does the Criticism class, and CAP embeds the criticism into the theater/film components. PHS has a strong focus on fine arts, and CAP mandates a journalism class.

But the "core" of the programs is very similar - kids are cohorted, work together on large projects including a long research paper, and teachers collaborate to provide an interdisciplinary wraparound approach. If a PHS kid is interested in journalism, I assume they can take that as an elective. If a CAP kid is interested in fine arts, they can take that as well.