Blair SMCS - AP US History or no?
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Anonymous
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Blair SMCS admin discourages AP US History (9th grade), but says that kids sign up anyway due to peer/parent/self pressure. I also heard many students don't do well but feel pressured to lie about it.
Any first hand experience? |
Anonymous
| Can you take AP NSL in 9th and APUSH in 10th? The former is easier and moves more slowly (one semester of college into 2 semesters of high school). |
Anonymous
| My kid chose not to take it last year in 9th and was happy with that choice given that they were balancing the challenges of adjusting to high school, the longer commute, and the rigor and workload of the magnet classes (especially math). A friend took it and said the teacher was good, but it was a lot more work and they seemed more stressed out overall. My other non-magnet kid took it in 9th at our home high school and that was the right choice for them; they enjoyed the challenging class, but didn't have all the other pressures their sibling had last year. So it really depends on your child and how you think their adjustment will go. The magnet classes will provide plenty of challenge, and having an easier class for history could be a good thing. My magnet kid will take AP Gov this year in 10th. |
Anonymous
| Magnet APUSH is really good. She came from no experience teaching magnet students two years ago, and she spent a ton of personal time trying to adjust and support. She came with dedication and enthusiasm in teaching. My extremely STEM-skewed kid got 5 in the APUSH test and highly recommended her. |
Anonymous
Not in SMCS |
Anonymous
I don't think outside the magnet either, although it seems like a logical choice. Why would a particularly intensive AP be created for what is usually a freshman class, unless the idea is to take honors History in 9th grade, and APUSH as a senior? (I assume because it's college level that it would not be considered to be repeating history.) Anyway, I will encourage my kid to do AP NSL in 10th. |
Anonymous
Since when is history part of the SMCS magnet? |
Anonymous
It’s never a SMCS course, but just for some logistic reason, her class is dominantly magnet students. |
Anonymous
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my magnet child didn't do it because we were advised it was too hard given the magnet load but she wishes she had done it. most of her magnet friends did and she would not have found it that hard.
That said, she was up past 11 p.m. most nights her whole freshman year as it was, and she was not functions track. She came from a not very strong middle school -plus lost a year to COVID--and had a lot of catching up to do. So it depends in part on how well prepared your student is. |
Anonymous
| We didn’t do it last year either. My kid doesn’t really enjoy history, which was a big part of it, but we also wanted him to be able to focus on the transition to high school and the magnet classes. No regrets. He is taking AP Gov this year as a sophomore. |
Anonymous
| APUSH was not an issue for my ninth grader last year — but he is also a strong writer and reader. |
Anonymous
| it was only within the last year or two they even let magnet freshmen take this class. previously they felt it was too much on top of the magnet course load. If you don't have functions and believe 3+ hours of homework a night is fine then it's worth considering. It can add as much as 5 hours a week. I wouldn't do it if you have functions. There are kids who have but that's a lot. |