Blair SMCS Program October 23 info session

[Anonymous]

Is there any place to find the materials that were presented in the Oct 23 info session? It's one of the few programs that required parents/students to come in person to Blair, which we weren't able to do. And there was no virtual link, and nothing was posted afterwards.

[Anonymous]

Link to the slides
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16dMkDPYrFwRJTuBj_1fhY2_3moPQdKHEs2AiPIBQ3EI/mobilepresent?slide=id.p1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any place to find the materials that were presented in the Oct 23 info session? It's one of the few programs that required parents/students to come in person to Blair, which we weren't able to do. And there was no virtual link, and nothing was posted afterwards.

[/quote

No virtual option?

[Anonymous]

Is this the last year or is there one more? Before the change to STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any place to find the materials that were presented in the Oct 23 info session? It's one of the few programs that required parents/students to come in person to Blair, which we weren't able to do. And there was no virtual link, and nothing was posted afterwards.

[/quote

No virtual option?

Yes, it was an in-person meeting only at Blair. Not very accessible in my opinion to have it at a single hour at a school that's a significant drive away for many on a school night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any place to find the materials that were presented in the Oct 23 info session? It's one of the few programs that required parents/students to come in person to Blair, which we weren't able to do. And there was no virtual link, and nothing was posted afterwards.

[/quote

No virtual option?

Yes, it was an in-person meeting only at Blair. Not very accessible in my opinion to have it at a single hour at a school that's a significant drive away for many on a school night.

That's MCPS for you. They say they do a lot of things in the name of equity, but when it comes to their more desirable magnet programs, they don't give out much info at all...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this the last year or is there one more? Before the change to STEM.

I think it's the last year--would have been interesting to know what was said about that at the session in terms of guaranteeing continuity of classes only SMCS has traditionally offered until they graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this the last year or is there one more? Before the change to STEM.

I think it's the last year--would have been interesting to know what was said about that at the session in terms of guaranteeing continuity of classes only SMCS has traditionally offered until they graduate.

It's a good question!

[Anonymous]

Why didn't MCPS offer a zoom link? They had one for Poolesville and several of the other programs.

Even for RMIB--there was no virtual link but they had 2 different sessions at different times. But just one for Blair SMCS so if you couldn't make it for some reason, you were SOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Link to the slides
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16dMkDPYrFwRJTuBj_1fhY2_3moPQdKHEs2AiPIBQ3EI/mobilepresent?slide=id.p1

Those slides are entirely uninformative. So basically the other 50 minutes of Q&A for which there was no record was where people actually got information.

[Anonymous]

I would imagine the in person demand is part of getting people to grapple with the time and distance. If you can’t show up for a single info session, is this Bery demanding commute going to be something you can manage for your family every weekday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this the last year or is there one more? Before the change to STEM.

Assuming the changes go through as planned and on schedule, this year's 8th graders would be the last class admitted under the current model (but the new model would not be implemented until fall 2027.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine the in person demand is part of getting people to grapple with the time and distance. If you can’t show up for a single info session, is this Bery demanding commute going to be something you can manage for your family every weekday?

The "bery" demanding commute isn't as much of an issue since Blair SMCS offers bus service to kids every day. But if you think that part of MCPS admissions to a magnet should be the ability to drive 40 minutes each way for a single hour on a single school night, well, that's your vision of what equity and merit looks like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine the in person demand is part of getting people to grapple with the time and distance. If you can’t show up for a single info session, is this Bery demanding commute going to be something you can manage for your family every weekday?

So only people who live near Blair need apply? That's kind of what happens anyway--only 4 HS clusters send most of the kids to SMCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine the in person demand is part of getting people to grapple with the time and distance. If you can’t show up for a single info session, is this Bery demanding commute going to be something you can manage for your family every weekday?

So only people who live near Blair need apply? That's kind of what happens anyway--only 4 HS clusters send most of the kids to SMCS.

Ofc proximity plays a role in dedicating to these programs. Or at least a group of carpooling kids.