Continuity for current 6th and 7th graders in magnet programs

[Anonymous]

In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

[Anonymous]

As far as I know, this is an unanswered issue. I am not aware that MCPS has issued any details about middle school programming. So this is anyone's guess.

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

Huh? There aren't any changes currently planned to middle school magnets, are there?

[Anonymous]

There has never been a guarantee of continuity for kids in the magnet middle schools, because there's no guarantee they will end up in a magnet high school program. My kid had to make new friends in 4th grade at a CES, in 6th grade at a magnet, and then decided to go back to the home high school without any close middle school friends. The transitions, challenging as they are, are something that families have always had to weigh when deciding whether to attend a magnet.

I'm not sure how the new regional programs would change that, unless you're assuming that under the current system your middle schooler would continue with a group of their friends to the magnet high school program, and now they'll be split into different regions. That's not necessarily a valid assumption.

[Anonymous]

Many kids love the opportunity to "reinvent" themselves when going to a new school, especially high school.
With boundary changes, the mobility rate of our county and the size of high schools, your child will be far from the only one and many kids will be shifting groups and making new friends. Those looking for continuity are usually the parents, not the kids.

[Anonymous]

What are you asking for? To keep magnet kids together in HS? Not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

How does the regional programming change this? Middle school magnet kids never articulated on to a specific high school. The only thing that changes now is that it's impossible for some of them to stay together, I guess. But how would you change that?

(And the lack of continuity is also basically what you actively sign up for when you decide to do a middle school magnet. Not at all like boundary changes where you are forced into it. When you pick a middle school magnet, you decide "the benefits of my kid being at this magnet outweigh the fact that it is not their neighborhood school so they will be with different groups of kids than in ES and HS.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

How does the regional programming change this? Middle school magnet kids never articulated on to a specific high school. The only thing that changes now is that it's impossible for some of them to stay together, I guess. But how would you change that?

(And the lack of continuity is also basically what you actively sign up for when you decide to do a middle school magnet. Not at all like boundary changes where you are forced into it. When you pick a middle school magnet, you decide "the benefits of my kid being at this magnet outweigh the fact that it is not their neighborhood school so they will be with different groups of kids than in ES and HS.)

OP here. My kid is quite advanced and would have been with some of their peers in high school and we factored that in when we decided to stay with the magnet, in spite of logistic issues, 2 months in. We made our decision based on the benefits we saw at that time. Now we don't see any benefit and our sacrifice for 3 years will be worthless.

My kid will most likely will get into the high school magnet and most of their MS friends who are from same high school will go to one region, a few others to a different region, while my kid will be sent to a completely different high school.

Since we based our decision on information provided at the time we signed up for the magnet, I am wondering how my kid who most likely will get in to a magnet can be with their MS peers. I am not asking that MCPS plan this for all future magnet kids - just the current 6th graders and 7th graders who based their decision on previous information provided. We did not know 6 new regional magnets will pop up midway through disrupting the continuity we envisioned when we made our decision.

Maybe they should allow these current 6th and 7th grader kids to get a COSA if that is what the parent thinks is best for the kid? The parents who request this will be very few -there are 80 per grade in each magnet and not all parents whose kid gets into a magnet and belongs to a different regional magnet will want the change or be willing to drive their kid - just the ones who want continuity for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

So you want kids who had lottery luck in MS magnets to get that advantage through high school too? Nope. Not happening. If you want continuity, go to your local school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

How does the regional programming change this? Middle school magnet kids never articulated on to a specific high school. The only thing that changes now is that it's impossible for some of them to stay together, I guess. But how would you change that?

(And the lack of continuity is also basically what you actively sign up for when you decide to do a middle school magnet. Not at all like boundary changes where you are forced into it. When you pick a middle school magnet, you decide "the benefits of my kid being at this magnet outweigh the fact that it is not their neighborhood school so they will be with different groups of kids than in ES and HS.)

OP here. My kid is quite advanced and would have been with some of their peers in high school and we factored that in when we decided to stay with the magnet, in spite of logistic issues, 2 months in. We made our decision based on the benefits we saw at that time. Now we don't see any benefit and our sacrifice for 3 years will be worthless.

My kid will most likely will get into the high school magnet and most of their MS friends who are from same high school will go to one region, a few others to a different region, while my kid will be sent to a completely different high school.

Since we based our decision on information provided at the time we signed up for the magnet, I am wondering how my kid who most likely will get in to a magnet can be with their MS peers. I am not asking that MCPS plan this for all future magnet kids - just the current 6th graders and 7th graders who based their decision on previous information provided. We did not know 6 new regional magnets will pop up midway through disrupting the continuity we envisioned when we made our decision.

Maybe they should allow these current 6th and 7th grader kids to get a COSA if that is what the parent thinks is best for the kid? The parents who request this will be very few -there are 80 per grade in each magnet and not all parents whose kid gets into a magnet and belongs to a different regional magnet will want the change or be willing to drive their kid - just the ones who want continuity for their kids.

That's kind of an odd way to make decisions... how would you have any idea which of the various HS magnets your kid's classmates would choose to apply to or get into? There's a wide range of abilities and interests among middle school magnet kids, and a number of HS magnet programs they can choose from (alongside their home school.) It's pretty unlikely they'd end up at the same place even without the change to regional programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

How does the regional programming change this? Middle school magnet kids never articulated on to a specific high school. The only thing that changes now is that it's impossible for some of them to stay together, I guess. But how would you change that?

(And the lack of continuity is also basically what you actively sign up for when you decide to do a middle school magnet. Not at all like boundary changes where you are forced into it. When you pick a middle school magnet, you decide "the benefits of my kid being at this magnet outweigh the fact that it is not their neighborhood school so they will be with different groups of kids than in ES and HS.)

OP here. My kid is quite advanced and would have been with some of their peers in high school and we factored that in when we decided to stay with the magnet, in spite of logistic issues, 2 months in. We made our decision based on the benefits we saw at that time. Now we don't see any benefit and our sacrifice for 3 years will be worthless.

My kid will most likely will get into the high school magnet and most of their MS friends who are from same high school will go to one region, a few others to a different region, while my kid will be sent to a completely different high school.

Since we based our decision on information provided at the time we signed up for the magnet, I am wondering how my kid who most likely will get in to a magnet can be with their MS peers. I am not asking that MCPS plan this for all future magnet kids - just the current 6th graders and 7th graders who based their decision on previous information provided. We did not know 6 new regional magnets will pop up midway through disrupting the continuity we envisioned when we made our decision.

Maybe they should allow these current 6th and 7th grader kids to get a COSA if that is what the parent thinks is best for the kid? The parents who request this will be very few -there are 80 per grade in each magnet and not all parents whose kid gets into a magnet and belongs to a different regional magnet will want the change or be willing to drive their kid - just the ones who want continuity for their kids.

Lots of kids go off to different high schools, especially in the DCC and NEC currently. This is not new. You were very lucky to get a spot in a middle school magnet. If you think your 3 years there will be worthless, transfer back to your home school and free up a spot for someone who will value it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

How does the regional programming change this? Middle school magnet kids never articulated on to a specific high school. The only thing that changes now is that it's impossible for some of them to stay together, I guess. But how would you change that?

(And the lack of continuity is also basically what you actively sign up for when you decide to do a middle school magnet. Not at all like boundary changes where you are forced into it. When you pick a middle school magnet, you decide "the benefits of my kid being at this magnet outweigh the fact that it is not their neighborhood school so they will be with different groups of kids than in ES and HS.)

OP here. My kid is quite advanced and would have been with some of their peers in high school and we factored that in when we decided to stay with the magnet, in spite of logistic issues, 2 months in. We made our decision based on the benefits we saw at that time. Now we don't see any benefit and our sacrifice for 3 years will be worthless.

My kid will most likely will get into the high school magnet and most of their MS friends who are from same high school will go to one region, a few others to a different region, while my kid will be sent to a completely different high school.

Since we based our decision on information provided at the time we signed up for the magnet, I am wondering how my kid who most likely will get in to a magnet can be with their MS peers. I am not asking that MCPS plan this for all future magnet kids - just the current 6th graders and 7th graders who based their decision on previous information provided. We did not know 6 new regional magnets will pop up midway through disrupting the continuity we envisioned when we made our decision.

Maybe they should allow these current 6th and 7th grader kids to get a COSA if that is what the parent thinks is best for the kid? The parents who request this will be very few -there are 80 per grade in each magnet and not all parents whose kid gets into a magnet and belongs to a different regional magnet will want the change or be willing to drive their kid - just the ones who want continuity for their kids.

Lots of kids go off to different high schools, especially in the DCC and NEC currently. This is not new. You were very lucky to get a spot in a middle school magnet. If you think your 3 years there will be worthless, transfer back to your home school and free up a spot for someone who will value it.

OP. Are you that dense? The kids in DCC have some friends coming in with them to all the 3 Middle schools and they all live nearby and have after school activity buses- 8 schools get split up between the 3 middle schools in DCC. When we go to a criteria magnet or if out of bounds to DCC, there are very few kids going in from the elementary schools that these kids go to. So yes, parents and kids invest time when driving their kids around so their kids can get into a magnet with peers from that group.

Very easy for you to say free up a spot after the kids have spent 2 years in a new school, making new friends. Ho do you think they will fair in their assigned middle school where all the friend groups are already made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

So you want kids who had lottery luck in MS magnets to get that advantage through high school too? Nope. Not happening. If you want continuity, go to your local school.

Luck or not you have to be good enough and meet a certain criteria to get into that pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about yesterday's meeting, there was a link to what people spoke about and many emphasized continuity and to keep StoneMill and Travilah together at Cabin John for continuity and to have same peer group.

My question - families with kids in magnet programs have invested a lot of time driving the kids, kids also have sacrificed their elementary school friendships and made new friends in these magnets. With the regional magnets, current 6th and 7th graders will lose those set of friends/peers/cohorts and no continuity for them - basically ES was a different group, MS a different group and now a different group for HS. It is hard for some nerdy kids to make friends as is and now they have to start over.

If continuity is allowed with boundary changes for current 10th and 11th graders, why not the same for the current 6th and 7th grader kids in the magnet programs? They need continuity too.

How can this be achieved?

How does the regional programming change this? Middle school magnet kids never articulated on to a specific high school. The only thing that changes now is that it's impossible for some of them to stay together, I guess. But how would you change that?

(And the lack of continuity is also basically what you actively sign up for when you decide to do a middle school magnet. Not at all like boundary changes where you are forced into it. When you pick a middle school magnet, you decide "the benefits of my kid being at this magnet outweigh the fact that it is not their neighborhood school so they will be with different groups of kids than in ES and HS.)

OP here. My kid is quite advanced and would have been with some of their peers in high school and we factored that in when we decided to stay with the magnet, in spite of logistic issues, 2 months in. We made our decision based on the benefits we saw at that time. Now we don't see any benefit and our sacrifice for 3 years will be worthless.

My kid will most likely will get into the high school magnet and most of their MS friends who are from same high school will go to one region, a few others to a different region, while my kid will be sent to a completely different high school.

Since we based our decision on information provided at the time we signed up for the magnet, I am wondering how my kid who most likely will get in to a magnet can be with their MS peers. I am not asking that MCPS plan this for all future magnet kids - just the current 6th graders and 7th graders who based their decision on previous information provided. We did not know 6 new regional magnets will pop up midway through disrupting the continuity we envisioned when we made our decision.

Maybe they should allow these current 6th and 7th grader kids to get a COSA if that is what the parent thinks is best for the kid? The parents who request this will be very few -there are 80 per grade in each magnet and not all parents whose kid gets into a magnet and belongs to a different regional magnet will want the change or be willing to drive their kid - just the ones who want continuity for their kids.

Lots of kids go off to different high schools, especially in the DCC and NEC currently. This is not new. You were very lucky to get a spot in a middle school magnet. If you think your 3 years there will be worthless, transfer back to your home school and free up a spot for someone who will value it.

OP. Are you that dense? The kids in DCC have some friends coming in with them to all the 3 Middle schools and they all live nearby and have after school activity buses- 8 schools get split up between the 3 middle schools in DCC. When we go to a criteria magnet or if out of bounds to DCC, there are very few kids going in from the elementary schools that these kids go to. So yes, parents and kids invest time when driving their kids around so their kids can get into a magnet with peers from that group.

Very easy for you to say free up a spot after the kids have spent 2 years in a new school, making new friends. Ho do you think they will fair in their assigned middle school where all the friend groups are already made.

What on earth are you talking about? There are way more than 3 middle schools in the DCC-- there are 5 high schools plus all the middle schools that feed into them.