Anyone's child regret heading to a magnet HS? What is the return rate to their local HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With so many new topics discussing the HS magnet applications, I'm curious if anyone's child (who is in a magnet program) decided they did not like the curriculum or the environment of the magnet schools? We hear RM's 11th and 12th grade years are difficult because 11th grade is when the actual IB component truly start. How are your kids finding it so far in junior and senior year? What about the kids at Blair with the crazy work load in 9th and 10th?

We hear so many parents gunning for their child to make it into one of these programs, but I am curious how it's been going?

My child is attending poolesville smacs prgm, and we are thinking of returning to our home school after this freshman year. The program is not what we thought it would be, we knew it would be hard but we had no idea the teachers. Would. Not. Be teaching. At all. A good majority of the teachers don’t teach in class and it seems like they either “lecture to the masses” or talk about random not related to the topics at hand to waste time. Out of my child’s eight classes, about three teachers are reasonably good, while the rest of the teachers are just present in class taking up oxygen. One of the teachers is notoriously bad and doesn’t give two hoots about his students. My child went and spoken to him about how they are struggling, he said some words to make my child leave and said come back tomorrow, the next day when my child came back for help, he prentended the initial conversation never took place. It’s disgusting and when I approached admin about this they turn a blind eye to his actions. Apparently he’s been teaching there for more than 15 years, so they know his behavior and just don’t give a crap.
the students are left struggling and having to self learn from you tube videos. We didn’t expect it to be like this at all. Students are sleeping at 1 am and waking up at 6 am to catch the bus. Many of my child friends are chronically tired, and frustrated, but they won’t go back to their homeschool bc it is either Seneca valley/ Damascus/ northwest/ or quince orchard. In their minds these schools are far worse than poolesville so they drudge on at poolesville, it’s crazy.

Welcome to MCPS, where direct instruction is a dirty word - and not just in magnets. If a school district chooses to basically close shop in a pandemic they don’t really care much for junior’s future, now do they? We left. So thankful now.

[Anonymous]

I appreciate all the parents who have been giving constructive responses.

Are there any RM parents who can chime in on their child's experience so far, especially in the 11th or 12th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate all the parents who have been giving constructive responses.

Are there any RM parents who can chime in on their child's experience so far, especially in the 11th or 12th grade?

Would like to hear more as well. My child is in 10th, has earned straight As so far but is unhappy with the workload and lack of good sleep on top of a moderate load of extracurriculars. Even though academically it's a great fit, the workload is not reasonable imo and the teachers are more hit and miss than anticipated. Advising is nonexistent. If it's true it gets that much worse in 11th/12th we will strongly consider moving back to the home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate all the parents who have been giving constructive responses.

Are there any RM parents who can chime in on their child's experience so far, especially in the 11th or 12th grade?

Would like to hear more as well. My child is in 10th, has earned straight As so far but is unhappy with the workload and lack of good sleep on top of a moderate load of extracurriculars. Even though academically it's a great fit, the workload is not reasonable imo and the teachers are more hit and miss than anticipated. Advising is nonexistent. If it's true it gets that much worse in 11th/12th we will strongly consider moving back to the home school.

Mine is also in SMCS 11th grade. They've brought home mostly A's but never seem to have any homework. Sure, an hour here and there but I would say they're working all that hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some unflattering things about the poor academics at Poolesville. But my friend's daughter is at Blair and absolutely loves it.

Not sure about Blair. A majority of poolesville graduates go on to college park, so not that much different than other mcps high schools.

That is typical of all magnets anywhere in the US.

Magnets have no better trajectory to any college than a home school. That said they still are great for some kids. Each school and experience is your child no one else. Stop comparing people. Just because your kid is failing or hates it does not mean another is not thriving.

As for Poolesville, yes I would agree the teachers are not great. The program has some great points however if it can not be executed well what is the point of shelping all the way there?


People seem to have forgotten how and why magnets were established. You were sold a bill of goods.

Then why does Blair and RM have so much better admission stats than the other MCPS schools? It's all in the Bethesda Beat annual college admission article. There's clearly a big divide between these programs and your run of the mill W.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With so many new topics discussing the HS magnet applications, I'm curious if anyone's child (who is in a magnet program) decided they did not like the curriculum or the environment of the magnet schools? We hear RM's 11th and 12th grade years are difficult because 11th grade is when the actual IB component truly start. How are your kids finding it so far in junior and senior year? What about the kids at Blair with the crazy work load in 9th and 10th?

We hear so many parents gunning for their child to make it into one of these programs, but I am curious how it's been going?

My child is attending poolesville smacs prgm, and we are thinking of returning to our home school after this freshman year. The program is not what we thought it would be, we knew it would be hard but we had no idea the teachers. Would. Not. Be teaching. At all. A good majority of the teachers don’t teach in class and it seems like they either “lecture to the masses” or talk about random not related to the topics at hand to waste time. Out of my child’s eight classes, about three teachers are reasonably good, while the rest of the teachers are just present in class taking up oxygen. One of the teachers is notoriously bad and doesn’t give two hoots about his students. My child went and spoken to him about how they are struggling, he said some words to make my child leave and said come back tomorrow, the next day when my child came back for help, he prentended the initial conversation never took place. It’s disgusting and when I approached admin about this they turn a blind eye to his actions. Apparently he’s been teaching there for more than 15 years, so they know his behavior and just don’t give a crap.
the students are left struggling and having to self learn from you tube videos. We didn’t expect it to be like this at all. Students are sleeping at 1 am and waking up at 6 am to catch the bus. Many of my child friends are chronically tired, and frustrated, but they won’t go back to their homeschool bc it is either Seneca valley/ Damascus/ northwest/ or quince orchard. In their minds these schools are far worse than poolesville so they drudge on at poolesville, it’s crazy.

Welcome to MCPS, where direct instruction is a dirty word - and not just in magnets. If a school district chooses to basically close shop in a pandemic they don’t really care much for junior’s future, now do they? We left. So thankful now.

Gov Hogan closed the schools state wide. Many many states did the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate all the parents who have been giving constructive responses.

Are there any RM parents who can chime in on their child's experience so far, especially in the 11th or 12th grade?

Would like to hear more as well. My child is in 10th, has earned straight As so far but is unhappy with the workload and lack of good sleep on top of a moderate load of extracurriculars. Even though academically it's a great fit, the workload is not reasonable imo and the teachers are more hit and miss than anticipated. Advising is nonexistent. If it's true it gets that much worse in 11th/12th we will strongly consider moving back to the home school.

That was the impression we had attending the intro meetings for both Blair and RM. Blair seems very front-loaded with coursework in the beginning two years, and there is a lot more freedom for projects in the later two. The reverse is true for RM where 11th and 12th carry the brunt of the workload. On top of that, the kids self-study for many APs so it's not as if they are just taking their IB tests alone. Magnets are not necessarily a good fit even if your child is bright and capable of the workload.

Curious if the kids and teachers are supportive of each other at the magnets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some unflattering things about the poor academics at Poolesville. But my friend's daughter is at Blair and absolutely loves it.

Not sure about Blair. A majority of poolesville graduates go on to college park, so not that much different than other mcps high schools.

That is typical of all magnets anywhere in the US.

Magnets have no better trajectory to any college than a home school. That said they still are great for some kids. Each school and experience is your child no one else. Stop comparing people. Just because your kid is failing or hates it does not mean another is not thriving.

As for Poolesville, yes I would agree the teachers are not great. The program has some great points however if it can not be executed well what is the point of shelping all the way there?


People seem to have forgotten how and why magnets were established. You were sold a bill of goods.

Then why does Blair and RM have so much better admission stats than the other MCPS schools? It's all in the Bethesda Beat annual college admission article. There's clearly a big divide between these programs and your run of the mill W.

Well, if you brain drain a huge group of capable students into a few schools, of course they will have higher stats for admission.

DD is at the local school and only in 9th, and of course we alway second guess if she made the right decision staying local rather than accepting the invitations to attend one of the magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some unflattering things about the poor academics at Poolesville. But my friend's daughter is at Blair and absolutely loves it.

Not sure about Blair. A majority of poolesville graduates go on to college park, so not that much different than other mcps high schools.

That is typical of all magnets anywhere in the US.

Magnets have no better trajectory to any college than a home school. That said they still are great for some kids. Each school and experience is your child no one else. Stop comparing people. Just because your kid is failing or hates it does not mean another is not thriving.

As for Poolesville, yes I would agree the teachers are not great. The program has some great points however if it can not be executed well what is the point of shelping all the way there?


People seem to have forgotten how and why magnets were established. You were sold a bill of goods.

Then why does Blair and RM have so much better admission stats than the other MCPS schools? It's all in the Bethesda Beat annual college admission article. There's clearly a big divide between these programs and your run of the mill W.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's "so much better".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some unflattering things about the poor academics at Poolesville. But my friend's daughter is at Blair and absolutely loves it.

Not sure about Blair. A majority of poolesville graduates go on to college park, so not that much different than other mcps high schools.

That is typical of all magnets anywhere in the US.

Magnets have no better trajectory to any college than a home school. That said they still are great for some kids. Each school and experience is your child no one else. Stop comparing people. Just because your kid is failing or hates it does not mean another is not thriving.

As for Poolesville, yes I would agree the teachers are not great. The program has some great points however if it can not be executed well what is the point of shelping all the way there?



People seem to have forgotten how and why magnets were established. You were sold a bill of goods.

Then why does Blair and RM have so much better admission stats than the other MCPS schools? It's all in the Bethesda Beat annual college admission article. There's clearly a big divide between these programs and your run of the mill W.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's "so much better".

It is not much better. Two of mine we accepted at Blair. They went to a W school. Ivies for college. Not Public ivies IVIES>...

Magnets have how many seniors applying to the same few schools. Harvard or Yale or Princeton do not take all of those kids or even 25% of those. So home schools can be better for college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some unflattering things about the poor academics at Poolesville. But my friend's daughter is at Blair and absolutely loves it.

Not sure about Blair. A majority of poolesville graduates go on to college park, so not that much different than other mcps high schools.

That is typical of all magnets anywhere in the US.

Magnets have no better trajectory to any college than a home school. That said they still are great for some kids. Each school and experience is your child no one else. Stop comparing people. Just because your kid is failing or hates it does not mean another is not thriving.

As for Poolesville, yes I would agree the teachers are not great. The program has some great points however if it can not be executed well what is the point of shelping all the way there?



People seem to have forgotten how and why magnets were established. You were sold a bill of goods.

Then why does Blair and RM have so much better admission stats than the other MCPS schools? It's all in the Bethesda Beat annual college admission article. There's clearly a big divide between these programs and your run of the mill W.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's "so much better".

It is not much better. Two of mine we accepted at Blair. They went to a W school. Ivies for college. Not Public ivies IVIES>...

Magnets have how many seniors applying to the same few schools. Harvard or Yale or Princeton do not take all of those kids or even 25% of those. So home schools can be better for college admissions.

Does Blair, RM and the magnets have better college and career mentoring? If a child chooses to stay local, do the counselors or teachers take on the roles of mentors to help them if they want to do projects for competition, or help them think about their service activities. I know the IB program looks after their own to ensure that the kids have a cohesive service project(s) that can be discussed. And Blair has teachers who advise on internships or competitions. How does it work if a student stays at a local school -- would that be pretty much completely on the student to search things out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some unflattering things about the poor academics at Poolesville. But my friend's daughter is at Blair and absolutely loves it.

Not sure about Blair. A majority of poolesville graduates go on to college park, so not that much different than other mcps high school.

Most magnets go to UMD as a percentage, because they GET a TON of MERIT money.

[Anonymous]

And that’s RM, Pooleville and Blair. RM has so many Banneker Key scholars (the other 2 have some) which is the full ride at UMD. Most magnets get UMD Honors and a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had one that attended Blair after Takoma, and one that attended Blair after home middle school. They both LOVED Blair. It used to be that 50% of blair was filled with TPMS kids, but with the new criteria, those numbers have gone down. My non TPMS kid had a harder time at first finding his group, though they NEVER Regretted their decision to attend. Going to a magnet doesn’t automatically get you into a IVY obviously (because there are 100 kids and 7 ivies so you do the math). What it does do however is A) make you better prepared for college B)enables kid to get into more top programs C)get more merit money/scholarships. Blair is HuGe , so their counselors work with all kids not just magnet, so dont expect a lot of individualized college help- that is not happening. RMIB used to have counselors specific to their IB kids, don't know if that is still the case or not. Our family could not have been happier with Blair. My kids would have been fine anywhere, but they THRIVED at Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And that’s RM, Pooleville and Blair. RM has so many Banneker Key scholars (the other 2 have some) which is the full ride at UMD. Most magnets get UMD Honors and a lot of money.

I was looking for this comment. All of the magnets have a significant portion of graduates attending UMDCP, not because they didn’t get into an elite school, but because they got either a full ride (Banneker Key) or the honors scholarship of $10k. They can graduate while paying less than a full year at a private school. Many know they intend to go to graduate school, and saving money now and then attending an elite grad school just makes better sense.

But back to OP’s question. I teach at RM. Every year there are a couple 9th graders that return to home school, for various reasons. If they stay until the DP programme begins, but then decide not to continue, they stay at RM but switch to AP classes.