Recent experience in RM IB and Poolesville Global Ecology

[Anonymous]

go to RMIB only if kid is very driven, organized and hard working type

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

Honestly, *I* have concerns as a parent, but she seems to be doing okay. We came from a MS that had issues with drugs and weed anyway, so the issues with drugs aren’t new to her. I am hopeful that the two recent incidents will initiate some improvements in security. RM already got funding for an additional security guard.

I have heard that the building at Poolesville is undergoing renovations? We never go to go in person because everything (the meetings) was virtual that year. It sounded like a great program and DD might have chosen it if it was closer. But RM has been a good challenge and a great peer group for her so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

I mean honestly why should your entire high school memory be around being in a top tier college.

Poolesville is the better and safer school. If you want to be the parent that pushes for a potential for a top tier college but also possible mental health and exhaustion in a below average school, take the gamble.

I mean.. how can you be mentally exhausted at a below average school, unless you are far below average?

There are over 2000 kids at RM. The vast majority aren't problem kids and don't fear going to school. There are many high achieving kids who aren't in the IB program but take a load of AP classes, and sometimes the IB classes. I have one in IB and one not, and one of them tends to have some anxiety issues but has never expressed high anxiety over going to RM.

Unless your kid is super smart, self driven and organized, RMIB is going to be a challenge. My DC doesn't necessarily find the content challenging, but there is a lot of work. Lots of sleep deprived kids, but some of that is self inflicted from what I have heard from DC. There are a lot of RMIB kids who have an uwgpa of 4.0, and 1550+ SAT scores, and do several extra curricular activities. These kids are super high achieving. Not for the faint of heart if you want to keep up.

[Anonymous]

I've had two daughters go through PHS GE and have nothing but nice things to say. They do tons of field trips and there is lots of community building with their cohort. It makes it feel like a smaller school. Once you get to Jr. year there is more freedom in choosing your courses so the rigor is really what you make of it. I should note too that one of my daughters got into SMCS but when she chose GE, she was still offered the SMCS math path. It was the best of both worlds for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

I mean honestly why should your entire high school memory be around being in a top tier college.

Poolesville is the better and safer school. If you want to be the parent that pushes for a potential for a top tier college but also possible mental health and exhaustion in a below average school, take the gamble.

I mean.. how can you be mentally exhausted at a below average school, unless you are far below average?

There are over 2000 kids at RM. The vast majority aren't problem kids and don't fear going to school. There are many high achieving kids who aren't in the IB program but take a load of AP classes, and sometimes the IB classes. I have one in IB and one not, and one of them tends to have some anxiety issues but has never expressed high anxiety over going to RM.

Unless your kid is super smart, self driven and organized, RMIB is going to be a challenge. My DC doesn't necessarily find the content challenging, but there is a lot of work. Lots of sleep deprived kids, but some of that is self inflicted from what I have heard from DC. There are a lot of RMIB kids who have an uwgpa of 4.0, and 1550+ SAT scores, and do several extra curricular activities. These kids are super high achieving. Not for the faint of heart if you want to keep up.

Many parents don’t want their kids self inflicted and sleep deprived just to brag. That is exactly the point the PP was pointing out. Many kids aren’t ready for how challenging it is and are miserable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

I mean honestly why should your entire high school memory be around being in a top tier college.

Poolesville is the better and safer school. If you want to be the parent that pushes for a potential for a top tier college but also possible mental health and exhaustion in a below average school, take the gamble.

I mean.. how can you be mentally exhausted at a below average school, unless you are far below average?

There are over 2000 kids at RM. The vast majority aren't problem kids and don't fear going to school. There are many high achieving kids who aren't in the IB program but take a load of AP classes, and sometimes the IB classes. I have one in IB and one not, and one of them tends to have some anxiety issues but has never expressed high anxiety over going to RM.

Unless your kid is super smart, self driven and organized, RMIB is going to be a challenge. My DC doesn't necessarily find the content challenging, but there is a lot of work. Lots of sleep deprived kids, but some of that is self inflicted from what I have heard from DC. There are a lot of RMIB kids who have an uwgpa of 4.0, and 1550+ SAT scores, and do several extra curricular activities. These kids are super high achieving. Not for the faint of heart if you want to keep up.

My child got into RMIB, is driven and organized but also loves his sport and wants to play on the varsity team. From your experience, is it doable for kids to attend daily practices and keep up with school work? FWIW, DC doesn't have any other extracurriculars (no instrument, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

I mean honestly why should your entire high school memory be around being in a top tier college.

Poolesville is the better and safer school. If you want to be the parent that pushes for a potential for a top tier college but also possible mental health and exhaustion in a below average school, take the gamble.

I mean.. how can you be mentally exhausted at a below average school, unless you are far below average?

There are over 2000 kids at RM. The vast majority aren't problem kids and don't fear going to school. There are many high achieving kids who aren't in the IB program but take a load of AP classes, and sometimes the IB classes. I have one in IB and one not, and one of them tends to have some anxiety issues but has never expressed high anxiety over going to RM.

Unless your kid is super smart, self driven and organized, RMIB is going to be a challenge. My DC doesn't necessarily find the content challenging, but there is a lot of work. Lots of sleep deprived kids, but some of that is self inflicted from what I have heard from DC. There are a lot of RMIB kids who have an uwgpa of 4.0, and 1550+ SAT scores, and do several extra curricular activities. These kids are super high achieving. Not for the faint of heart if you want to keep up.

Many parents don’t want their kids self inflicted and sleep deprived just to brag. That is exactly the point the PP was pointing out. Many kids aren’t ready for how challenging it is and are miserable

So you think it's the parents who stuff their kicking and screaming children into magnets just to brag?
Sorry your child isn't up to snuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

I mean honestly why should your entire high school memory be around being in a top tier college.

Poolesville is the better and safer school. If you want to be the parent that pushes for a potential for a top tier college but also possible mental health and exhaustion in a below average school, take the gamble.

I mean.. how can you be mentally exhausted at a below average school, unless you are far below average?

There are over 2000 kids at RM. The vast majority aren't problem kids and don't fear going to school. There are many high achieving kids who aren't in the IB program but take a load of AP classes, and sometimes the IB classes. I have one in IB and one not, and one of them tends to have some anxiety issues but has never expressed high anxiety over going to RM.

Unless your kid is super smart, self driven and organized, RMIB is going to be a challenge. My DC doesn't necessarily find the content challenging, but there is a lot of work. Lots of sleep deprived kids, but some of that is self inflicted from what I have heard from DC. There are a lot of RMIB kids who have an uwgpa of 4.0, and 1550+ SAT scores, and do several extra curricular activities. These kids are super high achieving. Not for the faint of heart if you want to keep up.

My child got into RMIB, is driven and organized but also loves his sport and wants to play on the varsity team. From your experience, is it doable for kids to attend daily practices and keep up with school work? FWIW, DC doesn't have any other extracurriculars (no instrument, etc).

It depends on your kid. My kid had a PT job, and three extra curricular activities. DC had something going on almost everyday after school, and on weekends. But, DC was able to manage it. and said that they got the most sleep out of all their friends -- a whole 7 hours.

Granted, we live pretty close to RM so they didn't have a long bus ride, and DC didn't find the material all that challenging, just a lot of work.

It really does depend on your kid. We were told during orientation to try for at least one semester. If you don't like it, you can always bow out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

I mean honestly why should your entire high school memory be around being in a top tier college.

Poolesville is the better and safer school. If you want to be the parent that pushes for a potential for a top tier college but also possible mental health and exhaustion in a below average school, take the gamble.

I mean.. how can you be mentally exhausted at a below average school, unless you are far below average?

There are over 2000 kids at RM. The vast majority aren't problem kids and don't fear going to school. There are many high achieving kids who aren't in the IB program but take a load of AP classes, and sometimes the IB classes. I have one in IB and one not, and one of them tends to have some anxiety issues but has never expressed high anxiety over going to RM.

Unless your kid is super smart, self driven and organized, RMIB is going to be a challenge. My DC doesn't necessarily find the content challenging, but there is a lot of work. Lots of sleep deprived kids, but some of that is self inflicted from what I have heard from DC. There are a lot of RMIB kids who have an uwgpa of 4.0, and 1550+ SAT scores, and do several extra curricular activities. These kids are super high achieving. Not for the faint of heart if you want to keep up.

My child got into RMIB, is driven and organized but also loves his sport and wants to play on the varsity team. From your experience, is it doable for kids to attend daily practices and keep up with school work? FWIW, DC doesn't have any other extracurriculars (no instrument, etc).

It depends on your kid. My kid had a PT job, and three extra curricular activities. DC had something going on almost everyday after school, and on weekends. But, DC was able to manage it. and said that they got the most sleep out of all their friends -- a whole 7 hours.

Granted, we live pretty close to RM so they didn't have a long bus ride, and DC didn't find the material all that challenging, just a lot of work.

It really does depend on your kid. We were told during orientation to try for at least one semester. If you don't like it, you can always bow out.

Thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

OP-

Congratulations! The selection time can be so stressful but it’s great to have choices!

I have two kids one currently in Global and another that graduated from Global and is now at UMD in a STEM honors program. My kids have had friends at/and who have graduated from RMIB.

When we were choosing for my older one, the counselor gave the best advice and said there are no better/worse programs but there are bad reasons for choosing them. The best reason to choose a program is because it offers your child options that are meaningful. My quirky introverted children love the field trips and the sense of community that Global offers and that was the most important thing for them. Please don’t choose a program for prestige - unless your kid is very prestige focused. It doesn’t work in the end. We’ve seen kids flame out first hand. Depression and worse is a real issue when kids aren’t t happy.

Where your kid will flourish is the most important thing. 5 years from now no one will care whether your kid attended. Where they end up will be largely dictated by WHAT they did and how they performed in HS rather than where they went. I have no doubt the right child can be equally successful in both schools. Kids in my daughter’s graduating Global class went to schools like Penn, HYPS and MIT as well as Montgomery College and everything in between.

When the kids get to college, they will be evaluated against their new peers. There are no extra points for having gone to the “better” magnet. What I see from my older one’s college friends is that kids who graduate from schools that DCUM would shame do extraordinary things. My daughter has many friends who are doing amazing things in STEM having graduated from low ranked HS.

If your child is passionate, your child can get an excellent education in either school.

Questions I would ask…

How do the commutes compare? What time do the buses drop off and pick up for your location? Sleep is really important for HS students.

What activities is your child interested in? What school offers the best choices? Robotics- Poolesville has an edge Music/Arts- RMIB no question etc.

Do your child participate in after school activities not managed by the school like CYO? How difficult would it be to get your child to various activities in time?

What curriculum is better for your child’s interests? Not sure about RMIB but in GE there are a lot of elective spaces to focus on areas of interest AP Bio/ Anatomy, AP Chem, Physics, Differential Equations etc.

What does your child think of the vibe at either school? Meeting the students where does your child think they will fit in better.

Take a deep breathe! Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a 10th grader at RMIB. She turned down Poolesville Global Ecology because of the commute.

So far, RMIB has been great. I hear that Junior year is a nightmare, so we’ll see. Nice group of kids. Good teachers and excellent extracurricular opportunities without an insane commute. She plays a sport and an instrument and has time for both.

Thanks! Does she have any safety concerns about RM? Some of the comments on DCUM about RM make more a bit worried.

I mean honestly why should your entire high school memory be around being in a top tier college.

Poolesville is the better and safer school. If you want to be the parent that pushes for a potential for a top tier college but also possible mental health and exhaustion in a below average school, take the gamble.

I mean.. how can you be mentally exhausted at a below average school, unless you are far below average?

There are over 2000 kids at RM. The vast majority aren't problem kids and don't fear going to school. There are many high achieving kids who aren't in the IB program but take a load of AP classes, and sometimes the IB classes. I have one in IB and one not, and one of them tends to have some anxiety issues but has never expressed high anxiety over going to RM.

Unless your kid is super smart, self driven and organized, RMIB is going to be a challenge. My DC doesn't necessarily find the content challenging, but there is a lot of work. Lots of sleep deprived kids, but some of that is self inflicted from what I have heard from DC. There are a lot of RMIB kids who have an uwgpa of 4.0, and 1550+ SAT scores, and do several extra curricular activities. These kids are super high achieving. Not for the faint of heart if you want to keep up.

My child got into RMIB, is driven and organized but also loves his sport and wants to play on the varsity team. From your experience, is it doable for kids to attend daily practices and keep up with school work? FWIW, DC doesn't have any other extracurriculars (no instrument, etc).

My kids went to Blair SMAC (but also got into RMIB). The MAJORITY of the RMIB friends played a sport and many an instrument. It’s not only not uncommon, it’s almost expected!

[Anonymous]

My son is a senior at RMIB. The first two years were engaging, he worked pretty hard, but perhaps didn’t get the full experience due to COVID. Last year was really rough, incredible amount of work, he gave up sport but still had band as an escape. Academics were full on, 4 hours a night plus the research paper. 8 exams in May pretty much broke him. He was miserable and so were we.
For whatever reason this year has been significantly better. To start he got to drop Foreign Language which was a chore. He was energized by college process (so far 3 accepts to EA apps). It helped that hears from friends in College that Freshman year is so much easier than anything they did at RM. So I guess what I’m saying is be prepared for that Junior year and decide now if it’s worth it. Yes the rewards are great but last year was stressful for us, him, and many in his cohort, some who quit middle of the year.

[Anonymous]

Does he have any anxiety? Is he a very hard worker or just average? Does he like free time to explore his own interests or does he like spending a lot of time on academics?

I have one DC who would fit in great at RMIB. She's self-driven and scholarly. Second DC would have hated it and would be a much better fit at Global. Very smart child but wants more balance. They are both in private now but they faced the same choice a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Where can we find the magnet routes for Poolesville? the link on the MCPS bus page and on the HS site only list the morning routes. They do run afternoon buses and activity buses don't they?

[Anonymous]

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs/about/busroutes/