Marshall HS 9th Grade Open House
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Anonymous
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It's been a while since we had kids at Marshall, and we moved out of that district in part because we were not fans of the IB program, but Marshall had good guidance counselors and an ethos of trying to help all the kids (compared to some other schools with more of a sink-or-swim mentality).
I suggest that, rather than complain about what one person may have said, or what you didn't hear at a single open house, you reach out to the student services department for more information on how freshman can take STEM electives and/or how they support 2E kids. |
Anonymous
| I'm the PP who inquired about Marshall Academy. I am aware of the specific website but found details somewhat lacking. I'll be sure to ask for more details at the presentation next year when my DC is an 8th grader. I did find Marshall's recent IB presentation to be very informative as someone unfamiliar with the program but recognize that some prospective students may not be interested in IB for one reason or another. |
Anonymous
| At an IB school they are going to push IB. At an AP school they are going to push AP. At any school they are going to feel like CC is a good goal for 2E kids they don't know anything else about. This is how it is everywhere, at any school. OP, your kid just doesn't want to go to HS. Can't say as I blame him. |
Anonymous
An orientation session for rising 9th graders seems like a no-win proposition in a way. If they are super enthusiastic about IB and the Marshall Academy, it will come across as heavy-handed to some middle-school students who are already apprehensive about HS. If they aren't super enthusiastic, they'll upset the parents who want reassurance that GCM kids are going to have opportunities comparable to what they'd have at some of the nearby AP schools. Maybe that's one of the benefits of the taped rather than in-person sessions. The parents can listen to all of them immediately and repeatedly if they want, and the kids can listen to them on their own schedule if and when they're ready. |
Anonymous
This board has so many complaints from parents who felt they were blindsided by IB and what it was. Them pushing it at the open house is a great way to prevent that. It's probably in response to criticism. |
Anonymous
My DD agrees |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Agrees that she doesn’t want to attend Marshall or agrees that PP’s son shouldn’t? |
Anonymous
How do IB classes affect the gpa? I know that AP classes have a max of 5 vs. 4, is it the same for IB? |
Anonymous
Yes - Honors classes get an extra 0.5 and AP/IB classes get an extra 1.0. |
Anonymous
So a student could hypothetically take "IB" classes and not pursue the IB diploma, thus treating it more like AP? |
Anonymous
we had the same feelings after the Woodson open house. I was disappointed but I guess I should not be surprised. |
Anonymous
| It's been a difficult week for us after attending the Marshall High school presentations. DC has had several emotional meltdowns. The session was mostly about the IB program, advanced placement classes, advanced placement diploma, etc. DC has an IEP for ADHD and anxiety, needs support and scaffolding to get through school and complete assignments. I wonder whether the school supports students like this or whether the focus is primarily on the more advanced students. Seemed like a pressure cooker to me and I'm wondering whether it's the right environment for a student like DC. |
Anonymous
Yes - you could do IB "a la carte" like AP. It might be slightly less flexible to the extent that some IB courses contemplate two-year sequences where you start at the beginning of junior year and take the IB exam at the end of your senior year. AP courses are 1-year courses and you take the exam at the end of that year. |
Anonymous
Former Marshall parent of a student with an IEP here. I'd look at it two ways. First, on a day-to-day basis, we found Marshall (i.e., the teachers and counselors) quite supportive of our kid with an IEP. I think it's a legacy of GCM once having been the smallest school in FCPS in terms of enrollment and having a more diverse student body than some other schools. That resulted in their caring about all the kids, whereas some other schools have more of a "sink-or-swim" attitude (it's a rounding error at a wealthier school if a kid drops out or flunks a class). The school is bigger now, but I think some of that legacy carried forward. Second, in its public-facing role, Marshall has a bit of a chip on its shoulder compared to Madison and McLean, two nearby, wealthier schools. That has resulted in Marshall focusing attention on things that differentiate Marshall from Madison and McLean - namely, the IB diploma program and the Marshall STEM Academy. And they've also done things that, at least from our perspective, seemed mostly intended to boost the school's ratings, such as making IB English the default English course for most 11th and 12th grade students. During an orientation session, you're naturally going to get more of the latter and less of a sense of the actual day-to-day experience of a student. But if I had another HS-age kid with your kid's profile, I'd rather have them at Marshall than at McLean or Madison (or Langley). It just feels kinder and less competitive. Some have also suggested that Falls Church, with which Marshall shares a border, is less of a pressure cooker, and it could be an alternative to Marshall, especially for a kid who isn't interested in IB (Falls Church is AP). Personally, we also thought the Academy courses at Falls Church were more interesting than the Academy courses at Marshall. On the other hand, Falls Church generally has a higher-needs population than Marshall, so there are going to be more students that require attention from the school in order for them to graduate on time. So it's possible that a non-ESOL/non-FARMS student who has an IEP might have a harder time getting enough attention there, not sure. If you do want to explore a pupil placement for high school, you have through May 1 to put in an application. Hope that helps. Sorry that an orientation session that was no doubt intended to be informative ended up being stressful instead. |