ISO recent experience with Eastern MS communications magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

Do students at your MS research and write long research papers, and do literary analyses or hold Socratic seminar discussions?

I’ve just never heard of even “strong” middle schools doing the rigorous research, writing, and analysis they do at Eastern. It’s such good preparation for AP and IB courses, as well as college. My kid didn’t love every class or every teacher at Eastern, but now that they’re in HS, they realize it was definitely worth it. (Like OP, we’re in the DCC, so the bus ride was doable, and they socialized with Eastern and ES/neighborhood friends.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

Take what the previous poster said with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

Which middle school might that be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

Take what the previous poster said with a grain of salt.

You’re gonna get opinions on both sides. My kid never found her people there. It was not a great experience for her. I think kids either love it or they don’t. We are from a “W” school.
Science was particularly bad.
But you can always give it a try and switch back. You can’t do the reverse.
I quite honestly am more concerned that socially middle school is OK more than I am concerned that they learn to write a paper. It is definitely a quirky group of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

Take what the previous poster said with a grain of salt.

Take all opinions with a grain of salt! They are exactly that…opinions.
What an odd comment when a poster has a different experience than you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

Take what the previous poster said with a grain of salt.

You’re gonna get opinions on both sides. My kid never found her people there. It was not a great experience for her. I think kids either love it or they don’t. We are from a “W” school.
Science was particularly bad.
But you can always give it a try and switch back. You can’t do the reverse.
I quite honestly am more concerned that socially middle school is OK more than I am concerned that they learn to write a paper. It is definitely a quirky group of kids.

It would be interesting for folks to build out what they mean by "quirky" here because that actually wasn't my experience with my child's peers at Eastern. They might have been interested in theater, or making documentaries, but they all seemed to have good social skills and many were involved in sports in addition to being good students.

The only thing I can think is that PPs are using "quirky" as code for "more likely to be LGBTQ+ than average" but that would be a weird way to code that sentiment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

I didn't post that but lots of people agree with that poster's sentiments. A lot of kids are really unhappy with the program and leave. We heard it has a higher attrition rate than any other magnet. For some kids it's academic. You can search for information about a particular 6th grade teacher and the workload. You'll also find a fair number of kids who did not like the program's social dynamics. There are a lot of arrogant students. There are also nice students of course but I am pointing out what you see that you might not see as often in your regular school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

Take what the previous poster said with a grain of salt.

You’re gonna get opinions on both sides. My kid never found her people there. It was not a great experience for her. I think kids either love it or they don’t. We are from a “W” school.
Science was particularly bad.
But you can always give it a try and switch back. You can’t do the reverse.
I quite honestly am more concerned that socially middle school is OK more than I am concerned that they learn to write a paper. It is definitely a quirky group of kids.

It would be interesting for folks to build out what they mean by "quirky" here because that actually wasn't my experience with my child's peers at Eastern. They might have been interested in theater, or making documentaries, but they all seemed to have good social skills and many were involved in sports in addition to being good students.

The only thing I can think is that PPs are using "quirky" as code for "more likely to be LGBTQ+ than average" but that would be a weird way to code that sentiment.

I don't think that's what they mean, although one really great thing about Eastern is that the LGBTQ+ students are well represented and welcomed. Like at any school some kids are outgoing and friendly, but you'll find the program has a a higher concentration of a mix of more prickly, overbearing or introverted personalities than your child might be used to previously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

Take what the previous poster said with a grain of salt.

Do you mean fighting and things like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

I didn't post that but lots of people agree with that poster's sentiments. A lot of kids are really unhappy with the program and leave. We heard it has a higher attrition rate than any other magnet. For some kids it's academic. You can search for information about a particular 6th grade teacher and the workload. You'll also find a fair number of kids who did not like the program's social dynamics. There are a lot of arrogant students. There are also nice students of course but I am pointing out what you see that you might not see as often in your regular school.

I know a family that left after 6th grade and was happier at the home DCC middle school. Separately, I wish MCPS would just offer the magnet curriculum at all schools, or some approximation of it like they’re doing with ELC in elementary. There are so many more kids that qualify than get a spot.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with the PP — MCPS needs to offer a magnet English class at home schools. HIGH is not enough, and it’s unfair that kids who need more challenge but don’t have lottery luck are stuck with a really basic English class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally agree with the PP — MCPS needs to offer a magnet English class at home schools. HIGH is not enough, and it’s unfair that kids who need more challenge but don’t have lottery luck are stuck with a really basic English class.

Yep. I'm one of the PPs whose child had an amazing experience at Eastern. Simultaneously, I think it's a crying shame that MCPS has stopped differentiated and accelerated instruction for kids in home schools. When it comes to OP's question of whether Eastern is "worth it," this is really relevant because the shift to a lottery for middle school combined with the lack of accelerated instruction in home schools means that there's just no comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME kids tend to either really enjoy it or hate everything about it. Is your child a theatre kid? Do they like to read a lot for fun and write stories or do art projects in their free time? Are they a little quirky and did they have trouble finding their tribe in elementary? The main group of kids that love this program would say yes to all those questions. There are exceptions but every year there is a core group like this.

I think this is pretty fair. The standards are high, as is the workload, particularly in the 6th grade. The kids who are happiest are the ones who would be acting, or making little movies, or reading nonfiction, or writing stories/screenplays in their free time anyway. In that way, it's like any magnet - the happiest kids at TPMS magnet are probably the ones who would learn programming languages and push themselves in math no matter what.

Do you have specific questions or concerns? How long would the bus ride be for your child? How much do they enjoy the core subjects of the magnet (ELA, world history, media)? How much time has your child spent in economically and racially diverse schools?

All of those things will play a role in whether your child loves or hates (or just tolerates) the program.

I think the workload in 7th is the most rigorous and time consuming. Our student enjoyed the program, but is a humanities kid through and through, is quirky as the PP mentioned, and most certainly found a great friend group there. There is most certainly a ton of work though, but for our kid the work was worth the peer group.

I think you'd find some families would say the more challenging work was worth putting up with the peer group.

And some (like me) would say it wasn’t. We did not feel Eastern was worth it compared to our strong middle school (have sent kids to both). Eastern has a lot of problems. I didn’t feel the teachers were amazing, but we do come from a home middle school with strong teachers so I think it also depends where you are coming from.

OP here. This makes me nervous. Can you share what part of the county you are coming from? I hear about problems in all middle schools but I'm aware that some are worse than others. Are you in the DCC or in another part of the county?

I didn't post that but lots of people agree with that poster's sentiments. A lot of kids are really unhappy with the program and leave. We heard it has a higher attrition rate than any other magnet. For some kids it's academic. You can search for information about a particular 6th grade teacher and the workload. You'll also find a fair number of kids who did not like the program's social dynamics. There are a lot of arrogant students. There are also nice students of course but I am pointing out what you see that you might not see as often in your regular school.

That particular 6th grade teacher was one issue we had. She very much played favorites.

I said quirky and it wasn’t code for LGBTQ. It’s dorky theatre type kids with very overbearing personalities. They reminded me off other students when I was in law school who just loved to belabor a point and hear themselves speak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Non-quirky kids sometimes have a harder time with friendships because so many kids are quirky. Many kids bond through drama productions, D&D, and if your child is not in to that it will be more difficult socially. DC continued to mostly socialize with friends from their old school.

This description of kids was not at all our experience. My DC did not do any theater at Eastern nor did DC every play or know anyone who played D & D.

DC reads a lot, watches a ton of movies, likes history, played soccer and was welcoming of diverse races, incomes and gender/sexuality preferences. This described DC’s peers as well - male and female. Not a “quirky” kid in DC’s peer group, unless you count reading at an adult level “quirky”.