HS STEM magnet entrance requirements

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That makes no sense to give the slots to those kids.

And it doesn't make sense that a student with high enough MAP-M scores to get into the magnet wouldn't already be in the standard accelerated pathway which has them taking geometry in 8th grade.

Some families purposely slow things down in MS to ensure a stronger foundation. Particularly when they can take magnet Geometry in HS or over the summer.

Think about what you are saying. That ruins the Geometry foundation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That makes no sense to give the slots to those kids.

And it doesn't make sense that a student with high enough MAP-M scores to get into the magnet wouldn't already be in the standard accelerated pathway which has them taking geometry in 8th grade.

Some families purposely slow things down in MS to ensure a stronger foundation. Particularly when they can take magnet Geometry in HS or over the summer.

+1 also, kids admitted to the the magnet out of private school might be very strong math students but constrained by what their school offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That makes no sense to give the slots to those kids.

And it doesn't make sense that a student with high enough MAP-M scores to get into the magnet wouldn't already be in the standard accelerated pathway which has them taking geometry in 8th grade.

Some families purposely slow things down in MS to ensure a stronger foundation. Particularly when they can take magnet Geometry in HS or over the summer.

+1 also, kids admitted to the the magnet out of private school might be very strong math students but constrained by what their school offered.

Also kids who move into MCPS during middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year, there is not a magnet Geometry class for 9th. A couple of kids did it over the summer. Everyone is in Precalculus or Functions.

Except for the magnet kid/s who is in regular geometry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year, there is not a magnet Geometry class for 9th. A couple of kids did it over the summer. Everyone is in Precalculus or Functions.

How are SMACS magnet Precalculus and Functions different from how school Algebra 2 + Precalculus, besides being accelerated? Or is speed the only difference?

Please be specific if you can. I've heardvit's "deeper" and "more work" but not specifically what that means. I'd love to hear from someone who has had kids in both Magnet SMACS and neighborhood high school math class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year, there is not a magnet Geometry class for 9th. A couple of kids did it over the summer. Everyone is in Precalculus or Functions.

How are SMACS magnet Precalculus and Functions different from how school Algebra 2 + Precalculus, besides being accelerated? Or is speed the only difference?

Please be specific if you can. I've heardvit's "deeper" and "more work" but not specifically what that means. I'd love to hear from someone who has had kids in both Magnet SMACS and neighborhood high school math class

The neighborhood high school math class doesn’t combine algebra II and precalculus into a single class. Functions does that in 2 semesters. Magnet precalculus does it in 3. They also go into the subject deeper as you’ve said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That makes no sense to give the slots to those kids.

And it doesn't make sense that a student with high enough MAP-M scores to get into the magnet wouldn't already be in the standard accelerated pathway which has them taking geometry in 8th grade.

Some families purposely slow things down in MS to ensure a stronger foundation. Particularly when they can take magnet Geometry in HS or over the summer.

+1 also, kids admitted to the the magnet out of private school might be very strong math students but constrained by what their school offered.

Also kids who move into MCPS during middle school.

No one is saying there can't be exceptions like the handful of admitted kids who move from another district or private school, but the response was to the PP who claimed that one-fourth of the magnet students aren't taking geometry in 9th. That seems unlikely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year, there is not a magnet Geometry class for 9th. A couple of kids did it over the summer. Everyone is in Precalculus or Functions.

How are SMACS magnet Precalculus and Functions different from how school Algebra 2 + Precalculus, besides being accelerated? Or is speed the only difference?

Please be specific if you can. I've heardvit's "deeper" and "more work" but not specifically what that means. I'd love to hear from someone who has had kids in both Magnet SMACS and neighborhood high school math class

The neighborhood high school math class doesn’t combine algebra II and precalculus into a single class. Functions does that in 2 semesters. Magnet precalculus does it in 3. They also go into the subject deeper as you’ve said.

But deeper how? What's on the functions syllabus/hw/tests that isn't on the non-magnet honors algebra 2 and precalc syllabus/hw/tests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That makes no sense to give the slots to those kids.

And it doesn't make sense that a student with high enough MAP-M scores to get into the magnet wouldn't already be in the standard accelerated pathway which has them taking geometry in 8th grade.

Some families purposely slow things down in MS to ensure a stronger foundation. Particularly when they can take magnet Geometry in HS or over the summer.

+1 also, kids admitted to the the magnet out of private school might be very strong math students but constrained by what their school offered.

Also kids who move into MCPS during middle school.

No one is saying there can't be exceptions like the handful of admitted kids who move from another district or private school, but the response was to the PP who claimed that one-fourth of the magnet students aren't taking geometry in 9th. That seems unlikely.

So many negatives in your post that in not sure what you are saying so coming to say that there is no magnet geometry class at all this year so there definitely is not a quarter taking geometry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year, there is not a magnet Geometry class for 9th. A couple of kids did it over the summer. Everyone is in Precalculus or Functions.

How are SMACS magnet Precalculus and Functions different from how school Algebra 2 + Precalculus, besides being accelerated? Or is speed the only difference?

Please be specific if you can. I've heardvit's "deeper" and "more work" but not specifically what that means. I'd love to hear from someone who has had kids in both Magnet SMACS and neighborhood high school math class

The neighborhood high school math class doesn’t combine algebra II and precalculus into a single class. Functions does that in 2 semesters. Magnet precalculus does it in 3. They also go into the subject deeper as you’ve said.

But deeper how? What's on the functions syllabus/hw/tests that isn't on the non-magnet honors algebra 2 and precalc syllabus/hw/tests?

Nobody knows. It's arcane knowledge that the mind cannot penetrate, even if the eyes observe. Not even a camera can capture its mysteries for analysis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year, there is not a magnet Geometry class for 9th. A couple of kids did it over the summer. Everyone is in Precalculus or Functions.

How are SMACS magnet Precalculus and Functions different from how school Algebra 2 + Precalculus, besides being accelerated? Or is speed the only difference?

Please be specific if you can. I've heardvit's "deeper" and "more work" but not specifically what that means. I'd love to hear from someone who has had kids in both Magnet SMACS and neighborhood high school math class

The neighborhood high school math class doesn’t combine algebra II and precalculus into a single class. Functions does that in 2 semesters. Magnet precalculus does it in 3. They also go into the subject deeper as you’ve said.

But deeper how? What's on the functions syllabus/hw/tests that isn't on the non-magnet honors algebra 2 and precalc syllabus/hw/tests?

Why does it matter? It's Algebra 2 and pre-calc all in one course. Is that not challenging enough? The kids that already took Algebra 2 were in 8th were in the same class with the advanced students coming from Geometry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That’s not even a tiny bit true at Blair.

DD graduated 3 years ago and it was the exactly the case for her year. 1 class of magnet geometry, 2 classes of precalc and 1 class of functions. Some kids who took geometry repeated it after struggling in precalc as well. Maybe it has changed...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That’s not even a tiny bit true at Blair.

DD graduated 3 years ago and it was the exactly the case for her year. 1 class of magnet geometry, 2 classes of precalc and 1 class of functions. Some kids who took geometry repeated it after struggling in precalc as well. Maybe it has changed...

I will add that I have no idea hwo many kids were in each class. Maybe the Geo class was smaller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
MCAP is not relevant. If your child has all As and scores above the 99th percentile in 7th grade spring and 8th grade fall MAPs they might have a shot. Also need to be taking geometry in 8th for stem magnets and aids some enthusiasm for learning and proven interest in the subject in the day and prompts.

I don't think geometry is a requirement. Blair has magnet geometry as an option, but I would imagine there aren't many kids in that boat.

+1. About 1/4 of the magnet kids take geometry in 9th.

That makes no sense to give the slots to those kids.

And it doesn't make sense that a student with high enough MAP-M scores to get into the magnet wouldn't already be in the standard accelerated pathway which has them taking geometry in 8th grade.

Some families purposely slow things down in MS to ensure a stronger foundation. Particularly when they can take magnet Geometry in HS or over the summer.

And some magnet kids-- I've known a handful at Blair-- come from private middle schools where geometry is not offered, so 9th grade (or the summer before) is their earliest opportunity to take it. This doesn't mean they aren't still talented in STEM, and they've done well in the magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year, there is not a magnet Geometry class for 9th. A couple of kids did it over the summer. Everyone is in Precalculus or Functions.

How are SMACS magnet Precalculus and Functions different from how school Algebra 2 + Precalculus, besides being accelerated? Or is speed the only difference?

Please be specific if you can. I've heardvit's "deeper" and "more work" but not specifically what that means. I'd love to hear from someone who has had kids in both Magnet SMACS and neighborhood high school math class

The neighborhood high school math class doesn’t combine algebra II and precalculus into a single class. Functions does that in 2 semesters. Magnet precalculus does it in 3. They also go into the subject deeper as you’ve said.

But deeper how? What's on the functions syllabus/hw/tests that isn't on the non-magnet honors algebra 2 and precalc syllabus/hw/tests?

Why does it matter? It's Algebra 2 and pre-calc all in one course. Is that not challenging enough? The kids that already took Algebra 2 were in 8th were in the same class with the advanced students coming from Geometry.

It matters because some students have already studied Precalculus, and 1 or 2 semesters of Functions might be redundant for them, or might not be if the class has something more in it.

It matters because many parents speak of Functions in mysterious tones and hours of daily homework, and it's not clear if that's because they are referring to students jumping in from Geometry (possibly from outside enrichment), or students who got B's in Algebra 2, or students who got As in Algebra and also do enrichment, or what.

SMACS has confusing class structures, names, and descriptions (like Precalculus which has Geometry as prerequisite and is 3 semesters at Blair and 4 semesters at Poolesville, but replaces 4 semesters of Algebra 2 and Precalculus at home school)