DCC Wheaton/Blair Question
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Anonymous
Yes. AP Physics doesn't have a pre-requisite, just a strong admonition to consider carefully before taking it as a freshman. AP Bio is supposed to, but I've seen it taken without. This goes back to an issue that has been discussed to death on DCUM but remains an issue, which is that most schools show on-level courses in their online offerings, but those classes do not actually exist. So, "Honors" Biology should be getting kids ready for AP Bio and "Honors" Chemistry should be getting kids ready for AP Chemistry, but because MCPS got rid of on-level, those classes have slowed way down. It hurts on all sides, because high performing kids are bored and they end up not ready for the AP classes. |
Anonymous
But if you don't get your first choice, and you rank your home school as your second choice, it is guaranteed. https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/school-info/downcounty/choice/detail/ "Students are guaranteed their base school only when ranked first on the initial Choice form, or if it is marked second and their first choice is not available." |
Anonymous
So based on this, for this particular person, it seems like you apply for the magnets, put Wheaton first, put Blair second, and then make a decision later. I assume if you put Wheaton first and get in, you can change your mind and go to Blair, the home school. |
Anonymous
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Wheaton has an engineering academy that seems to take engineering seriously. I didn't get that at the Blair open house.
The best you could do is put some courses together that could help prepare one for engineering study in college (with the help of an advisor), and do a capstone project. That's not necessarily bad, it just doesn't include four years of a preset engineering pathway that Wheaton has, and you would not have that cohort of engineering magnet students to work with in robotics club, etc. |
Anonymous
Actually, no. If you rank Wheaton and get Wheaton, you can't change back to your home school until sophomore year and even then it takes a COSA. So, if PP is willing to take Wheaton PLTW over regular Blair (which it sounds like might be a good choice), I would rank Wheaton first, then Blair. Then take SMCS over Wheaton magnet just for commute reasons, and then Wheaton magnet or Wheaton PLTW over regular Blair. The one caveat to this is that Wheaton is FAR for a TkPk kid and after-school activities almost always run beyond the activity bus in my experience. So consider whether your child is comfortable taking the public bus on days when a parent can't drive. |
Anonymous
I'd rank Blair first for school choice, but apply to both SMCS and Wheaton. Your school choice shouldn't impact special program selection. |
Anonymous
| Also, Blair has a strong Robotics team too so really can't go wrong either way. Robotics involves a lot of afterschool time too so with the shorter commute your kid would have more time for that. |
Anonymous
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OP here. This is a lot of great info. to mull over. We went to both open houses as well. We'll be applying to the magnets. I personally feel that if he were lucky enough to get selected for Wheaton Biomedical or Engineering, it would be worth the transportation hassle. We still have to weigh whether he feels it's worth it for the Wheaton academies.
I hadn't thought about the fact that having a shorter day at Wheaton (when compared to SMCS) would also mean fewer classes, less possible exploration of interests, etc. In the end, the transportation piece might determine our DCC preference list as the rest of our family works or attends school super far from Wheaton. |
Anonymous
No, they do exist but they need enough students to sign up for the classes. The problem is that the vast majority of MoCo/DCUM parents think that their kids are too smart and too good for on-level courses. Who wants their kids to be known as been on-level? The stigma! |
Anonymous
No, at our school the on-level science classes do not exist anymore. They removed them from the course listings. |
Anonymous
No, you don't understand the processes. These are two separate processes. You apply to magnets. You see where you get in. Then you can decide which magnet to go to. In a separate process, you rank which DCCs you want. This has nothing to do with the magnets. And your assumption that you can change to your home school if you put it as your second choice and don't like the noncom school you ranked first is incorrect. |
Anonymous
Another piece of info: my kid goes to Wheaton academy but it's not our home school. He is guaranteed bus transfers in the morning and at 3pm, but there is no late/activity bus that comes anywhere near our house. So that makes it harder for extra currics. There is a public bus stop about a mile from our house that has a public bus that goes near Wheaton, so I dont know if that's why they dont have to send a late bus near us or not. |
Anonymous
My kid is zoned for Einstein but goes to Wheaton and Wheaton does not provide an activity bus anywhere near our house |
Anonymous
Just remember even if MCPS provides a bus to and from school the commute may be very long and its not going to be available for a lot of the sports and after school activities so you can still be driving back and forth a lot. You don't need to do the academies to have access to a lot of the classes. |
Anonymous
I agree with you about the bus schedule but as a Wheaton academy parents, I don't understand what you mean when you say "you don't need to do the academies to have access to a lot of the classes." What classes are you referring to? My Wheaton engineering academy kid is taking not only multivariable calculus and both AP Physics classes, etc, but also took one to two engineering classes every year. Is that possible at Blair, especially if you aren't in a magnet? |