MCPS ending Loiderman/Parkland/Argyle magnets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

Correct, but students in that part of the county are required to rank their choices and don’t feed into 1 middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

I’m so tired of all the lotteries. I think it’s a way for MCPS to give the appearance of having both quality programming and equality but it actually works against that. They ration opportunities. They split kids up, and yes, I can’t imagine what they must be spending on wasteful transportation costs. Why can’t they just provide the same programs at all schools?

[Anonymous]

This is the first time we're hearing about this - and we're at Loiederman. It's been life-changing for our kid. I really hope he can finish out his 7th and 8th grade there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the first time we're hearing about this - and we're at Loiederman. It's been life-changing for our kid. I really hope he can finish out his 7th and 8th grade there.

For the HS programs, they'll let the students already in the programs finish them out. The same should be true for MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

You want to remove choice from ALL students because some students don’t want a choice and prioritize being with friends over academic opportunities?

It’s terrifying that you are a teacher. What other opportunity-limiting ideas do you support?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

I’m so tired of all the lotteries. I think it’s a way for MCPS to give the appearance of having both quality programming and equality but it actually works against that. They ration opportunities. They split kids up, and yes, I can’t imagine what they must be spending on wasteful transportation costs. Why can’t they just provide the same programs at all schools?

This exactly. They really need to focus on ensuring that home schools have good programming -- kids shouldn't have to lottery into another school to get a good basic education. But that is happening in way too much of the county.

[Anonymous]

None of the consortium middle schools are doing open houses for 5th graders. That can’t be good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None of the consortium middle schools are doing open houses for 5th graders. That can’t be good.

They are doing one presentation for all 3 schools. I believe the meeting is this week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

Correct, but students in that part of the county are required to rank their choices and don’t feed into 1 middle school.

My DC welcomed the chance to join the MSMC and get _away_ from people from their ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

I’m so tired of all the lotteries. I think it’s a way for MCPS to give the appearance of having both quality programming and equality but it actually works against that. They ration opportunities. They split kids up, and yes, I can’t imagine what they must be spending on wasteful transportation costs. Why can’t they just provide the same programs at all schools?

This exactly. They really need to focus on ensuring that home schools have good programming -- kids shouldn't have to lottery into another school to get a good basic education. But that is happening in way too much of the county.

These schools have the same academic curriculum as every other middle school. They add speciality focus classes to pull out of boundary students so the schools arent so poverty concentrated. If you did this in every school, it would not help balance FARMS rates because the rich kids would stay at their rich schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

I’m so tired of all the lotteries. I think it’s a way for MCPS to give the appearance of having both quality programming and equality but it actually works against that. They ration opportunities. They split kids up, and yes, I can’t imagine what they must be spending on wasteful transportation costs. Why can’t they just provide the same programs at all schools?

This exactly. They really need to focus on ensuring that home schools have good programming -- kids shouldn't have to lottery into another school to get a good basic education. But that is happening in way too much of the county.

These schools have the same academic curriculum as every other middle school. They add speciality focus classes to pull out of boundary students so the schools arent so poverty concentrated. If you did this in every school, it would not help balance FARMS rates because the rich kids would stay at their rich schools.

I think this is exactly what they are trying to move away from. Busing kids long distances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

I’m so tired of all the lotteries. I think it’s a way for MCPS to give the appearance of having both quality programming and equality but it actually works against that. They ration opportunities. They split kids up, and yes, I can’t imagine what they must be spending on wasteful transportation costs. Why can’t they just provide the same programs at all schools?

This exactly. They really need to focus on ensuring that home schools have good programming -- kids shouldn't have to lottery into another school to get a good basic education. But that is happening in way too much of the county.

These schools have the same academic curriculum as every other middle school. They add speciality focus classes to pull out of boundary students so the schools arent so poverty concentrated. If you did this in every school, it would not help balance FARMS rates because the rich kids would stay at their rich schools.

Right, that isn’t equal to other schools. Also, they pull wealthier students out of less wealthy schools, so it works both ways. I’ve seen this with the criteria magnets as well. It’s a shell game. MCPS could provide an equal education at local schools but chooses not to for some reason. Maybe because the small number of people who benefit from these programs are louder, I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

I’m so tired of all the lotteries. I think it’s a way for MCPS to give the appearance of having both quality programming and equality but it actually works against that. They ration opportunities. They split kids up, and yes, I can’t imagine what they must be spending on wasteful transportation costs. Why can’t they just provide the same programs at all schools?

This exactly. They really need to focus on ensuring that home schools have good programming -- kids shouldn't have to lottery into another school to get a good basic education. But that is happening in way too much of the county.

These schools have the same academic curriculum as every other middle school. They add speciality focus classes to pull out of boundary students so the schools arent so poverty concentrated. If you did this in every school, it would not help balance FARMS rates because the rich kids would stay at their rich schools.

Why should parts of the county be receiving focused instruction when not everyone is? They need to make sure every middle school in Montgomery County is providing a sound education rather than focusing on making just a few superior. It is time for these programs to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they SHOULD end this program. Why would only a small area of the county have middle school choice? And why are we paying for bussing to multiple schools for one area.

I am an elementary school teacher at a school that feeds into this consortia. Many of the 5th graders do not like being forced to choose a program. They do not like leaving their friends. And when I drive to school it is absolutely ridiculous that one intersection has 3 bus stops- one for each school. The kids are told to wait on opposite corners for their bus. What a waste of transportation money.

Any child in the county can apply to the MSMC middle schools. Its a lottery.

I’m so tired of all the lotteries. I think it’s a way for MCPS to give the appearance of having both quality programming and equality but it actually works against that. They ration opportunities. They split kids up, and yes, I can’t imagine what they must be spending on wasteful transportation costs. Why can’t they just provide the same programs at all schools?

This exactly. They really need to focus on ensuring that home schools have good programming -- kids shouldn't have to lottery into another school to get a good basic education. But that is happening in way too much of the county.

These schools have the same academic curriculum as every other middle school. They add speciality focus classes to pull out of boundary students so the schools arent so poverty concentrated. If you did this in every school, it would not help balance FARMS rates because the rich kids would stay at their rich schools.

Right, that isn’t equal to other schools. Also, they pull wealthier students out of less wealthy schools, so it works both ways. I’ve seen this with the criteria magnets as well. It’s a shell game. MCPS could provide an equal education at local schools but chooses not to for some reason. Maybe because the small number of people who benefit from these programs are louder, I don’t know.

When you have populations with significantly higher needs but the same amount of funding at lower income schools, the education is not going to be "equal"