Blair Magnet Program

[Anonymous]

I would go magnet if you have a choice. All of the other programs (signature programs, etc) in the county are getting budget cuts and the class sizes are rising. Magnets, I believe, have been spared.

[Anonymous]

A list of colleges should not be available based on privacy concerns. You can be sure that many magnet students attend UMCP.

See this recent article from the student newspaper for a view of life in the magnet http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/10804

The magnet is not a bubble. If you are worried that life in the big city that is Blair may be too rough, your child is free to stay in the bubble of your home school.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I know that the magnet is not a bubble. And while I would love to keep my child (and all children) in a protective enviroment a little longer, I know that is not possible and not necessary the best either. However, there is a difference between keeping a 13, 14 or 15 year old in a bubble and seeking a safe learning environment. The reasons I asked the questions I did is because I am trying separate what is rumor/gossip/reputation from what is real for the students at Blair. I heard that there are gangs and lots of theft. Can anyone address this issue and how it affects the students and school? Nothing is more important than the safety of our children, not even the best education available. I'm just trying to find out how much of gang issue is true and to what extent. And what others feel about "is it worth it?" (great program verses gang or other problems). Let me know if my concerns are not warranted. Are there any other problems the school must deal with?

[Anonymous]

Where did you hear the stuff about gangs and theft, though? In my neighborhood there are lots of kids who go to Blair and not just the magnet. I've never heard about any gang problems there from anyone whose child is actually enrolled in the school.

I think you have gotten yourself upset about the idea of gangs unnecessarily. There may be some kids who are involved in a gang outside of school, but they are not roaming the halls like some scene out of West Side Story.

MCPS has safety stats per school on its website. You should look at those statistics in comparison with other schools -- I think you will be surprised by how low they are and also how there are safety issues in every school in the county, even a place like Churchill or Whitman.

With that said, there are lots of nonwhite kids at Blair. If the presence of nonwhite teenagers makes you think gangs, you will probably never feel comfortable about Blair.

But I would also say this: think about what the kids in that magnet program do, and the kind of education they receive. If you have a child who loves and excels at math and science, it would be a crime to give that up.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you look at MCPS safety stats as mentioned above, you will see that in the 2009-2010 school year there were 47 incidents of fighting and 20 thefts in the entire year, in a school of almost 2700 students. That's a per capita rate of fighting of .017%. I hardly think this is an issue of "the safety of our children."

By comparison, Churchill had a much lower rate of "fighting" incidents. But Churchill has 2 "arson, fire, explosive" incidents, 9 "attack" incidents, and 1 "weapon" incident. Blair had no "arson/fire/explosives," 19 "attack" and 1 weapon incident. Keeping in mind that Churchill has 2085 students (over 600 fewer than Blair), these numbers seem pretty comparable.

I hope this will help you put things into perspective. Your child will not be in danger.

[Anonymous]

Besides theft, are there any other issues to beware of?

[Anonymous]

Here is the Blair magnet's brag sheet for those who may not have seen it: http://www.mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/

[Anonymous]

I think the magnet and CAP are bubbles of a sort. Without attaching a value to whether being in a bubble is a good or bad thing, I think it's objectively true that your kid won't take many classes with non-magnet kids. Your kid takes 3-4 magnet or CAP classes with the other magnet or CAP kids. For non-magnet classes, your kid is automatically enrolled in honors or AP classes. The only classes your kid will definitely take with non-magnet kids is the required year of gym, maybe health and tech (unless your kid does these online over the summer), and electives like art and music.

That said, DC has never complained about the non-magnet kids. Once a fight broke out near DC, but DC laughed about it. And that's one incident in a few years. I think the fear of gangs is over-blown.

If your kid is a risk-taker, or include to drugs or gang-type behavior, then of course your kid can find other kids who will lead him on. But this is true at just about any school, and if your kid wants to do drugs at a top private, he or she will find other kids to buy the drugs from (I say this as a graduate of a top private in my hometown).

[Anonymous]

inclined, not include.... D@mn you, spell check!

[Anonymous]

What negative influences should we look our for -- both from within the magnet program and the broader school in general? Is it generally known who the suposed gang members are? Also, lunch time at Blair seems like sea of humanity lined up against the main hallway and lunch area, do the students have enough time to buy lunch? Where do the magnet kids generally eat their lunches and hang out? How safe are the students after school for activities, clubs, sports, etc.?

[Anonymous]

OP- have you ever seen the original John Waters Hairspray? I am picturing you to be like Penny Pingleton's mother sneaking into the ghetto to save your precious daughter from the undesirable "negroes".

Although your child may be smart, are you sure they are so lily pure? I pulled MY kid out of Takoma because the magnet kids were too cut throat for my taste. The neighborhood kids were very nice, and a lot less entitled, IMHO. To each his own, I guess.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]What negative influences should we look our for -- both from within the magnet program and the broader school in general? Is it generally known who the suposed gang members are? Also, lunch time at Blair seems like sea of humanity lined up against the main hallway and lunch area, do the students have enough time to buy lunch? Where do the magnet kids generally eat their lunches and hang out? How safe are the students after school for activities, clubs, sports, etc.?[/quote]

I think you'd better enroll your teen in a private school and be done with it.

Are you for real?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- have you ever seen the original John Waters Hairspray? I am picturing you to be like Penny Pingleton's mother sneaking into the ghetto to save your precious daughter from the undesirable "negroes".

Although your child may be smart, are you sure they are so lily pure? I pulled MY kid out of Takoma because the magnet kids were too cut throat for my taste. The neighborhood kids were very nice, and a lot less entitled, IMHO. To each his own, I guess.

You think the magnet kids at Takoma are "cut throat" and "entitled" and not "very nice"? Seriously? Sure, most are extremely hard workers, if that's what you mean by "cut throat." And many are nerdy and are thrilled to be studying advanced math and science, if that's what you mean by "entitled."

It's fine to say that the workload is too much for certain kids. The intense math and science are certainly not for everybody. But saying the kids who take this workload on are "cut throat", and calling the kids who are successful there "entitled", seems a little unfair.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What negative influences should we look our for -- both from within the magnet program and the broader school in general? Is it generally known who the suposed gang members are? Also, lunch time at Blair seems like sea of humanity lined up against the main hallway and lunch area, do the students have enough time to buy lunch? Where do the magnet kids generally eat their lunches and hang out? How safe are the students after school for activities, clubs, sports, etc.?[/quote]

I think you'd better enroll your teen in a private school and be done with it.

Are you for real?[/quote]

I wonder if this is a troll. She should worry about teaching her kid to make good decisions.

[Anonymous]

11:28 - I think it's objectively true that your kid won't take many classes with non-magnet kids.

actually, that's not true: magnet students have english/sociall studies/electives with non-magnet students. CAP students have science/math with non-CAP, non-magnet students.

21:06 Is it generally known who the suposed gang members are

are you kidding? Blair is a public school and is required to educate all students.

People, if you want a bubble Blair is not it. For kids who wnat opportunities to excel and think they cmanage the large school its a place they can thrive.