How to choose a neighborhood in light of HGC/magnet programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The smart move would be Silver Spring, specifically the area of East Silver Spring that abuts Takoma Park and is within the Takoma Park Middle School boundary area.

Here's why:

There are two HGCs that serve those neighborhoods. The competition to get a slot in either is not as great as it is in other corners of the county where seemingly every kid is a super-achiever.

Takoma Park Middle School reserves 25 slots in its vaunted math magnet for in-boundary kids. If your daughter turns out to be an advanced math student, she'll have a far better than average chance at getting one of those slots. And even if she doesn't, TPMS is one of the best middle schools in the county by any metric.

And if it turns out that Humanities are her thing and she were to land a spot in the Eastern Middle School magnet, it would be a 5-10 minute bus ride from home, rather than an hour.

If you just do what the PP suggests and look at minority percentages on the At A Glance sheets, you'll miss the forest for the trees.

Oops. I find this statement hard to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The smart move would be Silver Spring, specifically the area of East Silver Spring that abuts Takoma Park and is within the Takoma Park Middle School boundary area.

Here's why:

There are two HGCs that serve those neighborhoods. The competition to get a slot in either is not as great as it is in other corners of the county where seemingly every kid is a super-achiever.[b]

Takoma Park Middle School reserves 25 slots in its vaunted math magnet for in-boundary kids. If your daughter turns out to be an advanced math student, she'll have a far better than average chance at getting one of those slots. And even if she doesn't, TPMS is one of the best middle schools in the county by any metric.

And if it turns out that Humanities are her thing and she were to land a spot in the Eastern Middle School magnet, it would be a 5-10 minute bus ride from home, rather than an hour.

If you just do what the PP suggests and look at minority percentages on the At A Glance sheets, you'll miss the forest for the trees.

I find this hard to believe.

It is patently false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The smart move would be Silver Spring, specifically the area of East Silver Spring that abuts Takoma Park and is within the Takoma Park Middle School boundary area.

Here's why:

There are two HGCs that serve those neighborhoods. The competition to get a slot in either is not as great as it is in other corners of the county where seemingly every kid is a super-achiever.

Takoma Park Middle School reserves 25 slots in its vaunted math magnet for in-boundary kids. If your daughter turns out to be an advanced math student, she'll have a far better than average chance at getting one of those slots. And even if she doesn't, TPMS is one of the best middle schools in the county by any metric.

And if it turns out that Humanities are her thing and she were to land a spot in the Eastern Middle School magnet, it would be a 5-10 minute bus ride from home, rather than an hour.

If you just do what the PP suggests and look at minority percentages on the At A Glance sheets, you'll miss the forest for the trees.

I find this hard to believe.

[b]It is patently false.

How so? You can't argue PP's point about the in-boundary benefit for the TPMS magnet. That's the best home-field advantage in the entire system.

[Anonymous]

^^^Oops, sorry, all. As the other PP discovered, something is off with the bold formatting. Meant to just bold the "patently false" line

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The smart move would be Silver Spring, specifically the area of East Silver Spring that abuts Takoma Park and is within the Takoma Park Middle School boundary area.

Here's why:

There are two HGCs that serve those neighborhoods. The competition to get a slot in either is not as great as it is in other corners of the county where seemingly every kid is a super-achiever.

Takoma Park Middle School reserves 25 slots in its vaunted math magnet for in-boundary kids. If your daughter turns out to be an advanced math student, she'll have a far better than average chance at getting one of those slots. And even if she doesn't, TPMS is one of the best middle schools in the county by any metric.

And if it turns out that Humanities are her thing and she were to land a spot in the Eastern Middle School magnet, it would be a 5-10 minute bus ride from home, rather than an hour.

If you just do what the PP suggests and look at minority percentages on the At A Glance sheets, you'll miss the forest for the trees.

I find this hard to believe.

[b]It is patently false.

How so? You can't argue PP's point about the in-boundary benefit for the TPMS magnet. That's the best home-field advantage in the entire system.

Not disagreeing with that part. I do disagree with the notion that it easier to get into the local HGCS (which again, for the record, is ONE HGC and not two):

The competition to get a slot in either is not as great as it is in other corners of the county where seemingly every kid is a super-achiever.

[Anonymous]

I believe it. For example, if you look at the median scores for HGC (posted here at some point), the ones for Cold Spring are higher than the rest.

The logistics of getting to the HGC really aren't that bad. Its the High schools that are rough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's no guarantee your kid will get into an HGC or MS magnet, which tend to be housed in the lower performing clusters.

The curriculum is the same across the board. How it's implemented, however, differs depending upon instructionally focused the principal and his/her crew are.

So even if you get into a "better" cluster, most of those kids do well b/c they have strong family support.

This is very true - there is absolutely no guarantee your child will get into an HGC or MS magnet (our child's teachers kept saying "he should go to the HGC, and our child did very well in school and very well on the test - but I guess not quite well enough - and didnt get in) --- these programs are really for only the very, very top scoring kids like (1-5 %). So if your child is in the 6-10%-ish range, well…then….
You may want to look at the home school that you will be left with and pick with that in mind (as again, there is no guarantee).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no guarantee your kid will get into an HGC or MS magnet, which tend to be housed in the lower performing clusters.

The curriculum is the same across the board. How it's implemented, however, differs depending upon instructionally focused the principal and his/her crew are.

So even if you get into a "better" cluster, most of those kids do well b/c they have strong family support.

This is very true - there is absolutely no guarantee your child will get into an HGC or MS magnet (our child's teachers kept saying "he should go to the HGC, and our child did very well in school and very well on the test - but I guess not quite well enough - and didnt get in) --- these programs are really for only the very, very top scoring kids like (1-5 %). So if your child is in the 6-10%-ish range, well…then….
You may want to look at the home school that you will be left with and pick with that in mind (as again, there is no guarantee).

He scored above the median of accepted students and didn't get in?

[Anonymous]

PP - Yes - he scored above the median by a lot, but the cut off is even higher than that (at least it was when he took it 2 years ago). And even if you make the test cut off they do also factor in certain demographics (I was told at least gender to try to make the classrooms more or less equal if possible - though doesnt always turn out that way) Also - he had great recommendations but not sure how much those really matter.
But now, 2 years later, everything turned out for the best in the end!

[Anonymous]

Oh sorry just read that you said accepted students (thought you were referring to jut students who took the test). Yes- he scored higher than the median of accepted students on the math parts and just below median for the verbal parts.

[Anonymous]

Another good point is that HGC is only two years. It flies by. While many kids go on to the middle magnets, that is no guarantee as well (admissions and then dealing with logistics). So good to look at the whole picture and what different options would be at each fork in the school road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe it. For example, if you look at the median scores for HGC (posted here at some point), the ones for Cold Spring are higher than the rest.

The logistics of getting to the HGC really aren't that bad. Its the High schools that are rough.

That doesn't mean there is more competition. It just means median test scores are higher.

[Anonymous]

I would try to get into the best school cluster you can afford. You don't want to pick a school cluster based on proximity to a HGC. What happens if your child does not get in or does not want to apply/go. I agree with one of the previous posters about looking carefully at the high school first. Many people are happy with their local elementary schools even in poor performing clusters. Middle schools seem to be the weakest link in MCPS as they are in many parts of the county.
People have mentioned the Takoma Park school cluster and I would agree with that recommendation. Another one to check out is Einstein. Oakland Terrace and Flora Singer are both very good elem. schools that feed into this high school. The middle schools have been in flux the last few years but I think both have improved on the whole. These neighborhoods are very close to both the elem. HGCs as well as to the MS magnets and to Blair if your kid ends up at the high school magnets. Einstein offers the IB program which is a plus and it is not as large as Blair.

[Anonymous]

Agree, easier to get into or off the waitlist and in if you live closer.
The real question to ask is what is the yield on accepted. If it is low, in the 60s, 70s or even 80s, then you have an easier shot.
Why?
Because many smarties self-select out and don't take the MS and HS tests due to terrible commutes and logistics. They live far away from HGCs, likely west MoCo.
Then those who take the test, get in and live far away, have to pause and think if it's worth it (long commute, missing extracurriculars, bussing 2 hours+ a day), and some turn down the offer.
What's left? (I)Those who got in and have a short commute and rarely turn it down, (2) those that got in and carpool their long commutes or just don't care, and (3) those who are waitlisted and get to hoover up the turned down spots!


**
The smart move would be Silver Spring, specifically the area of East Silver Spring that abuts Takoma Park and is within the Takoma Park Middle School boundary area.

Here's why:

There are two HGCs that serve those neighborhoods. The competition to get a slot in either is not as great as it is in other corners of the county where seemingly every kid is a super-achiever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree, easier to get into or off the waitlist and in if you live closer.
The real question to ask is what is the yield on accepted. If it is low, in the 60s, 70s or even 80s, then you have an easier shot.
Why?
Because many smarties self-select out and don't take the MS and HS tests due to terrible commutes and logistics. They live far away from HGCs, likely west MoCo.
Then those who take the test, get in and live far away, have to pause and think if it's worth it (long commute, missing extracurriculars, bussing 2 hours+ a day), and some turn down the offer.
What's left? (I)Those who got in and have a short commute and rarely turn it down, (2) those that got in and carpool their long commutes or just don't care, and (3) those who are waitlisted and get to hoover up the turned down spots!


**
The smart move would be Silver Spring, specifically the area of East Silver Spring that abuts Takoma Park and is within the Takoma Park Middle School boundary area.

Here's why:

There are two HGCs that serve those neighborhoods. The competition to get a slot in either is not as great as it is in other corners of the county where seemingly every kid is a super-achiever.

There is ONE HGC that serves these neighborhoods. It is Pine Crest/Oak View.

In 2003, MCPS added one classroom to each of the two HGC grades at each Center location. The ONLY reason that there is a third classroom for each grade at Oak View is that Pine Crest had no space to add that third classroom.

THERE IS ONE - ONE - HGC that serves these neighborhoods. It has three classrooms for each grade, just like all the other HGCs.