Which MoCo cluster for gifted DD and DS?

[Anonymous]

this is a very good post. i'm not op but wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write this. everything this poster said is consistent with our experience in mcps.

Anonymous wrote:OP
As many people have stated lots of kids are tagged as "gifted" in MCPS- something like 40% on average and more in the better school districts. You know your own children and it is entirely possible that your children have tested as falling within the top 3-5% of children which is perhaps what you meant.
If your child gets into a Highly Gifted Center in 4th and 5th grade (they typically accommodate around 4% of the student body) or a middle school magnet (there are enough spots for roughly 3% of the MCPS school body) they will get an education that is enriched and accelerated which is what most gifted children need.
If they don't for some reason get into these programs they will be in a regular MCPS school.
If they are in a high performing school district, there is very little differentiation - some schools do "william and Mary", there is compacted 4/5/6 Math and so on. There are tons of children who read well above grade level so there would be peers for your children. However, these schools can usually coast on having students who would do well no matter what they do in the classroom because they've gone to good preschools and have a lot of parental support and involvement. It is not always clear to me whether the school itself is responsible for the student's success- the admin in some "W" schools can be apathetic in our experience.
If you end up in a school district which does not have great stats, there is likely to be more differentiation but it is not guaranteed. It really depends on the school and having a good principal. Oakland Terrace and Flora Singer are schools which do a fine job meeting the needs of all their students.
If your choice is between a "W" school and a school in the Eastern part of the county do your homework- ask about specific schools. Having a good principal really matters.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you, everyone, for your input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nearly 40% of second-graders test as gifted in MCPS and only the top 3-4% get into the HGCs in 4th grade.

FCPS has a broader gifted program called AAP that accepts something like 20% of the students.

Is it true that FCPS -- you only test once and then your child is in AAP until he/she leaves for college? Unlike MCPS, where you test for gifted, then test/apply for the center, then for middle school, then for high school and THEN finally leave for college?

[Anonymous]

Also FYI, in general the curriculum here is the same across all schools. Some schools have more pull-outs and differentiation than others. There is no such thing has 'gifted" here really until the HGC and other magnet programs kick in for 4th grade and up. In first through third grade there is very little differentiation here other than reading groups. Most classwork is the same for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:op, you've been given some good advice here about how the system works in MCPS. I have one child in private and one in MCPS. If you were set on a private, I worry that you would not be happy with MCPS -- and their are no guarantees anyway. I'd probably opt for Blair/Eastern or Poolesville -- two radically different areas but with great magnet programs that you are more likely to get in if you live close by. But in the meantime, your youngest would be bored for years as the HGCs don't start till 4th grade. I'd suggest you either suck it up for a year with public for your youngest child & then reapply, OR apply them both to K-8 schools, which seem to have more openings.

There is zero advantage to living in the Blair cluster for purposes of getting into magnets at Blair and Eastern. Zero.

There is some advantage to living in the TPMS cluster for purposes of getting into the TPMS magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP
As many people have stated lots of kids are tagged as "gifted" in MCPS- something like 40% on average and more in the better school districts. You know your own children and it is entirely possible that your children have tested as falling within the top 3-5% of children which is perhaps what you meant.
If your child gets into a Highly Gifted Center in 4th and 5th grade (they typically accommodate around 4% of the student body) or a middle school magnet (there are enough spots for roughly 3% of the MCPS school body) they will get an education that is enriched and accelerated which is what most gifted children need.
If they don't for some reason get into these programs they will be in a regular MCPS school.
If they are in a high performing school district, there is very little differentiation - some schools do "william and Mary", there is compacted 4/5/6 Math and so on. There are tons of children who read well above grade level so there would be peers for your children. However, these schools can usually coast on having students who would do well no matter what they do in the classroom because they've gone to good preschools and have a lot of parental support and involvement. It is not always clear to me whether the school itself is responsible for the student's success- the admin in some "W" schools can be apathetic in our experience.
If you end up in a school district which does not have great stats, there is likely to be more differentiation but it is not guaranteed. It really depends on the school and having a good principal. Oakland Terrace and Flora Singer are schools which do a fine job meeting the needs of all their students.
If your choice is between a "W" school and a school in the Eastern part of the county do your homework- ask about specific schools. Having a good principal really matters.

There is only one school district. It is MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Some HGCs are harder to get into then others so you could research that.

[Anonymous]

i think pp meant school district as in zoned for a particular school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP
As many people have stated lots of kids are tagged as "gifted" in MCPS- something like 40% on average and more in the better school districts. You know your own children and it is entirely possible that your children have tested as falling within the top 3-5% of children which is perhaps what you meant.
If your child gets into a Highly Gifted Center in 4th and 5th grade (they typically accommodate around 4% of the student body) or a middle school magnet (there are enough spots for roughly 3% of the MCPS school body) they will get an education that is enriched and accelerated which is what most gifted children need.
If they don't for some reason get into these programs they will be in a regular MCPS school.
If they are in a high performing school district, there is very little differentiation - some schools do "william and Mary", there is compacted 4/5/6 Math and so on. There are tons of children who read well above grade level so there would be peers for your children. However, these schools can usually coast on having students who would do well no matter what they do in the classroom because they've gone to good preschools and have a lot of parental support and involvement. It is not always clear to me whether the school itself is responsible for the student's success- the admin in some "W" schools can be apathetic in our experience.
If you end up in a school district which does not have great stats, there is likely to be more differentiation but it is not guaranteed. It really depends on the school and having a good principal. Oakland Terrace and Flora Singer are schools which do a fine job meeting the needs of all their students.
If your choice is between a "W" school and a school in the Eastern part of the county do your homework- ask about specific schools. Having a good principal really matters.

There is only one school district. It is MCPS.

[Anonymous]

As everyone has said, in elementary school in MCPS there is no gifted program or acceleration before 4th grade. In 4th/5th, the gifted program is through the centers and there is a compacted math program in-school. In general, mcps is academically rigorous - the private schools generally have the same standards/progression as mcps.

If you truly feel that you have gifted children, above what the basic school system or a typical private can support, then consider a private like Feynman or Nysmith. If not, a child attending an mcps school won't be at a disadvantage applying to a private later. The biggest problem with the desired "w" schools right now is over-crowding - class sizes are big. Smart kids, decent program despite the bumps with 2.0, but large classes.

[Anonymous]

Wootton, Whitman, Walter Johnson, BCC.

Buy in these clusters. You will be assured of good schools in these clusters.

Magnet and center programs are great, but there are no guarantees that your child will get in. My kids have been in magnet programs throughout, but it is very competitive and difficult to get in.

I go through intense periods of stress, each time my kids apply for these magnets, because the alternatives (our assigned home schools) are truly bottom of the heap!

- magnet parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some HGCs are harder to get into then others so you could research that.

LOLA

How would one research this, and why do you believe this is true?

[Anonymous]

^^^
*LOL*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wootton, Whitman, Walter Johnson, BCC.

Buy in these clusters. You will be assured of good schools in these clusters.
Magnet and center programs are great, but there are no guarantees that your child will get in. My kids have been in magnet programs throughout, but it is very competitive and difficult to get in.

I go through intense periods of stress, each time my kids apply for these magnets, because the alternatives (our assigned home schools) are truly bottom of the heap!

- magnet parent

I read a lot of complaints on DCUM from people whose children go to schools in those clusters.

Not to mention that OP may be completely unable to afford to buy anything in these clusters anyway.

[Anonymous]

No one has mentioned Chevy Chase Elementary has a G&T program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wootton, Whitman, Walter Johnson, BCC.

Buy in these clusters. You will be assured of good schools in these clusters.

Magnet and center programs are great, but there are no guarantees that your child will get in. My kids have been in magnet programs throughout, but it is very competitive and difficult to get in.

I go through intense periods of stress, each time my kids apply for these magnets, because the alternatives (our assigned home schools) are truly bottom of the heap!

- magnet parent

Those are not necessarily the best schools in the county. They are the ones with the highest SES and most involved parents. The test scores those schools enjoy are not necessarily in direct corellation to the quality of the schools, but to its students and their families. The students will succeed regardless of attending a W cluster school or not. I'm not saying that the teachers aren't good in those schools, but you won't automatically increase test scores of lower performing schools if you transferred all of the W school teachers to those schools. Those teachers would have a lot of trouble with the differentiation required in those schools. Teachers in lower performing schools are much more well versed in differentiating for the students way below grade level and way above grade level.