They need to be creative as hell, constantly seeking self-enrichment, independent thinkers, mini-researchers who love to read read read and read some more, who are great writers who write for the love of it not for the "have to" of it. Kids who are very organized, self motivated and self driven to explore new areas to the great depts. Who know and love to write reports and papers, who can organize and present data. Who have their creative juices running all the time and who love to be in the like-minded crowd. They are fine to work under pressure of deadline and can prioritize the piles of work according to due dates that they know how to manage. If your kid went to a magnet prior to Easter they already have all that, plus they need to love humanities like nobody's business. If you have a math kid, it is not the best match especially if he suffers reading and writing and doing heavily creative projects. If you have a kid that did not go to magnet prior to applying to Easter but he just need to organize themselves a bit but has all the love of humanities, creative soul and good work habit in place, then they can tweak the rest in the first year I would think. |
In a nutshell, the perfect fit is a kid who has 52 ideas how to do a project half way into reading the description .
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| Like Eastern TPMS has 100 seats for out of boundary students. |
That's not exactly correct. Eastern has 100 slots for the magnet program total (some may go to in-bound students). |
Thank you PPs! Sounds like my DD. I know it's almost impossible to get in but you can dream right? |
Who are you? What grade do you teach? I know you! |
And anecdotally, at least, any mid-year spots that open up are usually offered to in-bounds students. Presumably these are kids who were originally wait-listed. Not sure if that's official policy, but I think it's presumed that in-bounds kids are more likely to accept because there's less disruption for them. |
The poster was correct that TPMS has 100 seats for out of boundary students. |
This IB parents think they are getting a deal with the 25 seats but that was because they almost got completely locked out by west county kids |
What kids don't do well at Eastern? My kid loves writing and reads voraciously, but has a hard time with group work. How much is the work done individually, and how much is group work? |
There is ALOT of group work - the media projects especially - and that's a good thing. Generally speaking, one of the hardest things for gifted kids that attend these programs is either (a) the ability to "cede the floor" to those who have trouble speaking up or (b) speaking up when someone won't cede floor. These classes support the children to do just that in a fun and engaging way. It's an incredibly important life skill. |
My Eastern kid's least favorite aspect is the group work, but they're getting through it. My kid has grown a lot since the hated group projects at the HGC program in elementary, and I've seen more problem-solving and speaking up happening than before. So I think it's OK if it's a weakness, because they really do eventually figure it out. And I will say that the teachers my kid has had so far, at least, do a good job of ensuring that the majority of the project grades are for the work each individual student produces. (I can't say whether that's always the case, though.) So even when someone failed to do their part, my kid was still able to get a decent grade on the project. |
| My kid is in seventh grade at Eastern and had a lot of group projects last year. In media, they could mostly choose their partners. In World Studies and English, they could not. It is a life lesson. You need to be able to work with others, and the work will sometimes fall to one person. This year, the group projects seem much less, maybe because they are focused on the IDRIP. |
| These magnets are so last year. We love the new enriched classes. Not sure why anyone would go to a magnet these days. |
Because the caliber of the students. The enriched programs can’t offer that. Is your child getting media offered like at the magnet? It’s not comparable. Whether a magnet is the right choice for your child/family is another debate, but this (bolded) is a silly conclusion. |