Einstein vs. Northwood, and how does school choice in the DCC work?

[Anonymous]

One thing - I noticed your child is coming from a private k-8. Is it Catholic? If so, he might have a bit of a culture shock. It’s too bad the coronavirus is around. In the past, private school students looking to transfer have been allowed to shadow for a day. If he is doing well in private school, I would strongly consider signing him up for AP US History freshman year. The strongest Humanities students will be taking it. Make sure that you sign up for Honors everything with APUSH if possible. What will he take for math in 8th grade? How about foreign language?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing - I noticed your child is coming from a private k-8. Is it Catholic? If so, he might have a bit of a culture shock. It’s too bad the coronavirus is around. In the past, private school students looking to transfer have been allowed to shadow for a day. If he is doing well in private school, I would strongly consider signing him up for AP US History freshman year. The strongest Humanities students will be taking it. Make sure that you sign up for Honors everything with APUSH if possible. What will he take for math in 8th grade? How about foreign language?

OP here,

I am optimistic that there will be shadow days by the time he's close to starting. It's a year away. I'm not worried about culture shock.

He'll take Algebra 1 and Level 1 of a new language in 9th. He's not an academic superstar, and is pretty involved in extracurriculars, so I'm hoping he'll have some balance. He's doing fine in his current school, but he's not a kid who needs to take a college level class like APUSH while he's adjusting to high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing - I noticed your child is coming from a private k-8. Is it Catholic? If so, he might have a bit of a culture shock. It’s too bad the coronavirus is around. In the past, private school students looking to transfer have been allowed to shadow for a day. If he is doing well in private school, I would strongly consider signing him up for AP US History freshman year. The strongest Humanities students will be taking it. Make sure that you sign up for Honors everything with APUSH if possible. What will he take for math in 8th grade? How about foreign language?

OP here,

I am optimistic that there will be shadow days by the time he's close to starting. It's a year away. I'm not worried about culture shock.

He'll take Algebra 1 and Level 1 of a new language in 9th. He's not an academic superstar, and is pretty involved in extracurriculars, so I'm hoping he'll have some balance. He's doing fine in his current school, but he's not a kid who needs to take a college level class like APUSH while he's adjusting to high school.

A lot of kids are taking Algebra in 7th and 8th and some in 6th so he may be a bit behind. I would choose Einstein for the music program and its easier being your home school.

[Anonymous]

He sounds like a good kid! He won’t be “behind” taking Geometry freshman year, but he won’t be with the advanced kids from his grade. So, freshman year will have a lot of the weaker students in Geometry. Sophomore year will have a mix of freshmen and sophomores (and possibly bused 8th graders) in Alg II. By pre-Calc, the really weak math students start to drop off onto a different track. Your child will be fine; many MCPS students are over-accelerated in math; some crash and burn, or need tutors, or end up as B math students when they really should be A math students. There are many very good AP teachers at Einstein, so your child can have great teachers junior and senior year even if he doesn’t do IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He sounds like a good kid! He won’t be “behind” taking Geometry freshman year, but he won’t be with the advanced kids from his grade. So, freshman year will have a lot of the weaker students in Geometry. Sophomore year will have a mix of freshmen and sophomores (and possibly bused 8th graders) in Alg II. By pre-Calc, the really weak math students start to drop off onto a different track. Your child will be fine; many MCPS students are over-accelerated in math; some crash and burn, or need tutors, or end up as B math students when they really should be A math students. There are many very good AP teachers at Einstein, so your child can have great teachers junior and senior year even if he doesn’t do IB.

He's a fantastic kid. He won't take Geometry in 9th though.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm sorry that I misread your previous statement about 9th grade classes. My worry for a student taking Algebra 1 and Foreign Language 1 in 9th grade in MCPS would be that your student may be in classes with a lot of students who are academic strugglers, troublemakers, or very new to the English language. This might be non-PC of me to say. My DC started a new language in 9th grade and was really disappointed. It's not like Foreign Language 1 in any private school I know of. The strong MCPS students already took Foreign Language 1 in 6th or 7th grade. The weaker students wait to take it in 9th. Some older students are retaking Foreign Language 1 for the 2nd or 3rd time in order to pass. I am not making this up. The exception would be Japanese 1, which will have motivated 9th graders who haven't studied it before.

It will likely be a similar situation in Algebra 1, which is not available as an honors class. The worst math students in the entire high school are going to be in Algebra 1. Likely, some are retaking it in order to pass.

I have known students who were behind in math, with other academic strengths. I have known students who were behind in foreign language (often with learning disabilities), who had other academic strengths. I would worry about a former private school student who has to take the lower level offerings in both.

Have you considered Duke Ellington in DC (costs less than a private) or DeMatha in Hyattsville? At both schools, there should be a strong work ethic demanded of academically average students while providing an excellent music education.

I'd love to see the Einstein band gain your son, but I would want to make sure that he is going to get the academic atmosphere that you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

Unless he is signing up for Japanese 1, you could consider having your son take Foreign Language 1 during the summer before freshman year at a local private school. He can take a placement test and take Foreign Language 2 freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry that I misread your previous statement about 9th grade classes. My worry for a student taking Algebra 1 and Foreign Language 1 in 9th grade in MCPS would be that your student may be in classes with a lot of students who are academic strugglers, troublemakers, or very new to the English language. This might be non-PC of me to say. My DC started a new language in 9th grade and was really disappointed. It's not like Foreign Language 1 in any private school I know of. The strong MCPS students already took Foreign Language 1 in 6th or 7th grade. The weaker students wait to take it in 9th. Some older students are retaking Foreign Language 1 for the 2nd or 3rd time in order to pass. I am not making this up. The exception would be Japanese 1, which will have motivated 9th graders who haven't studied it before.

It will likely be a similar situation in Algebra 1, which is not available as an honors class. The worst math students in the entire high school are going to be in Algebra 1. Likely, some are retaking it in order to pass.

I have known students who were behind in math, with other academic strengths. I have known students who were behind in foreign language (often with learning disabilities), who had other academic strengths. I would worry about a former private school student who has to take the lower level offerings in both.

Have you considered Duke Ellington in DC (costs less than a private) or DeMatha in Hyattsville? At both schools, there should be a strong work ethic demanded of academically average students while providing an excellent music education.

I'd love to see the Einstein band gain your son, but I would want to make sure that he is going to get the academic atmosphere that you are looking for.

I think it's odd that, without knowing anything about my kid other than that his parent thinks he's fantastic and he plays an instrument you assume that other kids on his level are terrible, but he's not and should be rescued from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry that I misread your previous statement about 9th grade classes. My worry for a student taking Algebra 1 and Foreign Language 1 in 9th grade in MCPS would be that your student may be in classes with a lot of students who are academic strugglers, troublemakers, or very new to the English language. This might be non-PC of me to say. My DC started a new language in 9th grade and was really disappointed. It's not like Foreign Language 1 in any private school I know of. The strong MCPS students already took Foreign Language 1 in 6th or 7th grade. The weaker students wait to take it in 9th. Some older students are retaking Foreign Language 1 for the 2nd or 3rd time in order to pass. I am not making this up. The exception would be Japanese 1, which will have motivated 9th graders who haven't studied it before.

It will likely be a similar situation in Algebra 1, which is not available as an honors class. The worst math students in the entire high school are going to be in Algebra 1. Likely, some are retaking it in order to pass.

I have known students who were behind in math, with other academic strengths. I have known students who were behind in foreign language (often with learning disabilities), who had other academic strengths. I would worry about a former private school student who has to take the lower level offerings in both.

Have you considered Duke Ellington in DC (costs less than a private) or DeMatha in Hyattsville? At both schools, there should be a strong work ethic demanded of academically average students while providing an excellent music education.

I'd love to see the Einstein band gain your son, but I would want to make sure that he is going to get the academic atmosphere that you are looking for.

I think it's odd that, without knowing anything about my kid other than that his parent thinks he's fantastic and he plays an instrument you assume that other kids on his level are terrible, but he's not and should be rescued from them.

OP, this person is a bit to obsessed with AP and honors but in MCPS many regular classes are now called honors so that doesn't mean much. The concern is many regular and above kids take algebra now in 7th or 8th so the kids taking it in 9th are going to be kids who are struggling a bit. Both schools you are looking at are very diverse. Privates have a different math than MCPS. MCPS has choices for kids starting in 6th so even a few kids take Algebra in 6th. Most of the kids are great kids, but you will get a huge mix if he waits for Algebra in 9th an in MCPS its usually the kids who are weaker, struggling or other needs who start Algebra in 9th (even though for us it was very common to start Algebra in 9th in MCPS but things have changed). In your private, that's a normal schedule of math for kids.

Many kids who play instruments are very bright and this poster doesn't realize not all privates offer choices in math or offer Algebra before 9th (it was one of our hesitations of going private as MCPS is a nightmare right now).

MCPS now pushes kids who are academically on target to start a foreign language in either 6th or 7th depending on the program/schedule they have to offer.

Your child will do great at Einstein, but the just know that many kids, even "average" kids will be further ahead in math. The band kids and group have a great reputation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry that I misread your previous statement about 9th grade classes. My worry for a student taking Algebra 1 and Foreign Language 1 in 9th grade in MCPS would be that your student may be in classes with a lot of students who are academic strugglers, troublemakers, or very new to the English language. This might be non-PC of me to say. My DC started a new language in 9th grade and was really disappointed. It's not like Foreign Language 1 in any private school I know of. The strong MCPS students already took Foreign Language 1 in 6th or 7th grade. The weaker students wait to take it in 9th. Some older students are retaking Foreign Language 1 for the 2nd or 3rd time in order to pass. I am not making this up. The exception would be Japanese 1, which will have motivated 9th graders who haven't studied it before.

It will likely be a similar situation in Algebra 1, which is not available as an honors class. The worst math students in the entire high school are going to be in Algebra 1. Likely, some are retaking it in order to pass.

I have known students who were behind in math, with other academic strengths. I have known students who were behind in foreign language (often with learning disabilities), who had other academic strengths. I would worry about a former private school student who has to take the lower level offerings in both.

Have you considered Duke Ellington in DC (costs less than a private) or DeMatha in Hyattsville? At both schools, there should be a strong work ethic demanded of academically average students while providing an excellent music education.

I'd love to see the Einstein band gain your son, but I would want to make sure that he is going to get the academic atmosphere that you are looking for.

I think it's odd that, without knowing anything about my kid other than that his parent thinks he's fantastic and he plays an instrument you assume that other kids on his level are terrible, but he's not and should be rescued from them.

DP here. I think what the PP was trying to say in a nutshell is that the normal trajectory for MCPS students is to take Algebra in 8th grade. The advanced students are taking it in 7th (small percentage in 6th). So an MCPS student on the normal math track wouldn't be taking algebra in 9th grade because they already took it in 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing - I noticed your child is coming from a private k-8. Is it Catholic? If so, he might have a bit of a culture shock. It’s too bad the coronavirus is around. In the past, private school students looking to transfer have been allowed to shadow for a day. If he is doing well in private school, I would strongly consider signing him up for AP US History freshman year. The strongest Humanities students will be taking it. Make sure that you sign up for Honors everything with APUSH if possible. What will he take for math in 8th grade? How about foreign language?

OP here,

I am optimistic that there will be shadow days by the time he's close to starting. It's a year away. I'm not worried about culture shock.

He'll take Algebra 1 and Level 1 of a new language in 9th. He's not an academic superstar, and is pretty involved in extracurriculars, so I'm hoping he'll have some balance. He's doing fine in his current school, but he's not a kid who needs to take a college level class like APUSH while he's adjusting to high school.

A lot of kids are taking Algebra in 7th and 8th and some in 6th so he may be a bit behind. I would choose Einstein for the music program and its easier being your home school.

Very, very few kids take Algebra in 6th grade in MCPS. Algebra I in 7th grade is above grade level, Algebra I in 8th grade is on grade level, Algebra I in 9th grade is below grade level. If OP is worried about their son taking Algebra I in 9th grade with below-grade-level kids, then the son can do Algebra I in summer school and take Geometry in 9th grade with the on grade level kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry that I misread your previous statement about 9th grade classes. My worry for a student taking Algebra 1 and Foreign Language 1 in 9th grade in MCPS would be that your student may be in classes with a lot of students who are academic strugglers, troublemakers, or very new to the English language. This might be non-PC of me to say. My DC started a new language in 9th grade and was really disappointed. It's not like Foreign Language 1 in any private school I know of. The strong MCPS students already took Foreign Language 1 in 6th or 7th grade. The weaker students wait to take it in 9th. Some older students are retaking Foreign Language 1 for the 2nd or 3rd time in order to pass. I am not making this up. The exception would be Japanese 1, which will have motivated 9th graders who haven't studied it before.

It will likely be a similar situation in Algebra 1, which is not available as an honors class. The worst math students in the entire high school are going to be in Algebra 1. Likely, some are retaking it in order to pass.

I have known students who were behind in math, with other academic strengths. I have known students who were behind in foreign language (often with learning disabilities), who had other academic strengths. I would worry about a former private school student who has to take the lower level offerings in both.

Have you considered Duke Ellington in DC (costs less than a private) or DeMatha in Hyattsville? At both schools, there should be a strong work ethic demanded of academically average students while providing an excellent music education.

I'd love to see the Einstein band gain your son, but I would want to make sure that he is going to get the academic atmosphere that you are looking for.

I think it's odd that, without knowing anything about my kid other than that his parent thinks he's fantastic and he plays an instrument you assume that other kids on his level are terrible, but he's not and should be rescued from them.

This person is just giving you a heads up that your child's peers (we are assuming college bound students) will likely be in APUSH, Geometry or higher, and World Language 2 or higher. You also want to put your kid in Pre-IB English. On level and honors classes (because MCPS mixes honors and on level at most schools) are going to be filled with kids who are not college bound (maybe you don't care, I get it), and there are more likely to be disruptive kids (you should care, teachers have no ability to discipline kids under current mcps disciplinary policies, it's a problem).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry that I misread your previous statement about 9th grade classes. My worry for a student taking Algebra 1 and Foreign Language 1 in 9th grade in MCPS would be that your student may be in classes with a lot of students who are academic strugglers, troublemakers, or very new to the English language. This might be non-PC of me to say. My DC started a new language in 9th grade and was really disappointed. It's not like Foreign Language 1 in any private school I know of. The strong MCPS students already took Foreign Language 1 in 6th or 7th grade. The weaker students wait to take it in 9th. Some older students are retaking Foreign Language 1 for the 2nd or 3rd time in order to pass. I am not making this up. The exception would be Japanese 1, which will have motivated 9th graders who haven't studied it before.

It will likely be a similar situation in Algebra 1, which is not available as an honors class. The worst math students in the entire high school are going to be in Algebra 1. Likely, some are retaking it in order to pass.

I have known students who were behind in math, with other academic strengths. I have known students who were behind in foreign language (often with learning disabilities), who had other academic strengths. I would worry about a former private school student who has to take the lower level offerings in both.

Have you considered Duke Ellington in DC (costs less than a private) or DeMatha in Hyattsville? At both schools, there should be a strong work ethic demanded of academically average students while providing an excellent music education.

I'd love to see the Einstein band gain your son, but I would want to make sure that he is going to get the academic atmosphere that you are looking for.

I think it's odd that, without knowing anything about my kid other than that his parent thinks he's fantastic and he plays an instrument you assume that other kids on his level are terrible, but he's not and should be rescued from them.

This person is just giving you a heads up that your child's peers (we are assuming college bound students) will likely be in APUSH, Geometry or higher, and World Language 2 or higher. You also want to put your kid in Pre-IB English. On level and honors classes (because MCPS mixes honors and on level at most schools) are going to be filled with kids who are not college bound (maybe you don't care, I get it), and there are more likely to be disruptive kids (you should care, teachers have no ability to discipline kids under current mcps disciplinary policies, it's a problem).

OP, it's the chatty Einstein mom again. You know your kid best. I'm just trying to give you the lay of the land. The parents who rave about Einstein love the extracurriculars, especially the arts, and usually have their kids in higher level classes. My chld did transfer into MCPS from a private, so I'm fully aware that for many privates Algebra 1 in 9th is on-level and Algebra 1 in 8th is accelerated. That's just not the way it is in MCPS and my DC felt the consequences. If they really had wanted to fix that, I would have recommended Geometry over the summer (not Algebra 1 over the summer). My DC was very frustrated in Foreign Language 1 to the point of tears and did end up doing summer acceleration. I had a very different experience when I took Foreign Language 1 as a 9th grader at a private many moons ago. You will run into the same issues at Northwood or any other MCPS school. Your son might possibly wonder why he's not in classes with the other kids from band. That's why I mentioned the possibiity of Duke Ellington and DeMatha, where the band kids would have a wide variety of academic abilities.

[Anonymous]

Continuation - Yes, there were many discipline issues in Foreign Language 1 (not Japanese). No homework that was not done in class. For some science classes, on-level has been eliminated, so everyone is in honors if not in AP. DC ended up volunteering to do foreign language interpretation on the days the ESOL para couldn't be present. This ended up being a very good experience, but not every kid has the foreign language skills or the patience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry that I misread your previous statement about 9th grade classes. My worry for a student taking Algebra 1 and Foreign Language 1 in 9th grade in MCPS would be that your student may be in classes with a lot of students who are academic strugglers, troublemakers, or very new to the English language. This might be non-PC of me to say. My DC started a new language in 9th grade and was really disappointed. It's not like Foreign Language 1 in any private school I know of. The strong MCPS students already took Foreign Language 1 in 6th or 7th grade. The weaker students wait to take it in 9th. Some older students are retaking Foreign Language 1 for the 2nd or 3rd time in order to pass. I am not making this up. The exception would be Japanese 1, which will have motivated 9th graders who haven't studied it before.

It will likely be a similar situation in Algebra 1, which is not available as an honors class. The worst math students in the entire high school are going to be in Algebra 1. Likely, some are retaking it in order to pass.

I have known students who were behind in math, with other academic strengths. I have known students who were behind in foreign language (often with learning disabilities), who had other academic strengths. I would worry about a former private school student who has to take the lower level offerings in both.

Have you considered Duke Ellington in DC (costs less than a private) or DeMatha in Hyattsville? At both schools, there should be a strong work ethic demanded of academically average students while providing an excellent music education.

I'd love to see the Einstein band gain your son, but I would want to make sure that he is going to get the academic atmosphere that you are looking for.

I think it's odd that, without knowing anything about my kid other than that his parent thinks he's fantastic and he plays an instrument you assume that other kids on his level are terrible, but he's not and should be rescued from them.

This person is just giving you a heads up that your child's peers (we are assuming college bound students) will likely be in APUSH, Geometry or higher, and World Language 2 or higher. You also want to put your kid in Pre-IB English. On level and honors classes (because MCPS mixes honors and on level at most schools) are going to be filled with kids who are not college bound (maybe you don't care, I get it), and there are more likely to be disruptive kids (you should care, teachers have no ability to discipline kids under current mcps disciplinary policies, it's a problem).

I still don’t get why you assume that my kid must be “peers” with kids in APUSH. You clearly have this view of the kids in Algebra 1, but I don’t understand why, since you clearly don’t give them any benefit of the doubt, I am not sure why my kid gets it. Because he plays an instrument? Because the fact that I managed to pay for Catholic school means I must be middle class and therefore my kid must be somehow superior?

I really don’t mean to be obtuse. Clearly, my kid hasn’t moved fast academically. There are reasons, but lots of low income kids have the same reasons apply to them. And others have some better reasons, like the fact that their whole life got turned upside down by the need to flee to a new country. Why do you assume my kid’s reasons are legit?