When is the plan for new HS programs coming out?
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Anonymous
In the new boundary options, QO is contiguous with Poolesville. |
Anonymous
Nothing is known yet. There will be a presentation on Tuesday at the board meeting. |
Anonymous
It was in the document they posted and then took down. So could change. |
Anonymous
| Einstein should be by Woodward and WJ. |
Anonymous
Another DP. While there may be plenty of students in each region to support programs, are there plenty of program seats in each region to support students? That would be the more important question. And while there are kids in all schools taking advanced classes, there clearly have not been the same breadth and levels of advanced classes available at all schools for students to take. Again, the latter bit is the much more important point, but one that MCPS typically would hide by using the wording of the former. The scarcity claims are valid unless MCPS can show that, on an individual basis, the options for school attendance (magnet, consortia, in-bounds school or some other) and program/class availability that reasonably might be expected (not just possible) are roughly equivalent no matter where one lives and consistent with the academic need of said individual. |
Anonymous
There are kids at all schools capable but not all kids are taking advanced classes as the schools don’t offer them. They try to force the kids to Mc. Of course pre one BOE member works there and her job is liaison to MCPS so huge conflict of interest. |
Anonymous
That makes no sense. Einstein is close to Wheaton, Woodward, Blair. |
Anonymous
I saw the document before it was taken down and this matches it. BUT don’t forget this could change. Unlikely but possible. And also, don’t forget that many of us do not know what our zoned option even is yet. Depending on how the boundary study shakes out I’d be in different regions. In the document it said that some programs would be criteria based and others interest based, as they are now. There was no mention of a lottery and the poster who assumed that could not have based it on anything. I am not positive but I think something in the document referred to sorting out admissions criteria and process. Obviously they will need to figure that out, and will it be done by each individual program as it is now, or centrally? I personally think they are potentially overestimating how many students want to enter a special program for high school. I think the allure of some of the top programs right now is cohort and established excellence, not the narrow focus or specialty itself. I agree with the PP who said lumping this together with the boundary study is muddying a lot of details. I’m concerned they are going to scale up a lot of these programs in places where they will either be over or under subscribed because people haven’t sorted whether their zoned option suits their needs. It’s also hard to know as an 8th grader what high school courses or pathways you will want or need and very little help is given to families to plan this out at all. |
Anonymous
While many students are interested in attending established programs like Blair SMAC, Poolesville SMAC, or RM IB due to their strong reputations and academic rigor, that doesn’t mean they would be equally eager to enroll in a brand-new SMAC or IB program in a different region. New programs come with uncertainty and unproven track records, which pose significant risks for students making important educational decisions. Instead of expanding opportunities, this approach may actually limit these students’ chances to attend the established programs they aspire to , effectively taking away options rather than creating them. |
Anonymous
That's part of the point. Telling them to go to MC to access coursework available elsewhere in situ would not be providing that rough/reasonable equivalence of educational experience. |
Anonymous
Where did you see this clarification? I watched the May 22 BOE meeting all the way through, didn't hear a single word about this point. I didn't watch the June 10th meeting but this was not on the meeting agenda. Did they actually discuss about the special programs on June 10th meeting? If you could possibly find the link and point out which timestamp, it would be super informative! |
Anonymous
And Northwood (closer than Blair). And WJ is a half mile farther than Woodward. But it can't be about the proximity of just one school, and it would be better to look at the proximity of the catchments instead of the proximity of the school buildings, themselves, planning for transportation, etc. They have to cobble together groups of 4-5 schools across the whole system, so instead of saying school A really belongs with much closer schools B/C/D, we'd need to paint a whole picture of how all the groupings would shake out with that change. That would have to consider capacity and probably diversity priorities in addition to proximity, presuming continuity would be somewhat built in. |
Anonymous
DP. I don't have a timestamp for you, but i recall seeing or hearing that, either in the verbal presentation or in the slide deck (I'd start with the deck). |
Anonymous
This is a very good point. My child ended up sort of specializing in high school by choosing electives centered around their interest. The interest is so strong they want to continue in college. But neither child nor us would have picked that in grade 8. What helped was a solid all around high school with lots of elective choices and room to explore and then specialize later. |
Anonymous
If they didn't do them together, it would undermine the effectiveness of any planned boundary change. They definitely need to ensure program capacity capable of meeting the expected need of the student population in each region. That likely is among the reasons they have to ensure some economic diversity in each region. I think that plays to an improper narrative regarding the relationship of economic status to student ability, but correcting that may take a much longer time, filtering through communities over the whole of a student's educational experience and only ever approaching rectification in a best-we-can-do-given-resourcing/logistics/edge-case-difficulty manner. |