MCPS to end areawide Blair Magnet and countywide Richard Montgomery's IB program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is bonkers. The regional program seems responsive to the concerns parents raise here all the time that high performing kids are shut out of the very few high performing programs. Now, a larger group of high performing kids will be able to learn with their high performing peers, with the speciality focus area piece available to try to equal out the number of high performing kids at each school. Seems like a good approach to me. As for the rarefied Blair offerings, kids can get those in college.

Exactly. HS is about exposure not specialization.

So why kill the existing program that gives kids the most exposure?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they were smart, they would have created these 6 regional programs (9-12 grades), and have the current Blair/Poolsville only for 10-12 grades (remove 9th).
At the end of the 9th grade, select the top students from the 6 regionals to send them to 10-12 grades at Blair/Poolsville. That would have been smart and competitive

Right, because kids and families want to move schools and make friends twice.

It is absolutely funny to see people unfamiliar with the current magnet programs having opinions.

If you have or had a kid at Blair magnet you will know that kids go there not for friendship and playing. It is all competition, all academics. Most of them have real internship every single summer. Interships at NASA, UMD, Johns Hopkins where their parents drive them 5 days per week.
These programs are serious, and competition is rough. You will see students crying for getting a B that "ruins" their Ivy League chances. You see Robotics kids meeting almost every day after school and in summer.

This is not the normal advanced program you might think about. It is another level that cannot be clone 6 times.

What benefit does NASA get from having a 14-year old work with them for a summer? Even a prodigy genius one? These “internships” honestly sound like fake charities created by parents for Ivy applications.

Another outsider having no idea about what these kids do but having strong opinions. LOL
One of the NASA internships is about robotics. 50 kids from entire US.
If you have the curiosity to check Blair's and Poolsville's robotics teams you will understand that this is not charity. They build fully functional robots in 2 months to compete in First Robotics events. This is serious stuff with high budgets (~40k per year) and a lot at effort all year round. Last 2 years, Blair's team qualified to the Worlds Championship in Texas. Many of these kids get into the famous CMU or MIT Engineering programs and end up building robots for NASA later in life.
Get your facts right before writing non sense here.

That "World championship" is for everyone with enough money to fund an expensive hobby.

The famous CMU and MIT (and BYU, btw) Engineering programs that educated people who built robots for NASA didn't intern at NASA at 14.

You must be joking! There are thousands of teams and only a fraction qualify. Budget matters but it's not everything. And btw, the teams have a business sub team responsible with donations and budget. It is serious stuff with some kids sending letters and meeting with potential sponsors, and others designing and building the robot. Not as simple as you might think.

So, rich kids with parents with rich friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they were smart, they would have created these 6 regional programs (9-12 grades), and have the current Blair/Poolsville only for 10-12 grades (remove 9th).
At the end of the 9th grade, select the top students from the 6 regionals to send them to 10-12 grades at Blair/Poolsville. That would have been smart and competitive

Right, because kids and families want to move schools and make friends twice.

It is absolutely funny to see people unfamiliar with the current magnet programs having opinions.

If you have or had a kid at Blair magnet you will know that kids go there not for friendship and playing. It is all competition, all academics. Most of them have real internship every single summer. Interships at NASA, UMD, Johns Hopkins where their parents drive them 5 days per week.
These programs are serious, and competition is rough. You will see students crying for getting a B that "ruins" their Ivy League chances. You see Robotics kids meeting almost every day after school and in summer.

This is not the normal advanced program you might think about. It is another level that cannot be clone 6 times.

What benefit does NASA get from having a 14-year old work with them for a summer? Even a prodigy genius one? These “internships” honestly sound like fake charities created by parents for Ivy applications.

Another outsider having no idea about what these kids do but having strong opinions. LOL
One of the NASA internships is about robotics. 50 kids from entire US.
If you have the curiosity to check Blair's and Poolsville's robotics teams you will understand that this is not charity. They build fully functional robots in 2 months to compete in First Robotics events. This is serious stuff with high budgets (~40k per year) and a lot at effort all year round. Last 2 years, Blair's team qualified to the Worlds Championship in Texas. Many of these kids get into the famous CMU or MIT Engineering programs and end up building robots for NASA later in life.
Get your facts right before writing non sense here.

That "World championship" is for everyone with enough money to fund an expensive hobby.

The famous CMU and MIT (and BYU, btw) Engineering programs that educated people who built robots for NASA didn't intern at NASA at 14.

You must be joking! There are thousands of teams and only a fraction qualify. Budget matters but it's not everything. And btw, the teams have a business sub team responsible with donations and budget. It is serious stuff with some kids sending letters and meeting with potential sponsors, and others designing and building the robot. Not as simple as you might think.

I admire these efforts. People spend their entire adulthoods working, often unsuccessfully, in teams. Robotics teams are a great way for students with like interests to grow their team-building skills. Bravo to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is bonkers. The regional program seems responsive to the concerns parents raise here all the time that high performing kids are shut out of the very few high performing programs. Now, a larger group of high performing kids will be able to learn with their high performing peers, with the speciality focus area piece available to try to equal out the number of high performing kids at each school. Seems like a good approach to me. As for the rarefied Blair offerings, kids can get those in college.

Exactly. HS is about exposure not specialization.

So why kill the existing program that gives kids the most exposure?

What exactly is the problem with keeping our outstanding cross-county programs AND reorganizing the school district into regions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is bonkers. The regional program seems responsive to the concerns parents raise here all the time that high performing kids are shut out of the very few high performing programs. Now, a larger group of high performing kids will be able to learn with their high performing peers, with the speciality focus area piece available to try to equal out the number of high performing kids at each school. Seems like a good approach to me. As for the rarefied Blair offerings, kids can get those in college.

Exactly. HS is about exposure not specialization.

So why kill the existing program that gives kids the most exposure?

What exactly is the problem with keeping our outstanding cross-county programs AND reorganizing the school district into regions?

I would have thought this was a good solution too, but apparently it has already been tried and failed with IB programs.

[Anonymous]

as a current student @ blair, here's a few things i've noticed

- the rigor of the program is supplied by two things - the student cohort, and the teachers.

- the biggest thing is the teachers. classes themselves do not automatically become rigorous. it's all dependent on your teacher - some go hard on you and make you struggle for every grade, others take it easy. many of my friends and myself choose classes solely based off of who teaches them - and know that the best aspect of our education is because of the insane amount of skill + efforts our teachers put in. there is no way that quality of teacher (which we're already struggling to fill at blair, major example with mr.kaluta leaving 3-4 years ago and still no proper replacement found) can be replicated across however many regional programs exist. in general, though the teachers are so unique and amazing that even the "hated" teachers in the magnet would be stellar elsewhere. the standard of teaching and respect we get is very high and I just haven't been able to feel that with most of my other teachers.

- other than the rigorous classes in mostly just math & cs, the major amount of motivation and rigor comes from the cohort. i only skimmed this thread and saw so much discussion about top 1% or 5% or blah blah, but in truth the peer group at blair is unlike one at any other high school. the concentration of people in my grade are so smart that it literally is one of my main motivating factors to try and build myself up as well - and even though a regional program would supply a very good peer group, it would for sure not give the same motivation/drive/push to literally try and make myself the best version I can be.

- from a feasibility perspective, there just isn't any way that a regional program could be of the same rigor of blair/rm/poolesville. the magnet is literally such a wonderful environment and while i'd love to expand access to it, splitting up the central programs is just not the way to go about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:as a current student @ blair, here's a few things i've noticed

- the rigor of the program is supplied by two things - the student cohort, and the teachers.

- the biggest thing is the teachers. classes themselves do not automatically become rigorous. it's all dependent on your teacher - some go hard on you and make you struggle for every grade, others take it easy. many of my friends and myself choose classes solely based off of who teaches them - and know that the best aspect of our education is because of the insane amount of skill + efforts our teachers put in. there is no way that quality of teacher (which we're already struggling to fill at blair, major example with mr.kaluta leaving 3-4 years ago and still no proper replacement found) can be replicated across however many regional programs exist. in general, though the teachers are so unique and amazing that even the "hated" teachers in the magnet would be stellar elsewhere. the standard of teaching and respect we get is very high and I just haven't been able to feel that with most of my other teachers.

- other than the rigorous classes in mostly just math & cs, the major amount of motivation and rigor comes from the cohort. i only skimmed this thread and saw so much discussion about top 1% or 5% or blah blah, but in truth the peer group at blair is unlike one at any other high school. the concentration of people in my grade are so smart that it literally is one of my main motivating factors to try and build myself up as well - and even though a regional program would supply a very good peer group, it would for sure not give the same motivation/drive/push to literally try and make myself the best version I can be.

- from a feasibility perspective, there just isn't any way that a regional program could be of the same rigor of blair/rm/poolesville. the magnet is literally such a wonderful environment and while i'd love to expand access to it, splitting up the central programs is just not the way to go about it.

Nicely explained!

[Anonymous]

What can be done to better support MCPS teachers and teaching in all schools???

[Anonymous]

N of 1, I turned down Blair years ago primarily due to the super long distance of the bus ride 2x/day. That was the absolute rate limiting factor. It precluded doing any sport, anything else in life, etc. etc.

No one cohort or program can be exactly replicated but SO. MANY. brilliant students and teachers are everywhere.

The models of the 80s seem based on bussing principles etc. Conceptualizations of equity have def evolved since then as have myriad education issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:as a current student @ blair, here's a few things i've noticed

- the rigor of the program is supplied by two things - the student cohort, and the teachers.

- the biggest thing is the teachers. classes themselves do not automatically become rigorous. it's all dependent on your teacher - some go hard on you and make you struggle for every grade, others take it easy. many of my friends and myself choose classes solely based off of who teaches them - and know that the best aspect of our education is because of the insane amount of skill + efforts our teachers put in. there is no way that quality of teacher (which we're already struggling to fill at blair, major example with mr.kaluta leaving 3-4 years ago and still no proper replacement found) can be replicated across however many regional programs exist. in general, though the teachers are so unique and amazing that even the "hated" teachers in the magnet would be stellar elsewhere. the standard of teaching and respect we get is very high and I just haven't been able to feel that with most of my other teachers.

- other than the rigorous classes in mostly just math & cs, the major amount of motivation and rigor comes from the cohort. i only skimmed this thread and saw so much discussion about top 1% or 5% or blah blah, but in truth the peer group at blair is unlike one at any other high school. the concentration of people in my grade are so smart that it literally is one of my main motivating factors to try and build myself up as well - and even though a regional program would supply a very good peer group, it would for sure not give the same motivation/drive/push to literally try and make myself the best version I can be.

- from a feasibility perspective, there just isn't any way that a regional program could be of the same rigor of blair/rm/poolesville. the magnet is literally such a wonderful environment and while i'd love to expand access to it, splitting up the central programs is just not the way to go about it.

Well said! Please consider sending this testimony to BoE and Dr. Taylor. Central office intentionally (like they always do) ignore students’ and teachers’ input and make decisions solely based on face value stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:as a current student @ blair, here's a few things i've noticed

- the rigor of the program is supplied by two things - the student cohort, and the teachers.

- the biggest thing is the teachers. classes themselves do not automatically become rigorous. it's all dependent on your teacher - some go hard on you and make you struggle for every grade, others take it easy. many of my friends and myself choose classes solely based off of who teaches them - and know that the best aspect of our education is because of the insane amount of skill + efforts our teachers put in. there is no way that quality of teacher (which we're already struggling to fill at blair, major example with mr.kaluta leaving 3-4 years ago and still no proper replacement found) can be replicated across however many regional programs exist. in general, though the teachers are so unique and amazing that even the "hated" teachers in the magnet would be stellar elsewhere. the standard of teaching and respect we get is very high and I just haven't been able to feel that with most of my other teachers.

- other than the rigorous classes in mostly just math & cs, the major amount of motivation and rigor comes from the cohort. i only skimmed this thread and saw so much discussion about top 1% or 5% or blah blah, but in truth the peer group at blair is unlike one at any other high school. the concentration of people in my grade are so smart that it literally is one of my main motivating factors to try and build myself up as well - and even though a regional program would supply a very good peer group, it would for sure not give the same motivation/drive/push to literally try and make myself the best version I can be.

- from a feasibility perspective, there just isn't any way that a regional program could be of the same rigor of blair/rm/poolesville. the magnet is literally such a wonderful environment and while i'd love to expand access to it, splitting up the central programs is just not the way to go about it.

Thank you for sharing your informed insights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:as a current student @ blair, here's a few things i've noticed

- the rigor of the program is supplied by two things - the student cohort, and the teachers.

- the biggest thing is the teachers. classes themselves do not automatically become rigorous. it's all dependent on your teacher - some go hard on you and make you struggle for every grade, others take it easy. many of my friends and myself choose classes solely based off of who teaches them - and know that the best aspect of our education is because of the insane amount of skill + efforts our teachers put in. there is no way that quality of teacher (which we're already struggling to fill at blair, major example with mr.kaluta leaving 3-4 years ago and still no proper replacement found) can be replicated across however many regional programs exist. in general, though the teachers are so unique and amazing that even the "hated" teachers in the magnet would be stellar elsewhere. the standard of teaching and respect we get is very high and I just haven't been able to feel that with most of my other teachers.

- other than the rigorous classes in mostly just math & cs, the major amount of motivation and rigor comes from the cohort. i only skimmed this thread and saw so much discussion about top 1% or 5% or blah blah, but in truth the peer group at blair is unlike one at any other high school. the concentration of people in my grade are so smart that it literally is one of my main motivating factors to try and build myself up as well - and even though a regional program would supply a very good peer group, it would for sure not give the same motivation/drive/push to literally try and make myself the best version I can be.

- from a feasibility perspective, there just isn't any way that a regional program could be of the same rigor of blair/rm/poolesville. the magnet is literally such a wonderful environment and while i'd love to expand access to it, splitting up the central programs is just not the way to go about it.

Well said! Please consider sending this testimony to BoE and Dr. Taylor. Central office intentionally (like they always do) ignore students’ and teachers’ input and make decisions solely based on face value stats.

They will ignore such input until the state report cards are published after a couple of years post-regional change, and we see schools in decline, because we have become honors-for-all schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:as a current student @ blair, here's a few things i've noticed

- the rigor of the program is supplied by two things - the student cohort, and the teachers.

- the biggest thing is the teachers. classes themselves do not automatically become rigorous. it's all dependent on your teacher - some go hard on you and make you struggle for every grade, others take it easy. many of my friends and myself choose classes solely based off of who teaches them - and know that the best aspect of our education is because of the insane amount of skill + efforts our teachers put in. there is no way that quality of teacher (which we're already struggling to fill at blair, major example with mr.kaluta leaving 3-4 years ago and still no proper replacement found) can be replicated across however many regional programs exist. in general, though the teachers are so unique and amazing that even the "hated" teachers in the magnet would be stellar elsewhere. the standard of teaching and respect we get is very high and I just haven't been able to feel that with most of my other teachers.

- other than the rigorous classes in mostly just math & cs, the major amount of motivation and rigor comes from the cohort. i only skimmed this thread and saw so much discussion about top 1% or 5% or blah blah, but in truth the peer group at blair is unlike one at any other high school. the concentration of people in my grade are so smart that it literally is one of my main motivating factors to try and build myself up as well - and even though a regional program would supply a very good peer group, it would for sure not give the same motivation/drive/push to literally try and make myself the best version I can be.

- from a feasibility perspective, there just isn't any way that a regional program could be of the same rigor of blair/rm/poolesville. the magnet is literally such a wonderful environment and while i'd love to expand access to it, splitting up the central programs is just not the way to go about it.

Nicely explained!

A few things:
1) Just because you write “current student @ Blair” doesn’t mean that anyone on this should believe you to be a student. This is an anonymous forum so taking anyone at face value with objective skepticism isn’t a good idea. Hopefully this is a lesson you learn fully before exiting HS if a student.

2) The program can in fact be replicated in other locations as we Only need look at the fact that the Poolesville SMACs program exist as evidence.

3) Sourcing teacher or talent in an of itself isn’t the issue. Heck there is a lot of it on the market right now. The problem is what these people are willing to accept for pay. It’s not a talent issue but an economic one.

4) Because of the above, CO and the Superintendent should already be having conversation with both the teacher’s union and county council about this plan.

5) A key downfall of this is that it is not being conducted as part of a larger conversation This should not be just a program analysis and boundary study. It should be a phase in a strategic program for of reimagining education in MCPS and that should be tied to the economics and development of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is bonkers. The regional program seems responsive to the concerns parents raise here all the time that high performing kids are shut out of the very few high performing programs. Now, a larger group of high performing kids will be able to learn with their high performing peers, with the speciality focus area piece available to try to equal out the number of high performing kids at each school. Seems like a good approach to me. As for the rarefied Blair offerings, kids can get those in college.

Too expensive to keep AND add equitable programs

Exactly. HS is about exposure not specialization.

So why kill the existing program that gives kids the most exposure?

What exactly is the problem with keeping our outstanding cross-county programs AND reorganizing the school district into regions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:as a current student @ blair, here's a few things i've noticed

- the rigor of the program is supplied by two things - the student cohort, and the teachers.

- the biggest thing is the teachers. classes themselves do not automatically become rigorous. it's all dependent on your teacher - some go hard on you and make you struggle for every grade, others take it easy. many of my friends and myself choose classes solely based off of who teaches them - and know that the best aspect of our education is because of the insane amount of skill + efforts our teachers put in. there is no way that quality of teacher (which we're already struggling to fill at blair, major example with mr.kaluta leaving 3-4 years ago and still no proper replacement found) can be replicated across however many regional programs exist. in general, though the teachers are so unique and amazing that even the "hated" teachers in the magnet would be stellar elsewhere. the standard of teaching and respect we get is very high and I just haven't been able to feel that with most of my other teachers.

- other than the rigorous classes in mostly just math & cs, the major amount of motivation and rigor comes from the cohort. i only skimmed this thread and saw so much discussion about top 1% or 5% or blah blah, but in truth the peer group at blair is unlike one at any other high school. the concentration of people in my grade are so smart that it literally is one of my main motivating factors to try and build myself up as well - and even though a regional program would supply a very good peer group, it would for sure not give the same motivation/drive/push to literally try and make myself the best version I can be.

- from a feasibility perspective, there just isn't any way that a regional program could be of the same rigor of blair/rm/poolesville. the magnet is literally such a wonderful environment and while i'd love to expand access to it, splitting up the central programs is just not the way to go about it.

Nicely explained!

A few things:
1) Just because you write “current student @ Blair” doesn’t mean that anyone on this should believe you to be a student. This is an anonymous forum so taking anyone at face value with objective skepticism isn’t a good idea. Hopefully this is a lesson you learn fully before exiting HS if a student.

2) The program can in fact be replicated in other locations as we Only need look at the fact that the Poolesville SMACs program exist as evidence.

3) Sourcing teacher or talent in an of itself isn’t the issue. Heck there is a lot of it on the market right now. The problem is what these people are willing to accept for pay. It’s not a talent issue but an economic one.

4) Because of the above, CO and the Superintendent should already be having conversation with both the teacher’s union and county council about this plan.

5) A key downfall of this is that it is not being conducted as part of a larger conversation This should not be just a program analysis and boundary study. It should be a phase in a strategic program for of reimagining education in MCPS and that should be tied to the economics and development of the county.

#5, 1,000%! We already know a ton of people in the county are losing their jobs and leaving the area. I worry we are going to spend all this time and energy to create something we can’t afford for students that don’t exist.

A simpler option would be to go with boundary option #1 to fill the new schools and use regional programs to help balance the capacity of every school.