Best elementary school for a STEM gifted child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quizbowl?

So if i had a choice to go to the top 3rd magnet in the ENTIRE country, a truly nationally recognized school like TJ or a school that comes in lower than 1000th place like Blair and doesn't even make it anywhere close to the top ten in its own state but they won a quiz bowl tournament....why do I feel that this would not be a hard decision to make?

Its really a shame that MD does not have a test-in ONLY whole school STEM magnet. They could build one somewhere in up county that could draw from MCPS, Howard and Frederick. Its a shame that in this area MD hasn't put more effort into growing a stronger magnet program.

Why would we need a test-in whole magnet when the "piecemeal" one we have always outperforms your whole magnet ?
You can have your whole magnet so you can rank high on a piece of paper but we prefer performance over ranking, quality over quantity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But according to the latest US News TJ is #3 in the entire county so it's the best hands down!

Yep TJ is #3 in the country -nationally #3.

Blair nationally is #1024.

Oh m an, TJ boosters could not wait this time of the year to revive this thread . This is the time of the year where they can glow and brag about being ranked higher than Blair, their only advantage.
This thread has been dormant since 3/15, they had no ammo. This ranking could not come any sooner to give TJ a boost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its very insular to believe that Blair is more prestigious than TJ. TJ is known nation wide , Blair is not. TJ is consistently listed in the top 10 magnets in the countries. Blair never makes the list ever.

Funny, I was just telling my husband that I knew several Blair kids when I was at MIT for undergrad - they were all rockstars and went on to do awesome things. Had never heard of Blair before but developed a respect for it due to those classmates (same for Stuy). OTOH, never met anyone from TJ during my undergrad. Of course, this was 10+ years ago, so things could have changed since then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its very insular to believe that Blair is more prestigious than TJ. TJ is known nation wide , Blair is not. TJ is consistently listed in the top 10 magnets in the countries. Blair never makes the list ever.

Funny, I was just telling my husband that I knew several Blair kids when I was at MIT for undergrad - they were all rockstars and went on to do awesome things. Had never heard of Blair before but developed a respect for it due to those classmates (same for Stuy). OTOH, never met anyone from TJ during my undergrad. Of course, this was 10+ years ago, so things could have changed since then.

TJ is one of those big watered down magnets. The overall quality is less impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its very insular to believe that Blair is more prestigious than TJ. TJ is known nation wide , Blair is not. TJ is consistently listed in the top 10 magnets in the countries. Blair never makes the list ever.

Funny, I was just telling my husband that I knew several Blair kids when I was at MIT for undergrad - they were all rockstars and went on to do awesome things. Had never heard of Blair before but developed a respect for it due to those classmates (same for Stuy). OTOH, never met anyone from TJ during my undergrad. Of course, this was 10+ years ago, so things could have changed since then.

Sure your went to MIT hon

[Anonymous]

Do you MIt alum interview in MoCo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its very insular to believe that Blair is more prestigious than TJ. TJ is known nation wide , Blair is not. TJ is consistently listed in the top 10 magnets in the countries. Blair never makes the list ever.

Funny, I was just telling my husband that I knew several Blair kids when I was at MIT for undergrad - they were all rockstars and went on to do awesome things. Had never heard of Blair before but developed a respect for it due to those classmates (same for Stuy). OTOH, never met anyone from TJ during my undergrad. Of course, this was 10+ years ago, so things could have changed since then.

I read 6% of the Blair magnet got into MIT this year.

[Anonymous]

Back on topic, one of the reasons we elected to buy in Takoma Park was the schools. We were relocating from the Bay Area where real estate is more expensive than DC so we had the ability to buy anywhere. We looked at Arlington and Bethesda but didn't find either that compelling.

TPES: Only elementary magnet w/ small classes. math enrichment and dedicated STEM teacher
PBES: local CES program, smaller class sizes, math enrichment, dedicated science teacher
TPMS: Middle school stem magnet with an in-boundary set-aside.
Blair: SMCS & CAP magnets, although there's no set-aside TPMS, prepare kids for this, also magnet classes are available to everyone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back on topic, one of the reasons we elected to buy in Takoma Park was the schools. We were relocating from the Bay Area where real estate is more expensive than DC so we had the ability to buy anywhere. We looked at Arlington and Bethesda but didn't find either that compelling.

TPES: Only elementary magnet w/ small classes. math enrichment and dedicated STEM teacher
PBES: local CES program, smaller class sizes, math enrichment, dedicated science teacher
TPMS: Middle school stem magnet with an in-boundary set-aside.
Blair: SMCS & CAP magnets, although there's no set-aside TPMS, prepare kids for this, also magnet classes are available to everyone

Although there are many other great options in MCPS, TKPK schools provide the highest potential opportunity for a kid who is STEM inclined largely because of the TPMS set-aside. Admission to that program is otherwise pretty difficult these days. Since there so many qualified kids and so few seats, it's become a crap-shoot for out of boundary parents which causes a lot of resentment.

[Anonymous]

What’s your commute like? Work in VA? Downtown not along red line?

[Anonymous]

Is an extra science teacher worth living on the edge of Langley Park and hyattsvile. No thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back on topic, one of the reasons we elected to buy in Takoma Park was the schools. We were relocating from the Bay Area where real estate is more expensive than DC so we had the ability to buy anywhere. We looked at Arlington and Bethesda but didn't find either that compelling.

TPES: Only elementary magnet w/ small classes. math enrichment and dedicated STEM teacher
PBES: local CES program, smaller class sizes, math enrichment, dedicated science teacher
TPMS: Middle school stem magnet with an in-boundary set-aside.
Blair: SMCS & CAP magnets, although there's no set-aside TPMS, prepare kids for this, also magnet classes are available to everyone

Although there are many other great options in MCPS, TKPK schools provide the highest potential opportunity for a kid who is STEM inclined largely because of the TPMS set-aside. Admission to that program is otherwise pretty difficult these days. Since there so many qualified kids and so few seats, it's become a crap-shoot for out of boundary parents which causes a lot of resentment.

evidently

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back on topic, one of the reasons we elected to buy in Takoma Park was the schools. We were relocating from the Bay Area where real estate is more expensive than DC so we had the ability to buy anywhere. We looked at Arlington and Bethesda but didn't find either that compelling.

TPES: Only elementary magnet w/ small classes. math enrichment and dedicated STEM teacher
PBES: local CES program, smaller class sizes, math enrichment, dedicated science teacher
TPMS: Middle school stem magnet with an in-boundary set-aside.
Blair: SMCS & CAP magnets, although there's no set-aside TPMS, prepare kids for this, also magnet classes are available to everyone

Unfortunately, the info on PBES is not really accurate anymore. There is no math enrichment in 3rd grade, and the only enriched math classes for 4th and 5th are if your child is selected for 4/5 and 5/6, which is the same at most other elementary schools. Also, we heard they will be losing their science/STEM teacher due to funding cuts. Sigh. Still, TPES is a great school and does do math enrichment very well, and the local set aside for TPMS is also a plus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back on topic, one of the reasons we elected to buy in Takoma Park was the schools. We were relocating from the Bay Area where real estate is more expensive than DC so we had the ability to buy anywhere. We looked at Arlington and Bethesda but didn't find either that compelling.

TPES: Only elementary magnet w/ small classes. math enrichment and dedicated STEM teacher
PBES: local CES program, smaller class sizes, math enrichment, dedicated science teacher
TPMS: Middle school stem magnet with an in-boundary set-aside.
Blair: SMCS & CAP magnets, although there's no set-aside TPMS, prepare kids for this, also magnet classes are available to everyone

Unfortunately, the info on PBES is not really accurate anymore. There is no math enrichment in 3rd grade, and the only enriched math classes for 4th and 5th are if your child is selected for 4/5 and 5/6, which is the same at most other elementary schools. Also, we heard they will be losing their science/STEM teacher due to funding cuts. Sigh. Still, TPES is a great school and does do math enrichment very well, and the local set aside for TPMS is also a plus.

The local CES program at PBES is a plus, but I don't see smaller class sizes overall at PBES like there were at TPES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back on topic, one of the reasons we elected to buy in Takoma Park was the schools. We were relocating from the Bay Area where real estate is more expensive than DC so we had the ability to buy anywhere. We looked at Arlington and Bethesda but didn't find either that compelling.

TPES: Only elementary magnet w/ small classes. math enrichment and dedicated STEM teacher
PBES: local CES program, smaller class sizes, math enrichment, dedicated science teacher
TPMS: Middle school stem magnet with an in-boundary set-aside.
Blair: SMCS & CAP magnets, although there's no set-aside TPMS, prepare kids for this, also magnet classes are available to everyone

Unfortunately, the info on PBES is not really accurate anymore. There is no math enrichment in 3rd grade, and the only enriched math classes for 4th and 5th are if your child is selected for 4/5 and 5/6, which is the same at most other elementary schools. Also, we heard they will be losing their science/STEM teacher due to funding cuts. Sigh. Still, TPES is a great school and does do math enrichment very well, and the local set aside for TPMS is also a plus.

The local CES program at PBES is a plus, but I don't see smaller class sizes overall at PBES like there were at TPES.

Most classes at PBES are between 22-25 with the exception of CES which is between 26-28. This is smaller than what is normal for 3-5 but class size in general goes up after 2.