Silver Springs schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:09:29 Are you saying Renay Johnson may be responsible for the policy? I hear she got rid of counselors being assigned for magnet students and many experienced teachers are resigning from the magnet program. Is it true?

No, I am not saying that and I have no idea if it is true or if the things you asked about are true. I was just asking if this might be a new policy and therefore new to some parents. Apparently some posters here feel that this has been kept secret, which would imply that it's always been the policy. Is the principal new?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, hit enter too soon. Is the principal new this year, I meant.

[Anonymous]

One of the Blair boosters just disclosed this policy on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link doesn't work

Sorry!!!

Here it is:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/OLO%20Report%202014-7%20Final.pdf

MCPS HIGH SCHOOLS: In this report, MCPS’ 11 high-poverty high schools are referred to as
“consortia and consortia-like schools” to reflect their common demographics and strategies to engage
students. These high schools consist of Blake, Paint Branch, and Springbrook in the Northeast
Consortium; Montgomery Blair, Northwood, Kennedy, Einstein, and Wheaton in the Downcounty
Consortium; and Gaithersburg, Watkins Mill, and Seneca Valley high schools.

MCPS’ other 14 high schools, referred to as non-consortia or low-poverty high schools in this report,
consist of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Churchill, Clarksburg, Damascus, Walter Johnson, Magruder,
Richard Montgomery, Northwest, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Rockville, Sherwood, Whitman, and
Wootton high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are some facts from this thread:
04/07/2014 19:21
First of all, The Post's Challenge Index is merely a measure of how many kids are taking AP tests. Blair is the largest school in the state of Maryland, and a lot of those kids are not college-bound. The college-bound kids, they're doing just fine, as the college admission results indicate every year.
04/07/2014 20:09
The Intel Science winners are from the Magnet yes, but any kid who is high in math/science can take those classes. It's the same at RM- kids can take the IB classes and don't have to 'test' in.
04/07/2014 22:07
If you can provide evidence a student is qualified to take the magnet-level math/science, there is space, and the teacher agrees, any Blair student can take any class. It isn't any more difficult.
04/08/2014 09:29
To be fair, I am not sure this was always the policy at Blair. Is it possible that the new principal instituted this policy fairly recently? Benefit of doubt for the haters.

No, I posted the bolded bit and it is not a fact; it was a question, hence the "is it possible" and the question mark.

I don't really understand the chagrin here. There are relatively few magnet spaces in a county full of bright, motivated kids. If a kid doesn't squeeze into the magnet but has the interest and aptitude, why shouldn't he be allowed to take a magnet class? Why deny that student the opportunity to pursue an academic interest?

[Anonymous]

The question was and still is, who decides if the kid has aptitude and how?

[Anonymous]

From the County Council report (P 11), "These data points suggest a flight of middle-class students from consortia and consortia-like high
schools not apparent among non-consortia schools. In fact, while the distribution gap between highpoverty
and low-poverty schools italicized in Table 7 remained fairly constant for all students and
FARMS students between 2008 and 2013, it has widened for non-FARMS students. These findings
suggest that MCPS has lost ground toward economically integrating its high school consortiums."

[Anonymous]

I don't understand people's issues. My kids home HS would have been fine (mostly 'white' for the haters on here) but my kid wanted more of a challenge. Got into both RM & Blair, and they (not me as a parent) chose Blair as it held their interest more. They visited both schools during a whole day w/o me, and still chose it. Is RM smaller and prettier? You betcha. They still chose Blair as it was where they wanted to go. Were we nervous to send them? Yes. Different demographics than home school? Yes. Are they happy and thriving there? Yes. It was the more challenging courses they needed and the peer group too. My kid made the right choice for them, but it isn't the right choice for everybody.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand people's issues. My kids home HS would have been fine (mostly 'white' for the haters on here) but my kid wanted more of a challenge. Got into both RM & Blair, and they (not me as a parent) chose Blair as it held their interest more. They visited both schools during a whole day w/o me, and still chose it. Is RM smaller and prettier? You betcha. They still chose Blair as it was where they wanted to go. Were we nervous to send them? Yes. Different demographics than home school? Yes. Are they happy and thriving there? Yes. It was the more challenging courses they needed and the peer group too. My kid made the right choice for them, but it isn't the right choice for everybody.

The demographics in the Blair magnet mirror those in the "W" schools. And I'm not talking all whitey white. I'm saying that these kids comes from supportive families who place education first.

They're not "mingling" with the commoners.

Stop lying to yourself.

[Anonymous]

Of course I bought my house based on schools, and my kid ended up leaving home schools after 3rd grade. What I'm saying is, it doesn't always matter where you live. My kid has plenty of 'W' school friends who did the same, left their vaulted schools in 3rd to go on to HGC's and magnet middles...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I know a retired MoCo cop who led security teams at mcps schools, and I got the lowdown on all schools in terms of safety. So, there's that. You can't truly compare data unless they break it down by race and SES. Ie: imagine comparing upper class white males at any W school, Blair, Sherwood, Paint Branch, etc. Chances are their scores would be comparable. The big difference that lots of folks on here seem hesitant to admit is that some schools in MoCo have extremely high rates of farms, behavior issues, etc. While most kids won't be fazed by this, some might. And since you can't pick your kid's friends, the best you can do is put them in an environment where a lot of students are college bound and likely to take school seriously. That's all. And I don't think there's anything racist about that since it really isn't a race issue at all. Rather, it's SES, behavior, and a general attitude towards education. And the proof is in the pudding: low income kids often thrive academically in schools where they are in the minority and are surrounded by middle to upper class students. There was actually a MoCo study that randomly placed low income families on housing assistance in two parts of the county...and shocker, the kids in the more affluent area at the better schools fared much better.

Again, lots of this doesn't apply to YOUR solidly upper class kid who will likely do well at any school in the county. But studies show that poor kids do better when they are in schools where the majority of kids are not poor. This is common sense to most of us, but numerous studies across the country demonstrate this as well.

Yup. And a recent MoCo study confirmed the same. Unfortunately, it also underscores that schools in MoCo are becoming more segregated in part due to "white flight" from the DCC. But your points are dead on.

- Parent who lives in Silver Spring. Love it, but wish the schools in my area were better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand people's issues. My kids home HS would have been fine (mostly 'white' for the haters on here) but my kid wanted more of a challenge. Got into both RM & Blair, and they (not me as a parent) chose Blair as it held their interest more. They visited both schools during a whole day w/o me, and still chose it. Is RM smaller and prettier? You betcha. They still chose Blair as it was where they wanted to go. Were we nervous to send them? Yes. Different demographics than home school? Yes. Are they happy and thriving there? Yes. It was the more challenging courses they needed and the peer group too. My kid made the right choice for them, but it isn't the right choice for everybody.

Yes, but the peer group for Blair's magnet is overwhelmingly white / Asian and upper middle class. It's not representative of the rest of the school. I realize that Blair is often touted as the "good" DCC high school with lots of diversity. But the reality is that the diversity is predominantly in the non-Magnet population. Of course there are good non-Magnet students, too (kids can take AP / Honors courses), but most of the high achievers are squarely in the magent ranks.

I speak from experience, by the way. Went to Blair myself (non Magnet) and have three nieces and nephews currently at Blair - one CAP, one M/S Magnet, one in Honors courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I know a retired MoCo cop who led security teams at mcps schools, and I got the lowdown on all schools in terms of safety. So, there's that. You can't truly compare data unless they break it down by race and SES. Ie: imagine comparing upper class white males at any W school, Blair, Sherwood, Paint Branch, etc. Chances are their scores would be comparable. The big difference that lots of folks on here seem hesitant to admit is that some schools in MoCo have extremely high rates of farms, behavior issues, etc. While most kids won't be fazed by this, some might. And since you can't pick your kid's friends, the best you can do is put them in an environment where a lot of students are college bound and likely to take school seriously. That's all. And I don't think there's anything racist about that since it really isn't a race issue at all. Rather, it's SES, behavior, and a general attitude towards education. And the proof is in the pudding: low income kids often thrive academically in schools where they are in the minority and are surrounded by middle to upper class students. There was actually a MoCo study that randomly placed low income families on housing assistance in two parts of the county...and shocker, the kids in the more affluent area at the better schools fared much better.

Again, lots of this doesn't apply to YOUR solidly upper class kid who will likely do well at any school in the county. But studies show that poor kids do better when they are in schools where the majority of kids are not poor. This is common sense to most of us, but numerous studies across the country demonstrate this as well.

Yup. And a recent MoCo study confirmed the same. Unfortunately, it also underscores that schools in MoCo are becoming more segregated in part due to "white flight" from the DCC. But your points are dead on.

- Parent who lives in Silver Spring. Love it, but wish the schools in my area were better.

Perhaps the white flight is taking place in high school but in elementary school we know a lot of families white and Asian who are moving to the area. Perhaps as their kids grow through the system the non magnet peer group will also evolve.

That being said there are also many non magnet white kids at competitive schools coming from SS schools. So much of this is the home environment and role models.

[Anonymous]

The only white flight I've seen in 10 years in silver spring is into the area. Granted we live in DTSS but we get both the dc flight and the exurbs folks fed up with the commute. No issues with the schools here.

- ivy educated crunchy parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I know a retired MoCo cop who led security teams at mcps schools, and I got the lowdown on all schools in terms of safety. So, there's that. You can't truly compare data unless they break it down by race and SES. Ie: imagine comparing upper class white males at any W school, Blair, Sherwood, Paint Branch, etc. Chances are their scores would be comparable. The big difference that lots of folks on here seem hesitant to admit is that some schools in MoCo have extremely high rates of farms, behavior issues, etc. While most kids won't be fazed by this, some might. And since you can't pick your kid's friends, the best you can do is put them in an environment where a lot of students are college bound and likely to take school seriously. That's all. And I don't think there's anything racist about that since it really isn't a race issue at all. Rather, it's SES, behavior, and a general attitude towards education. And the proof is in the pudding: low income kids often thrive academically in schools where they are in the minority and are surrounded by middle to upper class students. There was actually a MoCo study that randomly placed low income families on housing assistance in two parts of the county...and shocker, the kids in the more affluent area at the better schools fared much better.

Again, lots of this doesn't apply to YOUR solidly upper class kid who will likely do well at any school in the county. But studies show that poor kids do better when they are in schools where the majority of kids are not poor. This is common sense to most of us, but numerous studies across the country demonstrate this as well.

Yup. And a recent MoCo study confirmed the same. Unfortunately, it also underscores that schools in MoCo are becoming more segregated in part due to "white flight" from the DCC. But your points are dead on.

- Parent who lives in Silver Spring. Love it, but wish the schools in my area were better.

Maryland is one of the states with the most segregated schools in the country. And, MoCo schools are MORE segregated than they were 40 years ago.

These are facts. (Google it.)