Martin Luther King Humanities magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you!

My kid is confused and is unsure what to choose. Sometimes DC says they want to be a writer/author. Sometimes DC shows interest in Science related stuff. DC is a Math loving kid. If DC got Clemente this would be a no brainer and DC would have chosen Clemente.

Re: commute, it takes us 35 min to Parkland and 25 to MLK. Parkland now offers a central bus service (since last year) and DC can catch that bus from home school or a nearby elementary school.

If we were thinking of the future, what kind of jobs do people who study Humanities do?

DC has a 260 on Map-M and a 229 on Map-R.

Re the career question, a specialty in middle school does not put them on a track for a humanities career. They will still have the standard science classes and then can switch it up for high school and focus on science or not. This is one of the dumb things about MS Magnets in MCPS in my opinion. Very few 5th graders have such a strong preference

I was looking at the presentation video and they say that if you want to be on the IB track for RM, kids should take world language in MS. Is it good enough if DC takes in 7th grade or just one year in 8th grade?

MLK is an IB Middle Years school, so students take 3 years of world language and the first year isn’t spread over two years like it is at some middle schools (for example, Spanish 1A in 6th grade and 1B in 7th grade, then Spanish 2 in 8th grade). My dd did Humanities at MLK and was in Spanish 4 her freshman year at Poolesville. She’s a sophomore now in the Humanities program.

Your child really needs to choose how they want to spend middle school, math/science focus or writing/media projects. Both will be good preparation for high school. There are more seats in specialized high school programs than in middle school, so your child won’t be locked into anything.

How did your DD like MLK? Was it too rigorous or did your DD have time for extra curriculars outside of school? How are the after school clubs? Is your child more into Reading and Writing?

Re:world language and IB program in high school, is the 3 years a requirement or a choice? I was confused by the presentation - the lady in the video said kids can take 2 years of world language in MS and can choose Tech or Arts in lieu of World language in 6th grade?

What about chorus, orchestra - the ones who take world language, do they have to give these up?

Thanks?

Even though my dd was shy, she made a lot of great new friends at MLK and now they’re almost all at Poolesville. DD didn’t feel like she got as much out of MLK as she should have because of covid. She spent 1 1/4 of the 3 years at home, and the much talked about NY trip — which sold her on the Humanities magnet — was canceled. Although she liked her cohort in the magnet, students weren’t as serious and academic minded as dd would have liked. That’s one thing that she loves about Poolesville; she feels like she finally is surrounded by kids who take school seriously and are unlikely to misbehave. There were a lot of physical altercations between students at MLK as a whole, even girls. Maybe especially girls? DD was never part of them and never scared, but she’s says it’s nice not to have that kind of drama anymore.

A couple things to think about…a Humanities magnet will help your dc hone his writing skills, which is a very useful thing for the future, but even though they do their best at balancing classes, the acceptance rate for Humanities magnets can be heavily skewed towards girls, which can be a drawback for boys. I think for my dd, about 2/3 were girls. Also, in the magnet program, students don’t get to choose their arts class; it will be media every year.

As an IB Middle Years school, a foreign language is required all 3 years. You can opt not to put it on your high school transcript if you don’t want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you!

My kid is confused and is unsure what to choose. Sometimes DC says they want to be a writer/author. Sometimes DC shows interest in Science related stuff. DC is a Math loving kid. If DC got Clemente this would be a no brainer and DC would have chosen Clemente.

Re: commute, it takes us 35 min to Parkland and 25 to MLK. Parkland now offers a central bus service (since last year) and DC can catch that bus from home school or a nearby elementary school.

If we were thinking of the future, what kind of jobs do people who study Humanities do?

DC has a 260 on Map-M and a 229 on Map-R.

Re the career question, a specialty in middle school does not put them on a track for a humanities career. They will still have the standard science classes and then can switch it up for high school and focus on science or not. This is one of the dumb things about MS Magnets in MCPS in my opinion. Very few 5th graders have such a strong preference

I was looking at the presentation video and they say that if you want to be on the IB track for RM, kids should take world language in MS. Is it good enough if DC takes in 7th grade or just one year in 8th grade?

MLK is an IB Middle Years school, so students take 3 years of world language and the first year isn’t spread over two years like it is at some middle schools (for example, Spanish 1A in 6th grade and 1B in 7th grade, then Spanish 2 in 8th grade). My dd did Humanities at MLK and was in Spanish 4 her freshman year at Poolesville. She’s a sophomore now in the Humanities program.

Your child really needs to choose how they want to spend middle school, math/science focus or writing/media projects. Both will be good preparation for high school. There are more seats in specialized high school programs than in middle school, so your child won’t be locked into anything.

How did your DD like MLK? Was it too rigorous or did your DD have time for extra curriculars outside of school? How are the after school clubs? Is your child more into Reading and Writing?

Re:world language and IB program in high school, is the 3 years a requirement or a choice? I was confused by the presentation - the lady in the video said kids can take 2 years of world language in MS and can choose Tech or Arts in lieu of World language in 6th grade?

What about chorus, orchestra - the ones who take world language, do they have to give these up?

Thanks?

Even though my dd was shy, she made a lot of great new friends at MLK and now they’re almost all at Poolesville. DD didn’t feel like she got as much out of MLK as she should have because of covid. She spent 1 1/4 of the 3 years at home, and the much talked about NY trip — which sold her on the Humanities magnet — was canceled. Although she liked her cohort in the magnet, students weren’t as serious and academic minded as dd would have liked. That’s one thing that she loves about Poolesville; she feels like she finally is surrounded by kids who take school seriously and are unlikely to misbehave. There were a lot of physical altercations between students at MLK as a whole, even girls. Maybe especially girls? DD was never part of them and never scared, but she’s says it’s nice not to have that kind of drama anymore.

A couple things to think about…a Humanities magnet will help your dc hone his writing skills, which is a very useful thing for the future, but even though they do their best at balancing classes, the acceptance rate for Humanities magnets can be heavily skewed towards girls, which can be a drawback for boys. I think for my dd, about 2/3 were girls. Also, in the magnet program, students don’t get to choose their arts class; it will be media every year.

As an IB Middle Years school, a foreign language is required all 3 years. You can opt not to put it on your high school transcript if you don’t want to.

Actually, I think I overstated how skewed the genders were. Now that I think about it, it was more like 60/40 girls to boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he hated reading and writing and was a much more STEM leaning kid I'd say Parkland but going to a criteria-based magnet will put him in a different more intense cohort that he will probably run into again in high school.

From talking with DD it seems like many of the kids from MLK and Clemente know each other from activities and in high school many are in the same higher level classes or magnet high schools. I'm pretty sure she's never met any kid from Parkland.

Thank you! Are there kids from MLK who are in Poolesville in SMCS? Or do most end up in Global Ecology?

Yes.
I think most end up in Poolesville Humanities but they also go to SMCS and Global.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're upcounty. Why would you want to go all the way to downcounty?

We live somewhere in the middle between MLK and Parkland. MLK is also a drive for us. Same with Poolesville and RM.

Sounds like this is your oldest kid and you're in the Gaithersburg area or thereabouts? Your center of gravity is upcounty. The DCC where Parkland is located is centered around Silver Spring. Not a lot of mixing for activities.

[Anonymous]

Out of the 2 I would avoid MLK.
Behaviors of some of the kids there is atrocious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you!

My kid is confused and is unsure what to choose. Sometimes DC says they want to be a writer/author. Sometimes DC shows interest in Science related stuff. DC is a Math loving kid. If DC got Clemente this would be a no brainer and DC would have chosen Clemente.

Re: commute, it takes us 35 min to Parkland and 25 to MLK. Parkland now offers a central bus service (since last year) and DC can catch that bus from home school or a nearby elementary school.

If we were thinking of the future, what kind of jobs do people who study Humanities do?

DC has a 260 on Map-M and a 229 on Map-R.

Re the career question, a specialty in middle school does not put them on a track for a humanities career. They will still have the standard science classes and then can switch it up for high school and focus on science or not. This is one of the dumb things about MS Magnets in MCPS in my opinion. Very few 5th graders have such a strong preference

I was looking at the presentation video and they say that if you want to be on the IB track for RM, kids should take world language in MS. Is it good enough if DC takes in 7th grade or just one year in 8th grade?

MLK is an IB Middle Years school, so students take 3 years of world language and the first year isn’t spread over two years like it is at some middle schools (for example, Spanish 1A in 6th grade and 1B in 7th grade, then Spanish 2 in 8th grade). My dd did Humanities at MLK and was in Spanish 4 her freshman year at Poolesville. She’s a sophomore now in the Humanities program.

Your child really needs to choose how they want to spend middle school, math/science focus or writing/media projects. Both will be good preparation for high school. There are more seats in specialized high school programs than in middle school, so your child won’t be locked into anything.

How did your DD like MLK? Was it too rigorous or did your DD have time for extra curriculars outside of school? How are the after school clubs? Is your child more into Reading and Writing?

Re:world language and IB program in high school, is the 3 years a requirement or a choice? I was confused by the presentation - the lady in the video said kids can take 2 years of world language in MS and can choose Tech or Arts in lieu of World language in 6th grade?

What about chorus, orchestra - the ones who take world language, do they have to give these up?

Thanks?

Even though my dd was shy, she made a lot of great new friends at MLK and now they’re almost all at Poolesville. DD didn’t feel like she got as much out of MLK as she should have because of covid. She spent 1 1/4 of the 3 years at home, and the much talked about NY trip — which sold her on the Humanities magnet — was canceled. Although she liked her cohort in the magnet, students weren’t as serious and academic minded as dd would have liked. That’s one thing that she loves about Poolesville; she feels like she finally is surrounded by kids who take school seriously and are unlikely to misbehave. There were a lot of physical altercations between students at MLK as a whole, even girls. Maybe especially girls? DD was never part of them and never scared, but she’s says it’s nice not to have that kind of drama anymore.

A couple things to think about…a Humanities magnet will help your dc hone his writing skills, which is a very useful thing for the future, but even though they do their best at balancing classes, the acceptance rate for Humanities magnets can be heavily skewed towards girls, which can be a drawback for boys. I think for my dd, about 2/3 were girls. Also, in the magnet program, students don’t get to choose their arts class; it will be media every year.

As an IB Middle Years school, a foreign language is required all 3 years. You can opt not to put it on your high school transcript if you don’t want to.

Thank you! We are in Gaithersburg/N.Potomac area and our home school is fine, it's just that they don't have these specialized classes that these schools offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're upcounty. Why would you want to go all the way to downcounty?

We live somewhere in the middle between MLK and Parkland. MLK is also a drive for us. Same with Poolesville and RM.

Sounds like this is your oldest kid and you're in the Gaithersburg area or thereabouts? Your center of gravity is upcounty. The DCC where Parkland is located is centered around Silver Spring. Not a lot of mixing for activities.

Yes this is our oldest so all this is new to me. What kind of activities are there after school where kids meet up?

[Anonymous]

MLK sets kids up well for Humanities at Poolesville (almost like a third of PHS humanities also did MLK humanities), but also for other programs. There are a lot of MLK kids in Global and SMCS at PHS too. They do offer buses to convenient bus stops even if the length of the ride is annoying.

MLK does have the fighting and vaping/drug problem but Humanities is a bit sheltered from that. The academics were great, the media elective every year may suck for kids who are devoted to orchestra/band but it was the highlight of 8th grade.

The main pros are the academics and tight knit friends. Cons would be meh science (math is fine) and fighting.

[Anonymous]

There's fighting at Parkland too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MLK sets kids up well for Humanities at Poolesville (almost like a third of PHS humanities also did MLK humanities), but also for other programs. There are a lot of MLK kids in Global and SMCS at PHS too. They do offer buses to convenient bus stops even if the length of the ride is annoying.

MLK does have the fighting and vaping/drug problem but Humanities is a bit sheltered from that. The academics were great, the media elective every year may suck for kids who are devoted to orchestra/band but it was the highlight of 8th grade.

The main pros are the academics and tight knit friends. Cons would be meh science (math is fine) and fighting.

Thanks!

Is the fighting generally among the non magnet kids? What are the media electives each year? When you say 8th grade was great, did you mean they band/orchestra in 8th grade?

Their presentation also showed some enactments of civilizations. Was that all it is hyped up to be?

At lunch, was there any fighting/bullying of the nerdy kids?

How diverse is the magnet crowd?

[Anonymous]

There are buses for MLK but not for Parkland. Are you willing to drive your child both ways every day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLK sets kids up well for Humanities at Poolesville (almost like a third of PHS humanities also did MLK humanities), but also for other programs. There are a lot of MLK kids in Global and SMCS at PHS too. They do offer buses to convenient bus stops even if the length of the ride is annoying.

MLK does have the fighting and vaping/drug problem but Humanities is a bit sheltered from that. The academics were great, the media elective every year may suck for kids who are devoted to orchestra/band but it was the highlight of 8th grade.

The main pros are the academics and tight knit friends. Cons would be meh science (math is fine) and fighting.

Thanks!

Is the fighting generally among the non magnet kids? What are the media electives each year? When you say 8th grade was great, did you mean they band/orchestra in 8th grade?

Their presentation also showed some enactments of civilizations. Was that all it is hyped up to be?

At lunch, was there any fighting/bullying of the nerdy kids?

How diverse is the magnet crowd?

There is one media class required each year.
There is fighting and bullying of nerdy kids in every school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are buses for MLK but not for Parkland. Are you willing to drive your child both ways every day?

Central bus stops for Parkland too since last year so I don't have to drive my kid every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLK sets kids up well for Humanities at Poolesville (almost like a third of PHS humanities also did MLK humanities), but also for other programs. There are a lot of MLK kids in Global and SMCS at PHS too. They do offer buses to convenient bus stops even if the length of the ride is annoying.

MLK does have the fighting and vaping/drug problem but Humanities is a bit sheltered from that. The academics were great, the media elective every year may suck for kids who are devoted to orchestra/band but it was the highlight of 8th grade.

The main pros are the academics and tight knit friends. Cons would be meh science (math is fine) and fighting.

Thanks!

Is the fighting generally among the non magnet kids? What are the media electives each year? When you say 8th grade was great, did you mean they band/orchestra in 8th grade?

Their presentation also showed some enactments of civilizations. Was that all it is hyped up to be?

At lunch, was there any fighting/bullying of the nerdy kids?

How diverse is the magnet crowd?

There is one media class required each year.
There is fighting and bullying of nerdy kids in every school.

I understand but am just wondering if magnet kids are targeted or anything like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLK sets kids up well for Humanities at Poolesville (almost like a third of PHS humanities also did MLK humanities), but also for other programs. There are a lot of MLK kids in Global and SMCS at PHS too. They do offer buses to convenient bus stops even if the length of the ride is annoying.

MLK does have the fighting and vaping/drug problem but Humanities is a bit sheltered from that. The academics were great, the media elective every year may suck for kids who are devoted to orchestra/band but it was the highlight of 8th grade.

The main pros are the academics and tight knit friends. Cons would be meh science (math is fine) and fighting.

Thanks!

Is the fighting generally among the non magnet kids? What are the media electives each year? When you say 8th grade was great, did you mean they band/orchestra in 8th grade?

Their presentation also showed some enactments of civilizations. Was that all it is hyped up to be?

At lunch, was there any fighting/bullying of the nerdy kids?

How diverse is the magnet crowd?

Yes, the fighting generally didn’t involve magnet kids and they are not targeted.

“Media” is one class, and it’s the predetermined art elective that all Hum kids (and only them) take instead of band or drawing etc. The 8th grade media projects mostly were filming and editing short films, so they learn how to use equipment and programs, and they can also have fun with friends.

I vaguely know what you’re referring to (Greek day or something?) but a lot of things were canceled due to covid so I can’t speak to that, sorry

When my kid went, it was mostly white and Asian kids with a fair amount of Black kids and few Hispanic kids. Your kid will find their people, there are all kinds of personalities and interests as well.