Takoma Park ES, MS and Montgomery Blair -- Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Correct, MCPS immersion is PARTIAL in middle school, with two classes in the target language vs. all academic classes in elementary school. In those two content areas, 100% of instruction is in the target language.

(1) language arts: this is a specific curriculum designed for immersion; there is no comparison to levels 1-3 which are the standard MCPS introduction to conversation and grammar. Because the students have advanced reading skills, they read full-length texts that are equivalent to what their corhorts would read overseas; it is far more rigorous than any reading assigned in levels 4-5.
(2) world studies - MCPS curriculum in the target language.

How is that not immersion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correct, MCPS immersion is PARTIAL in middle school, with two classes in the target language vs. all academic classes in elementary school. In those two content areas, 100% of instruction is in the target language.

(1) language arts: this is a specific curriculum designed for immersion; there is no comparison to levels 1-3 which are the standard MCPS introduction to conversation and grammar. Because the students have advanced reading skills, they read full-length texts that are equivalent to what their corhorts would read overseas; it is far more rigorous than any reading assigned in levels 4-5.
(2) world studies - MCPS curriculum in the target language.

How is that not immersion?

Thanks, I'm trying to understand how this works.

(You really do come off like a dog with a bone, however. You might reconsider your combative tone.)

[Anonymous]

I hear there are a lot of fights at blair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear there are a lot of fights at blair

In the hopes that you're not a troll, I will provide a serious answer:

DC is at Blair, in one of the magnets. I haven't heard of a single fight this year or last. There may or may not have been some fights that I haven't heard of. However there are two magnets and several academies at Blair and this makes for a pretty compartmentalized school. If your kid does honors or magnets, fights aren't an issue.

[Anonymous]

My coworker's child isa 9th grader @ Blair, he says it is crazy. The mom is hoping for a transfer to Northwood(?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My coworker's child isa 9th grader @ Blair, he says it is crazy. The mom is hoping for a transfer to Northwood(?)

Northwood? OK, now it's clear you're a troll. A Northwood student, most likely. Good luck with your studies.

[Anonymous]

Blair is a bit like life in the big city. Lots of people and opportunities, but not for everyone. In case 23:32 was serious, here are some things your coworker should know when comparing Blair and Northwood:

- Blair has 7 instructional periods on a block schedule with an 8th period for CAP and magnet students; teachers have a standard course load of 5 classes;
- Northwood has an 8-period block schedule with teachers teaching 6 classes while being compensated the same as teachers with the standard 5-course load;
- Blair is the biggest school in the county and has 2 lunches which are extremely crowded since they restrict students from the instructional areas and everyone must remain on campus;
- Northwood has one lunch during which kids have the run of the school building;
- At Blair kids outside CAP/magnet can still benefit from the programs by enrolling in TV production or journalism (taught by CAP and non-CAP teachers) as prerquisites for working on the CAP-run TV studio or award-winning newspaper and/or magnet math/science if they complete the right prerequisites.
- Northwood has eliminated some honors classes including English 11 and 12, which forces students to either take AP or on-level.
- Both Northwood and Einstein allow/encourage students to enroll in some AP classes as 9th graders, which this is not an option at Blair.

[Anonymous]

I'm 23:32
My coworker's son isn't an academic powerhouse, so not in the magnet program. I'd guess she is looking for a smaller school with less tension...

[Anonymous]

I would imagine kids could get lost at Blair if they're not in one of the magnets or smaller academies.

[Anonymous]

23:32 - I'm not sure what tension your coworker's son has experienced. The 9th-grade team is on top of every student's achievement which is quite a job so getting lost is not really the issue. The students are certainly not uniformly high-achieving.

My senior occasionally marvels at the awesomeness of fellow students. The size and diversity seem to translate into few cliques if any. Those who choose to take advantage of what the school has to offer seem to really enjoy the experience, whether or not they are in CAP/magnet.

[Anonymous]

19:50 here - I agree that for a motivated kid, getting lost is not a risk whether or not the kid is in a magnet. The problem may be for the unmotivated kid, especially if the parents can't/aren't scouting out the opportunities and getting the kid into these opportunities.

The non-honors courses at Blair may trend towards the remedial. But I can't see how this would be any better at Northwood.

Plus, I posted earlier about being unaware of any fights at Blair. Northwood has SES similar to much of Blair, although on a smaller scale, so I don't know if Northwood could guarantee a fight-free environment.