DCC and NEC families, how do you feel about them (likely) going away?

[Anonymous]

Is there any information on the timing of all of this? Wondering on a personal level for my rising 8th grader, but also interested more generally about the transition plan for these changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any information on the timing of all of this? Wondering on a personal level for my rising 8th grader, but also interested more generally about the transition plan for these changes.

The changes will start going into effect fall 2027, but (unless the Board votes down the MCPS recommendation) the plan is to grandfather all kids already enrolled in academic programs or consortium schools before then. So your rising 8th grader should get to stay wherever they start 9th grade, but the classes behind them will change over to the new rules

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any information on the timing of all of this? Wondering on a personal level for my rising 8th grader, but also interested more generally about the transition plan for these changes.

The changes will start going into effect fall 2027, but (unless the Board votes down the MCPS recommendation) the plan is to grandfather all kids already enrolled in academic programs or consortium schools before then. So your rising 8th grader should get to stay wherever they start 9th grade, but the classes behind them will change over to the new rules

Thank you! I'm having a hard time digging through all the information lately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current DCC parent and I'm fine with it. There was little genuine choice and most kids stuck with home schools or magnets.

The new approach seems better

Current NEC parent and I agree completely. It’s time for the NEC and DCC to go.

The NEC has always been shortchanged. How will the new regional system benefit the northeast county? We'll see...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any information on the timing of all of this? Wondering on a personal level for my rising 8th grader, but also interested more generally about the transition plan for these changes.

The changes will start going into effect fall 2027, but (unless the Board votes down the MCPS recommendation) the plan is to grandfather all kids already enrolled in academic programs or consortium schools before then. So your rising 8th grader should get to stay wherever they start 9th grade, but the classes behind them will change over to the new rules

Thank you! I'm having a hard time digging through all the information lately.

And how the school district staffs schools while standing up new regional programs and grandfathering legacy programs is anyone's guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a DCC parent and have no issues with the consortium going away

You must not live in the Kennedy catchment area.

[Anonymous]

I don’t mind depending on which boundary option gets enacted. I worry more about the program study because that in many ways will turn the entire county into 6 consortia. I don’t think the majority of kids will stay at their home school if they don’t like the boundary changes. I also don’t think we can staff, afford, or efficiently transport students to old and new programs all over the county for 4 years. Taylor was clear that all of these changes won’t be complete until the 2030-31 school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a DCC parent and have no issues with the consortium going away

You must not live in the Kennedy catchment area.

You would still be able to apply for a different HS in your region under the guise of a merit or interest based program. People will still find ways to segregate themselves into their desired community within their region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current DCC parent and I'm fine with it. There was little genuine choice and most kids stuck with home schools or magnets.

The new approach seems better

Current NEC parent and I agree completely. It’s time for the NEC and DCC to go.

The NEC has always been shortchanged. How will the new regional system benefit the northeast county? We'll see...

Forcing Sherwood to be a part of that region is long overdue. I know several Sherwood students who would prefer the performing arts opportunities at Blake and under the regional plan they would be able to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a DCC parent and have no issues with the consortium going away

You must not live in the Kennedy catchment area.

Yeah we are zoned for Einstein and don't see that changing. I guess I'm curious if kids zoned for Kennedy have real choices under the DCC model if they don't get into a magnet? What are the odds of getting into a different HS under the choice process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a DCC parent and have no issues with the consortium going away

You must not live in the Kennedy catchment area.

Yeah we are zoned for Einstein and don't see that changing. I guess I'm curious if kids zoned for Kennedy have real choices under the DCC model if they don't get into a magnet? What are the odds of getting into a different HS under the choice process?

Kennedy parent and their odds aren’t great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a DCC parent and have no issues with the consortium going away

You must not live in the Kennedy catchment area.

Yeah we are zoned for Einstein and don't see that changing. I guess I'm curious if kids zoned for Kennedy have real choices under the DCC model if they don't get into a magnet? What are the odds of getting into a different HS under the choice process?

I think high, given that there are 4 others. Don’t they say most kids get one of top 2 choices as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Staff at the schools will be ecstatic if/when the consortia go away.

Why do you say that?

It is extremely difficult to overcome the challenges of having so many students coming from various areas, both from a vertical articulation standpoint and getting the community to support the school.

High school counselors and administrators, in an ideal situation, work closely with their feeder middle schools to ensure smooth transitions to high school. It's much easier to do with one or two middle schools where almost every student goes to the same high school. Much more challenging when there are so many middle schools and they are split between either three or five high schools.

Getting students to participate in after school activities is a challenge when transportation is a challenge in the consortia.

The families and community are not connected to the consortia schools to the degree they are in the community schools.

I wonder if these issues will now be spread throughout the county with the regional model though. Maybe they should just focus on having a core set of AP/IB classes actually offered at each school.

The issues that the Consortia areas see will most certainly be replicated into the regions depending on how many spots they earmark for student choice. If its a small number of students who get to opt for a new school, it won't be a huge impact. But if 25% plus of a school's population comes from other areas, you will see all 25 schools having the same challenges that the consortia schools currently face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a DCC parent and have no issues with the consortium going away

Aren't the new regional programming going to mimic the system wee already have in the NEC and DCC (except for the countywide magnets going away)?

If people are choosing their consortium school for the special academic programs, then yes, it will be largely replicated through the new regional system.

If people are choosing their consortium school for other reasons, then no. Are there many kids/families who choose their consortium school for other reasons? What are they?

Trust me - there will be plenty of people trying to change schools under the guise of wanting to get into the specialty programs.

Look at the proposed "regions" (copied from the Bethesda Magazine article):

Region one: Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walt Whitman in Bethesda, and Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein and Northwood in Silver Spring;
Region two: James Hubert Blake and Springbrook in Silver Spring, Paint Branch in Burtonsville, and Sherwood in Sandy Spring;
Region three: Walter Johnson in Bethesda, Charles W. Woodward in Rockville, and Wheaton and John F. Kennedy in Silver Spring;
Region four: Richard Montgomery, Rockville, and Thomas S. Wootton in Rockville and Winston Churchill in Potomac;
Region five: Crown and Gaithersburg in Gaithersburg, Col. Zadok Magruder in Rockville, Damascus and Watkins Mill in Wheaton; and
Region six: Northwest in Germantown and Clarksburg, Poolesville, Seneca Valley and Quince Orchard in Gaithersburg.

MCPS will have to decide how many of each demographic they allow to switch schools. You can imagine which families/students will try to get into specific schools in each region.

There will certainly be some families and students who will opt for specific programs based on their interests. But there will absolutely be families trying to go to the "better" schools in their region any way they can, as they already do... but instead of having to apply for a COSA or lie about their addresses, the families will now have a more legitimate way of going from say, Einstein to B-CC or Blake to Sherwood, or SV to Quince Orchard.

Think of the impacts on athletics and extracurricular programs as well - an even easier way for a football player from Watkins Mill to find his way to Damascus now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any information on the timing of all of this? Wondering on a personal level for my rising 8th grader, but also interested more generally about the transition plan for these changes.

The changes will start going into effect fall 2027, but (unless the Board votes down the MCPS recommendation) the plan is to grandfather all kids already enrolled in academic programs or consortium schools before then. So your rising 8th grader should get to stay wherever they start 9th grade, but the classes behind them will change over to the new rules

Thank you! I'm having a hard time digging through all the information lately.

And how the school district staffs schools while standing up new regional programs and grandfathering legacy programs is anyone's guess.

If a program starts or moves to a new school it’s only has to worry about the 9th graders the first year and then grows from there. Meanwhile those some grades won’t exist in the program from the old school.