Please be aware of what is about to go away:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also there is no reason why you can't move to the regional model and still keep consortia. The new regions could be structured as consortia too. The last time the transportation budget for the consortia was estimated it was quite small, just a tiny drop in the bucket of MCPS's total budget, and the added cost would be even less now since they'll already be paying to run buses all across each region for the regional programs anyway.

In no way do I want to live in a consortium. I like the way they are doing it -- people go to their home school unless they want a speciality program. I want to know that my neighbors who choose public will be at our school--and that they kids we went to middle school will be, too--unless they make the choice to apply and then get into a magnet.

[Anonymous]

Wait, so is this being phased in or will current 8th grade kids who get their first choice school in the DCC next year have to go back to their neighborhood school for 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hearing about the Poolesville program and being upset that it’s only offered at one school and so far away from our house. My one child would have absolutely thrived there.

To me it makes sense to spread the resources across the county.

Well, it is good intention that they want to replicate it in 6 regions, but it will not be the same as the current one due to the resource constrains, not enough qualified teachers, no lab equipments, and etc.

Just like Harvard is a good university but only limited kids can attend, how about create one in each state? Will the new Harvard be the same as before?

Okay, but does it have to be the same? 60 kids get an amazing program or 200 kids get a pretty good program that may inspire them to do something amazing in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hearing about the Poolesville program and being upset that it’s only offered at one school and so far away from our house. My one child would have absolutely thrived there.

To me it makes sense to spread the resources across the county.

Well, it is good intention that they want to replicate it in 6 regions, but it will not be the same as the current one due to the resource constrains, not enough qualified teachers, no lab equipments, and etc.

Just like Harvard is a good university but only limited kids can attend, how about create one in each state? Will the new Harvard be the same as before?

Okay, but does it have to be the same? 60 kids get an amazing program or 200 kids get a pretty good program that may inspire them to do something amazing in the future.

200 kids on the west side will get a pretty good program. East county students will get less and their schools, with higher poverty student cohorts, will suffer as a result.

[Anonymous]

Didn't I read somewhere that STEM might include topics like Cosmetology?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hearing about the Poolesville program and being upset that it’s only offered at one school and so far away from our house. My one child would have absolutely thrived there.

To me it makes sense to spread the resources across the county.

Well, it is good intention that they want to replicate it in 6 regions, but it will not be the same as the current one due to the resource constrains, not enough qualified teachers, no lab equipments, and etc.

Just like Harvard is a good university but only limited kids can attend, how about create one in each state? Will the new Harvard be the same as before?

Okay, but does it have to be the same? 60 kids get an amazing program or 200 kids get a pretty good program that may inspire them to do something amazing in the future.

There are about 200 kids now which could try to be 800!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for creating a thread, OP. I'll bet that most MCPS parents don't know, because we all get way too many nonsense emails, and the actually important stuff gets buried.

I have mixed feelings about it, but since my youngest is in high school already... it's other people's problems. My turn is over

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hearing about the Poolesville program and being upset that it’s only offered at one school and so far away from our house. My one child would have absolutely thrived there.

To me it makes sense to spread the resources across the county.

Well, it is good intention that they want to replicate it in 6 regions, but it will not be the same as the current one due to the resource constrains, not enough qualified teachers, no lab equipments, and etc.

Just like Harvard is a good university but only limited kids can attend, how about create one in each state? Will the new Harvard be the same as before?

Okay, but does it have to be the same? 60 kids get an amazing program or 200 kids get a pretty good program that may inspire them to do something amazing in the future.

200 kids on the west side will get a pretty good program. East county students will get less and their schools, with higher poverty student cohorts, will suffer as a result.

The regions actually span E-W for the most part. It’s not like all of the high SES schools are in the same region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hearing about the Poolesville program and being upset that it’s only offered at one school and so far away from our house. My one child would have absolutely thrived there.

To me it makes sense to spread the resources across the county.

Well, it is good intention that they want to replicate it in 6 regions, but it will not be the same as the current one due to the resource constrains, not enough qualified teachers, no lab equipments, and etc.

Just like Harvard is a good university but only limited kids can attend, how about create one in each state? Will the new Harvard be the same as before?

Okay, but does it have to be the same? 60 kids get an amazing program or 200 kids get a pretty good program that may inspire them to do something amazing in the future.

And what will make it "pretty good" when MCPS plans to dedicate no extra resources to this initiative?

[Anonymous]

These changes are going to devastate Einstein which will be left with graphic arts.

[Anonymous]

Actually, what probably has to go away are all of the special-interest "academies" in the DCC or the NEC that were open to anyone who lotteried into a given school. That matters to my performing-arts kid A LOT. But since nothing matters except STEM I can't even get a straight answer out of DCCAPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also there is no reason why you can't move to the regional model and still keep consortia. The new regions could be structured as consortia too. The last time the transportation budget for the consortia was estimated it was quite small, just a tiny drop in the bucket of MCPS's total budget, and the added cost would be even less now since they'll already be paying to run buses all across each region for the regional programs anyway.

In no way do I want to live in a consortium. I like the way they are doing it -- people go to their home school unless they want a speciality program. I want to know that my neighbors who choose public will be at our school--and that they kids we went to middle school will be, too--unless they make the choice to apply and then get into a magnet.

In a consortium you can still be guaranteed your home school. So are you saying you don't want.a consortium because you want to force your neighbors' kids into the same school your kids are going to, whether they want to or not? Lovely of you (And still doesn't even work because all your kid's middle school friends could still choose to go to a regional program at a different school anyway. So it has all the downsides of a consortia model without the benefits.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, what probably has to go away are all of the special-interest "academies" in the DCC or the NEC that were open to anyone who lotteried into a given school. That matters to my performing-arts kid A LOT. But since nothing matters except STEM I can't even get a straight answer out of DCCAPS.

Northwood is getting a criteria based performing arts magnet. That's great, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, what probably has to go away are all of the special-interest "academies" in the DCC or the NEC that were open to anyone who lotteried into a given school. That matters to my performing-arts kid A LOT. But since nothing matters except STEM I can't even get a straight answer out of DCCAPS.

Northwood is getting a criteria based performing arts magnet. That's great, actually.

It’s not great from the perspective of the teachers who have been building up Einstein’s programs for years and years. So does the district just shuffle them around? Or do they hang on trying to keep their great programs while some of their local kids leave for Northwood? They would be tearing down what took years to build.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, what probably has to go away are all of the special-interest "academies" in the DCC or the NEC that were open to anyone who lotteried into a given school. That matters to my performing-arts kid A LOT. But since nothing matters except STEM I can't even get a straight answer out of DCCAPS.

Northwood is getting a criteria based performing arts magnet. That's great, actually.

It’s not great from the perspective of the teachers who have been building up Einstein’s programs for years and years. So does the district just shuffle them around? Or do they hang on trying to keep their great programs while some of their local kids leave for Northwood? They would be tearing down what took years to build.

This is another reason why keeping consortia would be better. In a consortium, you can probably support decently strong performing arts programs at two of five schools, even if one is criteria-based and the other isn't, because the other school will still likely draw a disproportionately large number of kids interested in performing arts but who prefer the 2nd school (say, Einstein) over the first school (say, Northwood) for any of a number of reasons. But if Einstein is just for in-bounds Einstein kids, minus the most passionate and talented who leave for the Northwood program instead, that makes it much harder to imagine.