Is the quality of the Blair Magnet Program going down?

[Anonymous]

You lost me at 2800 kids.

[Anonymous]

I hope that we will stop rosy pictures and be honest with people wanting information. Poolesville just offers a much superior learning environment. The logic about 2800 kids is just plain wrong.

Check out that Blair field you like a little more closely. It's artificial and kids say you can see the crumb rubber that leeches out. Healthy?

[Anonymous]

I think the comparison is a bit unfair as well. I hope both schools are doing well. The more out schools can provide differentiated instruction for kids with different learning strengths, the better. We focus so much on underperforming kids, and we should. But it's important that we have programs for high-performing kids as well. There might be another Dr. Ben Carson in there somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope that we will stop rosy pictures and be honest with people wanting information. Poolesville just offers a much superior learning environment. The logic about 2800 kids is just plain wrong.

Check out that Blair field you like a little more closely. It's artificial and kids say you can see the crumb rubber that leeches out. Healthy?

Not PP but translation is you want a certain type of student body (superior learning environment) in preference to raw performance, stronger peer group for your child that Blair offers. Personally I'd send my child to either magnet program in the blink of an eye but Blair is unarguably the power house here. The stats the PP showed are available directly from MCPS website.

[Anonymous]

What an odd thread
Do people really move to be near a better magnet school?
Who would want to live in poolesville? And the thinly veiled racism is not necessary. People who live near Blair (or most places in and around dc) don't mind being around brown people.
My babysitter is in the Blair cap program and couldn't be happier.
If you were just trying to boost the poolesville program why not just start a thread saying how great they were doing, why mention Blair at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What an odd thread
Do people really move to be near a better magnet school?
Who would want to live in poolesville? And the thinly veiled racism is not necessary. People who live near Blair (or most places in and around dc) don't mind being around brown people.
My babysitter is in the Blair cap program and couldn't be happier.
If you were just trying to boost the poolesville program why not just start a thread saying how great they were doing, why mention Blair at all?

Who said the crime was committed by brown people.



We have brown people up yonder too!

[Anonymous]

"Who would want to live in Poolesville?"

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Who would want to live in Poolesville?"

Exactly.

It's a magnet program - you don't have to live in Poolesville.

I'd rather live there than most of MoCo including Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

I live near Blair, and I've learned something in the years that my kids have been in MCPS schools (they are now both middle schoolers).

All of this talk about "better" schools and the lauding of the Poolesville environment is just veiled racism. Believe me, I talked that way myself without realizing where it came from. Nowt hat I see my kids thriving in schools with lots and lots of different people, I realize what I was thinkng and feeling behind all that blah blah blah about school environments.

If you make a decision to move somewhere because of the "environment" being better, ask yourself if it's really what you mean.

I'm glad for my kids, that they have friends of many different races and backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope that we will stop rosy pictures and be honest with people wanting information. Poolesville just offers a much superior learning environment. The logic about 2800 kids is just plain wrong.

Check out that Blair field you like a little more closely. It's artificial and kids say you can see the crumb rubber that leeches out. Healthy?

My child goes to a non magnet MCPS with over 2000 kids and its a great learning environment and does very well on NMSF, SATs, and other metrics. So not sure size of high school is a predictor of success.

[Anonymous]

Sorry don;t have much info on Blair. We live in Gaithersburg. Many HS kids go to RMIB or Poolesville magnet.
From what I see in the private prep-magnet classes DD goes to, it is way more easier to get into Poolesville than RM magnet. If the kid is accepted into both programs, the 1st choice is always RM/Blair.

Scroll down and look at 2011-2012 Track Record.
http://cht1.endiva.net/AplusLearningINC/pub/LIT_14.asp

At least 2 kids in my community got above 2350 in SAT from RM. I believe Poolesville has a good magnet program too. But the kids we know simply not getting that kind of score from Poolesville. May be we just don't know the right kids.

Kids go to Poolesville are from different races and backgrounds too. Two of my neices (asian) attended Poolesville magnet, and were very happy. Well, they complained the prom ended early, and there was NO post-prom party. typical rural HS style. My SIL was very happy because one of the girls is the party type, and Poolesville kept her in check. They both attending UMD now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live near Blair, and I've learned something in the years that my kids have been in MCPS schools (they are now both middle schoolers).

All of this talk about "better" schools and the lauding of the Poolesville environment is just veiled racism. Believe me, I talked that way myself without realizing where it came from. Nowt hat I see my kids thriving in schools with lots and lots of different people, I realize what I was thinkng and feeling behind all that blah blah blah about school environments.

If you make a decision to move somewhere because of the "environment" being better, ask yourself if it's really what you mean.

I'm glad for my kids, that they have friends of many different races and backgrounds.

You really need to get out more often. Do you even understand the schools that apply to Poolesville magnet are Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, Magruder, Northwest, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Seneca Valley, or Watkins Mill.

We don't have to force diversity up here - our kids are in a diverse school environment since they were in pre-K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope that we will stop rosy pictures and be honest with people wanting information. Poolesville just offers a much superior learning environment. The logic about 2800 kids is just plain wrong.

Check out that Blair field you like a little more closely. It's artificial and kids say you can see the crumb rubber that leeches out. Healthy?

My child goes to a non magnet MCPS with over 2000 kids and its a great learning environment and does very well on NMSF, SATs, and other metrics. So not sure size of high school is a predictor of success.

The point was that 2800 kids - in one school - that is crazy. MoCo has created schools that are way too big. I am sure it saves money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live near Blair, and I've learned something in the years that my kids have been in MCPS schools (they are now both middle schoolers).

All of this talk about "better" schools and the lauding of the Poolesville environment is just veiled racism. Believe me, I talked that way myself without realizing where it came from. Nowt hat I see my kids thriving in schools with lots and lots of different people, I realize what I was thinkng and feeling behind all that blah blah blah about school environments.

If you make a decision to move somewhere because of the "environment" being better, ask yourself if it's really what you mean.

I'm glad for my kids, that they have friends of many different races and backgrounds.

You really need to get out more often. Do you even understand the schools that apply to Poolesville magnet are Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, Magruder, Northwest, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Seneca Valley, or Watkins Mill.

We don't have to force diversity up here - our kids are in a diverse school environment since they were in pre-K.

I was responding to the pro-Poolesville posters' previous comments about school environment, 5% FARMS rate, and "take a look at the four corners Starbucks" or McDonald's or whatever. If you don't think there was a veiled reference to race in those comments, I think you are kidding yourself. Or perhaps it's race + socioeconomic status or some perceived fear of "urban" attitudes or who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't agree that the Poolesville magnet is stronger than Blair's magnet. I don't even understand how anyone could make this comparison without having kids in both schools. Other odd aspects of this thread are that the principal and the magnet administrator are different people (and genders), and also Blair's current principal used to be TPMS' principal as anyone with connections to TPMS would know. So this whole discussion seems uninformed.

Both schools follow basically the same curriculum, so the difference, if there is one, would be in the quality of the teachers. (Facilities are pretty much irrelevant IMO, but if it matters to you, Blair's building is less than 10 years old.) I can't speak for Poolesville, but the Blair magnet teachers my kids have had have been fabulous.

Having evaluated the quality of both and spoken to the appropriate people---I can tell you Poolesville is better. The main school at Poolesville is old but they have a new addition on the right side of the main building. Poolesville has a rural feel and Blair is at a busy Silver Spring intersection. The non magnet classes (your child will take non magnet classes at either school---English, History ...) are incomparable. Poolesville, because of its student body, is able to teach at a much higher level.

I don't understand the relevance of the principal and the magnet coordinator being different people of opposite genders!!! Yes, the new Blair principal is from TPMS. When Darryl Williams, the previous principal left, some teachers decided to leave.

Blair has the Math, Science, CS magnet and the CAP program. Poolesville has "houses," for example the Math, Science, CS House. At least one student got into MIT in 2012.
Poolesville is a rising star, and Blair seems to be a falling star.

Blair needs to buck up if it wants to stop the slide.

PP which grades are your kids in?

Unless you have had kids in both schools, you have no way of knowing how these two schools compare.

I'm laughing out loud at your "busy intersection" versus rural comment. This is relevant ... how?

Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? The rural-busy intersection comment is very relevant to safety.

The statement of needing to have kids at both schools is equally ignorant. I'm not going to enlighten you because I don't want anyone to suffer retaliation. Poolesville is a rising star, and Blair seems to be a falling star.

No ignorance here. Eyes wide open. I moved to Silver Spring from Manhattan, and my 15yo son attends Blair. He navigates that intersection routinely and I never worry, because he is traffic-savvy and pays attention. These are basic life skills that every adult or near-adult should have. We do not have to (nor do we want to) live in Poolesville or the like to keep him safe.

Blair's location also gives him independence and self-sufficiency that a rural location would not. He takes the school bus to get there, but sometimes goes off with friends after school to have lunch (on early release days), or take the city bus to downtown Silver Spring for lunch and a movie. He is learning to navigate the world without need for a parent to act as chauffeur, or to drive a car himself (contributing to traffic and pollution and likely jeopardizing his safety more than crossing an intersection with traffic lights is).

The fact that he is getting a fabulous education in the magnet program is just icing on the cake. His non-magnet friends are also getting a great education.

I know nothing about Poolesville HS, and maybe it is a rising star. I can assure you however, based on two kids having gone through (my daughter graduated two years ago), that Blair is not declining. Not at all.