From HGC to non-magnet middle school - what's it been like for your child?

[Anonymous]

I'm from middle of county, but most of my kids friends at TPMS/Blair are all from Bethesda/Potomac. The bus rides are not bad for kids who are truly motivated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's just far from Takoma (and Blair) and pulls from neighborhoods with high SES so there tend to be a lot of highly-motivated, HGC- or magnet-qualified kids who choose not to go.
I'm sure there are those for whom Pyle would not be a good fit, but IMHO I think those students are really really really exceptional. i.e. genius-level rather than just very very bright and "highly gifted."

My niece decided not to continue from an HGC to Takoma/Blair a few years ago and go to Pyle and Whitman instead. It was a great decision for her as she had a lot of extracurriculars she wanted to be involved in and didn't want to spend two hours on bus each day. She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky.

She is at a Harvard-Princeton-Yale Ivy (don't want to say the school as you could probably identify her).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At times disappointing..however I don't think my child wishes she had applied to a Magnet middle. Her HGC friends were heading back to our neighborhood school so the idea of going to a magnet alone was not appealing. The commute would have interfered with outside interests. Perhaps it would have been different if she had applied and been rejected. She can apply for HS if she chooses.

This was exactly our thought process. We zone for Pyle, so we also didn't feel like there would be any real disadvantage to returning to the home school, certainly not enough to override the commute, loss of EC time, and social impact concerns. So our kid did not apply to any magnets. Would be interested in hearing from parents of kids who returned from HGC to Pyle.

How is Pyle different from other middle schools vis-a-vis there being any "real disadvantage"?

Can you explain what you mean by this please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's just far from Takoma (and Blair) and pulls from neighborhoods with high SES so there tend to be a lot of highly-motivated, HGC- or magnet-qualified kids who choose not to go.
I'm sure there are those for whom Pyle would not be a good fit, but IMHO I think those students are really really really exceptional. i.e. genius-level rather than just very very bright and "highly gifted."

My niece decided not to continue from an HGC to Takoma/Blair a few years ago and go to Pyle and Whitman instead. It was a great decision for her as she had a lot of extracurriculars she wanted to be involved in and didn't want to spend two hours on bus each day. She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky.

She is at a Harvard-Princeton-Yale Ivy (don't want to say the school as you could probably identify her).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At times disappointing..however I don't think my child wishes she had applied to a Magnet middle. Her HGC friends were heading back to our neighborhood school so the idea of going to a magnet alone was not appealing. The commute would have interfered with outside interests. Perhaps it would have been different if she had applied and been rejected. She can apply for HS if she chooses.

This was exactly our thought process. We zone for Pyle, so we also didn't feel like there would be any real disadvantage to returning to the home school, certainly not enough to override the commute, loss of EC time, and social impact concerns. So our kid did not apply to any magnets. Would be interested in hearing from parents of kids who returned from HGC to Pyle.

How is Pyle different from other middle schools vis-a-vis there being any "real disadvantage"?

Can you explain what you mean by this please?

^^^PP here.

To clarify, I mean this: "She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's just far from Takoma (and Blair) and pulls from neighborhoods with high SES so there tend to be a lot of highly-motivated, HGC- or magnet-qualified kids who choose not to go.
I'm sure there are those for whom Pyle would not be a good fit, but IMHO I think those students are really really really exceptional. i.e. genius-level rather than just very very bright and "highly gifted."

My niece decided not to continue from an HGC to Takoma/Blair a few years ago and go to Pyle and Whitman instead. It was a great decision for her as she had a lot of extracurriculars she wanted to be involved in and didn't want to spend two hours on bus each day. She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky.

She is at a Harvard-Princeton-Yale Ivy (don't want to say the school as you could probably identify her).

Thanks...that's our hope for our kid. We hear good things about Whitman. Like any school, the peer group your kid falls in with is important, but ours has really bonded with HGC friends, so we are hoping that they will continue to push and encourage each other in HS. We had heard from Whitman grads that college was in some respects *easier* than Whitman was, so I don't fear that it will be too easy. And anyway, I went to a large public school myself and while it was no huge challenge academically, I had time to try lots of ECs and in the end got into a top ivy...if that is the kind of thing people want to focus on. Our kid didn't want the commute, and probably won't want it in HS either, so no point in looking back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's just far from Takoma (and Blair) and pulls from neighborhoods with high SES so there tend to be a lot of highly-motivated, HGC- or magnet-qualified kids who choose not to go.
I'm sure there are those for whom Pyle would not be a good fit, but IMHO I think those students are really really really exceptional. i.e. genius-level rather than just very very bright and "highly gifted."

My niece decided not to continue from an HGC to Takoma/Blair a few years ago and go to Pyle and Whitman instead. It was a great decision for her as she had a lot of extracurriculars she wanted to be involved in and didn't want to spend two hours on bus each day. She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky.

She is at a Harvard-Princeton-Yale Ivy (don't want to say the school as you could probably identify her).

Thanks...that's our hope for our kid. We hear good things about Whitman. Like any school, the peer group your kid falls in with is important, but ours has really bonded with HGC friends, so we are hoping that they will continue to push and encourage each other in HS. We had heard from Whitman grads that college was in some respects *easier* than Whitman was, so I don't fear that it will be too easy. And anyway, I went to a large public school myself and while it was no huge challenge academically, I had time to try lots of ECs and in the end got into a top ivy...if that is the kind of thing people want to focus on. Our kid didn't want the commute, and probably won't want it in HS either, so no point in looking back.

We are zoned for a v. good "W" school and I am not sure whether ds will need to apply to RM or Blair for high school. I suspect he will find plenty of peers and a challenging academic environment in our home high school and that is our Plan A. However, MS is typically the weak link in any school cluster - even the best ones. The "advanced" classes are just not that advanced and middle school reform took out nearly all the honors classes. So for us, it was important to have him attend the magnet MS. He is happy, excited about school work and has made lots of great friends with kids who get him. The commute has not been too bad for us but that would be an imp. consideration if it were very long. He has plenty of time to do extra currics. For us the magnet MS has been a much better experience than the HGC, in terms of curriculum and peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's just far from Takoma (and Blair) and pulls from neighborhoods with high SES so there tend to be a lot of highly-motivated, HGC- or magnet-qualified kids who choose not to go.
I'm sure there are those for whom Pyle would not be a good fit, but IMHO I think those students are really really really exceptional. i.e. genius-level rather than just very very bright and "highly gifted."

My niece decided not to continue from an HGC to Takoma/Blair a few years ago and go to Pyle and Whitman instead. It was a great decision for her as she had a lot of extracurriculars she wanted to be involved in and didn't want to spend two hours on bus each day. She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky.

She is at a Harvard-Princeton-Yale Ivy (don't want to say the school as you could probably identify her).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At times disappointing..however I don't think my child wishes she had applied to a Magnet middle. Her HGC friends were heading back to our neighborhood school so the idea of going to a magnet alone was not appealing. The commute would have interfered with outside interests. Perhaps it would have been different if she had applied and been rejected. She can apply for HS if she chooses.

This was exactly our thought process. We zone for Pyle, so we also didn't feel like there would be any real disadvantage to returning to the home school, certainly not enough to override the commute, loss of EC time, and social impact concerns. So our kid did not apply to any magnets. Would be interested in hearing from parents of kids who returned from HGC to Pyle.

How is Pyle different from other middle schools vis-a-vis there being any "real disadvantage"?

Can you explain what you mean by this please?

^^^PP here.

To clarify, I mean this: "She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky."

FYI, the neighborhoods closer to Takoma/Blair also have smart, motivated students and our middle schools offer the exact same curriculum as Pyle. All of our children take the same summative exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's just far from Takoma (and Blair) and pulls from neighborhoods with high SES so there tend to be a lot of highly-motivated, HGC- or magnet-qualified kids who choose not to go.
I'm sure there are those for whom Pyle would not be a good fit, but IMHO I think those students are really really really exceptional. i.e. genius-level rather than just very very bright and "highly gifted."

My niece decided not to continue from an HGC to Takoma/Blair a few years ago and go to Pyle and Whitman instead. It was a great decision for her as she had a lot of extracurriculars she wanted to be involved in and didn't want to spend two hours on bus each day. She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky.

She is at a Harvard-Princeton-Yale Ivy (don't want to say the school as you could probably identify her).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At times disappointing..however I don't think my child wishes she had applied to a Magnet middle. Her HGC friends were heading back to our neighborhood school so the idea of going to a magnet alone was not appealing. The commute would have interfered with outside interests. Perhaps it would have been different if she had applied and been rejected. She can apply for HS if she chooses.

This was exactly our thought process. We zone for Pyle, so we also didn't feel like there would be any real disadvantage to returning to the home school, certainly not enough to override the commute, loss of EC time, and social impact concerns. So our kid did not apply to any magnets. Would be interested in hearing from parents of kids who returned from HGC to Pyle.

How is Pyle different from other middle schools vis-a-vis there being any "real disadvantage"?

Can you explain what you mean by this please?

^^^PP here.

To clarify, I mean this: "She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky."

FYI, the neighborhoods closer to Takoma/Blair also have smart, motivated students and our middle schools offer the exact same curriculum as Pyle. All of our children take the same summative exams.

Yes, I'm the PP you quoted and live in eastern MoCo. Quotes like this "[s]he had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky" suggest that there are few or no "smart and motivated" kids in the Takoma/Blair schools.

It's a W attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's just far from Takoma (and Blair) and pulls from neighborhoods with high SES so there tend to be a lot of highly-motivated, HGC- or magnet-qualified kids who choose not to go.
I'm sure there are those for whom Pyle would not be a good fit, but IMHO I think those students are really really really exceptional. i.e. genius-level rather than just very very bright and "highly gifted."

My niece decided not to continue from an HGC to Takoma/Blair a few years ago and go to Pyle and Whitman instead. It was a great decision for her as she had a lot of extracurriculars she wanted to be involved in and didn't want to spend two hours on bus each day. She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky.

She is at a Harvard-Princeton-Yale Ivy (don't want to say the school as you could probably identify her).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At times disappointing..however I don't think my child wishes she had applied to a Magnet middle. Her HGC friends were heading back to our neighborhood school so the idea of going to a magnet alone was not appealing. The commute would have interfered with outside interests. Perhaps it would have been different if she had applied and been rejected. She can apply for HS if she chooses.

This was exactly our thought process. We zone for Pyle, so we also didn't feel like there would be any real disadvantage to returning to the home school, certainly not enough to override the commute, loss of EC time, and social impact concerns. So our kid did not apply to any magnets. Would be interested in hearing from parents of kids who returned from HGC to Pyle.

How is Pyle different from other middle schools vis-a-vis there being any "real disadvantage"?

Can you explain what you mean by this please?

^^^PP here.

To clarify, I mean this: "She had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky."

FYI, the neighborhoods closer to Takoma/Blair also have smart, motivated students and our middle schools offer the exact same curriculum as Pyle. All of our children take the same summative exams.

Yes, I'm the PP you quoted and live in eastern MoCo. Quotes like this "[s]he had no problem finding a peer-group of equally smart and motivated kids at Pyle/Whitman but maybe if she was in a school in a neighborhood closer to Takoma/Blair she wouldn't have been so lucky" suggest that there are few or no "smart and motivated" kids in the Takoma/Blair schools.

It's a W attitude.

Or perhaps it means that she assumed that all of the smart/motivated kids would be in the magnet because they wouldn't have been turned off by the commute.

[Anonymous]

OP here: It's more than just a peer group thing. There are lots of smart motivated kids in the eastern part of the county where I live (and I don't want to get off topic here) but are they enough to sway the culture and pace of a class? I don't think so. That is exactly my fear about my middle school. There will be a group of kids whose needs will not be met, my child being one of them. Anyone from the eastern part of the county have experience with home middle school after HGC?

[Anonymous]

My child's friend returned from HGC to home DCC middle school after not getting accepted to either magnet middle school.

He reports only being challenged in math, English and language, which are the only classes that allow for acceleration at any of the non magnet middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Not true..my child is in advanced social studies and science too..not to say they are hgc advanced but there are levels

[Anonymous]

I am from the Eastern part. 2 kids went to HGC, but only one to Magnet MS. I agree with above poster, only math the least bit of a challenge at home school. My home middle is good, but it's not TPMS.

[Anonymous]

Mine is in every advanced class offered, and it's still easy (except math). 2-3 Math's above all others in grade (along with 6 other kids)

[Anonymous]

Does every middle school call core classes (English, World Studies, Science) advanced, or is it just the middle schools that offer the middle years program?

[Anonymous]

English can be regular or adv, but everything else is just adv.
Eastern MS has higher English & History and TPMS has higher Math/Science/Comp Sci. Other classes at the two are like everywhere else.