Got into both CAP and Blair Magnet, but...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. This is a great discussion, thank you all. My husband and I both have humanities backgrounds and know very little of the path forward for science majors. So I really appreciate the feedback from those of you who do science/math/engineering for a living. I hate being "that parent" but don't want my DC to miss out on the science/math opportunity if it's a super big deal. Thanks for the perspective!

It's ok. We forgive you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


Do you have kids at more than one MCPS HS? It would be difficult to know the answer if you don't. My kid does really well at her school..but I assume she would be run of the mill at another school..and that school would teach to a higher level than her current one.

I don't think that would be a very good test. I've had kids at the same middle school and they do very differently and it's not due to their 'abilities' or the curriculum. So comparing the two of them at different HS (or all of my children) wouldn't work to compare schools.

A better test would be to know the abilities of students and send them off to different HSs. I do know all the students that came out of the same middle school programs and then disperse all over the county. I can compare their experiences. Most find the HS english and history to be not as engaging as their middle school program. Some find RM-IBs program to be easier than their 7th grade requirements at Eastern. But you don't hear more complaints from one HS over another. That would appear to be a better test - everyone coming from the same MS program and we know their relative abilities and expectations.

But everyone can gather than own data on that, I suppose. I would only push back on the assumption that just because it's a W school it is necessarily better Honors/AP courses. That's the issue at hand - not across the curriculum but in the honors classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Do you have kids at more than one MCPS HS? It would be difficult to know the answer if you don't. My kid does really well at her school..but I assume she would be run of the mill at another school..and that school would teach to a higher level than her current one.

I don't think that would be a very good test. I've had kids at the same middle school and they do very differently and it's not due to their 'abilities' or the curriculum. So comparing the two of them at different HS (or all of my children) wouldn't work to compare schools.

A better test would be to know the abilities of students and send them off to different HSs. I do know all the students that came out of the same middle school programs and then disperse all over the county. I can compare their experiences. Most find the HS english and history to be not as engaging as their middle school program. Some find RM-IBs program to be easier than their 7th grade requirements at Eastern. But you don't hear more complaints from one HS over another. That would appear to be a better test - everyone coming from the same MS program and we know their relative abilities and expectations.

But everyone can gather than own data on that, I suppose. I would only push back on the assumption that just because it's a W school it is necessarily better Honors/AP courses. That's the issue at hand - not across the curriculum but in the honors classes.

Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can any one talk about the quality of Blair's classes for SMAC kids outside the magnet. English, SS? If we are leaving a W cluster will we be disappointed?

Well, first of all, there are a LOT of very bright, motivated kids at Blair outside of these two programs, don't believe the myths.

Outside of their program courses, Magnet and CAP kids will typically be taking Honors and AP classes. And guess what, because they are all on the same schedule for their program courses, they tend to be in the same classes outside their programs too.

So yeah, you can pretty much count on them having the same level peer group for their non-magnet classes.

As for teachers, well, Blair is like any other school. There are amazing teachers, and there are average teachers, and I presume there may be some teachers just phoning it in. Just like at Wootton, or Whitman or Churchill or...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can any one talk about the quality of Blair's classes for SMAC kids outside the magnet. English, SS? If we are leaving a W cluster will we be disappointed?

Well, first of all, there are a LOT of very bright, motivated kids at Blair outside of these two programs, don't believe the myths.

Outside of their program courses, Magnet and CAP kids will typically be taking Honors and AP classes. And guess what, because they are all on the same schedule for their program courses, they tend to be in the same classes outside their programs too.

So yeah, you can pretty much count on them having the same level peer group for their non-magnet classes.

As for teachers, well, Blair is like any other school. There are amazing teachers, and there are average teachers, and I presume there may be some teachers just phoning it in. Just like at Wootton, or Whitman or Churchill or...

Agree. Completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Do you have kids at more than one MCPS HS? It would be difficult to know the answer if you don't. My kid does really well at her school..but I assume she would be run of the mill at another school..and that school would teach to a higher level than her current one.

I don't think that would be a very good test. I've had kids at the same middle school and they do very differently and it's not due to their 'abilities' or the curriculum. So comparing the two of them at different HS (or all of my children) wouldn't work to compare schools.

A better test would be to know the abilities of students and send them off to different HSs. I do know all the students that came out of the same middle school programs and then disperse all over the county. I can compare their experiences. Most find the HS english and history to be not as engaging as their middle school program. Some find RM-IBs program to be easier than their 7th grade requirements at Eastern. But you don't hear more complaints from one HS over another. That would appear to be a better test - everyone coming from the same MS program and we know their relative abilities and expectations.

But everyone can gather than own data on that, I suppose. I would only push back on the assumption that just because it's a W school it is necessarily better Honors/AP courses. That's the issue at hand - not across the curriculum but in the honors classes.

Really?

Yes. Really. I watched them all come up to their Eastern teacher and tell them how the work load was easier at RM-IB. Now that was only 2 years in and they were girls so perhaps they were better organized. I don't know. Maybe its harder their senior year. I don't know. Perhaps they matured and HS was easier. I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like they were not so organized in the 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

That could be. Most are unorganized in 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Do you have kids at more than one MCPS HS? It would be difficult to know the answer if you don't. My kid does really well at her school..but I assume she would be run of the mill at another school..and that school would teach to a higher level than her current one.

I don't think that would be a very good test. I've had kids at the same middle school and they do very differently and it's not due to their 'abilities' or the curriculum. So comparing the two of them at different HS (or all of my children) wouldn't work to compare schools.

A better test would be to know the abilities of students and send them off to different HSs. I do know all the students that came out of the same middle school programs and then disperse all over the county. I can compare their experiences. Most find the HS english and history to be not as engaging as their middle school program. Some find RM-IBs program to be easier than their 7th grade requirements at Eastern. But you don't hear more complaints from one HS over another. That would appear to be a better test - everyone coming from the same MS program and we know their relative abilities and expectations.

But everyone can gather than own data on that, I suppose. I would only push back on the assumption that just because it's a W school it is necessarily better Honors/AP courses. That's the issue at hand - not across the curriculum but in the honors classes.

Really?

Yes. Really. I watched them all come up to their Eastern teacher and tell them how the work load was easier at RM-IB. Now that was only 2 years in and they were girls so perhaps they were better organized. I don't know. Maybe its harder their senior year. I don't know. Perhaps they matured and HS was easier. I don't know.

NO WAY!!

[Anonymous]

There is a long thread on RMIB workload. There's no way PP is correct.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/532942.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC got into both CAP and Blair Math and Science Magnet. Wants to major in engineering in college, but would rather do the CAP program because it sounds like more fun. Which is fine with me; I'm told you can still take math/science magnet classes if you qualify.
However. I'd like to hear others' experiences. For anyone with a science-geared kid who did CAP in high school, how did that affect how well your child did applying for college with a science major, and then how well your child did in college?

I believe only a couple of non magnet kids get to take science electives with the magnet kids because of a lack of space so keep that in mind.

[Anonymous]

Eastern is hard but it is not high school magnet hard.

[Anonymous]

CAP accepts 75 kids from the DCC ( if I remember what the director said, around 250 kids apply). SMAC receives around 600 applications from 16 high school clusters. The SMAC program attracts high achieving students and it has a national reputation.
I do agree that there is a lot to be gained from a liberal arts education but the SMAC program also seems to value creativity, problem-solving and collaborative learning. Some of the previous posters seem a little dismissive of the SMAC experience and I am not sure that is fair.
Bottom line though is that if your child prefers to go to CAP that is the most important consideration. We are in the same situation and we will let ds make the decision after he attends the information meetings and shadows at SMAC. Unfortunately CAP does not allow shadowing so he will not be able to make a fully informed decision.

[Anonymous]

Magnet MS rigor is not a good reference point for HS magnet rigor, particularly for RM. Different ball game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eastern is hard but it is not high school magnet hard.

How does CAP compare to Eastern in terms of curriculum and rigor?