Einstein VAC or Blar?
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Anonymous
Well, yes, 22:43 seemed to be questioning just that. I am also an Einstein parent, and if a student wants to focus on STEM, they can certainly do that via the Renaissance Academy or the IB program. Or even while on one of the VAPA pathways, as was stated earlier. If they don't like the academy offerings at Einstein, there are several others throughout the DCC that they may prefer, and they can rank those schools their top choices. |
Anonymous
News bulletin: You can graduate without completing the requirements for any academy. To be in Renaissance, complete a certain number of AP classes and then do a capstone. To be in VAPA, take an arts class every year and then do a performance senior year. To be in IB, you do have to take a certain courseload juinor and senior years. The Finance Academy also has a specific sequence that must be finished. If you're interested in STEM, take the hardest science classes available, AP Computer Principles, and the hardest math that you can. You can be in any academy. Even if you're in an academy, you can graduate without completing the senior capstone. |
Anonymous
Why does Einstein need a STEM magnet program? It has 4 academies and the VAC magnet program, If none of those interest your child then its simple, Einstein isn't the right school for them. |
Anonymous
Einstein students go on to be extremely successful by the structure of the current program. |
Anonymous
| My child didn't choose Einstein (chose CAP) because of the seeming lack of focus on academics at Einstein. |
Anonymous
I think that one point is that not all students know what they're going to do in life in 8th grade. The science options at Einstein are definitely adequate, but it would be nice if MCPS were clearer about which high schools offered calculus-based physics, for example. Not many parents know to ask. I didn't. |
Anonymous
Even though the academics are not shared in a talk format at the Open House, there are many strong academic classes at Einstein. I'm fairly certain that average AP scores are the 2nd highest in the DCC. |
Anonymous
Does any HS in the DCC offer AP Physics C? I don't think so, Churchill and Walter Johnson seem to, but neither Blair nor Wheaton does. |
Anonymous
Wheaton HS offers AP Physics C (my kid is taking it next year). |
Anonymous
Wheaton and Blair |
Anonymous
8:14 here. At least, I'm assuming that Blair offers AP Physics C. Does anyone know for sure? |
Anonymous
This report outlines AP exam performance by High School. http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2018/2017%20AP%20IB%20Course%20Enrollment%20and%20Exam%20Participation%20Performance.pdf Percent of students taking AP exams who score 3 or higher in 2017 (this is the best stat I could find to judge "average AP scores" across schools) Blair - 86.3% Einstein - 61.9% Wheaton - 61.1% Northwood - 44% Kennedy - 36.2% Wooton is the highest in MCPS at 89.2% Based on prior year performance, I would not be surprised if Wheaton slightly surpasses Einstein for 2018. They are basically at the same level, at least by this measure. You can look at how kids do on individual AP exams in this report. I am in bounds for Einstein, and have been looking at the data since my current 7th grader. I do think that one major caveat to the data below is that Einstein has the IB program (which Wheaton and Blair do not), so, some of the top students are presumably not taking AP exams in all subjects, rather it is a mix of AP and IB. Below are percent of students who scored 4 or higher on selected AP exams by school. I wanted to do 4 or higher because most colleges require you to have at least a 4 to get any sort of credit. I tried to choose classes that I presume IB students at Einstein also may be taking so we're comparing the top cohort of students at the three schools-- I may have chosen wrong. These numbers are interesting. After glancing through the data on other tests, Blair is the strongest by far of the three, and it offers the most course choices (it is a huge school, they offer everything). Wheaton seems to do better in the history and gov't department (I didn't include English because the top Einstein students are doing that IB). Einstein students are scoring higher on the calc exams. Einstein doesn't offer any computer science, nor does it offer physics C, so I didn't compare any of those classes. Just looking at course offerings, I will likely have my son put down Wheaton as his first choice for the computer and higher level physics offerings since he is interested in computer science and physics, but depending on what area of science your kid is interested in, I think Einstein is a good choice. If you have a kid that also wants to do any sort of instrumental music, Blair and Einstein have much stronger programs. My oldest was able to do Takoma Park Middle>Blair SMAC. My 8th grader is a strong math/science student, but not gifted enough to break into the magnets. Calculus AB Blair - 40% Einstein - 21.4% Wheaton - 16% Calculus BC Blair - <95% Einstein - 42.9% Wheaton - 39.3% US Govt & Politics Blair - 70.1% Einstein - 38.3% Wheaton - 58% US History Blair - 50% Einstein - 14.3% received a 4; Less than or equal to 5% received a 5 Wheaton - 31.3% Spanish Blair - 85.3% Einstein - 44.2% (why is this so low?) Wheaton - 87% |
Anonymous
Well it's on their AP exam schedule, both Mechanics and Electicity & Magnetism https://mbhs.edu/calendar/events/ |
Anonymous
Blair Magnet has advanced physics options but they aren't the AP sequence. AP Physics C isn't offered to the general population at Blair either. Sorry about questioning, Wheaton's offerings, I thought they offered it but when I checked the bulletin the only thing that came up wasn't coming up, it does at other schools: http://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/SchoolCourseCatalogs/School/04782/SC The engineering magnet clearly states that it is part of the senior year schedule. |
Anonymous
Yes, Einstein does offer computer science: 291600 291700 Foundations of Computer Science A/B (tech cr) 292400 292500 AP Computer Sci Principles PW A/B 290100 290200 AP Computer Sci Java A/B 291800 291900 AP Computer Sci Principles TE A/B (tech cr) |