Tell me about TPMS Magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

Well, aren't you special? From where we live in Rockville, it's 50 minutes and I'd call it long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

On their phones, just like all of the other kids.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid in the magnet at TP and I think the school as a whole is just terrific. The principal is phenomenal, which means happy teachers. The 7th grade magnet science teacher runs the Difference Makers club which involves tons of kids and they do such cool stuff. International night, stem fair, etc. it’s such a great community of involved parents. Super diverse. Getting a new addition. I think it’s worth a longer bus ride. (My kid gets on the bus at 7:30 for an 8:15 start and walks in the door after about an hour ride home). He is fine and has friends on the bus. I would definitely accept the spot and just pull him if he’s unhappy. Science and math and CS are amazing, great teachers. English and Social Studies are more ordinary, but fine as far as I can tell. My kid just doesn’t love those subjects ... so I take his opinion with a grain of salt. 8th grade social studies teacher is terrific! Neat classroom activities, high standards for written work..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid in the magnet at TP and I think the school as a whole is just terrific. The principal is phenomenal, which means happy teachers. The 7th grade magnet science teacher runs the Difference Makers club which involves tons of kids and they do such cool stuff. International night, stem fair, etc. it’s such a great community of involved parents. Super diverse. Getting a new addition. I think it’s worth a longer bus ride. (My kid gets on the bus at 7:30 for an 8:15 start and walks in the door after about an hour ride home). He is fine and has friends on the bus. I would definitely accept the spot and just pull him if he’s unhappy. Science and math and CS are amazing, great teachers. English and Social Studies are more ordinary, but fine as far as I can tell. My kid just doesn’t love those subjects ... so I take his opinion with a grain of salt. 8th grade social studies teacher is terrific! Neat classroom activities, high standards for written work..

Were that the bus commute for our DC, that would change how we feel about TPMS completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

Well, aren't you special? From where we live in Rockville, it's 50 minutes and I'd call it long.

Aren't you closer to an upcountry school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re coming from PBES and I can say with certainty the kids are good kids. My kid has CES and non CES friends and they are all lovely kids. I love the cohort.

About the TPMS magnet teachers: without naming names, are they experienced, charismatic, do they have doctorates? Do they add value to the experience?

Glad you’ve had the experience. It’s not been my kid’s experience at PBES, unfortunately. Not in the CES.

I’m sorry that your child has had a bad experience at PBES. My smart but not CES 5th grader has had a good experience there and made a lot of great friends. Some bumps in 4th grade with an inexperienced teacher but strong 3rd and 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 6th grade at TPMS- the kids definitely don’t need prior computer experience. We are very happy with the magnet teachers and most of the non-magnet teachers as well. There are a lot of smart kids outside of the magnet program as well and DC is thriving there. The English curriculum is not challenging, but this is true everywhere in MCPS except for Eastern. A lot of kids get into both programs these days so it’s not like the TPMS kids are only into math/science and vice versa at eastern. There are a lot of all around smart kids in both of these programs.

Can you tell me more about the English program? My kid is fed up of pointless worksheets in 5th grade and could do with a lot more challenge in English. I was hoping middle school would help esp as he got in to TPMS.

English, history are not going to be that good at TPMS

Actually, this is not true, at least for TPMS. I have an 8th grader at TPMS and 10th grader at Blair. Both were in TPMS magnet and both were accepted to Eastern. Yes, when oldest started out, there were some weak English and History teachers. The ones my kid had left and were replaced by phenomenal teachers. I would say the English teacher my DD had for 8th grade rivaled Eastern teachers -- came from HS w/ an MFA in writing and is so dynamic/creative. There have been other terrific additions in Eng and History and some strong teachers already in place. Eng/Hist at TPMS has come a long way.

My kids loved most magnet teachers. Math and science teachers are very talented. 8th grade comp sci teacher is wonderful. 6th and 7th grade CS teachers are new, so we don't have experience w/ them.

Block schedule allows for lots of elective options -- language, music, tech, FACS, art. Instrumental music is top notch. My daughter had a fantastic French teacher. I've heard good things about Spanish and FACS. Chorus teacher is super nice. One drawback -- drama teacher is not particularly nice or competent (no real training and talks down to kids).

Admin are all approachable, friendly and genuinely care. Some Office staff can seem a little brusque, but will warm up when they get to know you. New secretary is super sweet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

Well, aren't you special? From where we live in Rockville, it's 50 minutes and I'd call it long.

That's not that long but you can always drive your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re coming from PBES and I can say with certainty the kids are good kids. My kid has CES and non CES friends and they are all lovely kids. I love the cohort.

About the TPMS magnet teachers: without naming names, are they experienced, charismatic, do they have doctorates? Do they add value to the experience?

There was an excellent teacher who unfortunately left this year, and he had a doctorate. The others have masters' degrees, as far as I'm concerned. While I wasn't quite as impressed with the 6th grade teachers, I think they get better in 7th and 8th.

The teacher who left may have had knowledge, but his teaching skills were sorely lacking. He could not reach kids in different ways and was highly punitive and rigid while teaching a field that values trial and error. I was glad to see him go.

I think all the science teachers are great and the math teachers are very talented -- really know their stuff. 8th grace CS is excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

Well, aren't you special? From where we live in Rockville, it's 50 minutes and I'd call it long.

That's not that long but you can always drive your child.

Some people have jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

Well, aren't you special? From where we live in Rockville, it's 50 minutes and I'd call it long.

That's not that long but you can always drive your child.

That’s not bad, our bus leaves at 6:40am and get home past 4:30pm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

Well, aren't you special? From where we live in Rockville, it's 50 minutes and I'd call it long.

That's not that long but you can always drive your child.

That’s not bad, our bus leaves at 6:40am and get home past 4:30pm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the social stuff work if everybody is taking long bus rides to school? How do the kids get together to socialize outside of school? It seems like a lot of kids would just be too geographically spread out. How does it work?

Social on the bus.

From where we live in Chevy Chase TPMS is about a 15-20 minute drive which I wouldn't classify as especially long.

Well, aren't you special? From where we live in Rockville, it's 50 minutes and I'd call it long.

That's not that long but you can always drive your child.

That’s not bad, our bus leaves at 6:40am and get home past 4:30pm

Just. Wow. That is 400+ hours on the bus each school year. 10 weeks at a full time job.