Who is considering turning down a middle school magnet spot?

[Anonymous]

If you accept one, do you still stay on the wait list for the other one ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geography is a factor. Where are people commuting from or choosing not to commute from?

If it take an hour each way, and it's likely way more for us if we use the bus system, that's the equivalent of over two months of work weeks sitting on a bus. I realize that many kids around the world (and even in MoCo) may view that as normal, or even desirable, for the right school, but that just seems excessive to me.

Or...it is additional time your child gets to spend with people who have similar brains?

Haha. It is not. Please don’t kid yourself they are interacting on the bus. They all have phones out staring straight ahead.
The buses are mixed with middle and high schoolers and many many of the kids carpool. My child does the 1 hour plus each way and it totally sucks. On the way there it mean she catches the bus at 6:35. They get there much earlier than school starts. On the way home she takes a bus from Eastern to Blair and then switches buses and that makes it a little over an hour. She leaves at 6:35 and gets home at 4:10 to commute from Gaithersburg.

How is a kid from Gaithersburg going to Eastern? If you moved from downcounty to Gaithersburg after your child got in to Eastern, no wonder the commute is so long. We live in Gaithersburg and dc attends MLK. There are no high school students on dc’s magnet bus.

TPMS, Eastern and Blair bus are shared, so you definitely have high school students on the bus
True for not much good interactions on bus, they are mostly sleeping, on phone or gossiping

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geography is a factor. Where are people commuting from or choosing not to commute from?

If it take an hour each way, and it's likely way more for us if we use the bus system, that's the equivalent of over two months of work weeks sitting on a bus. I realize that many kids around the world (and even in MoCo) may view that as normal, or even desirable, for the right school, but that just seems excessive to me.

Or...it is additional time your child gets to spend with people who have similar brains?

Haha. It is not. Please don’t kid yourself they are interacting on the bus. They all have phones out staring straight ahead.
The buses are mixed with middle and high schoolers and many many of the kids carpool. My child does the 1 hour plus each way and it totally sucks. On the way there it mean she catches the bus at 6:35. They get there much earlier than school starts. On the way home she takes a bus from Eastern to Blair and then switches buses and that makes it a little over an hour. She leaves at 6:35 and gets home at 4:10 to commute from Gaithersburg.

How is a kid from Gaithersburg going to Eastern? If you moved from downcounty to Gaithersburg after your child got in to Eastern, no wonder the commute is so long. We live in Gaithersburg and dc attends MLK. There are no high school students on dc’s magnet bus.

TPMS, Eastern and Blair bus are shared, so you definitely have high school students on the bus
True for not much good interactions on bus, they are mostly sleeping, on phone or gossiping

Is it true for every bus route?
We're in Rockville, child accepted to Eastern, so I've also been wondering about the bus situation. Is it true that the bus stops at Eastern first, drops everyone off and then TPMS kids catch a shuttle to their school? And it's all in reverse in the afternoon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geography is a factor. Where are people commuting from or choosing not to commute from?

If it take an hour each way, and it's likely way more for us if we use the bus system, that's the equivalent of over two months of work weeks sitting on a bus. I realize that many kids around the world (and even in MoCo) may view that as normal, or even desirable, for the right school, but that just seems excessive to me.

Or...it is additional time your child gets to spend with people who have similar brains?

Haha. It is not. Please don’t kid yourself they are interacting on the bus. They all have phones out staring straight ahead.
The buses are mixed with middle and high schoolers and many many of the kids carpool. My child does the 1 hour plus each way and it totally sucks. On the way there it mean she catches the bus at 6:35. They get there much earlier than school starts. On the way home she takes a bus from Eastern to Blair and then switches buses and that makes it a little over an hour. She leaves at 6:35 and gets home at 4:10 to commute from Gaithersburg.

How is a kid from Gaithersburg going to Eastern? If you moved from downcounty to Gaithersburg after your child got in to Eastern, no wonder the commute is so long. We live in Gaithersburg and dc attends MLK. There are no high school students on dc’s magnet bus.

TPMS, Eastern and Blair bus are shared, so you definitely have high school students on the bus
True for not much good interactions on bus, they are mostly sleeping, on phone or gossiping

Is it true for every bus route?
We're in Rockville, child accepted to Eastern, so I've also been wondering about the bus situation. Is it true that the bus stops at Eastern first, drops everyone off and then TPMS kids catch a shuttle to their school? And it's all in reverse in the afternoon?

In the morning they switch at Eastern but I think it’s only middle school kids on bus. In afternoon they switch at Blair and the high school magnet kids are on the bus too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geography is a factor. Where are people commuting from or choosing not to commute from?

If it take an hour each way, and it's likely way more for us if we use the bus system, that's the equivalent of over two months of work weeks sitting on a bus. I realize that many kids around the world (and even in MoCo) may view that as normal, or even desirable, for the right school, but that just seems excessive to me.

Or...it is additional time your child gets to spend with people who have similar brains?

Haha. It is not. Please don’t kid yourself they are interacting on the bus. They all have phones out staring straight ahead.
The buses are mixed with middle and high schoolers and many many of the kids carpool. My child does the 1 hour plus each way and it totally sucks. On the way there it mean she catches the bus at 6:35. They get there much earlier than school starts. On the way home she takes a bus from Eastern to Blair and then switches buses and that makes it a little over an hour. She leaves at 6:35 and gets home at 4:10 to commute from Gaithersburg.

How is a kid from Gaithersburg going to Eastern? If you moved from downcounty to Gaithersburg after your child got in to Eastern, no wonder the commute is so long. We live in Gaithersburg and dc attends MLK. There are no high school students on dc’s magnet bus.

TPMS, Eastern and Blair bus are shared, so you definitely have high school students on the bus
True for not much good interactions on bus, they are mostly sleeping, on phone or gossiping

Is it true for every bus route?
We're in Rockville, child accepted to Eastern, so I've also been wondering about the bus situation. Is it true that the bus stops at Eastern first, drops everyone off and then TPMS kids catch a shuttle to their school? And it's all in reverse in the afternoon?

There is info on the TPMS website.

[Anonymous]

That’s a damn shame that middle school and high school kids are on the same bus and the middle school kids have to change buses at another school. That would potentially influence my decision about accepting a magnet seat. Furthermore, if my child had to be at a bus stop by 6:35, we’d never make it anyway.

PP, you have my sympathy. Have you tried other bus stops?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s a damn shame that middle school and high school kids are on the same bus and the middle school kids have to change buses at another school. That would potentially influence my decision about accepting a magnet seat. Furthermore, if my child had to be at a bus stop by 6:35, we’d never make it anyway.

PP, you have my sympathy. Have you tried other bus stops?

Why is it a damn shame?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geography is a factor. Where are people commuting from or choosing not to commute from?

If it take an hour each way, and it's likely way more for us if we use the bus system, that's the equivalent of over two months of work weeks sitting on a bus. I realize that many kids around the world (and even in MoCo) may view that as normal, or even desirable, for the right school, but that just seems excessive to me.

Or...it is additional time your child gets to spend with people who have similar brains?

Haha. It is not. Please don’t kid yourself they are interacting on the bus. They all have phones out staring straight ahead.
The buses are mixed with middle and high schoolers and many many of the kids carpool. My child does the 1 hour plus each way and it totally sucks. On the way there it mean she catches the bus at 6:35. They get there much earlier than school starts. On the way home she takes a bus from Eastern to Blair and then switches buses and that makes it a little over an hour. She leaves at 6:35 and gets home at 4:10 to commute from Gaithersburg.

How is a kid from Gaithersburg going to Eastern? If you moved from downcounty to Gaithersburg after your child got in to Eastern, no wonder the commute is so long. We live in Gaithersburg and dc attends MLK. There are no high school students on dc’s magnet bus.

TPMS, Eastern and Blair bus are shared, so you definitely have high school students on the bus
True for not much good interactions on bus, they are mostly sleeping, on phone or gossiping

Is it true for every bus route?
We're in Rockville, child accepted to Eastern, so I've also been wondering about the bus situation. Is it true that the bus stops at Eastern first, drops everyone off and then TPMS kids catch a shuttle to their school? And it's all in reverse in the afternoon?

In the morning they switch at Eastern but I think it’s only middle school kids on bus. In afternoon they switch at Blair and the high school magnet kids are on the bus too.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Because lots of 11 year olds who are only a couple months removed from elementary school will find it intimidating to ride buses with high school students and change buses at a high school. Some of these kids come from really small elementary schools with only a couple classes per grade. It’s hard enough to make the transition from elementary to middle school and do it at a magnet, where you don’t know anybody else. These kids shouldn’t be stressing about who to sit with on a crowded bus where some of the students are 6 grades ahead of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geography is a factor. Where are people commuting from or choosing not to commute from?

If it take an hour each way, and it's likely way more for us if we use the bus system, that's the equivalent of over two months of work weeks sitting on a bus. I realize that many kids around the world (and even in MoCo) may view that as normal, or even desirable, for the right school, but that just seems excessive to me.

Or...it is additional time your child gets to spend with people who have similar brains?

Haha. It is not. Please don’t kid yourself they are interacting on the bus. They all have phones out staring straight ahead.
The buses are mixed with middle and high schoolers and many many of the kids carpool. My child does the 1 hour plus each way and it totally sucks. On the way there it mean she catches the bus at 6:35. They get there much earlier than school starts. On the way home she takes a bus from Eastern to Blair and then switches buses and that makes it a little over an hour. She leaves at 6:35 and gets home at 4:10 to commute from Gaithersburg.

How is a kid from Gaithersburg going to Eastern? If you moved from downcounty to Gaithersburg after your child got in to Eastern, no wonder the commute is so long. We live in Gaithersburg and dc attends MLK. There are no high school students on dc’s magnet bus.

TPMS, Eastern and Blair bus are shared, so you definitely have high school students on the bus
True for not much good interactions on bus, they are mostly sleeping, on phone or gossiping

Is it true for every bus route?
We're in Rockville, child accepted to Eastern, so I've also been wondering about the bus situation. Is it true that the bus stops at Eastern first, drops everyone off and then TPMS kids catch a shuttle to their school? And it's all in reverse in the afternoon?

In the morning they switch at Eastern but I think it’s only middle school kids on bus. In afternoon they switch at Blair and the high school magnet kids are on the bus too.

Thank you!

There are middle school kids getting on with my Blair kid in the am. My understanding is that it is Blair/Eastern/TP until Blair, Eastern kids switch busses and the bus continues to TP. This is the Wooten area bus. Maybe some areas are different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because lots of 11 year olds who are only a couple months removed from elementary school will find it intimidating to ride buses with high school students and change buses at a high school. Some of these kids come from really small elementary schools with only a couple classes per grade. It’s hard enough to make the transition from elementary to middle school and do it at a magnet, where you don’t know anybody else. These kids shouldn’t be stressing about who to sit with on a crowded bus where some of the students are 6 grades ahead of them.

You're making a lot of assumptions there, PP. I suggest you ask people whose kids have actually done it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geography is a factor. Where are people commuting from or choosing not to commute from?

If it take an hour each way, and it's likely way more for us if we use the bus system, that's the equivalent of over two months of work weeks sitting on a bus. I realize that many kids around the world (and even in MoCo) may view that as normal, or even desirable, for the right school, but that just seems excessive to me.

Or...it is additional time your child gets to spend with people who have similar brains?

Haha. It is not. Please don’t kid yourself they are interacting on the bus. They all have phones out staring straight ahead.
The buses are mixed with middle and high schoolers and many many of the kids carpool. My child does the 1 hour plus each way and it totally sucks. On the way there it mean she catches the bus at 6:35. They get there much earlier than school starts. On the way home she takes a bus from Eastern to Blair and then switches buses and that makes it a little over an hour. She leaves at 6:35 and gets home at 4:10 to commute from Gaithersburg.

How is a kid from Gaithersburg going to Eastern? If you moved from downcounty to Gaithersburg after your child got in to Eastern, no wonder the commute is so long. We live in Gaithersburg and dc attends MLK. There are no high school students on dc’s magnet bus.

TPMS, Eastern and Blair bus are shared, so you definitely have high school students on the bus
True for not much good interactions on bus, they are mostly sleeping, on phone or gossiping

Is it true for every bus route?
We're in Rockville, child accepted to Eastern, so I've also been wondering about the bus situation. Is it true that the bus stops at Eastern first, drops everyone off and then TPMS kids catch a shuttle to their school? And it's all in reverse in the afternoon?

In the morning they switch at Eastern but I think it’s only middle school kids on bus. In afternoon they switch at Blair and the high school magnet kids are on the bus too.

Our route to eastern has high school kids both ways. Direct to eastern in the morning. Switches buses at Blair after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because lots of 11 year olds who are only a couple months removed from elementary school will find it intimidating to ride buses with high school students and change buses at a high school. Some of these kids come from really small elementary schools with only a couple classes per grade. It’s hard enough to make the transition from elementary to middle school and do it at a magnet, where you don’t know anybody else. These kids shouldn’t be stressing about who to sit with on a crowded bus where some of the students are 6 grades ahead of them.

This has not been an issue on our bus. The high schoolers are quite frankly zoned out that early in the morning and tend to be the good/nerdy kids. The buses aren’t as crowded as many people have set up carpools (not an option for us).
The bigger issue for us has just been the amount of time she’s on the bus. It’s a long day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because lots of 11 year olds who are only a couple months removed from elementary school will find it intimidating to ride buses with high school students and change buses at a high school. Some of these kids come from really small elementary schools with only a couple classes per grade. It’s hard enough to make the transition from elementary to middle school and do it at a magnet, where you don’t know anybody else. These kids shouldn’t be stressing about who to sit with on a crowded bus where some of the students are 6 grades ahead of them.

You're making a lot of assumptions there, PP. I suggest you ask people whose kids have actually done it.

Dufief Elementary is part of 20878 that is zoned for Frost and Wooton. There are only 2 classes per grade, outside of their in-house special Ed program. Those kids would be zoned for Eastern. Incoming 6th graders were still elementary students right before summer break. If they’re riding a bus with high school students, there could be some 12th graders. The only assumption I’ve made is that these 6th graders will find the experience intimidating. That’s not much of a stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because lots of 11 year olds who are only a couple months removed from elementary school will find it intimidating to ride buses with high school students and change buses at a high school. Some of these kids come from really small elementary schools with only a couple classes per grade. It’s hard enough to make the transition from elementary to middle school and do it at a magnet, where you don’t know anybody else. These kids shouldn’t be stressing about who to sit with on a crowded bus where some of the students are 6 grades ahead of them.

You're making a lot of assumptions there, PP. I suggest you ask people whose kids have actually done it.

Dufief Elementary is part of 20878 that is zoned for Frost and Wooton. There are only 2 classes per grade, outside of their in-house special Ed program. Those kids would be zoned for Eastern. Incoming 6th graders were still elementary students right before summer break. If they’re riding a bus with high school students, there could be some 12th graders. The only assumption I’ve made is that these 6th graders will find the experience intimidating. That’s not much of a stretch.

But people whose kids do it say that it's not.

I will note that if you go to Monocacy Elementary School, which has only 1 class per grade last I heard, then you take a combined middle/high school bus to middle school and high school in Poolesville.