When is the plan for new HS programs coming out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does BOE actually care about public sentiment? Bc it seems from DCUM that they vociferously oppose public and want to do the exact opposit

I’m sure it’s tricky. I remember seeing a slide about responses to the boundary study, and I noted that a much larger share of responses had come from W clusters. The DCC was much less represented. While I am sure the BOE is interested in feedback, I’m sure they note that not all perspectives are equally represented.

As a DCC family, I know they don’t care about us so why bother. They will make their decisions and we will make our decisions accordingly. Worst case for us is we do a private virtual school or go private which we may anyway as we have no choice as one of my kids is struggling to get all the graduation requirements in due to lack of offerings.

All high schools offer classes for graduation. This doesn’t make sense

No, they don't. If your child starts Algebra in 6th they don't have enough math and are missing a year (assuming one year is AP stats).

I don’t think any students should be taking Algebra in 6th unless there are very extenuating circumstances like the student already took all the prior courses in a different country or jurisdiction, not just that they have high map scores and took outside prep courses and asked for special permission. It’s not necessary to accelerate in that way even for the brightest 6th graders.

There are even students who are super bored at taking algebra at 6th grade. I know kids taking precalculus at Aops at 8th grade after finishing geometry at 6th and algebra 2 at 7th. They also compete AMC 10 at middle school and qualify for AIME. These kind of kids deserve Blair which has very in depth math and offer linear agelbra and discrete mathematics. Giving them another mediocre regional so called magnet is a disservice.

Blair only has 100 slots and at least 800-900 students applying. Yeah for them for doing AOPS what ever that is but that's not relevant as you still have to take the MCPS classes. Its not about deserving or not, its about all students who are able to have the same opportunities. Many are not bored in Algebra in 6ths as you have the super high achieving, then the high achieving and many levels in between. All those kids should get served and at least be given MV. Linear algebra and discrete math would be a bonus as for kids in 6th they can easily take MV and Linear.

Keep both countywide and regional so both types get the same opportunities. It shouldn’t be sacrificing one group for another group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I wish I had made a copy of the slides when I looked at them on Friday. I am glad I wrote down some of the info, but now I am curious what will change and am not confident I can 100% remember what was on them, especially for the slides where I did not take notes.

This really shows you how close they are holding this info. Their lack of communication with the public about this is purposeful.

There's a public meeting tomorrow...why can't you all just wait until then instead of speculating endlessly about what they might say?

It’s a Board meeting right? Most professional boards have rules about circulating materials ahead of time so the Board can read the materials and prepare thoughtful questions. Why can’t you support good governance rather than complaining about people who want to be prepared?

+1

I do not trust MCPS at all on this. They have not held public sessions on this work, offered office hours, and been forthright about the work they are doing so constituents can weigh in with feedback. They are making decisions now so that the boundary studies can move forward, without input from students and parents. (That survey was not meaningful — no one knew what they were considering doing or what the trade offs would be.)

And when they did post materials and someone posted about it on DCUM, came out on DCUM, they immediately deleted the posted materials — god forbid the public should know what they are doing before the meeting, so they could reach out to Board members with concerns or address points in their prepared testimony. This so-called study is a sham with no meaningful transparency or input.

+2 It's a pretty crap process if the Board members are just expected to nod their heads and vote yes to materials they haven't reviewed. Might as well get rid of them all and just buy a big rubber stamp.

I thought it was just an update and they're not voting on anything until the end of the year?

Someone upthread said the changes being made will impact the class of incoming 8th graders this year. So at this point, yes, parents want to know what is going on before this class gets something half cooked imposed upon them with no chance for parental feedback. Board members should want to know the details too if they're actually doing their jobs.

That is just obviously ridiculous. Maybe don't trust everything you read from a random anonymous commenter? You really think they are going to rework all high school programs, get board approvals, and have a new set of applications by September? That's like 3 months away.

(If you/they mean it will "impact" them by the time they are seniors, then yes, it likely will and that's a valid concern. But it sounds like you are talking about the new regions and programs all being figured out and approved by September 2025 and implemented by August 2026 and that is clearly near-impossible logistically.)

I have seen a copy of the slides that someone downloaded before it was taken down. Unfortunately in the example scenario slide, Sep 2026 is what was used for the example demonstration. Maybe that was a typo and that's why they took the slides down? But be prepared to be surprised this afternoon.

If you have a copy, go check again. I saw them too and I think I would remember if they said the new programs would start in August 2026. I think they said they would affect applications in 2026 for the year starting in August 2027.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

It wouldn't cost that much more to do one school as a TJ or upper level school, especially in the DCC. Or even take 1000 students and put them in one school.

No, we don't want that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

Why you assume these families can afford private？ Fairfax county is not all that expensive to move to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

[Anonymous]

I shouldn't be shocked by the DCUM response, but I am.

MCPS appears to be doing exactly what a lot of us have been asking for -- creating more magnet slots to serve the needs of highly able learners.

This is a good thing, folks. This is what most of us have said we wanted for a long time. It makes perfect sense to break the county into "regions" and to offer high quality differentiated programs to kids in each region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

Why you assume these families can afford private？ Fairfax county is not all that expensive to move to.

I mean, if folks want to move to Fairfax and roll the dice on TJ admissions, they should go ahead. But there's no guarantees of making the cut.

[Anonymous]

A screenshot of the Regions that were online yesterday are available in this article:

https://montgomeryperspective.com/2025/06/24/will-there-be-regions-in-mcps/

[Anonymous]

“First, take a look at these combinations of schools. There are significant transportation challenges here, both for MCPS buses and for parents who opt to drive their kids to school. One region combines Wheaton HS and Churchill HS. Another combines Whitman HS and Northwood HS. A third region combines Wootton HS with Kennedy HS. That’s a challenge given MoCo’s clogged road network and parents’ sentiments regarding other factors, well… it’s a lot.“

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A screenshot of the Regions that were online yesterday are available in this article:

https://montgomeryperspective.com/2025/06/24/will-there-be-regions-in-mcps/

MCPS Parents: They should subdivide the county into smaller regions. NO, not like that!

MCPS Parents: They should offer more magnet programs to meet the needs of our bright kids who have bright parents. NO, not like that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“First, take a look at these combinations of schools. There are significant transportation challenges here, both for MCPS buses and for parents who opt to drive their kids to school. One region combines Wheaton HS and Churchill HS. Another combines Whitman HS and Northwood HS. A third region combines Wootton HS with Kennedy HS. That’s a challenge given MoCo’s clogged road network and parents’ sentiments regarding other factors, well… it’s a lot.“

Someone cares about long bus rides? I thought MCPS was telling us to just accept them for diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does BOE actually care about public sentiment? Bc it seems from DCUM that they vociferously oppose public and want to do the exact opposit

I’m sure it’s tricky. I remember seeing a slide about responses to the boundary study, and I noted that a much larger share of responses had come from W clusters. The DCC was much less represented. While I am sure the BOE is interested in feedback, I’m sure they note that not all perspectives are equally represented.

As a DCC family, I know they don’t care about us so why bother. They will make their decisions and we will make our decisions accordingly. Worst case for us is we do a private virtual school or go private which we may anyway as we have no choice as one of my kids is struggling to get all the graduation requirements in due to lack of offerings.

All high schools offer classes for graduation. This doesn’t make sense

No, they don't. If your child starts Algebra in 6th they don't have enough math and are missing a year (assuming one year is AP stats).

Look our friend has a math genius kid who is doing grade 11 and 12 math at MC virtual. His parents aren’t saying WJ doesn’t care about him or kids graduating. There are so many summer and evening classes at MC. You need to stop whining that no one cares and do more problem solving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

Why you assume these families can afford private？ Fairfax county is not all that expensive to move to.

Then why don't you move there?