MoCo middle school magnets

[Anonymous]

Does anybody have a kid who went through either of the MoCo middle school magnets, at Takoma Park (science, math and computers) or Eastern (humanities)? We have two weeks to make a decision (DC got into one, didn't apply to the other). Both seem to have tremendous plusses, and possibly some negatives. I can't find any other threads on these.

[Anonymous]

My son goes to the Takoma Park Middle School magnet. Overall, it is a great experience.
You may get more answers to your question if you post it on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GTAletters/ .

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that link, I'll check it out. TP is in fact the school I need to know about, so if you have anything more to share I'd be grateful. In particular I hear that for some kids at least, burnout can be a problem.

[Anonymous]

Check out http://themorechild.wordpress.com. She's written about this.

[Anonymous]

Yikes, I just read some of the blog. I came out feeling really sorry for the older kid, but not entirely sure who to blame for enabling the behavioral issues. In any case, while the blog seemed big on possible rigidity at the TP magnet, it was fairly silent on the curriculum itself, or social aspects of the school.

[Anonymous]

There is a TP Magnet-specific group on Yahoo Groups, which I signed up for.

[Anonymous]

I am the mom of a TPMS student. For my son, this is definitely the right environment.

There are some disadvantages. The bus ride is extremely long, and exhausting and the bus stop is far from home. The school environment is sometimes hectic - lunchtime at the school cafeteria for example seems quite disorderly (although that might be true for most middle schools).

Regarding burnout – every child is different. My son had more difficulty with the non-magnet courses, so I’m not sure our home middle school would have been easier for him. I’m sure the long bus ride contributes to burnout - more time for sleep in the morning would help.

The advantages are significant. The magnet courses are interesting and encourage students to think in depth. Many of the teachers we encountered (in both magnet and non-magnet courses) are good or excellent and seem to really care about the students. The opportunity to study and interact with a talented group of kids with similar interests has been great, both during classes and during the school's after school activities. It is a special environment and my son thrives there.

[Anonymous]

PP, thanks so much for the helpful observations. I think DC is going to do the magnet.

[Anonymous]

From a recent GTA Letters digest, re: Eastern:

For those of you that have children at EMS or have rising 6th graders,
you may want to read the following groups on the current controversy
at EMS (specifically EMS and NOT TPMS). The former group is where the
most active commentary is taking place.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/easternptsa/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EMSHumanitiesmagnet/

Basically, (as far as I can make out between all the PC waffle) the
principal -- under pressure from teachers -- has decided to scrap the
8-period schedule (where 4 subjects are taught for 80+ minutes every
other day) for a 7-period schedule (where every subject is taught
every day for ~42 minutes). I gather that many EMS teachers feel that
they are having to teach more periods than other county MS teachers
and they want the same schedule.

What this means is that EMS students will now have just one elective.
For those of you with nonmusicians this is probably not a big deal,
but for those that have it means that you will have to choose between
a foreign language and music.

I have an 8th grader who is (thankfully) almost at the end of MS, but
for those of you with kids in 5-7, you might want to become active

Not being a teacher, I can't give you that side of the argument, but
my kid says that it has been the key to her learning environment at
EMS. The mere fact that they aren't constantly getting up and down and
moving though the halls with books coming out the wazoo (remember this
is MS -- NO backpacks are allowed in school because they could
contain anything from drugs to weapons), but she also feels the extra
time means they get to interact with the teacher and each other in
more meaningful way.

Whatever the pros and cons, if you have a child in or entering the
humanities program, you should educate yourselves and evaluate whether
or not you want to lend your support to keeping the block schedule.