I'm an old mom who attended the Center and magnets for MS and HS-- AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has OP answered any of the questions?

No, I went away and am back now. The poster who mentioned being in the Blair magnet 20 plus years ago was not me, though I'd agree with them.

Hm, this ended up being very long, but no one is forcing you to read, so... read if you like!

To answer the couple that were posed...

From the OP, 1) my kid is in 3rd grade, and 2) re: irrelevance, I understand that these are just "my experiences, relevant or irrelevant as they may be."

I have a real question, OP, not just unadulterated snark, like other posters. Having gone through all those magnets, did you fare better in college admissions compared to, say, your neighborhood kids who graduated from regular MCPS schools? And did you fare better post-college?

It's a fine question that I may not be able to fully answer. Although my unusual experience may still be somewhat illustrative.

First, I moved around MoCo a lot, ended up in a rural area and basically never knew my neighbors, who were spaced far apart. Especially as I was traveling 30-45 minutes to school and spending so much time there... my friends were all my school friends. So if I'm taking your question somewhat literally, it's hard for me to compare myself to "neighborhood kids." I could probably compare myself better to kids for whom Blair was their home school, but that's not a perfect analogue.

The bigger confounding factor is that I had undiagnosed ADHD, so my grades suffered. At the same time, I had the highest overall test scores in the school, at least among those that were shared. I was not remotely an average college applicant from the Magnets. My neurodivergence is kind of relevant to the overall "G&T" program landscape, though. There were a tremendous number of us who were ND and as far as I know, back in the 80s/early 90s, very few had been diagnosed. But it's kind of laughably obvious now. I'm still in touch with many classmates, and a disproportionate number finally got autism and/or ADHD diagnoses in their adulthood.

This goes a bit to the other question I saw...

Which one was more weighing more then? Quest for knowledge or benefit for college application.

It's so hard to get into the heads of my friends' parents, but both were present among the kids. There was a real mix... In the CAP/Eastern Magnet, you saw families I think more focused on the "quest for knowledge" or actual enrichment from something their kid had shown talent for and interest in (usually writing, often specifically journalism, sociology/history and/or some sort of creative media). Still often very interested in college admissions, but among a solid majority, that seemed to take at least a slight backseat to the quest for knowledge/etc.

In the math/science Magnet, which was then also larger... you had, I'd say, a pretty even four-way split, although with a lot of overlap among the groups.

1) overachievers who were bright, VERY hardworkers, but more focused on college admissions, careers and the distant future than whatever they were learning

2) what I described above re: the CAP, less competitive, more focused on the learning and the peer group, including kids who were excellent at and loved one subject, but were maybe not as strong in others

3) the sort of golden children/families that had impressive all-around resumes, were generally also popular and well-liked AND quite brilliant-- this group was disproportionately represented in the most competitive college admissions and had bits of #1 and #2, especially in that college admissions held a lot of importance

4) kids who were profoundly gifted or close to it, and also really unusual in other ways, neurodivergent or otherwise, and it was probably all you could do as a parent to just sort of... put them in an academic/peer situation that approximated meeting their needs. Some were successful, others flamed out.

Again, some overlap, and definitely more than 1/4 were neurodivergent.

For what it's worth (TL;DR), the CHG was also a mix of these, though of course we were much further from college admissions. And actually, I'm not sure any of us were in that Group #1, bright but mostly just extremely hard workers. Take from that what you will. I attended the Area 2 CHG at Bells Mill, though I moved during that time to Area 3. If I think about the ~22 kids who attended all of 4-6th with me and stayed in the DC area, ~13-15 went to either the Eastern or TPMS Magnets. A few went to home schools and a few to private. Of those from the CHG who went to the Eastern Magnet, most went to the CAP or RMIB, 1 also to Blair's math/science Magnet, 1 to Whitman (home school) and a couple to privates for HS. Most or all of the kids from CHG who went to the TPMS Magnet went to the Blair Magnet. So I guess a lot of us were basically kids who almost never attended our home schools. Huh.

Circling back to the college admissions thing... I think it's a question with too many confounding variables. But you knew that-- sorry I couldn't be of more help. It would depend on your home school, and certainly Blair poached some highly-gifted kids from home schools. I'm sure Whitman had Ivy admissions that weren't that much lower than Blair's, and that Blair had poached a couple of their kids who would have gotten into Ivies, etc. Although most of the Magnet kids were not coming from a W school district.

I do feel more strongly, though perhaps naively, that being in these programs actually set us all up for more success in life in a few ways that had little to do with Ivy admission or whatever.

-It was actually awesome to be with weirdo smart kids, both academically and socially. Helped a lot with self-esteem and definitely reduced boredom. Came up with better ideas, more exciting group projects, etc. Also never got a chance to rest on my laurels or coast through anything... which was actually very challenging for me, personally, with ADHD. But it's an ADHD diagnosis that would have helped me, NOT being in easier programs. As an adult, I know a number of people like me who could easily coast in other schools and other districts without any semblance of executive function, and it didn't help them in life, either.

-Those who went to UMCP or MC -- or even Ivies-- were just light years ahead in terms of having had to do higher-level work in a higher-level way. Not just the course content, but the teacher expectations, the peer group, and the format of assignments... it was great college and career prep, and not in a sort of cookie-cutter corporate way, but in terms of gleaning more from texts, thinking deeply and so on. Is this different from a W school and AP classes? (Not that W schools are a gold standard, but they tend to be advantaged.) I don't know. Though I do feel like the way both Magnet and CAP were integrated-- projects that spanned more than one class and were interdisciplinary-- was a departure from the way most other schools do things, and highly beneficial.

-I think it was very beneficial in terms of attending a more diverse school than most of us otherwise would. At the time, CAP was about 40% POC and Magnet a little less, but Blair otherwise was about 80%+ POC. Plus Blair was more socio-economically diverse/disadvantaged than most of our home schools, simply because it was more diverse/disadvantaged than almost any other school-- the "magnetic" point of the Magnet. Lots more ESOL and so on. I can see this benefit in the adults we are today. At that time, anyway, you couldn't be in a Magnet/CAP bubble without trying to be, so there was just a wider world view fostered among a lot of kids who would have otherwise, to shorthand it, attended Churchill or Poolesville.

If I were really good at getting to the point (see: ADHD) I would say that I, personally, fared better in life than I would have if I hadn't gone to these programs. But for me, personally, this was not because they gave me a concrete step up in life or put me on a nice automatic track, like CHG-->Magnets--->Ivy--->Big Law or whatever. It's because, for the most part, they made me a more open-minded, reflective person.

I know you can't prove a counterfactual, but I really do believe this.

When I was in my early years as a school counselor in MCPS, we essentially reserved those CHG spots for weird, quirky kids, often socially awkward or socially struggling, yet quite bright. If a student was socially successful and bright, we tended to encourage them to stay at the home school. Many W feeder parents didn’t even consider the centers because they felt, back then, that they were going to get a rigorous academic program and a motivated peer group. I’m not saying what we did was right or wrong, but I don’t have any regrets. For many of those kids, it was like throwing them a social lifesaver. As the OP said, we were doing what we could to ensure they had a good support network.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has OP answered any of the questions?

No, I went away and am back now. The poster who mentioned being in the Blair magnet 20 plus years ago was not me, though I'd agree with them.

Hm, this ended up being very long, but no one is forcing you to read, so... read if you like!

To answer the couple that were posed...

From the OP, 1) my kid is in 3rd grade, and 2) re: irrelevance, I understand that these are just "my experiences, relevant or irrelevant as they may be."

I have a real question, OP, not just unadulterated snark, like other posters. Having gone through all those magnets, did you fare better in college admissions compared to, say, your neighborhood kids who graduated from regular MCPS schools? And did you fare better post-college?

It's a fine question that I may not be able to fully answer. Although my unusual experience may still be somewhat illustrative.

First, I moved around MoCo a lot, ended up in a rural area and basically never knew my neighbors, who were spaced far apart. Especially as I was traveling 30-45 minutes to school and spending so much time there... my friends were all my school friends. So if I'm taking your question somewhat literally, it's hard for me to compare myself to "neighborhood kids." I could probably compare myself better to kids for whom Blair was their home school, but that's not a perfect analogue.

The bigger confounding factor is that I had undiagnosed ADHD, so my grades suffered. At the same time, I had the highest overall test scores in the school, at least among those that were shared. I was not remotely an average college applicant from the Magnets. My neurodivergence is kind of relevant to the overall "G&T" program landscape, though. There were a tremendous number of us who were ND and as far as I know, back in the 80s/early 90s, very few had been diagnosed. But it's kind of laughably obvious now. I'm still in touch with many classmates, and a disproportionate number finally got autism and/or ADHD diagnoses in their adulthood.

This goes a bit to the other question I saw...

Which one was more weighing more then? Quest for knowledge or benefit for college application.

It's so hard to get into the heads of my friends' parents, but both were present among the kids. There was a real mix... In the CAP/Eastern Magnet, you saw families I think more focused on the "quest for knowledge" or actual enrichment from something their kid had shown talent for and interest in (usually writing, often specifically journalism, sociology/history and/or some sort of creative media). Still often very interested in college admissions, but among a solid majority, that seemed to take at least a slight backseat to the quest for knowledge/etc.

In the math/science Magnet, which was then also larger... you had, I'd say, a pretty even four-way split, although with a lot of overlap among the groups.

1) overachievers who were bright, VERY hardworkers, but more focused on college admissions, careers and the distant future than whatever they were learning

2) what I described above re: the CAP, less competitive, more focused on the learning and the peer group, including kids who were excellent at and loved one subject, but were maybe not as strong in others

3) the sort of golden children/families that had impressive all-around resumes, were generally also popular and well-liked AND quite brilliant-- this group was disproportionately represented in the most competitive college admissions and had bits of #1 and #2, especially in that college admissions held a lot of importance

4) kids who were profoundly gifted or close to it, and also really unusual in other ways, neurodivergent or otherwise, and it was probably all you could do as a parent to just sort of... put them in an academic/peer situation that approximated meeting their needs. Some were successful, others flamed out.

Again, some overlap, and definitely more than 1/4 were neurodivergent.

For what it's worth (TL;DR), the CHG was also a mix of these, though of course we were much further from college admissions. And actually, I'm not sure any of us were in that Group #1, bright but mostly just extremely hard workers. Take from that what you will. I attended the Area 2 CHG at Bells Mill, though I moved during that time to Area 3. If I think about the ~22 kids who attended all of 4-6th with me and stayed in the DC area, ~13-15 went to either the Eastern or TPMS Magnets. A few went to home schools and a few to private. Of those from the CHG who went to the Eastern Magnet, most went to the CAP or RMIB, 1 also to Blair's math/science Magnet, 1 to Whitman (home school) and a couple to privates for HS. Most or all of the kids from CHG who went to the TPMS Magnet went to the Blair Magnet. So I guess a lot of us were basically kids who almost never attended our home schools. Huh.

Circling back to the college admissions thing... I think it's a question with too many confounding variables. But you knew that-- sorry I couldn't be of more help. It would depend on your home school, and certainly Blair poached some highly-gifted kids from home schools. I'm sure Whitman had Ivy admissions that weren't that much lower than Blair's, and that Blair had poached a couple of their kids who would have gotten into Ivies, etc. Although most of the Magnet kids were not coming from a W school district.

I do feel more strongly, though perhaps naively, that being in these programs actually set us all up for more success in life in a few ways that had little to do with Ivy admission or whatever.

-It was actually awesome to be with weirdo smart kids, both academically and socially. Helped a lot with self-esteem and definitely reduced boredom. Came up with better ideas, more exciting group projects, etc. Also never got a chance to rest on my laurels or coast through anything... which was actually very challenging for me, personally, with ADHD. But it's an ADHD diagnosis that would have helped me, NOT being in easier programs. As an adult, I know a number of people like me who could easily coast in other schools and other districts without any semblance of executive function, and it didn't help them in life, either.

-Those who went to UMCP or MC -- or even Ivies-- were just light years ahead in terms of having had to do higher-level work in a higher-level way. Not just the course content, but the teacher expectations, the peer group, and the format of assignments... it was great college and career prep, and not in a sort of cookie-cutter corporate way, but in terms of gleaning more from texts, thinking deeply and so on. Is this different from a W school and AP classes? (Not that W schools are a gold standard, but they tend to be advantaged.) I don't know. Though I do feel like the way both Magnet and CAP were integrated-- projects that spanned more than one class and were interdisciplinary-- was a departure from the way most other schools do things, and highly beneficial.

-I think it was very beneficial in terms of attending a more diverse school than most of us otherwise would. At the time, CAP was about 40% POC and Magnet a little less, but Blair otherwise was about 80%+ POC. Plus Blair was more socio-economically diverse/disadvantaged than most of our home schools, simply because it was more diverse/disadvantaged than almost any other school-- the "magnetic" point of the Magnet. Lots more ESOL and so on. I can see this benefit in the adults we are today. At that time, anyway, you couldn't be in a Magnet/CAP bubble without trying to be, so there was just a wider world view fostered among a lot of kids who would have otherwise, to shorthand it, attended Churchill or Poolesville.

If I were really good at getting to the point (see: ADHD) I would say that I, personally, fared better in life than I would have if I hadn't gone to these programs. But for me, personally, this was not because they gave me a concrete step up in life or put me on a nice automatic track, like CHG-->Magnets--->Ivy--->Big Law or whatever. It's because, for the most part, they made me a more open-minded, reflective person.

I know you can't prove a counterfactual, but I really do believe this.

When I was in my early years as a school counselor in MCPS, we essentially reserved those CHG spots for weird, quirky kids, often socially awkward or socially struggling, yet quite bright. If a student was socially successful and bright, we tended to encourage them to stay at the home school. Many W feeder parents didn’t even consider the centers because they felt, back then, that they were going to get a rigorous academic program and a motivated peer group. I’m not saying what we did was right or wrong, but I don’t have any regrets. For many of those kids, it was like throwing them a social lifesaver. As the OP said, we were doing what we could to ensure they had a good support network.

Well this smells like BS but if it were true you should be ashamed of yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has OP answered any of the questions?

No, I went away and am back now. The poster who mentioned being in the Blair magnet 20 plus years ago was not me, though I'd agree with them.

Hm, this ended up being very long, but no one is forcing you to read, so... read if you like!

To answer the couple that were posed...

From the OP, 1) my kid is in 3rd grade, and 2) re: irrelevance, I understand that these are just "my experiences, relevant or irrelevant as they may be."

I have a real question, OP, not just unadulterated snark, like other posters. Having gone through all those magnets, did you fare better in college admissions compared to, say, your neighborhood kids who graduated from regular MCPS schools? And did you fare better post-college?

It's a fine question that I may not be able to fully answer. Although my unusual experience may still be somewhat illustrative.

First, I moved around MoCo a lot, ended up in a rural area and basically never knew my neighbors, who were spaced far apart. Especially as I was traveling 30-45 minutes to school and spending so much time there... my friends were all my school friends. So if I'm taking your question somewhat literally, it's hard for me to compare myself to "neighborhood kids." I could probably compare myself better to kids for whom Blair was their home school, but that's not a perfect analogue.

The bigger confounding factor is that I had undiagnosed ADHD, so my grades suffered. At the same time, I had the highest overall test scores in the school, at least among those that were shared. I was not remotely an average college applicant from the Magnets. My neurodivergence is kind of relevant to the overall "G&T" program landscape, though. There were a tremendous number of us who were ND and as far as I know, back in the 80s/early 90s, very few had been diagnosed. But it's kind of laughably obvious now. I'm still in touch with many classmates, and a disproportionate number finally got autism and/or ADHD diagnoses in their adulthood.

This goes a bit to the other question I saw...

Which one was more weighing more then? Quest for knowledge or benefit for college application.

It's so hard to get into the heads of my friends' parents, but both were present among the kids. There was a real mix... In the CAP/Eastern Magnet, you saw families I think more focused on the "quest for knowledge" or actual enrichment from something their kid had shown talent for and interest in (usually writing, often specifically journalism, sociology/history and/or some sort of creative media). Still often very interested in college admissions, but among a solid majority, that seemed to take at least a slight backseat to the quest for knowledge/etc.

In the math/science Magnet, which was then also larger... you had, I'd say, a pretty even four-way split, although with a lot of overlap among the groups.

1) overachievers who were bright, VERY hardworkers, but more focused on college admissions, careers and the distant future than whatever they were learning

2) what I described above re: the CAP, less competitive, more focused on the learning and the peer group, including kids who were excellent at and loved one subject, but were maybe not as strong in others

3) the sort of golden children/families that had impressive all-around resumes, were generally also popular and well-liked AND quite brilliant-- this group was disproportionately represented in the most competitive college admissions and had bits of #1 and #2, especially in that college admissions held a lot of importance

4) kids who were profoundly gifted or close to it, and also really unusual in other ways, neurodivergent or otherwise, and it was probably all you could do as a parent to just sort of... put them in an academic/peer situation that approximated meeting their needs. Some were successful, others flamed out.

Again, some overlap, and definitely more than 1/4 were neurodivergent.

For what it's worth (TL;DR), the CHG was also a mix of these, though of course we were much further from college admissions. And actually, I'm not sure any of us were in that Group #1, bright but mostly just extremely hard workers. Take from that what you will. I attended the Area 2 CHG at Bells Mill, though I moved during that time to Area 3. If I think about the ~22 kids who attended all of 4-6th with me and stayed in the DC area, ~13-15 went to either the Eastern or TPMS Magnets. A few went to home schools and a few to private. Of those from the CHG who went to the Eastern Magnet, most went to the CAP or RMIB, 1 also to Blair's math/science Magnet, 1 to Whitman (home school) and a couple to privates for HS. Most or all of the kids from CHG who went to the TPMS Magnet went to the Blair Magnet. So I guess a lot of us were basically kids who almost never attended our home schools. Huh.

Circling back to the college admissions thing... I think it's a question with too many confounding variables. But you knew that-- sorry I couldn't be of more help. It would depend on your home school, and certainly Blair poached some highly-gifted kids from home schools. I'm sure Whitman had Ivy admissions that weren't that much lower than Blair's, and that Blair had poached a couple of their kids who would have gotten into Ivies, etc. Although most of the Magnet kids were not coming from a W school district.

I do feel more strongly, though perhaps naively, that being in these programs actually set us all up for more success in life in a few ways that had little to do with Ivy admission or whatever.

-It was actually awesome to be with weirdo smart kids, both academically and socially. Helped a lot with self-esteem and definitely reduced boredom. Came up with better ideas, more exciting group projects, etc. Also never got a chance to rest on my laurels or coast through anything... which was actually very challenging for me, personally, with ADHD. But it's an ADHD diagnosis that would have helped me, NOT being in easier programs. As an adult, I know a number of people like me who could easily coast in other schools and other districts without any semblance of executive function, and it didn't help them in life, either.

-Those who went to UMCP or MC -- or even Ivies-- were just light years ahead in terms of having had to do higher-level work in a higher-level way. Not just the course content, but the teacher expectations, the peer group, and the format of assignments... it was great college and career prep, and not in a sort of cookie-cutter corporate way, but in terms of gleaning more from texts, thinking deeply and so on. Is this different from a W school and AP classes? (Not that W schools are a gold standard, but they tend to be advantaged.) I don't know. Though I do feel like the way both Magnet and CAP were integrated-- projects that spanned more than one class and were interdisciplinary-- was a departure from the way most other schools do things, and highly beneficial.

-I think it was very beneficial in terms of attending a more diverse school than most of us otherwise would. At the time, CAP was about 40% POC and Magnet a little less, but Blair otherwise was about 80%+ POC. Plus Blair was more socio-economically diverse/disadvantaged than most of our home schools, simply because it was more diverse/disadvantaged than almost any other school-- the "magnetic" point of the Magnet. Lots more ESOL and so on. I can see this benefit in the adults we are today. At that time, anyway, you couldn't be in a Magnet/CAP bubble without trying to be, so there was just a wider world view fostered among a lot of kids who would have otherwise, to shorthand it, attended Churchill or Poolesville.

If I were really good at getting to the point (see: ADHD) I would say that I, personally, fared better in life than I would have if I hadn't gone to these programs. But for me, personally, this was not because they gave me a concrete step up in life or put me on a nice automatic track, like CHG-->Magnets--->Ivy--->Big Law or whatever. It's because, for the most part, they made me a more open-minded, reflective person.

I know you can't prove a counterfactual, but I really do believe this.

When I was in my early years as a school counselor in MCPS, we essentially reserved those CHG spots for weird, quirky kids, often socially awkward or socially struggling, yet quite bright. If a student was socially successful and bright, we tended to encourage them to stay at the home school. Many W feeder parents didn’t even consider the centers because they felt, back then, that they were going to get a rigorous academic program and a motivated peer group. I’m not saying what we did was right or wrong, but I don’t have any regrets. For many of those kids, it was like throwing them a social lifesaver. As the OP said, we were doing what we could to ensure they had a good support network.

Depending on how old you are, you may not have personally thrown me a life preserver, but THANK YOU! I definitely needed it. I will say that a number of my CHG peers (late 80s) were those "Golden Children" who were, let's say-- not that quirky. But there were plenty of quirky folks, and even the less quirky were still quirky. We all definitely related.

-OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you have some kind of personality disorder? I can't imagine why you think anybody would be interested at your experience at an MCPS magnet 30 years ago.

Oh, bless your heart. Don't worry, I won't force you to read the rest of this comment, which is not directed at you.

What actually inspired this was the fact that I've read so much misinformation and conjecture on DCUM about how the Magnets and Center "used to be" or what they were founded upon (~35 years ago)... I thought I might be able to give some perspective. And of course, you always learn something new when you are explaining things to others, so win-win.

Well, that and the fact that my kid is in 3rd grade and just took her MAP tests, so it's time to consider whether I would send her to the CES if she were to get in. I've just been thinking a lot about my experiences, which were mostly positive, but also the fact that what I'd REALLY like to see are these sorts of programs and educational methods available to all students, everywhere.

To the poster that warned me about MCPS and my long road ahead... I never said I had it all figured out? And I do know lots of people with HS-aged kids, so besides my husband and I having attended MCPS schools, I understand the challenges-- though only in part. As I said, there are always challenges-- I'm not trying to paint a rosy picture of MCPS. Though my perspective at this time is still close to "The USA is the worst country in the world, except for all the others." Not literally-- I'm not saying MCPS is better than all the others. Just that I don't think it's uniquely awful. But like I said-- this was true in the 80s/90s, too.

I think I had an overall very good experience, especially relative to alternatives at the time. But if you imagine I'm being unrealistic about MCPS's greatness because I had some idyllic experience? Ah... no. When I went there, Blair was falling apart, overcrowded and even then, we had to stage massive protests to get the new building built (I've never actually been inside the New Blair). I was sexually harassed by and/or subjected to blatant sexism by a couple of teachers-- Magnet teachers. (At least one of which was the subject of a WaPo article a few years ago.) One teacher whom I thought was awesome and never harassed me... ended up being jailed recently for horrible crimes committed against some of his students. I had some crummy (non-gendered) experiences with admin, too-- and so did my parents-- including early on, when they had to fight to get me enrichment. And certainly no one knew what to do with me and my now-glaringly-obvious-in-hindsight ADHD. Girls, especially ones who weren't bouncing off the walls, just were nearly-never diagnosed back then.

I mean, that doesn't sound idyllic, does it? No. But on the other hand, I got such a great education overall-- and I really mean overall. I went out into the world and was especially amazed at how much more fully I was prepared for it than most people I met, even those who had attended "great" public and private schools in other parts of the country. And then how much more prepared for life I was by having attended a truly diverse school with generally good values.

That's my experience of it, anyway. Just thought I'd share.

-OP

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing, OP.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing OP. Somehow came across this old post. A great read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

Except that's fiction. I also went to MCPS. My kids are currently in the mangets. It's much better now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight: the top district in the Nation (MCPS) sticks with a Curriculum (2.0) they developed with a multinational corporation (Pearson) for nearly a decade with failing results until they pay half a million to the top education research lab in the Nation (Johns Hopkins) finally tells them quit it! Does this sound like something one of the top school districts in the Nation would even ponder?

It kinda does, though. Most of the school districts in the US wouldn't develop a curriculum. They'd just use whatever outdated crap their state board authorized however many years ago. I didn't like 2.0 either, but there's nothing wrong or surprising about a large system like MCPS attempting to develop its own curriculum.

I disagree.

As you said, most school systems (including large ones) would not develop their own curriculum. They go with published materials which have been developed by subject matter experts, generally reviewed by many other subject matter experts and professionally edited. It is surprising that a small department whose primary expertise was pedagogical thought that acting on an ad hoc basis, they could do better. While a published textbook may be more out of date than a notebook binder given to the teacher a few days before the quarter she’s supposed to start teaching it, this does not seem particularly advantageous to me. It was wrong that in its hubris, MCPS decided to operate more as a private company with a profit/prestige motive, using our kids as guinea pigs, than as a public service that should prioritize educating children according to proven best practices.

You may well be one of the many that feels the MCPS curriculum was fine based on your children’s personal experiences. If so, I am genuinely pleased for you. However, I’m convinced that such are experiences are due to teachers who recognized the curriculum deficiencies and compensated for them independently. I base my experiences on the time I spent serving on a curriculum committee, reading the curriculum at central office before it went online with 2.0, becoming completely inaccessible, and talking to teachers, asking very specific questions. An independent audit concluded that the MCPS curriculum was objectively bad. This is not just whining from a few privileged malcontents.

Incidentally, in line with OP’s historical observations on GT education in MCPS, 15 years ago when my DC was in an HGC, the teacher, who sent her own daughter to a private school, used that private school’s grammar curriculum to teach her MCPS GT class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

Just stop.

MCPS is one of the top school districts in the country.

Move to Alabama or MO then come back and try again.

I am so tired of this garbage. You don't like it move or put your kids in a private school that most likely is sub par to MCPS particularly in math & Science.

Have we gotten to the point where we are comparing MCPS with school systems in Alabama and Missouri?

How about Arkansas? Mississippi?

Tell you what: Move to Massachusetts, Connecticut, or New Jersey, then come back and try again.

Good grief.

In these states, a majority of school districts are town-based -- much smaller, more homogeneous districts. So, this is not an apples to apples comparison. MCPS stats would be very different if there was a line drawn down 355.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

Except that's fiction. I also went to MCPS. My kids are currently in the mangets. It's much better now.

Such a difference experience for kids in the Magnet. I have one in. But those spots are limited. And for those kids not fortunate enough to make it in, it can be a complexity different educational experience.

[Anonymous]

I’m also interested! I had two kids at an HGC, and one at the Blair magnet. I’m very interested to read OP’s thoughtful take on why the magnet helped. (As my second DC weighs the pros and cons of her school’s IB program.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that in the old days, everything was wonderful, whereas now, there's nobody left in Montgomery County except rats who have not yet fled or drowned? That's what I read on DCUM.

Yes, hard to believe, but in the old days, everyone actually wanted to move here and raise kids here. Schools were excellent. All in the past.

- not op but have been here 30 years

Just stop.

MCPS is one of the top school districts in the country.

Move to Alabama or MO then come back and try again.

I am so tired of this garbage. You don't like it move or put your kids in a private school that most likely is sub par to MCPS particularly in math & Science.

MCPS ranked #7 in Maryland based on state assessment tests. Where do you see MCPS is one of the top school district?

My bad. MCPS ranked #8 in Maryland, not #7.
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/MD/districtrank.aspx

I don’t know what this ranking is supposed to be based on, but all of the districts in the top 10 besides Howard and MCPS are all rube areas. Have you been to Carrol County which is listed as #1?! It’s mouth breather central. And what the hell is a school digger?

[Anonymous]

I remember reading this roughly a year ago. It was kind of interesting.

[Anonymous]

How long has BLAIR been a magnet school?

[Anonymous]

OP did your kid end up at a magnet?