Pyle or eastern Humanities/communication program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child was accepted to the eastern humanities program. Would you select to go there over Pyle middle school?
Transportation won’t be an issue, more asking from an education and social standpoint. Pros and cons?

The standard advice is to always accept placement in a magnet. If it turns out to not be a good fit, you can always return to your home school.

I get it, but that's also terrible advice if you're community-minded. Some other child likely could have benefitted from that spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP whose child is also considering accepting the spot at Eastern. I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but I thought OP might be interested too — how’s the administration at Eastern (principal/assistant principal/magnet coordinator)?

Not a fan of the magnet coordinator, and I don't understand the parents who think he's great. There are issues with the program and he is totally uninterested in trying to solve them. People who are in the program know what these issues are.

I'm one of the Eastern parent PPs and I have no idea what you are talking about here. The magnet coordinator has been nothing but supportive to my child in their 2.5 years in the program, and the only parents I hear complaining about "issues" are folks whose kids are struggling for the first time in their academic careers. The program is hard, and anyone considering a spot for their child should know that it is rigorous and time consuming and the teachers have extremely high (and sometimes inflexible) standards. But those aren't "issues." They are features, not bugs, for the kids for whom the Humanities magnet is a good fit.

I’m not sure if it’s the same parents responding about how rigorous and hard the curriculum is, but I don’t agree with that. That’s what they’re trying to sell you. None of the students I talked to thought it was overly difficult.
And you’re sticking your head in the sand if you think the only issues are raised by struggling students. It’s not a perfect program.

NP. What issues are you referring to then? Serious question. My kid finished eighth last year and I am not sure what you are referring to. Who are these students that you talked to?

My child would have been in the same year group as yours. Surprise, surprise, different people have different opinions.
I can’t honestly believe you had no issues with virtual learning and thought it was great, but more power to you.

I had issues with virtual learning, but that obviously affected the whole county. So, this was nothing unique to Eastern. Was it disappointing the New York trip was cancelled? Yes, but again, out of Eastern's control. Is it perfect? No, of course not. No school is perfect. Yet, some of the complaints people state on the board have been a positive for our child. She made friends with kids outside the Humanities program. She got stuck doing some of the group projects by herself. These two factors alone are great life skills to have. As a parent, I also loved the sixth grade English teacher, who develop my child's critical thinking skills.

I had another child at another middle school and Eastern’s virtual learning was really bad comparatively the first few months after we went virtual. They did nothing. The communication from the school was repeated requests to help with donations to their underserved community. No learning happened for my child for the second half of 19-20. So, I disagree it was a county wide issue.

I hear you. I did not have any other middle schools to compare it with. I think the History teacher who was fantastic inperson just disappeared once they went virtual (and since left the school). Also, the science teacher read children's books, which was very strange. At least for our kid, I think the Math and English teachers tried hard with online learning. All that said, I would not want OP to make her choice based on this discussion!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP whose child is also considering accepting the spot at Eastern. I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but I thought OP might be interested too — how’s the administration at Eastern (principal/assistant principal/magnet coordinator)?

Not a fan of the magnet coordinator, and I don't understand the parents who think he's great. There are issues with the program and he is totally uninterested in trying to solve them. People who are in the program know what these issues are.

I'm one of the Eastern parent PPs and I have no idea what you are talking about here. The magnet coordinator has been nothing but supportive to my child in their 2.5 years in the program, and the only parents I hear complaining about "issues" are folks whose kids are struggling for the first time in their academic careers. The program is hard, and anyone considering a spot for their child should know that it is rigorous and time consuming and the teachers have extremely high (and sometimes inflexible) standards. But those aren't "issues." They are features, not bugs, for the kids for whom the Humanities magnet is a good fit.

I’m not sure if it’s the same parents responding about how rigorous and hard the curriculum is, but I don’t agree with that. That’s what they’re trying to sell you. None of the students I talked to thought it was overly difficult.
And you’re sticking your head in the sand if you think the only issues are raised by struggling students. It’s not a perfect program.

NP. What issues are you referring to then? Serious question. My kid finished eighth last year and I am not sure what you are referring to. Who are these students that you talked to?

My child would have been in the same year group as yours. Surprise, surprise, different people have different opinions.
I can’t honestly believe you had no issues with virtual learning and thought it was great, but more power to you.

I had issues with virtual learning, but that obviously affected the whole county. So, this was nothing unique to Eastern. Was it disappointing the New York trip was cancelled? Yes, but again, out of Eastern's control. Is it perfect? No, of course not. No school is perfect. Yet, some of the complaints people state on the board have been a positive for our child. She made friends with kids outside the Humanities program. She got stuck doing some of the group projects by herself. These two factors alone are great life skills to have. As a parent, I also loved the sixth grade English teacher, who develop my child's critical thinking skills.

I had another child at another middle school and Eastern’s virtual learning was really bad comparatively the first few months after we went virtual. They did nothing. The communication from the school was repeated requests to help with donations to their underserved community. No learning happened for my child for the second half of 19-20. So, I disagree it was a county wide issue.

I hear you. I did not have any other middle schools to compare it with. I think the History teacher who was fantastic inperson just disappeared once they went virtual (and since left the school). Also, the science teacher read children's books, which was very strange. At least for our kid, I think the Math and English teachers tried hard with online learning. All that said, I would not want OP to make her choice based on this discussion!

Except it demonstrates how the program is managed...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP whose child is also considering accepting the spot at Eastern. I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but I thought OP might be interested too — how’s the administration at Eastern (principal/assistant principal/magnet coordinator)?

Not a fan of the magnet coordinator, and I don't understand the parents who think he's great. There are issues with the program and he is totally uninterested in trying to solve them. People who are in the program know what these issues are.

I'm one of the Eastern parent PPs and I have no idea what you are talking about here. The magnet coordinator has been nothing but supportive to my child in their 2.5 years in the program, and the only parents I hear complaining about "issues" are folks whose kids are struggling for the first time in their academic careers. The program is hard, and anyone considering a spot for their child should know that it is rigorous and time consuming and the teachers have extremely high (and sometimes inflexible) standards. But those aren't "issues." They are features, not bugs, for the kids for whom the Humanities magnet is a good fit.

I’m not sure if it’s the same parents responding about how rigorous and hard the curriculum is, but I don’t agree with that. That’s what they’re trying to sell you. None of the students I talked to thought it was overly difficult.
And you’re sticking your head in the sand if you think the only issues are raised by struggling students. It’s not a perfect program.

NP. What issues are you referring to then? Serious question. My kid finished eighth last year and I am not sure what you are referring to. Who are these students that you talked to?

My child would have been in the same year group as yours. Surprise, surprise, different people have different opinions.
I can’t honestly believe you had no issues with virtual learning and thought it was great, but more power to you.

I had issues with virtual learning, but that obviously affected the whole county. So, this was nothing unique to Eastern. Was it disappointing the New York trip was cancelled? Yes, but again, out of Eastern's control. Is it perfect? No, of course not. No school is perfect. Yet, some of the complaints people state on the board have been a positive for our child. She made friends with kids outside the Humanities program. She got stuck doing some of the group projects by herself. These two factors alone are great life skills to have. As a parent, I also loved the sixth grade English teacher, who develop my child's critical thinking skills.

I had another child at another middle school and Eastern’s virtual learning was really bad comparatively the first few months after we went virtual. They did nothing. The communication from the school was repeated requests to help with donations to their underserved community. No learning happened for my child for the second half of 19-20. So, I disagree it was a county wide issue.

I hear you. I did not have any other middle schools to compare it with. I think the History teacher who was fantastic inperson just disappeared once they went virtual (and since left the school). Also, the science teacher read children's books, which was very strange. At least for our kid, I think the Math and English teachers tried hard with online learning. All that said, I would not want OP to make her choice based on this discussion!

I don’t understand why not. Too often this forum just goes on about the “rigorous curriculum”. I wish I would have had this info when deciding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's just common sense - how your child does academically in the program is going to color your overall experience.

Ah, we've moved from anecdata to "common sense." Now we're on firmer ground. I see that in your world academics is everything (nothing else could possibly color a child's experience), yet you also don't have a very good sense of what exactly academics means.

So takeaway here is that Eastern will be great for the children of those who think they're getting a top-notch education because they lack the critical thinking skills to tell otherwise. Now I'm beginning to understand all the rah-rah going on here.

Let's calm down and think about this more rationally. I said how a child does academically is going to color their overall experience. I did not say it was the only thing that could color their experience.
And yes, I have a very good sense of what academic means. DH and I both have graduate degrees, and we're impressed by the level of instruction at Eastern. DH, a HYPS grad, says he wishes he was in a program like this when he was in MS.
Yes, Eastern can be rough. Our child has mentioned that fights have broken out, and sometimes kids throw things in the halls. Friends at our higher SES home MS tell us similar things happen in their cafeteria and halls. It's middle school after all, and kids this age are far from angels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's just common sense - how your child does academically in the program is going to color your overall experience.

Ah, we've moved from anecdata to "common sense." Now we're on firmer ground. I see that in your world academics is everything (nothing else could possibly color a child's experience), yet you also don't have a very good sense of what exactly academics means.

So takeaway here is that Eastern will be great for the children of those who think they're getting a top-notch education because they lack the critical thinking skills to tell otherwise. Now I'm beginning to understand all the rah-rah going on here.

Let's calm down and think about this more rationally. I said how a child does academically is going to color their overall experience. I did not say it was the only thing that could color their experience.
And yes, I have a very good sense of what academic means. DH and I both have graduate degrees, and we're impressed by the level of instruction at Eastern. DH, a HYPS grad, says he wishes he was in a program like this when he was in MS.
Yes, Eastern can be rough. Our child has mentioned that fights have broken out, and sometimes kids throw things in the halls. Friends at our higher SES home MS tell us similar things happen in their cafeteria and halls. It's middle school after all, and kids this age are far from angels.

I’m curious if your child at eastern is an only child so you don’t have anything to compare it to? Or you just wear rose colored glasses?
Your last paragraph is just dismissive. The behavior at Eastern isn’t comparable to other middle schools in the county, nor is it “kids will be kids”. It’s a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's just common sense - how your child does academically in the program is going to color your overall experience.

Ah, we've moved from anecdata to "common sense." Now we're on firmer ground. I see that in your world academics is everything (nothing else could possibly color a child's experience), yet you also don't have a very good sense of what exactly academics means.

So takeaway here is that Eastern will be great for the children of those who think they're getting a top-notch education because they lack the critical thinking skills to tell otherwise. Now I'm beginning to understand all the rah-rah going on here.

Let's calm down and think about this more rationally. I said how a child does academically is going to color their overall experience. I did not say it was the only thing that could color their experience.
And yes, I have a very good sense of what academic means. DH and I both have graduate degrees, and we're impressed by the level of instruction at Eastern. DH, a HYPS grad, says he wishes he was in a program like this when he was in MS.
Yes, Eastern can be rough. Our child has mentioned that fights have broken out, and sometimes kids throw things in the halls. Friends at our higher SES home MS tell us similar things happen in their cafeteria and halls. It's middle school after all, and kids this age are far from angels.

Now with an appeal to rationality... ...oh and graduate degrees. You gotta love DCUM.

No one is talking about kids throwing things in hallways?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s an odd setup to put the magnet kids into the general Eastern population. I’d hoped it would open my sheltered child’s eyes a little, but she finished with not one friend from the general population. From our experience the divide between the magnet and comprehensive kids is big.

I can't believe you wrote that. You make it sound like it's the general population in prison. It's gen ed or general education or the comprehensive program.

[Anonymous]

There are not a lot of kids from the Pyle are at Eastern so this may take some work but I would ask around in your community to figure out who those families are and speak with them directly. You won't get a real answer on this board.

I don't think anyone on this thread is from that middle school so they are not making the same comparisons that you would be making.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an odd setup to put the magnet kids into the general Eastern population. I’d hoped it would open my sheltered child’s eyes a little, but she finished with not one friend from the general population. From our experience the divide between the magnet and comprehensive kids is big.

I can't believe you wrote that. You make it sound like it's the general population in prison. It's gen ed or general education or the comprehensive program.

You can’t believe I wrote General eastern population as opposed to general education population? Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an odd setup to put the magnet kids into the general Eastern population. I’d hoped it would open my sheltered child’s eyes a little, but she finished with not one friend from the general population. From our experience the divide between the magnet and comprehensive kids is big.

I can't believe you wrote that. You make it sound like it's the general population in prison. It's gen ed or general education or the comprehensive program.

Ha that’s your interpretation. Honestly, it’s not quite that bad, but it’s close.

[Anonymous]

I think this thread tells you a lot about the parents. It mirrors real life. They tend to be prickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's just common sense - how your child does academically in the program is going to color your overall experience.

Ah, we've moved from anecdata to "common sense." Now we're on firmer ground. I see that in your world academics is everything (nothing else could possibly color a child's experience), yet you also don't have a very good sense of what exactly academics means.

So takeaway here is that Eastern will be great for the children of those who think they're getting a top-notch education because they lack the critical thinking skills to tell otherwise. Now I'm beginning to understand all the rah-rah going on here.

Let's calm down and think about this more rationally. I said how a child does academically is going to color their overall experience. I did not say it was the only thing that could color their experience.
And yes, I have a very good sense of what academic means. DH and I both have graduate degrees, and we're impressed by the level of instruction at Eastern. DH, a HYPS grad, says he wishes he was in a program like this when he was in MS.
Yes, Eastern can be rough. Our child has mentioned that fights have broken out, and sometimes kids throw things in the halls. Friends at our higher SES home MS tell us similar things happen in their cafeteria and halls. It's middle school after all, and kids this age are far from angels.

I’m curious if your child at eastern is an only child so you don’t have anything to compare it to? Or you just wear rose colored glasses?
Your last paragraph is just dismissive. The behavior at Eastern isn’t comparable to other middle schools in the county, nor is it “kids will be kids”. It’s a problem.

NP DC1 went out to TPMS and DC2 at Eastern now, I hear similar things from them regarding lunchroom, PE and hallway behaviors

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm sorry this thread couldn't be more productive, but please look through older threads and more importantly, talk to families currently at Eastern. I talked to someone who was kind enough to give me more than an hour of her time and it was that conversation that helped me decide to send my child to Eastern. And I'm happy I did. I wish I could pay it forward, but this being DCUM ... Perhaps you could leave a message with Ms. Goldstein. I can email her and ask her to connect me with anyone who would like to talk to a current parent. If you're interested, let me know by responding to my post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child was accepted to the eastern humanities program. Would you select to go there over Pyle middle school?
Transportation won’t be an issue, more asking from an education and social standpoint. Pros and cons?

If it is any help to you, several of my DCs friends turned down Eastern for Pyle. Just would not even consider it due to the commute and perception that it only is marginally better than what is available in the advanced curriculum at Pyle.

I have heard many parents complain about the English classes at Pyle. It was very frustrating to them, especially given the peer group at Pyle.

If it’s any consolation, parents at Westland are extremely disappointed in the quality of instruction. Everyone I’ve talked to basically complains that the kids are barely being challenged at school. And that’s the just the academics. The social dynamics, as described to me, seem very disturbing.

That’s why the kids call it Wasteland.