Are the Blair magnet kids happy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in the magnet and I can honestly tell you that they enjoy it. DC loves hanging out with the cohort of super smart kids who make learning a fun and challenging experience. We have no regrets.

I am not the PP, but responding to that post, I am guessing that they are dissing the lottery policy that is diluting the ES and MS magnets. Thankfully, as of now, the county is not interfering with the selection policy of the HS magnet programs.

Not only is there no lottery policy for high school but the rising 9th graders also didn’t go through the lottery.

I thought they started lottery for MS magnet 4 years ago, the first lottery cohort are in already 10th grade now, how’s the rising 9th grader not part of the lottery??

No, current 9th graders took Cogat in fall 2020 and were notified they got into the magnet in Jan 2020. No lottery.

There used to have a magnet admission test + cogat, then they switched to Cogat + lottery 4 years ago, looks like it changed again 2 years ago to just grade + lottery. The quality of magnets student went down a lot since 4 years ago, I heard they had problem finding qualified kids for the math team..

This is BS. There is no indication of a change in the students and the current 8th graders DID NOT go through a lottery.

They were from the previous change where they introduced local norms which some claimed would result in the end of life as we known it. It made almost no difference.

Local norms caused more cut-throat situation, but the kids selected for magnet MS programs are still pretty good. HS acceptance criteria didn't change much this year. The CES and local smart kids that were declined by the magnet MS programs all got accepted by SMACS or CAP or RMIB, as far as I can tell from a sample of about 100 kids.

Local norms made the process more inclusive by putting a damper on the impact of prepping had on the selection process. The result was a less toxic environment.

This is what you expected for... Looking at the threads here regarding Blair SMACS admission and decision-making, you'll picture TPMS magnet as the most toxic horrifying environment and these kids sound like they are going to bully other kids at Blair. That's simply not the case. Pre-local norm or after local norm, the majority of the selected kids are smart, kind, supportive, and benefitting from the magnet curriculum and the peer group. There's always one or two mean kids, no matter in magnet or local. That's still going to be the case for the Blair SMACs. However, lottery process unsubscribes a good amount of smart kids from being able to access the curriculum, and the worst thing is these kids are scattered in local schools. There's no peer group anymore (probably still peer group in CES, but not magnet MS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are excited that our DD has this option and are very much leaning towards her attending. My biggest worry, though, is whether the kids are happy. My child is a kid who won’t mind a bunch of homework. She’s a strong math kid but loves science and reading - my guess is she would do mostly science electives but may take a couple of the cool social studies or English ones too. What I think she needs most is a cohort of kids who are into school but also like hanging out, aren’t crazy competitive with each other even if they themselves want to do well. Is that the vibe of the magnet?

I was in your place last year. And everyone’s advice was it’s very supportive and kid won’t have too much hw. I feel like you are owed the truth so that you can make an informed decision. I wish someone had told me this last year. There are some in the pgm that are not competitive…but a good majority are very competitive bc they gets theseideas/way of thinking from home from their parents. These children become very competitive and mean spirited bc they have been taught to think this way since elementary school.
My advice would be to ignore these types of students and hang out with kids most like your DD. it will be tough bc she will be in lots of classes with the mean spirited kids and sometimes it’s hard to mentally block them off. Some of the kids play different mind games, one example :they say they didn’t study and then score a good grade…..all to make people who do study feel bad about their grades. Or they cheat off others and get a good grade and pretend they are just really smart. It’s tough but if your child likes stem….Blair is where it’s at! Good luck!

Parent of recent grad here. I would agree with much of this. I don't think these kids are necessarily majority, but they know how to be heard. Had many conversations with mine about standing up to or avoiding them, whatever seemed like the best option for her. To Blair's credit, they are trying to foster a more collaborative environment in courses and general sense. There will be lots of kids who are team players, kind, collaborative. But, your kid will have to deal with "mag bros" to some degree. There are lots of faculty who are supportive of collaborative kids. There are lots of intelligent kids in non mag programs your kid will meet in other classes. So, don't be scared off by this. It's a good experience overall, cand there are supports throughout the program. Good luck!

Depend on your kid, if they are more self-conscious or sensitive, they will be affected more by these kids. My senior DC
was miserable at TPMS, started having anxiety and need to see a therapist, still think they can’t do math despite getting 800 in
SAT math, and shy away from STEM majors .. I regretted the sending them to Magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in the magnet and I can honestly tell you that they enjoy it. DC loves hanging out with the cohort of super smart kids who make learning a fun and challenging experience. We have no regrets.

I am not the PP, but responding to that post, I am guessing that they are dissing the lottery policy that is diluting the ES and MS magnets. Thankfully, as of now, the county is not interfering with the selection policy of the HS magnet programs.

Not only is there no lottery policy for high school but the rising 9th graders also didn’t go through the lottery.

I thought they started lottery for MS magnet 4 years ago, the first lottery cohort are in already 10th grade now, how’s the rising 9th grader not part of the lottery??

No, current 9th graders took Cogat in fall 2020 and were notified they got into the magnet in Jan 2020. No lottery.

There used to have a magnet admission test + cogat, then they switched to Cogat + lottery 4 years ago, looks like it changed again 2 years ago to just grade + lottery. The quality of magnets student went down a lot since 4 years ago, I heard they had problem finding qualified kids for the math team..

This is BS. There is no indication of a change in the students and the current 8th graders DID NOT go through a lottery.

They were from the previous change where they introduced local norms which some claimed would result in the end of life as we known it. It made almost no difference.

It did make a difference but not as much as people thought. The kids from the lottery are more noticeably different according to what teachers have said.

THIS IS IRRELEVANT! Whatever you think about the lottery does not apply as the current 8th graders didn’t go through it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in the magnet and I can honestly tell you that they enjoy it. DC loves hanging out with the cohort of super smart kids who make learning a fun and challenging experience. We have no regrets.

I am not the PP, but responding to that post, I am guessing that they are dissing the lottery policy that is diluting the ES and MS magnets. Thankfully, as of now, the county is not interfering with the selection policy of the HS magnet programs.

Not only is there no lottery policy for high school but the rising 9th graders also didn’t go through the lottery.

I thought they started lottery for MS magnet 4 years ago, the first lottery cohort are in already 10th grade now, how’s the rising 9th grader not part of the lottery??

No, current 9th graders took Cogat in fall 2020 and were notified they got into the magnet in Jan 2020. No lottery.

There used to have a magnet admission test + cogat, then they switched to Cogat + lottery 4 years ago, looks like it changed again 2 years ago to just grade + lottery. The quality of magnets student went down a lot since 4 years ago, I heard they had problem finding qualified kids for the math team..

This is wrong. There was no lottery until 2021 (current 7th graders).

To answer the OP’s question, my Blair magnet kid likes it a lot. DC is intense and highly motivated, but not competitive, and has found like minded kids both in and out of the magnet.

+1.
There was no lottery for current 8th graders. DC is in a magnet and I clearly remember how it played out. First, the county sent a letter home saying that your child is 'identified' as magnet material and is invited to sit for the test. You either implicitly agreed or marked the box saying, no, thanks. The kids then took the test during school hours (at DC's school it was easily half the grade) and then in February we got results by mail. There was no lottery, however, there were appeals and waitlists.

Except that we were notified in mid January and the pool identifying kids wasn’t that they were magnet material, it was anyone who was not behind. That is almost everyone at many schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do magnet kids have opportunities to make connections with kids outside the magnet?

They can in ECs - sports and music especially. During the first couple of years, the magnet students tend to take classes in a cohort, so they might not have class with non-magnet students except for electives.

In junior and senior years, there will be a few non-magnet kids in magnet classes. Many of the classes are open to anyone who has completed certain AP classes, and non-magnet students take advantage of that opportunity. Also, as their schedules open up for electives, students can meet non-magnet students through classes.

My magnet kid didn't connect with a lot of non-magnet kids because they filled their schedule with magnet classes and did the top orchestra, which had a lot of magnet kids in it and chose STEM-related clubs, which tend to be magnet kids A child who wants to could have more connections outside of the magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are excited that our DD has this option and are very much leaning towards her attending. My biggest worry, though, is whether the kids are happy. My child is a kid who won’t mind a bunch of homework. She’s a strong math kid but loves science and reading - my guess is she would do mostly science electives but may take a couple of the cool social studies or English ones too. What I think she needs most is a cohort of kids who are into school but also like hanging out, aren’t crazy competitive with each other even if they themselves want to do well. Is that the vibe of the magnet?

I was in your place last year. And everyone’s advice was it’s very supportive and kid won’t have too much hw. I feel like you are owed the truth so that you can make an informed decision. I wish someone had told me this last year. There are some in the pgm that are not competitive…but a good majority are very competitive bc they gets theseideas/way of thinking from home from their parents. These children become very competitive and mean spirited bc they have been taught to think this way since elementary school.
My advice would be to ignore these types of students and hang out with kids most like your DD. it will be tough bc she will be in lots of classes with the mean spirited kids and sometimes it’s hard to mentally block them off. Some of the kids play different mind games, one example :they say they didn’t study and then score a good grade…..all to make people who do study feel bad about their grades. Or they cheat off others and get a good grade and pretend they are just really smart. It’s tough but if your child likes stem….Blair is where it’s at! Good luck!

Parent of recent grad here. I would agree with much of this. I don't think these kids are necessarily majority, but they know how to be heard. Had many conversations with mine about standing up to or avoiding them, whatever seemed like the best option for her. To Blair's credit, they are trying to foster a more collaborative environment in courses and general sense. There will be lots of kids who are team players, kind, collaborative. But, your kid will have to deal with "mag bros" to some degree. There are lots of faculty who are supportive of collaborative kids. There are lots of intelligent kids in non mag programs your kid will meet in other classes. So, don't be scared off by this. It's a good experience overall, cand there are supports throughout the program. Good luck!

Depend on your kid, if they are more self-conscious or sensitive, they will be affected more by these kids. My senior DC
was miserable at TPMS, started having anxiety and need to see a therapist, still think they can’t do math despite getting 800 in
SAT math, and shy away from STEM majors .. I regretted the sending them to Magnet

I'm sorry to hear about your story. Did your DC go to Blair SMACS and if yes, was he/she able to cope better in HS or did SMACS environment completely change?

[Anonymous]

NP. We are going to move anyway, so we thought we’d move closer to the school. Where would it make sense to move to make commuting and socializing easier? Where do most of the kids live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in the magnet and I can honestly tell you that they enjoy it. DC loves hanging out with the cohort of super smart kids who make learning a fun and challenging experience. We have no regrets.

I am not the PP, but responding to that post, I am guessing that they are dissing the lottery policy that is diluting the ES and MS magnets. Thankfully, as of now, the county is not interfering with the selection policy of the HS magnet programs.

Not only is there no lottery policy for high school but the rising 9th graders also didn’t go through the lottery.

I thought they started lottery for MS magnet 4 years ago, the first lottery cohort are in already 10th grade now, how’s the rising 9th grader not part of the lottery??

No, current 9th graders took Cogat in fall 2020 and were notified they got into the magnet in Jan 2020. No lottery.

There used to have a magnet admission test + cogat, then they switched to Cogat + lottery 4 years ago, looks like it changed again 2 years ago to just grade + lottery. The quality of magnets student went down a lot since 4 years ago, I heard they had problem finding qualified kids for the math team..

This is BS. There is no indication of a change in the students and the current 8th graders DID NOT go through a lottery.

They were from the previous change where they introduced local norms which some claimed would result in the end of life as we known it. It made almost no difference.

It did make a difference but not as much as people thought. The kids from the lottery are more noticeably different according to what teachers have said.

THIS IS IRRELEVANT! Whatever you think about the lottery does not apply as the current 8th graders didn’t go through it!

They went through the previous revision of the system that added local norms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. We are going to move anyway, so we thought we’d move closer to the school. Where would it make sense to move to make commuting and socializing easier? Where do most of the kids live?

I don’t think there’s an obvious answer. I’d pick somewhere that works for you. My kid is at TPMS right now and only seems able to conclude that most of the kidsis friends with live far away! I guess Blair will be the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. We are going to move anyway, so we thought we’d move closer to the school. Where would it make sense to move to make commuting and socializing easier? Where do most of the kids live?

If your kid is going to be in the SMACS, you may want to consider the "W" schools, a.k.a. west of 270 or Bethesda area. Most of the magnet kids live there and their ECs are in that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do magnet kids have opportunities to make connections with kids outside the magnet?

Yes, in their non magnet classes, and. clubs during lunch and after school. And athletics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We are going to move anyway, so we thought we’d move closer to the school. Where would it make sense to move to make commuting and socializing easier? Where do most of the kids live?

If your kid is going to be in the SMACS, you may want to consider the "W" schools, a.k.a. west of 270 or Bethesda area. Most of the magnet kids live there and their ECs are in that area.

What’s your evidence? Just as likely that “most” live in Rockville or silver spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We are going to move anyway, so we thought we’d move closer to the school. Where would it make sense to move to make commuting and socializing easier? Where do most of the kids live?

If your kid is going to be in the SMACS, you may want to consider the "W" schools, a.k.a. west of 270 or Bethesda area. Most of the magnet kids live there and their ECs are in that area.

I would move as close to the school as you can. There's a lot of wasted time in the commute. I don't know why PP said most of the magnet kids live there. There really aren't a lot from there. They come from all over. If you move to a W school area just go to the W school.