Please sign this petition to continue countywide magnets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I certainly will

I certainly won’t. I hope the new programs are designed so that only a few high schools send kids to them.

Guessing that your kid did not get in?

Add more is the answer. Not dismantle the great existing ones. Imagine VA dismantling TJ.

The sky will not fall if TJ is dismantled. Truly brilliant kids can start college one year early. The rest will be fine with access to advanced resources in regional magnets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

[Anonymous]

signed and contributed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I certainly will

I certainly won’t. I hope the new programs are designed so that only a few high schools send kids to them.

Guessing that your kid did not get in?

Add more is the answer. Not dismantle the great existing ones. Imagine VA dismantling TJ.

The sky will not fall if TJ is dismantled. Truly brilliant kids can start college one year early. The rest will be fine with access to advanced resources in regional magnets

Why dismantle something that uplifts some of the brightest students in our community? If we truly want more programs like this, we should be advocating for additional opportunities not tearing down the ones we already have. And clearly, this program serves far more than just a handful of kids...the overwhelming number of signatures gathered overnight makes that evident.

[Anonymous]

It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

+1 more!
Between my 3 kids we’ve done almost all the selective magnets (MS Humanities & MSCS, HS SMCS, Global, RMIB). Travel was 30-50 minutes and limited some involvement in after school activities and sports. Also, some friends lived almost an hour drive away. I would have much preferred having access to the rigorous classes much closer to home.

In the draft program assignments, each region will now have criteria based IB and SMCS cohorts. Yay! More seats!! That’s what people have been asking for for years. And instead of your super smart mathy kid being one of 100 kids with identical resumes competing for college entrance from the same school, they’ll be one of 50 at their regional program (33+17) and have a better opportunity to stand out on their merits.

I think this switch to a regional model will benefit ALL advanced students county-wide. The main losers here are parents who want bragging rights to have their kid in a limited access program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

The petition isn't saying not to add regional programs, it's saying to leave Poolesville, Blair, and RMIB as countywide. You can want to add regional programs and still sign the petition, unless you also think that those programs must be converted to regional.

Is it countywide right now?

RMIB is countywide now. Blair and Poolesville each cover a region of the county for SMCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

GOOD. I would also like to tax billionaires and have fewer billionaires but also a more functioning social safety net. People who already have much can give just a tiny bit away in order to serve the broader good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

The petition isn't saying not to add regional programs, it's saying to leave Poolesville, Blair, and RMIB as countywide. You can want to add regional programs and still sign the petition, unless you also think that those programs must be converted to regional.

Is it countywide right now?

RMIB is countywide now. Blair and Poolesville each cover a region of the county for SMCS.

Poolesville’s Global Ecology program is countywide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

+1 more!
Between my 3 kids we’ve done almost all the selective magnets (MS Humanities & MSCS, HS SMCS, Global, RMIB). Travel was 30-50 minutes and limited some involvement in after school activities and sports. Also, some friends lived almost an hour drive away. I would have much preferred having access to the rigorous classes much closer to home.

In the draft program assignments, each region will now have criteria based IB and SMCS cohorts. Yay! More seats!! That’s what people have been asking for for years. And instead of your super smart mathy kid being one of 100 kids with identical resumes competing for college entrance from the same school, they’ll be one of 50 at their regional program (33+17) and have a better opportunity to stand out on their merits.

I think this switch to a regional model will benefit ALL advanced students county-wide. The main losers here are parents who want bragging rights to have their kid in a limited access program.

Exactly. The super talented can dual enroll with MC classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

GOOD. I would also like to tax billionaires and have fewer billionaires but also a more functioning social safety net. People who already have much can give just a tiny bit away in order to serve the broader good.

How dare those "educational billionaire" hoard all the homework my kid could be doing!

Yes, let's take education away from the hardest working students, and drive away taxpaying high earners so MCPS can become an downward-spiraling backwater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

GOOD. I would also like to tax billionaires and have fewer billionaires but also a more functioning social safety net. People who already have much can give just a tiny bit away in order to serve the broader good.

That’s fine for your position to be that diluting these programs serves the greater good, but don’t refer to it as “diluting” them then, because you’re admitting they should actually be diluted.

We’ve got one crowd that’s always upset that the US can’t compete in STEM on a global level and another crowd that thinks diluting top notch STEM education is okay as long as every bright kid gets to say they’re in a special program. Just be honest about what you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

+1 more!
Between my 3 kids we’ve done almost all the selective magnets (MS Humanities & MSCS, HS SMCS, Global, RMIB). Travel was 30-50 minutes and limited some involvement in after school activities and sports. Also, some friends lived almost an hour drive away. I would have much preferred having access to the rigorous classes much closer to home.

In the draft program assignments, each region will now have criteria based IB and SMCS cohorts. Yay! More seats!! That’s what people have been asking for for years. And instead of your super smart mathy kid being one of 100 kids with identical resumes competing for college entrance from the same school, they’ll be one of 50 at their regional program (33+17) and have a better opportunity to stand out on their merits.

I think this switch to a regional model will benefit ALL advanced students county-wide. The main losers here are parents who want bragging rights to have their kid in a limited access program.

Exactly. The super talented can dual enroll with MC classes.

MC classes are below the level of magnet classes, or in specific career application areas like criminal justice. MC already serves students that are fit for MC classes.

[Anonymous]

It's so great that Montgomery College is not taxpayer-funded, so we can save money by sending kids to magically free Montgomery College instead of making our kids attend high school!