Takoma Middle School Magnet Program-Is it really worth it ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every situation is different. For us it definitely was worth it because it provided an escape from a not very strong middle school. The peer group is pretty amazing and it is a runway to the Blair Magnet.

But our commute is not very long. If it was, we'd really have to weigh the value of the program against the quality of life question. Long slogs across county suck.

So what I'm saying is, it is a fantastic program, but if you live far away, I can understand any ambivalence.

+1

One thing to consider if you live far from a magnet program--any magnet--is whether a parent or someone would be available to pick up after school so that a kid could participate in extra-curriculars like sports, the school play, etc. It's such an important part of the school experience.

People keep saying this - but Easter offers Activity buses for the magnet kids - doesn't Takoma Park as well?

[Anonymous]

They are not late enough often times

[Anonymous]

Takoma does offer an activity bus - never had a problem.

[Anonymous]

FYI- the bus kids take to Eastern, Takoma & Blair is the SAME bus. Goes to all 3 schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are not late enough often times

Which school? This is not a problem at Eastern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Takoma does offer an activity bus - never had a problem.

What activity does your child do? The activity bus definitely does not accommodate kids who plays sports or rehearse for the spring play. My DS did both and was always at school after 4:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait until you hit 8th grade Spanish 3. The posters kids might have been one of the lucky ones that got A's. I know numerous magnet kids that had their GPA dinged here. Let's be clear, an B is fine for an average kid, but considering out of 154,000 kids and they only take the top 100 highest scoring/and other info into the program, these are smart and motivated kids. there are way too many magnet kids getting a B grade with this teacher. And 100 percent of them would have gotten a solid A taking the same course at any other middle or high school.

The people that say Spanish 4 is boring/easy at Blair prove this. National Merit Scholars with one B grade, and it's the B in Spanish 3 at TPMS.

A simple solution is repeat Spanish 3 in HS, the MS grade is purged from the record since the transcript is not actually generated until 9th grade. There's nothing wrong with a challenging course or the occasional demanding teacher but it is a shame if this bangs up a middle schooler's HS transcript.

Hmm, not sure about this. My DC, also a casualty of Spanish 3 at TPMS, did retake it at Blair and got an A. But both those grades still appear on the Graduation Credit Report that we receive twice a year. Perhaps the final high school transcript will look different, but as of now both grades are still noted.

I teach Spanish in the county- and middle school language classes retaken in high school are purged from the record. FWIW, students across the board tend to find the jump from Spanish 2 to Spanish 3 to be a big one. Spanish 1 and 2 are exceedingly slow. I can't speak to the program at that particular school, though.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely.

I have not heard of any student who decided not to go to TPMS if they got into it , unless they got into Eastern and wanted to go there instead. Strangely enough the only parents and students who decided not to go to magnets either did not apply or were not accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely.

I have not heard of any student who decided not to go to TPMS if they got into it , unless they got into Eastern and wanted to go there instead. Strangely enough the only parents and students who decided not to go to magnets either did not apply or were not accepted.

Aren't you a nice one, pp? A girl from my dc's HGC class turned down TKMS and Eastern for home school. We know people who turned down Blair and IB to go to hone school. So no, it's not only the ones who don't apply or got rejected who decided against the magnet route.

[Anonymous]

This probably depends on what part of the county you reside in. For the CCES HGC plenty turn it down but I'm guessing that few turn it down if you're at an HGC that is geographically closer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This probably depends on what part of the county you reside in. For the CCES HGC plenty turn it down but I'm guessing that few turn it down if you're at an HGC that is geographically closer.

"Plenty" turn it down? No. A few here and there maybe, but there are hardly any seats to begin with and they're not all going to CCES.

[Anonymous]

Most of of my kids friends from
TPMS (now Blair) are from the Whitman district, followed closely by Wooten/Churchill/WJ. We are not those districts. There are a TON of Bethesda people, way more than my area!