Is MCPS positioning to shut down the GT/magnet programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think MCPS sees the pull integration as necessary anymore. By definition that is a program designed to attract and support white/asian students into the magnets which at least on the surface seems to be the opposite of trying to equal things out. The schools with magnets don't need to them to survive. Poolesville, Blair and maybe RM are already over capacity -neither school would shut down if the magnets ended. It makes no sense to spend $$$ busing kids in from other areas to schools that are already overcrowded.

I predict that this may be the last year for the magnet program. MCPS needs money both for a curriculum replacement and to expand the extended school year program. The writing is on the wall that the money for this is going to come from shutting down the gifted/magnet programs across the county and having the new curriculum offer some sort of gifted level in the home schools.

Poolesville will survive, Blair will survive. Richard Montgomery will survive.

That is possible, but why do you think MCPS did the universal screening for the center and magnet programs? Wouldn't it have been easier to phase out a program that only 900 families new about? Any idea if they are doing universal testing for HS magnets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think MCPS sees the pull integration as necessary anymore. By definition that is a program designed to attract and support white/asian students into the magnets which at least on the surface seems to be the opposite of trying to equal things out. The schools with magnets don't need to them to survive. Poolesville, Blair and maybe RM are already over capacity -neither school would shut down if the magnets ended. It makes no sense to spend $$$ busing kids in from other areas to schools that are already overcrowded.

I predict that this may be the last year for the magnet program. MCPS needs money both for a curriculum replacement and to expand the extended school year program. The writing is on the wall that the money for this is going to come from shutting down the gifted/magnet programs across the county and having the new curriculum offer some sort of gifted level in the home schools.

Poolesville will survive, Blair will survive. Richard Montgomery will survive.

You mean "I'm making up total BS to suit myself while doing my best to troll everyone else with rehashed themes, because I'm bored."

In one thing you are definitely mistaken. Poolesville HS will not survive without the magnet. The magnet was put there to avoid closing the high school due to under enrollment. 50% of the school (600/1200 kids) are magnet. No magnet? No more Poolesville HS.

[Anonymous]

In one thing you are definitely mistaken. Poolesville HS will not survive without the magnet. The magnet was put there to avoid closing the high school due to under enrollment. 50% of the school (600/1200 kids) are magnet. No magnet? No more Poolesville HS.

And now Poolesville is over capacity. There has been significant building out there over the past 10+ years. It will not need to close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think MCPS sees the pull integration as necessary anymore. By definition that is a program designed to attract and support white/asian students into the magnets which at least on the surface seems to be the opposite of trying to equal things out. The schools with magnets don't need to them to survive. Poolesville, Blair and maybe RM are already over capacity -neither school would shut down if the magnets ended. It makes no sense to spend $$$ busing kids in from other areas to schools that are already overcrowded.

I predict that this may be the last year for the magnet program. MCPS needs money both for a curriculum replacement and to expand the extended school year program. The writing is on the wall that the money for this is going to come from shutting down the gifted/magnet programs across the county and having the new curriculum offer some sort of gifted level in the home schools.

Poolesville will survive, Blair will survive. Richard Montgomery will survive.

You mean "I'm making up total BS to suit myself while doing my best to troll everyone else with rehashed themes, because I'm bored."

In one thing you are definitely mistaken. Poolesville HS will not survive without the magnet. The magnet was put there to avoid closing the high school due to under enrollment. 50% of the school (600/1200 kids) are magnet. No magnet? No more Poolesville HS.

And if all the rich white elitist jerks move away, there’s no Churchill.

See? We can all play your stupid game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think adding some focus to the top 25% to the curriculum at all schools is a good thing..but the top 3-5% will lose out if the centers disappear.

That’s BS. I scored 99th percentile in every test I took as a kid. I did enriched programs at my home school and was perfectly fine. I think you really don’t know that many kids in those percentiles. The only kids who truly need something completely removed from all other groups of kids are the ones with IQs in the 160s and above. By definition, those are few and far between.

+1. And even for the kids with IQ scores in the 160s, unless you are trying to Dougie Howser them and send them to Harvard at age 11, they are better off working in their social skills in a mainstreamed K-8. Those kids will be fine academically but do need a lot of social skills scaffolding. The trick is to give them energy ugh challenge that they don’t check out altogether. A good enriched program can do that. Even giving more teachers GT training would help. My kid’s teacher (at his regular home school) had a GT masters and the difference in his approach was notable. It made all the difference for that year.

WTH are you talking about?

None of what you assert is supported by research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In one thing you are definitely mistaken. Poolesville HS will not survive without the magnet. The magnet was put there to avoid closing the high school due to under enrollment. 50% of the school (600/1200 kids) are magnet. No magnet? No more Poolesville HS.

And now Poolesville is over capacity. There has been significant building out there over the past 10+ years. It will not need to close.

You seem to have a problem differentiating real data from the fantasy world you create. At a glance report shows Poolesville over capacity by 37 students in 2020-21. Hardly sufficient replacement for the 600 magnet students. Try again.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04152.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think adding some focus to the top 25% to the curriculum at all schools is a good thing..but the top 3-5% will lose out if the centers disappear.

That’s BS. I scored 99th percentile in every test I took as a kid. I did enriched programs at my home school and was perfectly fine. I think you really don’t know that many kids in those percentiles. The only kids who truly need something completely removed from all other groups of kids are the ones with IQs in the 160s and above. By definition, those are few and far between.

+1. And even for the kids with IQ scores in the 160s, unless you are trying to Dougie Howser them and send them to Harvard at age 11, they are better off working in their social skills in a mainstreamed K-8. Those kids will be fine academically but do need a lot of social skills scaffolding. The trick is to give them energy ugh challenge that they don’t check out altogether. A good enriched program can do that. Even giving more teachers GT training would help. My kid’s teacher (at his regular home school) had a GT masters and the difference in his approach was notable. It made all the difference for that year.

WTH are you talking about?

None of what you assert is supported by research.

No, i don't have research to support it, but I'd actually love to see cites to contrary research, or research either way, really. I was speaking as someone who spent 6 years in GT magnet programs, went to top college/grad school with a lot of high IQ kids, and have high IQ kids in magnet program in MCPS. (I did enrichment in-school until 6th grade, then bus-ed to magnets.) At the K-8 level, a smart kid can self-enrich a lot, especially if they have a teacher that is trained to recognize and guide them.
PS, not sure why my iphone auto-corrected "enough" to "energy ugh".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I pulled my kid from MCPS because they don’t have a long term vision. I swear they’re making this all up as they go. Mark my words, Dr. Smith will retire before anything gets settled. I moved my kid to a school that educates the whole kid and teaches everything. I pay through the ears for it, but it’s a priority for me.

Care to share the name? Not being snarky here, just genuinely wondering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pulled my kid from MCPS because they don’t have a long term vision. I swear they’re making this all up as they go. Mark my words, Dr. Smith will retire before anything gets settled. I moved my kid to a school that educates the whole kid and teaches everything. I pay through the ears for it, but it’s a priority for me.

Care to share the name? Not being snarky here, just genuinely wondering.

That could describe any good private school, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pulled my kid from MCPS because they don’t have a long term vision. I swear they’re making this all up as they go. Mark my words, Dr. Smith will retire before anything gets settled. I moved my kid to a school that educates the whole kid and teaches everything. I pay through the ears for it, but it’s a priority for me.

Care to share the name? Not being snarky here, just genuinely wondering.

That could describe any good private school, PP.

You mean their marketing brochures?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pulled my kid from MCPS because they don’t have a long term vision. I swear they’re making this all up as they go. Mark my words, Dr. Smith will retire before anything gets settled. I moved my kid to a school that educates the whole kid and teaches everything. I pay through the ears for it, but it’s a priority for me.

Care to share the name? Not being snarky here, just genuinely wondering.

That could describe any good private school, PP.

You mean their marketing brochures?

It’s more than marketing, at least when it came to the private schools I went to.

[Anonymous]

I’m the PP. My experience is with one K-8 and also with Maret..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think MCPS sees the pull integration as necessary anymore. By definition that is a program designed to attract and support white/asian students into the magnets which at least on the surface seems to be the opposite of trying to equal things out. The schools with magnets don't need to them to survive. Poolesville, Blair and maybe RM are already over capacity -neither school would shut down if the magnets ended. It makes no sense to spend $$$ busing kids in from other areas to schools that are already overcrowded.

I predict that this may be the last year for the magnet program. MCPS needs money both for a curriculum replacement and to expand the extended school year program. The writing is on the wall that the money for this is going to come from shutting down the gifted/magnet programs across the county and having the new curriculum offer some sort of gifted level in the home schools.

Poolesville will survive, Blair will survive. Richard Montgomery will survive.

That is possible, but why do you think MCPS did the universal screening for the center and magnet programs? Wouldn't it have been easier to phase out a program that only 900 families new about? Any idea if they are doing universal testing for HS magnets?

Schools in the western half of the county are completely segregated I would imagine otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In one thing you are definitely mistaken. Poolesville HS will not survive without the magnet. The magnet was put there to avoid closing the high school due to under enrollment. 50% of the school (600/1200 kids) are magnet. No magnet? No more Poolesville HS.

And now Poolesville is over capacity. There has been significant building out there over the past 10+ years. It will not need to close.

How is that even possible? Poolesville is inaccessible! Or so I read on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think MCPS sees the pull integration as necessary anymore. By definition that is a program designed to attract and support white/asian students into the magnets which at least on the surface seems to be the opposite of trying to equal things out. The schools with magnets don't need to them to survive. Poolesville, Blair and maybe RM are already over capacity -neither school would shut down if the magnets ended. It makes no sense to spend $$$ busing kids in from other areas to schools that are already overcrowded.

I predict that this may be the last year for the magnet program. MCPS needs money both for a curriculum replacement and to expand the extended school year program. The writing is on the wall that the money for this is going to come from shutting down the gifted/magnet programs across the county and having the new curriculum offer some sort of gifted level in the home schools.

Poolesville will survive, Blair will survive. Richard Montgomery will survive.

That is possible, but why do you think MCPS did the universal screening for the center and magnet programs? Wouldn't it have been easier to phase out a program that only 900 families new about? Any idea if they are doing universal testing for HS magnets?

Schools in the western half of the county are completely segregated I would imagine otherwise.

I agree - pull integration is here until the county's schools are less segregated. Decades of policies like red-lining or opting to confine section 8 housing to specific areas has led to this situation, and this is one of the few things they do to help offset the mistakes of the past.

The enriched classes provide a magnetlike option for many students who aren't outliers in their home school but are part of a high-achieving cohort. This doesn't honestly cost anything and is something the county should've been doing all along.

Magnets offer an experience unavailable elsewhere in the county and are for students who are outliers who don't have a peer group in their home school. It would not be fair to keep students of this caliber in their home schools.

This seems pretty reasonable to me, and as one W parent put it, if you don't like your school, you're free to move.