Middle School Magnet Consortium (Argyle, Parkland, Loiderman)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You do realize that families move to other areas of the county for other reasons than avoiding Silver Spring right? Our commutes are better where we are. Moving to SS would move us further away from our work (Gaithersburg) or is that hard to imagine?

PP, I'm going to say this as kindly as I can: everything is a trade-off. You moved to Gaithersburg to be closer to your work. That's good for you. However, in Gaithersburg, you are farther from the MSMC schools. That's not good for you. Since middle school is just 3 years per child, my opinion is that you made a sensible decision. But if you weigh the trade-offs differently, then you should consider moving.

I will also note that I know families in Germantown and Clarksburg who sent children to MSMC schools, so people even further away than you (depending on where you are in Gaithersburg) can make it work. It's not a decision I would have made, but I haven't heard any regrets from them.

This is an issue with almost any special program. One of my kids got offered a spot in an immersion program, but we couldn’t make it work with our jobs and co mutes and the extra cost of before/aftercare, so she didn’t get to have that experience. So it goes. More opportunities would be great for everyone, but it’s not feasible. We have to make choices. That’s life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You do realize that families move to other areas of the county for other reasons than avoiding Silver Spring right? Our commutes are better where we are. Moving to SS would move us further away from our work (Gaithersburg) or is that hard to imagine?

PP, I'm going to say this as kindly as I can: everything is a trade-off. You moved to Gaithersburg to be closer to your work. That's good for you. However, in Gaithersburg, you are farther from the MSMC schools. That's not good for you. Since middle school is just 3 years per child, my opinion is that you made a sensible decision. But if you weigh the trade-offs differently, then you should consider moving.

I will also note that I know families in Germantown and Clarksburg who sent children to MSMC schools, so people even further away than you (depending on where you are in Gaithersburg) can make it work. It's not a decision I would have made, but I haven't heard any regrets from them.

This is an issue with almost any special program. One of my kids got offered a spot in an immersion program, but we couldn’t make it work with our jobs and co mutes and the extra cost of before/aftercare, so she didn’t get to have that experience. So it goes. More opportunities would be great for everyone, but it’s not feasible. We have to make choices. That’s life.

+1
My kid goes to Poolesville HS from Germantown. We are dropping her to school every day because her school bus comes at an insanely early hour in the morning. She would have to catch the bus 1 hour and 45 minutes before school opens. The commute is 40 minutes. In the end, as parents we have moved our schedule around to make the school day less long for our child.

[Anonymous]

Any parents of 7th or 8th graders from these programs willing to share their experiences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Loiederman is the only visual/performing arts magnet in the county. If you have a child who big into the arts, having so many arts elective choices is a big deal. DD is only in 3rd grade now, but already dreaming of Loiederman.

This isn’t a REAL magnet. Those students at Loiederman possess no talent. A real visual and performing arts magnet holds AUDITIONS. That’s why it’s such a mediocre school you’re mixing students with potential with kids who have no business on a stage. MCPS when are you going to stop caring about less deserving students feelings and start having audition for these arts programs.

I've read other posters' rebuttals to your post, PP, but I for one completely agree with you.

There is a lot of ignorance surrounding artistic disciplines. Most people don't realize the amount of PRECISE TECHNIQUE a middle schooler needs to learn to achieve an intermediate, or better level. That technique cannot be learned in a lottery based system. There are multiple completely OBJECTIVE CRITERIA for evaluating students' levels of advancement in dance, music and other artistic pursuits, to answer another poster. The existence of these school specialties is purely an attempt to revitalize the surrounding dicey neighborhoods. The schools themselves have no quality core academics, which is really what's most important at the middle school level, and no amount of sauce can hide the bad fish.

I wish MCPS wouldn't deliberately muddy the waters and call these schools "magnets", as if they were on par with the largely merit-based selective magnets. At best, the lottery-based schools are "Focus" schools, except that term is in use for something else. What about "Specialty" schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I wish MCPS wouldn't deliberately muddy the waters and call these schools "magnets", as if they were on par with the largely merit-based selective magnets. At best, the lottery-based schools are "Focus" schools, except that term is in use for something else. What about "Specialty" schools?

magnet school
noun
plural magnet schools
[count] chiefly US
: a school that has courses in special subjects (such as the arts or technology) and is designed to attract students from all parts of a community

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I've read other posters' rebuttals to your post, PP, but I for one completely agree with you.

There is a lot of ignorance surrounding artistic disciplines. Most people don't realize the amount of PRECISE TECHNIQUE a middle schooler needs to learn to achieve an intermediate, or better level. That technique cannot be learned in a lottery based system. There are multiple completely OBJECTIVE CRITERIA for evaluating students' levels of advancement in dance, music and other artistic pursuits, to answer another poster. The existence of these school specialties is purely an attempt to revitalize the surrounding dicey neighborhoods. The schools themselves have no quality core academics, which is really what's most important at the middle school level, and no amount of sauce can hide the bad fish.

I wish MCPS wouldn't deliberately muddy the waters and call these schools "magnets", as if they were on par with the largely merit-based selective magnets. At best, the lottery-based schools are "Focus" schools, except that term is in use for something else. What about "Specialty" schools?

But they actually are magnet schools.

I wish posters on DCUM would understand that it's possible to have a magnet school that is not an application magnet school.

And the idea of a public middle-school arts magnet that students have to audition for, with PRECISE TECHNIQUE and OBJECTIVE CRITERIA - well, this isn't Juilliard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any parents of 7th or 8th graders from these programs willing to share their experiences?

My child is a 6th grader this year and LOVES his school in the consortium - I went to back to school night last week and was blown away by the enthusiasm and experience of the staff and all of the extra programs that are available that would not be available at my child's home school. As for academics - I know that there are 6th graders at these schools who are taking Algebra 1 this year, so that can give you some indication of how they treat the quality of their academics and meeting the needs of students at all academic levels.

I would recommend reaching out to the PTA at whatever school(s) your child might be interested in and asking to talk directly to parents of children at the school currently, instead of trusting anonymous people on message boards like this who may be speaking from ignorance/racism instead of actual lived experience. You can also contact each school to set up a shadow day for your child to see how they like the program and the school. I believe there will also be parent meetings this fall where the school administrators will be available to answer questions and provide information about all 3 schools. When I was deciding about whether to send my child, I spoke to parents who had actually sent their child to the school as well as parents without actual experience at the school giving me their personal (usually negative) opinions. I'm glad I listened to the parents of children who actually had a child in the program because after seeing my child at the school and observing what a positive, unique place it is, I know it was the right place for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I've read other posters' rebuttals to your post, PP, but I for one completely agree with you.

There is a lot of ignorance surrounding artistic disciplines. Most people don't realize the amount of PRECISE TECHNIQUE a middle schooler needs to learn to achieve an intermediate, or better level. That technique cannot be learned in a lottery based system. There are multiple completely OBJECTIVE CRITERIA for evaluating students' levels of advancement in dance, music and other artistic pursuits, to answer another poster. The existence of these school specialties is purely an attempt to revitalize the surrounding dicey neighborhoods. The schools themselves have no quality core academics, which is really what's most important at the middle school level, and no amount of sauce can hide the bad fish.

I wish MCPS wouldn't deliberately muddy the waters and call these schools "magnets", as if they were on par with the largely merit-based selective magnets. At best, the lottery-based schools are "Focus" schools, except that term is in use for something else. What about "Specialty" schools?

But they actually are magnet schools.

I wish posters on DCUM would understand that it's possible to have a magnet school that is not an application magnet school.

And the idea of a public middle-school arts magnet that students have to audition for, with PRECISE TECHNIQUE and OBJECTIVE CRITERIA - well, this isn't Juilliard.

That’s kinda the point. Loiderman doesn’t even have the arts education to help our students stand a chance auditioning at Juilliard. Most young performers who take their craft seriously are way above Loiderman standards . It’s not even about it being a magnet it’s the fact that Loidermam is a “arts school” that holds no merit or promise. I saw a dance recital there and some students couldn’t even do a proper pirouette. Why waste arts education money on an arts school student body that aren’t serious about the arts? Do we have it because it looks nice?

[Anonymous]

Everyone is calling themselves magnets. There are 3 real middle magnet in MCPS. These are not it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is calling themselves magnets. There are 3 real middle magnet in MCPS. These are not it.

Any school that pulls in kids from outside their boundaries is a magnet. It does not have to be a competitive entrance program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I've read other posters' rebuttals to your post, PP, but I for one completely agree with you.

There is a lot of ignorance surrounding artistic disciplines. Most people don't realize the amount of PRECISE TECHNIQUE a middle schooler needs to learn to achieve an intermediate, or better level. That technique cannot be learned in a lottery based system. There are multiple completely OBJECTIVE CRITERIA for evaluating students' levels of advancement in dance, music and other artistic pursuits, to answer another poster. The existence of these school specialties is purely an attempt to revitalize the surrounding dicey neighborhoods. The schools themselves have no quality core academics, which is really what's most important at the middle school level, and no amount of sauce can hide the bad fish.

I wish MCPS wouldn't deliberately muddy the waters and call these schools "magnets", as if they were on par with the largely merit-based selective magnets. At best, the lottery-based schools are "Focus" schools, except that term is in use for something else. What about "Specialty" schools?

But they actually are magnet schools.

I wish posters on DCUM would understand that it's possible to have a magnet school that is not an application magnet school.

And the idea of a public middle-school arts magnet that students have to audition for, with PRECISE TECHNIQUE and OBJECTIVE CRITERIA - well, this isn't Juilliard.

That’s kinda the point. Loiderman doesn’t even have the arts education to help our students stand a chance auditioning at Juilliard. Most young performers who take their craft seriously are way above Loiderman standards . It’s not even about it being a magnet it’s the fact that Loidermam is a “arts school” that holds no merit or promise. I saw a dance recital there and some students couldn’t even do a proper pirouette. Why waste arts education money on an arts school student body that aren’t serious about the arts? Do we have it because it looks nice?

Maybe it is not MCPSs job to prepare kids for Julliard. Maybe it is their job to provide a program that makes arts accessible even to kids that can not do a proper pirouette because arts can important to anyone. MCPS does not have a program to prep kids to be professional football players either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I've read other posters' rebuttals to your post, PP, but I for one completely agree with you.

There is a lot of ignorance surrounding artistic disciplines. Most people don't realize the amount of PRECISE TECHNIQUE a middle schooler needs to learn to achieve an intermediate, or better level. That technique cannot be learned in a lottery based system. There are multiple completely OBJECTIVE CRITERIA for evaluating students' levels of advancement in dance, music and other artistic pursuits, to answer another poster. The existence of these school specialties is purely an attempt to revitalize the surrounding dicey neighborhoods. The schools themselves have no quality core academics, which is really what's most important at the middle school level, and no amount of sauce can hide the bad fish.

I wish MCPS wouldn't deliberately muddy the waters and call these schools "magnets", as if they were on par with the largely merit-based selective magnets. At best, the lottery-based schools are "Focus" schools, except that term is in use for something else. What about "Specialty" schools?

But they actually are magnet schools.

I wish posters on DCUM would understand that it's possible to have a magnet school that is not an application magnet school.

And the idea of a public middle-school arts magnet that students have to audition for, with PRECISE TECHNIQUE and OBJECTIVE CRITERIA - well, this isn't Juilliard.

That’s kinda the point. Loiderman doesn’t even have the arts education to help our students stand a chance auditioning at Juilliard. Most young performers who take their craft seriously are way above Loiderman standards . It’s not even about it being a magnet it’s the fact that Loidermam is a “arts school” that holds no merit or promise. I saw a dance recital there and some students couldn’t even do a proper pirouette. Why waste arts education money on an arts school student body that aren’t serious about the arts? Do we have it because it looks nice?

Maybe it is not MCPSs job to prepare kids for Julliard. Maybe it is their job to provide a program that makes arts accessible even to kids that can not do a proper pirouette because arts can important to anyone. MCPS does not have a program to prep kids to be professional football players either.

It’s not MCPS job to help our students get into higher education? It’s not their job to prepare them for a career of their choice? Are you okay? The point of the matter is Loiderman isn’t special but MCPS is trying to say it is. A student at another MCPS middle school can receive the same arts education at that school if they didn’t choose to go to Loiderman and that’s a problem. Are you saying that MCPS high school don’t have after school Athetics Football programs? Or are you saying they don’t teach the secrets of how to get into the NFL? Regardless MCPS students are still getting football scholarships for college.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure I fully understand PP's animus toward Loiderman, and I say that as the parent of a child who IS a serious performer. I'm even sure I would know PP (and kind of suspect I do), as the youth professional theater scene is not so large.

But why so angry? Parkland students aren't designing NASA rovers, and Argyle students aren't writing code for Google, but they aren't being attacked in the same way Loiderman is.

If it isn't the right fit for your child (and it wasn't for mine), just move along. Your child can get their professional training at any number of places around the city. But to be this outraged by the sheer existence of a performing arts magnet that doesn't have auditions? It seems unhinged, and like a waste of our precious hours on this earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is calling themselves magnets. There are 3 real middle magnet in MCPS. These are not it.

Any school that pulls in kids from outside their boundaries is a magnet. It does not have to be a competitive entrance program.

Nonsense

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous

It’s not MCPS job to help our students get into higher education? It’s not their job to prepare them for a career of their choice? Are you okay? The point of the matter is Loiderman isn’t special but MCPS is trying to say it is. A student at another MCPS middle school can receive the same arts education at that school if they didn’t choose to go to Loiderman and that’s a problem. Are you saying that MCPS high school don’t have after school Athetics Football programs? Or are you saying they don’t teach the secrets of how to get into the NFL? Regardless MCPS students are still getting football scholarships for college.

Sounds like you have an animus against Loiederman. So don't send your child to Loiederman. There, you're all set.