Where's the talent in G&T?

[Anonymous]

I notice that MCPS just focuses on academic ability. There is little outlet for kids with musical, dance, or other talents. There seems to be no good enrichment in the schools.

[Anonymous]

They aren't tested on the MSA so why bother?

[Anonymous]

I think Montgomery Cty has both an arts magnet middle school program and an arts magnet high school program.

[Anonymous]

The middle school magnet (kid gets in by test results) is technically "humanities" with a focus on communication, but I think an artistic kid would do well there. Also, Loiederman (sp?) middle school is a "choice" program (kid gets in by lottery) where music and the arts are the program's focus.

[Anonymous]

I wish the county would support musicallly gifted kids with really good music lessons. You can not get a child to a certain level in say violin through the public schools.

[Anonymous]

There is an arts magnet middle school, Loiederman in Silver Spring/Wheaton. There are special tracks for visual arts, theatre, dance and music. The problem is that kids that live outside the boundary for it are selected by lottery, and only about a third of the students can come from outside that school cluster. Also, boys are given preference because it's primarily girls that apply.

[Anonymous]

It was announced in February that the middle school Humanities magnet would be changing the schedule next year, from 8 periods to 7, meaning magnet students will lose an elective. That means choosing between a foreign language and an elective like music or art in 7th and 8th grade. Most students will opt for the language, as it's important for high school and esp. IB programs. Sad and ironic, no?

[Anonymous]

I always thought it was "talented at playing the system for getting special advantages for my not poor, probably white, child".
-signed, a rich white kid who graduated from MCPS