Why do parents from high FARMS school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:feel that the "academic" programs need to be at their school? This is not supposed to be about making these schools have equal FARMS rates, but rather about having equal acccess for all students in the county. For too long, Blair, which is located down in the bottom of the county and not close to most students, has held the programs with the big draw. Students choose not to go due to the long bus rides. Certainly, my child at Churchill would not consider it. Now they are trying to make it so all students are not too far away and adding more seats- this is a good thing. Do I think it is going to be hard to implement- yes. But I like the thinking. And I do not think that they need to consider FARMS rates when choosing which program is placed in each school. Existing teachers, space, and interest should dominate the thinking.

Putting high-demand academic programs in low-income schools is a time-tested strategy for raising the performance of the school and/or preventing families from leaving the area. That’s why the Blair magnet was placed there. Same with the RM magnet.

Placing high-demand academic programs in high-performing schools that already receive substantial community support is gilding the lily.

then why did the Kennedy IB program fail?

It’s struggling, not failed. And it’s poverty.

It's a regional magnet, meaning kids from the wealthy areas can also apply there if they want to.

Kennedy has had IB for several years (2010) before it became a regional magnet. They've had 15 years to create a good program.

Also, this goes to show that equal access doesn't mean equal outcome. Difficult programs like IB in high farms schools have very low enrollment in the programs and low diploma rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:feel that the "academic" programs need to be at their school? This is not supposed to be about making these schools have equal FARMS rates, but rather about having equal acccess for all students in the county. For too long, Blair, which is located down in the bottom of the county and not close to most students, has held the programs with the big draw. Students choose not to go due to the long bus rides. Certainly, my child at Churchill would not consider it. Now they are trying to make it so all students are not too far away and adding more seats- this is a good thing. Do I think it is going to be hard to implement- yes. But I like the thinking. And I do not think that they need to consider FARMS rates when choosing which program is placed in each school. Existing teachers, space, and interest should dominate the thinking.

Putting high-demand academic programs in low-income schools is a time-tested strategy for raising the performance of the school and/or preventing families from leaving the area. That’s why the Blair magnet was placed there. Same with the RM magnet.

Placing high-demand academic programs in high-performing schools that already receive substantial community support is gilding the lily.

then why did the Kennedy IB program fail?

The local middle class families continued to largely refuse to enroll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't we move all the high level classes from your school to put them at schools that have much less, and you see how your kids feel when they don't have access to the classes they want.

The new plan seeks to ensure that the same core set of advanced classes are offered at every single high school in the county. That is a good thing. We should all work together to make sure MCPS actually delivers, and maybe exceeds?, on this instead endless and pointless fighting.

Clearly you aren't paying attention. Those core classes are the basic classe all schools aready have so saying that is a joke. And, those classes are not equal to what is at your school. So, by your arguement, we should cut out all classes except those core classes and everyone will be happy?

Maybe there are certain classes that should be added to the core set? That is fine. Let's do it. More investment in advanced classes at every school will serve the most kids. It doesn't have to be us v them

In order to make that happen, funding has to come from somewhere, so is your school willing to give up classes so other schools can offer them?

That’s not how it works. Teachers interview for positions. Principals are able to use their allocations as needed. Lobby your principal for specific classes. It has nothing to do with other schools needing to give up classes.

Ok, been there done that. Principal says no. So, what is your recommendation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:feel that the "academic" programs need to be at their school? This is not supposed to be about making these schools have equal FARMS rates, but rather about having equal acccess for all students in the county. For too long, Blair, which is located down in the bottom of the county and not close to most students, has held the programs with the big draw. Students choose not to go due to the long bus rides. Certainly, my child at Churchill would not consider it. Now they are trying to make it so all students are not too far away and adding more seats- this is a good thing. Do I think it is going to be hard to implement- yes. But I like the thinking. And I do not think that they need to consider FARMS rates when choosing which program is placed in each school. Existing teachers, space, and interest should dominate the thinking.

Putting high-demand academic programs in low-income schools is a time-tested strategy for raising the performance of the school and/or preventing families from leaving the area. That’s why the Blair magnet was placed there. Same with the RM magnet.

Placing high-demand academic programs in high-performing schools that already receive substantial community support is gilding the lily.

then why did the Kennedy IB program fail?

It’s struggling, not failed. And it’s poverty.

It's a regional magnet, meaning kids from the wealthy areas can also apply there if they want to.

Kennedy has had IB for several years (2010) before it became a regional magnet. They've had 15 years to create a good program.

Also, this goes to show that equal access doesn't mean equal outcome. Difficult programs like IB in high farms schools have very low enrollment in the programs and low diploma rates.

Low enrollment and graduation should tell MCPS that isn’t what the community wants or needs and change things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:feel that the "academic" programs need to be at their school? This is not supposed to be about making these schools have equal FARMS rates, but rather about having equal acccess for all students in the county. For too long, Blair, which is located down in the bottom of the county and not close to most students, has held the programs with the big draw. Students choose not to go due to the long bus rides. Certainly, my child at Churchill would not consider it. Now they are trying to make it so all students are not too far away and adding more seats- this is a good thing. Do I think it is going to be hard to implement- yes. But I like the thinking. And I do not think that they need to consider FARMS rates when choosing which program is placed in each school. Existing teachers, space, and interest should dominate the thinking.

Putting high-demand academic programs in low-income schools is a time-tested strategy for raising the performance of the school and/or preventing families from leaving the area. That’s why the Blair magnet was placed there. Same with the RM magnet.

Placing high-demand academic programs in high-performing schools that already receive substantial community support is gilding the lily.

then why did the Kennedy IB program fail?

It’s struggling, not failed. And it’s poverty.

No it's building. I've yet to see data that shows what the first five years at RMIB or Poolesville or even Wheaton engineering were like in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low income students can't travel far. They have jobs and sibling care responsibilities. So if you put magnets in the high income schools, you basically siphon off highest resourced high performing students from the low income schools. The kids that are left have a very small cohort and the school can no longer sustain advanced coursework. It is truly better not to have a magnet at all
High income students already have advanced classes at their home schools.

It

This. No more all county magnets. Focus resources on all the home schools so all kids have access to challenging course. And be ok that sometimes it's 10 kids in a hard class in some schools.

This I would be okay with. I wish they would just build up all of the county high schools. But the DCC parents seem very against this with the theory that their children haven't had equal access to classes even though they have the magnets and consortium. It's not magically better in the low FARMS school. They have classes with 35-40 students too. They don't deserve to get ignored or looked down upon just because they are in a different area of the county.

You don't understand. DCC students HAVE to travel further to access the SAME classes that Whitman and BCC students have at their home school. The fear is they won't have access at all without the flexibility of the DCC. Classes in DCC schools are not smaller.

Demanding equity is not "looking down" on you. You are making this about you when your child gets more resources and opportunities than ours. I do judge you because you sound very self involved.

And yet from my viewpoint, you are making this all about your child and not considering everyone in the county. I am not sayiing that every program needs to be at a low FARMS school, just that there should be a fair distribution.

I wish my child had access to child development classes because she would love that, but it is not offered at our school. I will welcome the opportunity to have niche programs that other students in the county can access. They don't need to be academic ones to draw students.

Then, your child goes to MC to take child development classes or cosa's. Problem solved. Many of the W schools have child development classes.

Exactly this! If a specialized class or program is not offered at your school, you can go to MC or get a COSA. Problem solved- no need for any of these specialized programs.

A visa is very hard to get. We don’t have transportation for MC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low income students can't travel far. They have jobs and sibling care responsibilities. So if you put magnets in the high income schools, you basically siphon off highest resourced high performing students from the low income schools. The kids that are left have a very small cohort and the school can no longer sustain advanced coursework. It is truly better not to have a magnet at all
High income students already have advanced classes at their home schools.

It

This. No more all county magnets. Focus resources on all the home schools so all kids have access to challenging course. And be ok that sometimes it's 10 kids in a hard class in some schools.

This I would be okay with. I wish they would just build up all of the county high schools. But the DCC parents seem very against this with the theory that their children haven't had equal access to classes even though they have the magnets and consortium. It's not magically better in the low FARMS school. They have classes with 35-40 students too. They don't deserve to get ignored or looked down upon just because they are in a different area of the county.

You don't understand. DCC students HAVE to travel further to access the SAME classes that Whitman and BCC students have at their home school. The fear is they won't have access at all without the flexibility of the DCC. Classes in DCC schools are not smaller.

Demanding equity is not "looking down" on you. You are making this about you when your child gets more resources and opportunities than ours. I do judge you because you sound very self involved.

And yet from my viewpoint, you are making this all about your child and not considering everyone in the county. I am not sayiing that every program needs to be at a low FARMS school, just that there should be a fair distribution.

I wish my child had access to child development classes because she would love that, but it is not offered at our school. I will welcome the opportunity to have niche programs that other students in the county can access. They don't need to be academic ones to draw students.

Then, your child goes to MC to take child development classes or cosa's. Problem solved. Many of the W schools have child development classes.

Exactly this! If a specialized class or program is not offered at your school, you can go to MC or get a COSA. Problem solved- no need for any of these specialized programs.

A visa is very hard to get. We don’t have transportation for MC.

Cosa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:feel that the "academic" programs need to be at their school? This is not supposed to be about making these schools have equal FARMS rates, but rather about having equal acccess for all students in the county. For too long, Blair, which is located down in the bottom of the county and not close to most students, has held the programs with the big draw. Students choose not to go due to the long bus rides. Certainly, my child at Churchill would not consider it. Now they are trying to make it so all students are not too far away and adding more seats- this is a good thing. Do I think it is going to be hard to implement- yes. But I like the thinking. And I do not think that they need to consider FARMS rates when choosing which program is placed in each school. Existing teachers, space, and interest should dominate the thinking.

Putting high-demand academic programs in low-income schools is a time-tested strategy for raising the performance of the school and/or preventing families from leaving the area. That’s why the Blair magnet was placed there. Same with the RM magnet.

Placing high-demand academic programs in high-performing schools that already receive substantial community support is gilding the lily.

then why did the Kennedy IB program fail?

It’s struggling, not failed. And it’s poverty.

It's a regional magnet, meaning kids from the wealthy areas can also apply there if they want to.

Kennedy has had IB for several years (2010) before it became a regional magnet. They've had 15 years to create a good program.

Also, this goes to show that equal access doesn't mean equal outcome. Difficult programs like IB in high farms schools have very low enrollment in the programs and low diploma rates.

Kennedy's IB program earlier this was the traditional IB diploma program which is only 11th and 12th grade and was open to anyone in the school. We say it's failing or not up to par, only in comparison to the RMIB program which was setup very differently. SO looking at it before it became a regional magnet is not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't we move all the high level classes from your school to put them at schools that have much less, and you see how your kids feel when they don't have access to the classes they want.

The new plan seeks to ensure that the same core set of advanced classes are offered at every single high school in the county. That is a good thing. We should all work together to make sure MCPS actually delivers, and maybe exceeds?, on this instead endless and pointless fighting.

Clearly you aren't paying attention. Those core classes are the basic classe all schools aready have so saying that is a joke. And, those classes are not equal to what is at your school. So, by your arguement, we should cut out all classes except those core classes and everyone will be happy?

Maybe there are certain classes that should be added to the core set? That is fine. Let's do it. More investment in advanced classes at every school will serve the most kids. It doesn't have to be us v them

I'm so glad you have given the go ahead but many people have already asked for this. MCPS is not doing it.

Oh ffs I was agreeing with you that students shouldn't have to travel from
their home school to access a core set of advanced classes. You just don't want to hear it and would rather score points.

Saying "that's fine" implies your permission is needed and you're not an elected official. It's a bizarre, condescending way to to respond to concerns that have gone unaddressed for many years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:feel that the "academic" programs need to be at their school? This is not supposed to be about making these schools have equal FARMS rates, but rather about having equal acccess for all students in the county. For too long, Blair, which is located down in the bottom of the county and not close to most students, has held the programs with the big draw. Students choose not to go due to the long bus rides. Certainly, my child at Churchill would not consider it. Now they are trying to make it so all students are not too far away and adding more seats- this is a good thing. Do I think it is going to be hard to implement- yes. But I like the thinking. And I do not think that they need to consider FARMS rates when choosing which program is placed in each school. Existing teachers, space, and interest should dominate the thinking.

Putting high-demand academic programs in low-income schools is a time-tested strategy for raising the performance of the school and/or preventing families from leaving the area. That’s why the Blair magnet was placed there. Same with the RM magnet.

Placing high-demand academic programs in high-performing schools that already receive substantial community support is gilding the lily.

then why did the Kennedy IB program fail?

It’s struggling, not failed. And it’s poverty.

Poverty is not why it failed. Its failing because MCPS is not putting enough funding and staff to make sure students get what they need and are on grade level in ES and MS. By the time they get to HS, its too little too late.

How did it fail?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't we move all the high level classes from your school to put them at schools that have much less, and you see how your kids feel when they don't have access to the classes they want.

The new plan seeks to ensure that the same core set of advanced classes are offered at every single high school in the county. That is a good thing. We should all work together to make sure MCPS actually delivers, and maybe exceeds?, on this instead endless and pointless fighting.

Clearly you aren't paying attention. Those core classes are the basic classe all schools aready have so saying that is a joke. And, those classes are not equal to what is at your school. So, by your arguement, we should cut out all classes except those core classes and everyone will be happy?

Maybe there are certain classes that should be added to the core set? That is fine. Let's do it. More investment in advanced classes at every school will serve the most kids. It doesn't have to be us v them

I'm so glad you have given the go ahead but many people have already asked for this. MCPS is not doing it.

Oh ffs I was agreeing with you that students shouldn't have to travel from
their home school to access a core set of advanced classes. You just don't want to hear it and would rather score points.

Saying "that's fine" implies your permission is needed and you're not an elected official. It's a bizarre, condescending way to to respond to concerns that have gone unaddressed for many years.

They aren’t commenting without having any idea of what’s actually going on. They have it all so it’s hard to consider how vastly different the schools are in terms offerings. The core offerings are what is available now. Not helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't we move all the high level classes from your school to put them at schools that have much less, and you see how your kids feel when they don't have access to the classes they want.

The new plan seeks to ensure that the same core set of advanced classes are offered at every single high school in the county. That is a good thing. We should all work together to make sure MCPS actually delivers, and maybe exceeds?, on this instead endless and pointless fighting.

Clearly you aren't paying attention. Those core classes are the basic classe all schools aready have so saying that is a joke. And, those classes are not equal to what is at your school. So, by your arguement, we should cut out all classes except those core classes and everyone will be happy?

Maybe there are certain classes that should be added to the core set? That is fine. Let's do it. More investment in advanced classes at every school will serve the most kids. It doesn't have to be us v them

I'm so glad you have given the go ahead but many people have already asked for this. MCPS is not doing it.

Oh ffs I was agreeing with you that students shouldn't have to travel from
their home school to access a core set of advanced classes. You just don't want to hear it and would rather score points.

Saying "that's fine" implies your permission is needed and you're not an elected official. It's a bizarre, condescending way to to respond to concerns that have gone unaddressed for many years.

They aren’t commenting without having any idea of what’s actually going on. They have it all so it’s hard to consider how vastly different the schools are in terms offerings. The core offerings are what is available now. Not helpful.

Clearly not since one of the main complaints is that advanced science classes are not offered at all the schools. So the PP's point is valid that part of the push should be to define what exactly is the core offerings including AP classes that all schools will venture to offer each year. Certainly things can fluctuate each year by interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't we move all the high level classes from your school to put them at schools that have much less, and you see how your kids feel when they don't have access to the classes they want.

The new plan seeks to ensure that the same core set of advanced classes are offered at every single high school in the county. That is a good thing. We should all work together to make sure MCPS actually delivers, and maybe exceeds?, on this instead endless and pointless fighting.

Clearly you aren't paying attention. Those core classes are the basic classe all schools aready have so saying that is a joke. And, those classes are not equal to what is at your school. So, by your arguement, we should cut out all classes except those core classes and everyone will be happy?

Maybe there are certain classes that should be added to the core set? That is fine. Let's do it. More investment in advanced classes at every school will serve the most kids. It doesn't have to be us v them

I'm so glad you have given the go ahead but many people have already asked for this. MCPS is not doing it.

Oh ffs I was agreeing with you that students shouldn't have to travel from
their home school to access a core set of advanced classes. You just don't want to hear it and would rather score points.

Saying "that's fine" implies your permission is needed and you're not an elected official. It's a bizarre, condescending way to to respond to concerns that have gone unaddressed for many years.

They aren’t commenting without having any idea of what’s actually going on. They have it all so it’s hard to consider how vastly different the schools are in terms offerings. The core offerings are what is available now. Not helpful.

Clearly not since one of the main complaints is that advanced science classes are not offered at all the schools. So the PP's point is valid that part of the push should be to define what exactly is the core offerings including AP classes that all schools will venture to offer each year. Certainly things can fluctuate each year by interest.

It has nothing to do with interest. They are not offered and if you ask you are told no.

[Anonymous]

Lobby your principal for more advanced classes. They need to hear it. You need to get 5-6 parents together and send in a letter asking for AP Physics C or multivariable Calculus or whatever advanced classes you want

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lobby your principal for more advanced classes. They need to hear it. You need to get 5-6 parents together and send in a letter asking for AP Physics C or multivariable Calculus or whatever advanced classes you want

Ok, and when that does not work? You think that hasn’t happened and you are the only one who thought of it? Principal says no funding.