Any Parkland MS Magnet parents? Wondering if we should apply?

[Anonymous]

DD is very interested in engineering. Currently attends private and has never attended public. I suspect she will have a major culture shock even if she were to enter a magnet program. We are definitely applying to TPMS, but want to have a second choice. She can continue at her private without application.

If any Parkland parents can explain pros and cons. I'm particularly curious about how whole school magnet is working.

[Anonymous]

Per the Metis study its very diverse, since that is the only thing the county cares about it is working great!

[Anonymous]

My kids are only in ES, but we live near there.

I might be wrong, but I thought it was admission by lottery?

There was some talk this year about putting a Verizon Cell Tower up on school grounds, but the community fought it, and as of now it appears that the permit was denied. (just to give you an idea of community involvement)

Info on the PTA site:
http://www.parklandptsa.org/

[Anonymous]

Just so we're clear, "magnet" in this case means that some classes will be in engineering. It does NOT mean that the expectations will be higher than usual, not does it mean that they select for a certain caliber of student. MCPS always places special programs like these in neighborhoods that used to be problematic, to revitalize them.
Children in-bounds for these 3 "magnets" (Argyle, Parkland and Loiederman) are guaranteed a spot in one of these three. A lottery determines who else gets in.

I attended all the information sessions for the magnets last year, and was quite disappointed in the presentations by the school coordinators, although Parkland was the best, with an adequate description filled with with facts, instead of inane superlatives. Frankly the others were a complete joke. But still, I was not convinced that the overall standards were high enough.

Truthfully, I'm also old school and I believe students should learn the basics REALLY well before they reward themselves with specific topics of interest. Parents also may not understand that advanced science topics require advance math, physics, biology or chemistry, which middle schoolers are not taught. To a certain extent, special classes at this level are only for fun, and have a fluff element. I'd rather their day be filled with rigorous math and english so that they are able to grasp real engineering (or whatever it is) later on with complete success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Just so we're clear, "magnet" in this case means that some classes will be in engineering. It does NOT mean that the expectations will be higher than usual, not does it mean that they select for a certain caliber of student. MCPS always places special programs like these in neighborhoods that used to be problematic, to revitalize them.
Children in-bounds for these 3 "magnets" (Argyle, Parkland and Loiederman) are guaranteed a spot in one of these three. A lottery determines who else gets in.

I attended all the information sessions for the magnets last year, and was quite disappointed in the presentations by the school coordinators, although Parkland was the best, with an adequate description filled with with facts, instead of inane superlatives. Frankly the others were a complete joke. But still, I was not convinced that the overall standards were high enough.

Truthfully, I'm also old school and I believe students should learn the basics REALLY well before they reward themselves with specific topics of interest. Parents also may not understand that advanced science topics require advance math, physics, biology or chemistry, which middle schoolers are not taught. To a certain extent, special classes at this level are only for fun, and have a fluff element. I'd rather their day be filled with rigorous math and english so that they are able to grasp real engineering (or whatever it is) later on with complete success.

PP is correct. I know of two families whose kids are not in any way above average in math/science (not being rude, they only applied to get out of their home MS), who got into Parkland simply by lottery. It's not any sort of admission based on merit.

[Anonymous]

I know a couple of out of bounds students who attend Parkland and like it. In 8th grade, students take a high school credit Intro to Engineering class that gives them the leg up on applicants to the Engineering magnet (application program) at Wheaton HS.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Most of these replies were helpful.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on what you are looking for. If you want a rigorous program with a strong cohort of students TPMS magnet is your child's best choice. Since Parkland is a whole school program (not truly a magnet in other words) and admission for the out of bounds students is purely by lottery it is not possible to have a program like TPMS at Parkland. I do know a few students who have been very happy there. These were kids who were not admitted to TPMS and wanted to be with kids who loved science and engineering as much as they did and they found that at Parkland. Of the three (Argyle, Loiderman and Parkland), Parkland seems to have the best reputation.

[Anonymous]

Frankly,
If you would have a son, and BAD home cluster, APPLY. If you have a SON and good cluster, but your son is crazy about engineering and is not easily influenced, APPLY.
If you son goes with the crowd, DO NOT APPLY.

Girl after private in Parkland, NO WAY.

I know 2 girls from good clusters, who left PARKLAND. I also know 2 boys one from good cluster and another from OK cluster, who were happy there.
BOTH boys went to their home clusters for HS. Both did not pass to Blair magnet (one was waitlisted.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a couple of out of bounds students who attend Parkland and like it. In 8th grade, students take a high school credit Intro to Engineering class that gives them the leg up on applicants to the Engineering magnet (application program) at Wheaton HS.

Honors Physics is also one of the HS credit Science courses in 8th grade.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/parklandms/magnet/Parkland%20Pages%20(MSMC%20Program%20Booklet)(1).pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frankly,
If you would have a son, and BAD home cluster, APPLY. If you have a SON and good cluster, but your son is crazy about engineering and is not easily influenced, APPLY.
If you son goes with the crowd, DO NOT APPLY.

Girl after private in Parkland, NO WAY.

I know 2 girls from good clusters, who left PARKLAND. I also know 2 boys one from good cluster and another from OK cluster, who were happy there.
BOTH boys went to their home clusters for HS. Both did not pass to Blair magnet (one was waitlisted.)

Thank you for your honesty. --OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frankly,
If you would have a son, and BAD home cluster, APPLY. If you have a SON and good cluster, but your son is crazy about engineering and is not easily influenced, APPLY.
If you son goes with the crowd, DO NOT APPLY.

Girl after private in Parkland, NO WAY.

I know 2 girls from good clusters, who left PARKLAND. I also know 2 boys one from good cluster and another from OK cluster, who were happy there.
BOTH boys went to their home clusters for HS. Both did not pass to Blair magnet (one was waitlisted.)

Interesting! I'd probably tend to agree.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids at Parkland. My 8th grader is taking Geometry (H.S. class), Spanish 3 A &B (H.S. class), Physics (H.S. class), Engineering (college credit class). The highest level math class is Algebra II. The Engineering class is only available at Parkland and it was developed by Lockheed Martin. Depending on the college/university, you child will either receive a college general ed credit or first level engineering course credit.

So, it is not correct that kids cannot take rigorous math and science here.

I agree that if your zoned MS is not great, then Parkland is a very solid option if you have a science/math geek kid who can handle/wants to take the advanced classes. You can also take astronomy and robotics. My son takes 3 science classes a semester. At his zoned middle school, he would have had the option for only one science class and there was no advanced option.

At Parkland they take the MCPS MS science curriculum and condense it into two years which everyone takes. This frees the kids up to take an advanced science class the third year.

In any case, to the OP question, it is a very simple lottery form, so why not apply as a plan b.

[RedTailHawk]

Girl after private in Parkland, NO WAY.

Could you please provide some more detail for this?

We are looking at Parkland for DD. She likes science and math but is 2e and can be challenged socially, especially with highly verbal girls. Most of her friends are boys. We are Wootton cluster and thought Parkland might have a better mix of smart math/science type kids with less competitive outlook.

[Anonymous]

RedTailHawk wrote:

Girl after private in Parkland, NO WAY.

Could you please provide some more detail for this?

We are looking at Parkland for DD. She likes science and math but is 2e and can be challenged socially, especially with highly verbal girls. Most of her friends are boys. We are Wootton cluster and thought Parkland might have a better mix of smart math/science type kids with less competitive outlook.

You should consider applying to Takoma for her. There are the girl clicks like at any school. But there are many 2e kids at Takoma -- she won't stand out as the only socially challenged child. And from what I've seen of the kids (2 kids at the school in different grades), they are supportive of each other. Most of them in the magnet just like to learn and like the challenging material.