Anyone's child regret heading to a magnet HS? What is the return rate to their local HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the posters bad mouthing PH are those who do not have high performing kids. These are lottery batch I am guessing? No one in the previous years where admission was based solely on merit and tests, did not love PHS. I think its not a bad thing if students who do not really belong there return to their local HS. Good for these students, and good for PHS too.

NP HERE. I think you are wrong to assume that they are not high performing kids. I have two children who have already graduated from smacs at poolesville, so I don’t have any skin in this game. There were a few teachers that were good, many that were Ok, and several teachers that were just plain bad (bad teaching styles, didn’t respond to emails or students that asked for help, were waiting for retirement and already checked out). My children liked their fellow classmates and the bond they shared. Many times when the teachers wouldn’t teach, fellow students would teach each other. That’s what made the program, the camaraderie between the students. The school has a good reputation bc it’s a majority magnet school and bc magnet students will do good wherever they go. Teachers play a small part in that (some teachers none at all).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in 11th at RMIB. They don’t regret it and like the peer group a lot—a lot of smart, quirky kids who are generally supportive of each other and inclusive. Seems like less social drama than most HS. But they are pretty often stressed out and the IB program has some weird bureaucratic hitches. I definitely would not push a kid into applying. I was totally checked out of the process and mine applied without my really even knowing (maybe I signed something?). I do remember driving them to the test.
I am a little concerned that they’ve now made the application much easier and kids who aren’t as committed will apply on a whim. I don’t recommend it unless they are really looking to swim in the deep end. You also have to consider that the I.B system is very different—much more metacogniton stuff (theory of knowledge being a required class) and much more process of learning, deep dives, etc.

Thank you for this input. I have a 10th grader at RMIB. So far (9th and 10th), the workload has been manageable and not at all stressful. Kid is usually asleep by 9:30 and has time to relax after school (doesn't have a ton of ECs but plays a sport). We are in the cluster, so the commute is a non-issue. Though the education has been fantastic so far, I am worried about 11th and 12th. I have been intrigued by the early college options at MC, but my child wants to continue on with RMIB.

10th grade has been fine for my DC too, except for AP Physics, which has been more work than all the other classes put together. It seems to be a teacher issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in 11th at RMIB. They don’t regret it and like the peer group a lot—a lot of smart, quirky kids who are generally supportive of each other and inclusive. Seems like less social drama than most HS. But they are pretty often stressed out and the IB program has some weird bureaucratic hitches. I definitely would not push a kid into applying. I was totally checked out of the process and mine applied without my really even knowing (maybe I signed something?). I do remember driving them to the test.
I am a little concerned that they’ve now made the application much easier and kids who aren’t as committed will apply on a whim. I don’t recommend it unless they are really looking to swim in the deep end. You also have to consider that the I.B system is very different—much more metacogniton stuff (theory of knowledge being a required class) and much more process of learning, deep dives, etc.

Thank you for this input. I have a 10th grader at RMIB. So far (9th and 10th), the workload has been manageable and not at all stressful. Kid is usually asleep by 9:30 and has time to relax after school (doesn't have a ton of ECs but plays a sport). We are in the cluster, so the commute is a non-issue. Though the education has been fantastic so far, I am worried about 11th and 12th. I have been intrigued by the early college options at MC, but my child wants to continue on with RMIB.

I think if a kid is a perfectionist, determined to get straight As, and takes the most rigorous courses, it's a grind. If a kid is more relaxed, okay with some Bs, and is strategic about having some "lighter" courses in the mix, it's not bad at all. Like most things, it can be what you make of it. The peer group is definitely awesome, big difference from the home school.

My kid is at RMIB and I agree with this. The peer group has been amazing for my kid. MCPS insists on doing ‘peer review’ for things like Math and English. At RMIB, this has actually been useful!

The in-class discussion are actually interesting and useful, according to my DC.

And, it’s been an interesting group of kids with various interests - athletes, musicians, drama kids.

Agree in general but somehow my kid still ends up doing 70-80% of the work on the group projects designed for five kids. Wish teachers would develop a better system of individual accountability for those. Love collaborative projects in theory but in practice someone always seems to draw the short stick and ends up with a much heavier workload as a result. Peer review can be great, but again tends to depend on luck of the draw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in 11th at RMIB. They don’t regret it and like the peer group a lot—a lot of smart, quirky kids who are generally supportive of each other and inclusive. Seems like less social drama than most HS. But they are pretty often stressed out and the IB program has some weird bureaucratic hitches. I definitely would not push a kid into applying. I was totally checked out of the process and mine applied without my really even knowing (maybe I signed something?). I do remember driving them to the test.
I am a little concerned that they’ve now made the application much easier and kids who aren’t as committed will apply on a whim. I don’t recommend it unless they are really looking to swim in the deep end. You also have to consider that the I.B system is very different—much more metacogniton stuff (theory of knowledge being a required class) and much more process of learning, deep dives, etc.

Thank you for this input. I have a 10th grader at RMIB. So far (9th and 10th), the workload has been manageable and not at all stressful. Kid is usually asleep by 9:30 and has time to relax after school (doesn't have a ton of ECs but plays a sport). We are in the cluster, so the commute is a non-issue. Though the education has been fantastic so far, I am worried about 11th and 12th. I have been intrigued by the early college options at MC, but my child wants to continue on with RMIB.

I think if a kid is a perfectionist, determined to get straight As, and takes the most rigorous courses, it's a grind. If a kid is more relaxed, okay with some Bs, and is strategic about having some "lighter" courses in the mix, it's not bad at all. Like most things, it can be what you make of it. The peer group is definitely awesome, big difference from the home school.

My kid is at RMIB and I agree with this. The peer group has been amazing for my kid. MCPS insists on doing ‘peer review’ for things like Math and English. At RMIB, this has actually been useful!

The in-class discussion are actually interesting and useful, according to my DC.

And, it’s been an interesting group of kids with various interests - athletes, musicians, drama kids.

Agree in general but somehow my kid still ends up doing 70-80% of the work on the group projects designed for five kids. Wish teachers would develop a better system of individual accountability for those. Love collaborative projects in theory but in practice someone always seems to draw the short stick and ends up with a much heavier workload as a result. Peer review can be great, but again tends to depend on luck of the draw.

I am the PP here and I agree that peer review sucks. But the peer review at RMIB has been much better than what my kid was experiencing in her mixed-ability English class at our nonW middle school. It was actually pretty terrible and useless. At least at RMIB, the kids do offer some useful feedback.

Also agree about the group projects. Sometimes groups are better than others.