7/24 BOE meeting thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming the new STEM program will get nothing like the current SMCS with all the electives and functions and research projects? Will it just be more like the academy style system with a few extra classes?

Aren't there like 15 different math and science classes at Blair? It's not really necessary to have that many in every school, or even at Blair, is it? Which are the ones that are really important?

For SMCS? All of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming the new STEM program will get nothing like the current SMCS with all the electives and functions and research projects? Will it just be more like the academy style system with a few extra classes?

Aren't there like 15 different math and science classes at Blair? It's not really necessary to have that many in every school, or even at Blair, is it? Which are the ones that are really important?

My DC who is Blair alum took every single math and physics electives, plus quite a few computer science, and some chemistry and biology electives. I'm sure there are students who did vice versa. (These electives are not all offered every semester or every year. Some are offered one semester per year. Some are offered every other year etc.) But the point is, they are almost all valuable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why, why, why can't we just work on 26 strong high schools that all offer a variety of leveled work? Why can't all students just go to their zoned school? What if we used all of this money from their "Research," buses, program procurement etc, to add more teachers to the county and reduce the size of classes? Why does everyone need a program?

Because in this county, like everywhere else, the rich hoard the good stuff. If you are a kid who goes to predominantly poor school and you want to take advanced physics or be in a stellar symphony, you just can’t, because there aren’t enough other kids like you at your school. Specialized programs help those kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These students complaining about the new grading program sound so ridiculous. Saying they wouldn't have chosen classes if they knew there was going to be rigor? Ridiculous! MCPS better not go back on the policies in place!

No, they’re saying they chose rigorous classes under the old grading policy, but will now be taking these classes under a different, new policy. The new policy is designed to curtail grade inflation, meaning some students will end up with lower grades and GPAs. Had they known in advance that this policy was coming, they could have strategized whether to prioritize higher grades with lower rigor or lower grades with higher rigor in individual classes when planning their schedules.

When this new grading policy was originally proposed, the idea was to have it apply to students who had not yet started high school, and to grandfather in current high students under the policy that has been in place. It’s hardly ridiculous for students to complain about the implementation of a policy change that may help MCPS in the long run, but will hurt these students in the short term — shortly before they apply to college in a far, far more competitive environment than the people creating these policies (or the posters on this board) faced when they applied to college.

Actually, these students will benefit from the policy change because the bulk of their GPA will have come from inflationary policies, but the grading policy reported in the School Profile on the Common App will reflect a more difficult calculation, so unless a college digs deep, these kids will look better than they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These students complaining about the new grading program sound so ridiculous. Saying they wouldn't have chosen classes if they knew there was going to be rigor? Ridiculous! MCPS better not go back on the policies in place!

No, they’re saying they chose rigorous classes under the old grading policy, but will now be taking these classes under a different, new policy. The new policy is designed to curtail grade inflation, meaning some students will end up with lower grades and GPAs. Had they known in advance that this policy was coming, they could have strategized whether to prioritize higher grades with lower rigor or lower grades with higher rigor in individual classes when planning their schedules.

When this new grading policy was originally proposed, the idea was to have it apply to students who had not yet started high school, and to grandfather in current high students under the policy that has been in place. It’s hardly ridiculous for students to complain about the implementation of a policy change that may help MCPS in the long run, but will hurt these students in the short term — shortly before they apply to college in a far, far more competitive environment than the people creating these policies (or the posters on this board) faced when they applied to college.

Actually, these students will benefit from the policy change because the bulk of their GPA will have come from inflationary policies, but the grading policy reported in the School Profile on the Common App will reflect a more difficult calculation, so unless a college digs deep, these kids will look better than they are.

MCPS is going to be adding a note to transcripts explaining that a change in how semester grades are calculated went into effect in fall 2025.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who would be the inaugural class of this change, and the change looks reasonable to me.

Change is hard, but there have long been more kids capable of doing magnet-level work than spots available. Creating new, diverse, regions and expanding magnet offerings is a common-sense solution.

Those are nice sentiments, but your post doesn’t address the actual logistical challenges presented by this plan. You call the plan reasonable; please explain how it is even feasible, let alone reasonable.

Do you have any children who have already participated in one of the existing high school magnet programs? I have a senior who has experienced a CES and magnets for middle school and high school. I’m surprised that anyone whose child will be in high school during this transition would support it. Significant and widespread changes will not roll out smoothly. There will be disparities in the implementation between regions.

You had a kid who won the lotteries for both CES and middle school, plus got into a high school magnet? How did you get so lucky? Most kids don't get into either a CES or magnet middle school, let alone both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why, why, why can't we just work on 26 strong high schools that all offer a variety of leveled work? Why can't all students just go to their zoned school? What if we used all of this money from their "Research," buses, program procurement etc, to add more teachers to the county and reduce the size of classes? Why does everyone need a program?

Because in this county, like everywhere else, the rich hoard the good stuff. If you are a kid who goes to predominantly poor school and you want to take advanced physics or be in a stellar symphony, you just can’t, because there aren’t enough other kids like you at your school. Specialized programs help those kids.

You have to private pay for the stellar orchestra. It sucks not having the same opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming the new STEM program will get nothing like the current SMCS with all the electives and functions and research projects? Will it just be more like the academy style system with a few extra classes?

Aren't there like 15 different math and science classes at Blair? It's not really necessary to have that many in every school, or even at Blair, is it? Which are the ones that are really important?

My DC who is Blair alum took every single math and physics electives, plus quite a few computer science, and some chemistry and biology electives. I'm sure there are students who did vice versa. (These electives are not all offered every semester or every year. Some are offered one semester per year. Some are offered every other year etc.) But the point is, they are almost all valuable.

You are lucky. We have no science ap classes, no math after bc and one engineering class and only a few cs classes. If they are all valuable shouldn’t all our kids get them too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming the new STEM program will get nothing like the current SMCS with all the electives and functions and research projects? Will it just be more like the academy style system with a few extra classes?

Aren't there like 15 different math and science classes at Blair? It's not really necessary to have that many in every school, or even at Blair, is it? Which are the ones that are really important?

For SMCS? All of them.

Really? It's crucial that every kid be able to take plate tectonics, and forensics, and marine biology, and horticultural science, and like 10 other super specialized classes, while they're still in high school rather than waiting for college? And if a few of those got dropped or offered virtually it would be a disaster, and worth shutting out hundreds of kids from getting a slightly more limited list of science classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming the new STEM program will get nothing like the current SMCS with all the electives and functions and research projects? Will it just be more like the academy style system with a few extra classes?

Aren't there like 15 different math and science classes at Blair? It's not really necessary to have that many in every school, or even at Blair, is it? Which are the ones that are really important?

My DC who is Blair alum took every single math and physics electives, plus quite a few computer science, and some chemistry and biology electives. I'm sure there are students who did vice versa. (These electives are not all offered every semester or every year. Some are offered one semester per year. Some are offered every other year etc.) But the point is, they are almost all valuable.

You are lucky. We have no science ap classes, no math after bc and one engineering class and only a few cs classes. If they are all valuable shouldn’t all our kids get them too?

I never said other kids shouldn't take them. I was just responding to PP (you?) who was suggesting getting rid of "unimportant" STEM electives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who would be the inaugural class of this change, and the change looks reasonable to me.

Change is hard, but there have long been more kids capable of doing magnet-level work than spots available. Creating new, diverse, regions and expanding magnet offerings is a common-sense solution.

Those are nice sentiments, but your post doesn’t address the actual logistical challenges presented by this plan. You call the plan reasonable; please explain how it is even feasible, let alone reasonable.

Do you have any children who have already participated in one of the existing high school magnet programs? I have a senior who has experienced a CES and magnets for middle school and high school. I’m surprised that anyone whose child will be in high school during this transition would support it. Significant and widespread changes will not roll out smoothly. There will be disparities in the implementation between regions.

I'm the PP and I do have a child in one of the existing programs, after participating in a CES and MS magnet. Those experiences revealed how many talented kids are being missed by the current scarcity.

You asked about feasibility, as though no one has ever thought about this question before. This is not an insurmountable issue. It's just a matter of sequencing.

They've already drawn up the regions, and determined the 5 magnets for each region. Now they need to assign the programs to the schools. If we take the southernmost region, I'd assume Blair keeps STEM, Northwood gets medical, Einstein takes performing arts, B-CC has IB/Humanities, and Whitman takes leadership/public service. This more or less tracks with their existing programs.

Curricula already exist for most of those programs, so all they need to do is create the course sequence for performing/fine arts, building off VAC and probably CAP sequencing.

There is already an online system to apply to the magnets. So they just need to program the application to let the kids rank/select the programs that interest them, and to consider them only for those in their region.

Finally, transportation. That's sticky, but again not insurmountable. Right now, MCPS runs magnet busses all over the county, and across the DCC. Multiple busses for the Poolesville program go 20+ miles. The longest bus ride in the new regions would be about 10 miles. It's a logistical challenge, but not a particularly hard one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who would be the inaugural class of this change, and the change looks reasonable to me.

Change is hard, but there have long been more kids capable of doing magnet-level work than spots available. Creating new, diverse, regions and expanding magnet offerings is a common-sense solution.

Those are nice sentiments, but your post doesn’t address the actual logistical challenges presented by this plan. You call the plan reasonable; please explain how it is even feasible, let alone reasonable.

Do you have any children who have already participated in one of the existing high school magnet programs? I have a senior who has experienced a CES and magnets for middle school and high school. I’m surprised that anyone whose child will be in high school during this transition would support it. Significant and widespread changes will not roll out smoothly. There will be disparities in the implementation between regions.

You had a kid who won the lotteries for both CES and middle school, plus got into a high school magnet? How did you get so lucky? Most kids don't get into either a CES or magnet middle school, let alone both.

Students my dc’s age were never subjected to admission via lottery at any level. They were admitted to CES and middle school magnets prior to Covid and the lottery system, and high school magnet admissions isn’t by lottery. There was still a certain amount of luck involved, as there have always been more qualified students than seats available, but it wasn’t pure luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming the new STEM program will get nothing like the current SMCS with all the electives and functions and research projects? Will it just be more like the academy style system with a few extra classes?

Aren't there like 15 different math and science classes at Blair? It's not really necessary to have that many in every school, or even at Blair, is it? Which are the ones that are really important?

For SMCS? All of them.

Really? It's crucial that every kid be able to take plate tectonics, and forensics, and marine biology, and horticultural science, and like 10 other super specialized classes, while they're still in high school rather than waiting for college? And if a few of those got dropped or offered virtually it would be a disaster, and worth shutting out hundreds of kids from getting a slightly more limited list of science classes?

The issue is a lot of kids don't even have access to AP science classes, so when you are talking abotu fair, that's not fair. Why not offer it virtually?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who would be the inaugural class of this change, and the change looks reasonable to me.

Change is hard, but there have long been more kids capable of doing magnet-level work than spots available. Creating new, diverse, regions and expanding magnet offerings is a common-sense solution.

Those are nice sentiments, but your post doesn’t address the actual logistical challenges presented by this plan. You call the plan reasonable; please explain how it is even feasible, let alone reasonable.

Do you have any children who have already participated in one of the existing high school magnet programs? I have a senior who has experienced a CES and magnets for middle school and high school. I’m surprised that anyone whose child will be in high school during this transition would support it. Significant and widespread changes will not roll out smoothly. There will be disparities in the implementation between regions.

I'm the PP and I do have a child in one of the existing programs, after participating in a CES and MS magnet. Those experiences revealed how many talented kids are being missed by the current scarcity.

You asked about feasibility, as though no one has ever thought about this question before. This is not an insurmountable issue. It's just a matter of sequencing.

They've already drawn up the regions, and determined the 5 magnets for each region. Now they need to assign the programs to the schools. If we take the southernmost region, I'd assume Blair keeps STEM, Northwood gets medical, Einstein takes performing arts, B-CC has IB/Humanities, and Whitman takes leadership/public service. This more or less tracks with their existing programs.

Curricula already exist for most of those programs, so all they need to do is create the course sequence for performing/fine arts, building off VAC and probably CAP sequencing.

There is already an online system to apply to the magnets. So they just need to program the application to let the kids rank/select the programs that interest them, and to consider them only for those in their region.

Finally, transportation. That's sticky, but again not insurmountable. Right now, MCPS runs magnet busses all over the county, and across the DCC. Multiple busses for the Poolesville program go 20+ miles. The longest bus ride in the new regions would be about 10 miles. It's a logistical challenge, but not a particularly hard one.

10-20 mile bus rides are absurd. And, what happens with after school activities for kids who have no transportation outside the school bus. How about providing the same opportunities at all schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who would be the inaugural class of this change, and the change looks reasonable to me.

Change is hard, but there have long been more kids capable of doing magnet-level work than spots available. Creating new, diverse, regions and expanding magnet offerings is a common-sense solution.

Those are nice sentiments, but your post doesn’t address the actual logistical challenges presented by this plan. You call the plan reasonable; please explain how it is even feasible, let alone reasonable.

Do you have any children who have already participated in one of the existing high school magnet programs? I have a senior who has experienced a CES and magnets for middle school and high school. I’m surprised that anyone whose child will be in high school during this transition would support it. Significant and widespread changes will not roll out smoothly. There will be disparities in the implementation between regions.

I'm the PP and I do have a child in one of the existing programs, after participating in a CES and MS magnet. Those experiences revealed how many talented kids are being missed by the current scarcity.

You asked about feasibility, as though no one has ever thought about this question before. This is not an insurmountable issue. It's just a matter of sequencing.

They've already drawn up the regions, and determined the 5 magnets for each region. Now they need to assign the programs to the schools. If we take the southernmost region, I'd assume Blair keeps STEM, Northwood gets medical, Einstein takes performing arts, B-CC has IB/Humanities, and Whitman takes leadership/public service. This more or less tracks with their existing programs.

Curricula already exist for most of those programs, so all they need to do is create the course sequence for performing/fine arts, building off VAC and probably CAP sequencing.

There is already an online system to apply to the magnets. So they just need to program the application to let the kids rank/select the programs that interest them, and to consider them only for those in their region.

Finally, transportation. That's sticky, but again not insurmountable. Right now, MCPS runs magnet busses all over the county, and across the DCC. Multiple busses for the Poolesville program go 20+ miles. The longest bus ride in the new regions would be about 10 miles. It's a logistical challenge, but not a particularly hard one.

10-20 mile bus rides are absurd. And, what happens with after school activities for kids who have no transportation outside the school bus. How about providing the same opportunities at all schools.

There are late buses for kids in extracurricular activities.

The top students benefit from having very high performing cohorts. If we expanded the seats in the existing magnets, we could still draw talent from large pools and send the very best, but provide more kids with rigorous educations. Instead, we’re going to create 30 magnets that all draw from much smaller pools. Be careful what you wish for; we’re about to spread the talent out thin. None of these magnets will be of the same caliber as the current magnets.