Regional model - which programs in which schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

+100

[Anonymous]

Northwood’s new building was designed based on Northwood’s having an academy for musical theater and dance. It’s actually a big part of the design.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do regions 1 and 6 separate theatre and music? There are so many kids who do both and school musicals benefit from having strong musicians in the school.

+1

Are they gonna fix this? The arts should be at one school.

I really hope not, because Einstein actually got the visual arts and the music magnet in this iteration, which it really, really should. In the first iteration Northwood was given all the performing arts magnets. They split them up to try to assuage all the complaints.

Then they should just put theater and dance at Einstein too and place all of the engineering programs at Northwood. Splitting each in half is spreading the peanut butter too thin.

This would be nice to have Engineering or Stem or preferably both at Northwood as its far easier for the families to get between these two schools than other schools. One needs to be academic. Northwood is probably a better choice depending on their leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

It would be naive to think that they didn’t want to ensure their strongest rated schools in the county didn’t stay strong while damping the outrage an influx kids chasing the Joneses would have on the inbound locals. By making certain programs merit based for kids resourced enough to make he trek, it limits the county’s downside. Your priorities aren’t an all encompassing standard people must operate to and your willingness to submarine other schools for token improvements to your own makes them easy to ignore…. Which they were

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

Hi, minimal middle class local pop parent here. Blair has a solid reputation in our area. I hear that you are saying it’s because we currently import kids from elsewhere. The locals don’t think about it this way. I am super bummed that IB and Humanities are at schools that are quite far from us. The incentives to send our kids that far would have to be quite compelling, and it wouldn’t be because we were keen to escape to greener pastures.

We are a highly educated family and I don’t think we’re unusual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

QO parent here. My eldest is going to Poolesville and it's great for them, but the youngest one is probably going to QO.

I was initially annoyed that QO got sent to Region 5 vs. Region 6, but honestly, I've made my peace with it. Poolesville is far for any after-school activities and requires us to drive our kid to the bus stop. Going for an event at the school is an hour long round trip.

QO is a good school with plenty of APs and many local pathways and should be good enough to prepare them for college and beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

+1 Not even USA middle-class, but tons of "DCUM middle class" (e.g. HHI >$200k, graduate degrees, >$700k houses) zoned for Einstein, Northwood, and Blair. Do people see 40% FARMS rates and assume the other 60% are near-poverty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

You can easily fill Blair with kids from the region but not all smart kids want to go. $200k is not middle class and some families make way more than that. You clearly don’t know parts of the dcc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northwood’s new building was designed based on Northwood’s having an academy for musical theater and dance. It’s actually a big part of the design.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do regions 1 and 6 separate theatre and music? There are so many kids who do both and school musicals benefit from having strong musicians in the school.

+1

Are they gonna fix this? The arts should be at one school.

I really hope not, because Einstein actually got the visual arts and the music magnet in this iteration, which it really, really should. In the first iteration Northwood was given all the performing arts magnets. They split them up to try to assuage all the complaints.

Then they should just put theater and dance at Einstein too and place all of the engineering programs at Northwood. Splitting each in half is spreading the peanut butter too thin.

This would be nice to have Engineering or Stem or preferably both at Northwood as its far easier for the families to get between these two schools than other schools. One needs to be academic. Northwood is probably a better choice depending on their leadership.

These programs are silly in reality and all schools should have strong arts and stem. Einstein is set up to fail without advanced classes and reduced population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

There is a huge misunderstanding about SMCS curriculum. The entire junior and senior years are designed to take only advanced STEM electives to get to learn one or two majors really in-depth and in-breadth, and all these advanced STEM electives require at least finishing Calc BC or MVC/DE in order to just understand the course content (or for biology or chemistry related electives, finishing AP bio or AP chem with a solid test score is some minimal entry level requirement). Tell me how you fill the seats with Blair-only students that usually won't take AP STEM courses until junior or senior year? What makes SMCS unique then?

SMCS curriculum is not designed to fit the needs from the top 10%. The new enrollment demographic will make it a re-branded AP-Stem program in every sense, and the top 1% will loose the opportunity to access the electives forever. This is not a huge loss for W-schools or region 4: they will find plenty supplement resource. Not the case for other schools, including Blair.

My DC who is in Blair SMCS told me this story: one day they wanted to take a bathroom break during class period. They went one bathroom and found kids making out; heading to another one and found the same thing. So they went downstairs for another bathroom full of weed smell. It took a long detour to find the 4th one that is usable. This is a normal Blair day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

You can easily fill Blair with kids from the region but not all smart kids want to go. $200k is not middle class and some families make way more than that. You clearly don’t know parts of the dcc.

I think of the DCC I think of schools like Eastern which is like 2/3rd FARMS (and half of Blair) and other 1/3 I suspect not many break that 200K very often. Sure there a few neighborhood like Forest Glenn, woodside, Silgo Park Hills, Parts of Takoma where dual professionals are more common but those are small enclaves in a sea of other. You're quick to tout the benefits of these bucolic, well resourced and educated areas and their impact on the local school's culture even when in the minority but yet you dismiss what happens when the entire boundary of a school is comprised of similar if not more affluent and educated families. You can fill any program with any kids but right now most of the magnet kids are imported and you have all of the consortium thinking it is the best choice. That all changes day 1 of the new model and If you don't think local perceptions will change when the brain drain occurs and instead of coming in kids (the good students) start opting out to better schools and merit programs, well i hope you share your Kool-Aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

You can easily fill Blair with kids from the region but not all smart kids want to go. $200k is not middle class and some families make way more than that. You clearly don’t know parts of the dcc.

I think of the DCC I think of schools like Eastern which is like 2/3rd FARMS (and half of Blair) and other 1/3 I suspect not many break that 200K very often. Sure there a few neighborhood like Forest Glenn, woodside, Silgo Park Hills, Parts of Takoma where dual professionals are more common but those are small enclaves in a sea of other. You're quick to tout the benefits of these bucolic, well resourced and educated areas and their impact on the local school's culture even when in the minority but yet you dismiss what happens when the entire boundary of a school is comprised of similar if not more affluent and educated families. You can fill any program with any kids but right now most of the magnet kids are imported and you have all of the consortium thinking it is the best choice. That all changes day 1 of the new model and If you don't think local perceptions will change when the brain drain occurs and instead of coming in kids (the good students) start opting out to better schools and merit programs, well i hope you share your Kool-Aid

Why are you like this.

Are you from here? My neighbors and slightly further away neighbors are happy with Blair, Einstein, excited for the new Northwood, like the magnets at Eastern and Takoma Park, thrilled at SCES and Sligo Middle School. I actually know Woodlin people who were relieved not to get recommended for BCC because they prefer Einstein. Who are you and where are you that you have this perspective?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

You can easily fill Blair with kids from the region but not all smart kids want to go. $200k is not middle class and some families make way more than that. You clearly don’t know parts of the dcc.

I think of the DCC I think of schools like Eastern which is like 2/3rd FARMS (and half of Blair) and other 1/3 I suspect not many break that 200K very often. Sure there a few neighborhood like Forest Glenn, woodside, Silgo Park Hills, Parts of Takoma where dual professionals are more common but those are small enclaves in a sea of other. You're quick to tout the benefits of these bucolic, well resourced and educated areas and their impact on the local school's culture even when in the minority but yet you dismiss what happens when the entire boundary of a school is comprised of similar if not more affluent and educated families. You can fill any program with any kids but right now most of the magnet kids are imported and you have all of the consortium thinking it is the best choice. That all changes day 1 of the new model and If you don't think local perceptions will change when the brain drain occurs and instead of coming in kids (the good students) start opting out to better schools and merit programs, well i hope you share your Kool-Aid

Also is that some kind of knock that you don’t think many families here break 200k? I have no idea whether that’s true and I’m not sure why that’s the metric for decent family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don’t like for region 1 is putting humanities at Whitman. I would really like to see this at Einstein or Northwood, and I don’t care which. My DCC kids could apply to IB at BCC but that’s still the second furthest option. I don’t see why Whitman needs a major draw magnet.

Neither BCC nor Whitman need magnets. They already have all the advanced classwork in their schools that they need. We know this because vanishingly few kids from these schools go to RMIB or Blair SMCS.

Obviously, these schools will attract high-performing kids from Einstein and Northwood (and maybe Blair) who have access to transportation from their parents. It won't go the other way around. BCC students and definitely not Whitman students will definitely NOT be traveling to Einstein, Northwood or Blair. This is how you create inequity. You try to make everything uniform, the same for everyone, but you ignore how these schools, including their course offerings, and the populations they serve are very different, and so trying to give everyone the same thing means giving more opportunities to the wealthiest students.

Yes, exactly.  The program analysis team admitted they did not consider equity in where programs were placed, and it shows. They seemed confused at the idea that anyone would have expected them to.  They really do not understand equity at all, and just use it as a buzzword.

And to the other poster who said "if Whitman doesn't have magnets, no one from out of boundaries will get to go to Whitman"... you can still give Whitman interest-based programs that allow out of boundary kids to go to Whitman if they really want.  The languages magnet seems fine to me-- Whitman offers more languages than other schools, let kids from other schools take advantage of Whitman language classes if they really want them. Their interest-based LASJ program also seems fine to me as an acceptable generic "I want my kid at Whitman, here's a way to do it" option.  

However, criteria-based academic magnets drawing top students are a totally different ballgame.  They increase the number of advanced students and advanced classes at schools, which can be really important and valuable for schools that struggle with that otherwise.  Giving a program like that to Whitman not only gives this benefit to a school that does not at all need it rather than to a school like Northwood that would have gained a lot from it, but actually actively hurt other schools by decreasing the number of advanced students in-bounds who stay. 

(It's also just offensive that Whitman kids will get a leg up in admissions to the humanities program because they will have a local set-aside that gives them a disproportionate share of slots.)

I'm not sure how this would really work for Region 5 - Currently we have Watkins Mill, Gaithersburg HS and Magruder and QO in Region 5. As a QO parent we would rather send our advanced kid to QO and just take AP courses rather than going to Gaithersburg HS which does not have a good rep and because the magnet will most likely be diluted with no strong cohorts for Region 5. I'm sure there will be other parents from QO who think the same.

It sucks because we had access to Poolesville before but now our kid who has no inclination to do anything in the medical field has to go to Gaithersburg or Watkins Mill for the advanced courses they are interested in and we want our kid in a learning environment not in schools with the worst reputations upcounty.

Just stay at QO. My DD is at Blair but if she was a bit younger she would not be attending a magnet. Even Blair won't be Blalr anymore. I predict many of these magnets will fail and at some point we will be back to a few strong ones.

Nothing will change at Blair. It will be fine.

Except 2/3rd of the gifted kids being imported in for the magnet won’t come and the special teachers will have options to go head new programs. The minimal middle class local pop will find it’s self applying to the two better schools it finds it’s self clustered with as it will no longer be the best of the DCC but in the bottom half of its new group. This too will cause a brain drain as motivated kids no longer seek it.

Without the influx Blair’s scores will fall and it will revert to being a high school version of eastern which it natively is.

You don't know much about this area, do you? There are tons of middle class families in the Blair/Northwood/Einstein area (the difference is that there are fewer upper-class families and more poor and working-class families than west of here, not that there's not many middle class families.) We don't need Blair to have a super-advanced program with the top 1% of kids in it to keep liking it-- it's popular largely because it's a good school, not because the SMCS kids are brilliant. And most of us don't want to go to Whitman or BCC, especially Whitman. Yes, Blair SMCS will change from being a super-elite program to "just" a strong program for smart kids, but we have plenty of smart kids in this area and most of us just don't care about it being an elite program as much as the parents from W schools do.

There is a huge misunderstanding about SMCS curriculum. The entire junior and senior years are designed to take only advanced STEM electives to get to learn one or two majors really in-depth and in-breadth, and all these advanced STEM electives require at least finishing Calc BC or MVC/DE in order to just understand the course content (or for biology or chemistry related electives, finishing AP bio or AP chem with a solid test score is some minimal entry level requirement). Tell me how you fill the seats with Blair-only students that usually won't take AP STEM courses until junior or senior year? What makes SMCS unique then?

SMCS curriculum is not designed to fit the needs from the top 10%. The new enrollment demographic will make it a re-branded AP-Stem program in every sense, and the top 1% will loose the opportunity to access the electives forever. This is not a huge loss for W-schools or region 4: they will find plenty supplement resource. Not the case for other schools, including Blair.

My DC who is in Blair SMCS told me this story: one day they wanted to take a bathroom break during class period. They went one bathroom and found kids making out; heading to another one and found the same thing. So they went downstairs for another bathroom full of weed smell. It took a long detour to find the 4th one that is usable. This is a normal Blair day.

Oh come on! I have a Blair magnet kid and I question whether you do. My kid, a junior, and clearly one of the stronger students on many criteria, is also a local kid who would have gone to Blair regardless - there are many other similar kids. What you are claiming is nonsense. Blair magnet kids do not take AP biology or AP chem in 9th or 10th and the vast majority take AP calculus bc in 11th (though they finish the course first semester). If the kids who attend the magnet are Blair only kids, they will follow the same curriculum.