Deciding between magnets
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Anonymous
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Based on real experience since I had a nephew in the RMIB program. Its a wonderful program with great kids, but the home work in the RMIB program is staggering, as is the home work at the most "rigorous" of the private schools. Its just too much to allow teens time to socialize and sleep enough in my opinion. If you are interested read the new book by the author of "Race to Nowhere"
In terms of the diversity issue, magnet programs in middle school in MCPS are almost entirely while and Asian. Not sure about high school because we opted out for private in high school. If you are black or Latino you do not have much of a peer group, and the programs are set up so that it is hard for magnet kids to spend time with kids not in the magnet. The top private school my DC now attends is 40 percent minority, mostly AA and Latino so he has many peers. The school also have a very active club for minority kids (actually anyone can join), which provides a forum for high achieving Latino and black kids to discuss issues that they confront frequently. He is much happier socially and feels supported at his new school. |
Anonymous
| make that WHITE not while |
Anonymous
Yes, RMIB offer shadowing today, tomorrow, and Thursday (surely for accepted IB kids, not sure about wait listed). If you missed yesterday information night's sign up, you can e-mail Ms Hoover and schedule one. |
Anonymous
I know I'm going to sound like a racist but I am really curious. Can a diverse group of kids like that can keep up with the workload equivalent of MCPS magnets? MCPS MS/HS magnets are very diverse as you said for a reason, right? |
Anonymous
The STEM magnets are overwhelmingly Asian and very small number of white, black and Hispanic. Saying its "white and Asian" was 10 years ago. |
Anonymous
| Anyone changed his/her mind (one or other) after the acceptance parents/kids meeting at RM yesterday? |
Anonymous
| Yes some minority kids are just as bright as white or Asian magnet kids. But some supposed objective tests used by MCPS are culturally biased so if test scores are heavily weighted in the admission process they can eliminate some qualified minority applicants. My child was admitted, but several of his minority friends were not and ended up doing very exceptionally well academically in high school. My son is now a senior at what is called a "Big 3" private school in DC. This school routinely sends 10 or more black and Latino students to Ivies every year and many more to top ranked non Ivy colleges. There are plenty of gifted minority students, some are from wealthy two professional families who pay full tuition at privates, and others like my DC receive financial aid. Even if my child were white I would worry about the learning environment within the MCPS magnets because I do not believe a racially segregated "school within a school" offers a diverse enough environment to maximize learning. That is why we chose private. It is ironic because the magnets at Takoma and Eastern were originally set up to lure white kids down county because the neighborhoods where those schools are located were largely black at the time. |
Anonymous
| Was RM's shadowing big groups like the last 3 years? Blair's is 1 on 1 shadowing, a much better representation- I know, I've been to RM's times |
Anonymous
it was moved to this past monday |
Anonymous
It was not as good as Blair's (again) but they did get the power point going. We will not decide until after RM shadow tomorrow. Can't judge the whole program on the coordinator... |
Anonymous
DS is picking Blair SMAC over RMIB. He thinks the classes will be interesting, the teachers seem passionate about their subjects, the high school seems very well run and the work load does not seem as intense. I think these are all great reasons. |
Anonymous
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I have a child that went thru Eastern and is now at RMIB.
On RM: DC was accepted at CAP and RM, but the CAP program is not as academically rigorous as we (the parents) would have liked. We have an excellent home school, with IB, but we (the parents) decided that RM would be best. DC was not happy and the first year was really rough. Now DC realizes why RM is the right school for DC, recognizes that the home school would not have been the right place for DC and is adjusted to being at RM. There is a lot of work, but the teachers, and Ms. Hoover, are very good, and it is worth it. I am not the only parent who thinks that an 8th grader should decide where to go for high school. Others I know have stepped in and made the decision for the child, and the child ended up really flourishing at RM. I think the decision of where to go to high school is too important to be left to a 14 year old, who may not have the big picture in mind. On Eastern: DC was accepted at Eastern and Takoma, but DC's interests were emphasized at Eastern. DC Flourished at Eastern, and had many opportunities that my other DC who is at the home middle school does not have. The education and teachers at Eastern were very good although the current magnet coordinators first year was a bit rough. Overall, we are happy with the education my older DC has gotten thru the magnet programs, but these are individual choices to be made by each family, based on the child's interests and the family's ability to support the child. |
Anonymous
+1. Probably the best decision we made in terms of kid's education. |
Anonymous
Has anyone shadowed yet? DS can't make it to the shadow sessions this week and we could not get a sense of what the classes are like from the info meeting - there was a lot of talk about the IB exams and where the kids end up going to college. Would love to hear from families who have shadowed especially if your child also shadowed at Blair SMAC. TIA |
Anonymous
| PP..I will report back tomorrow afternoon on RM. Shadow at Blair went well. Enjoyed the clasees..kids were friendly. |