Best HS Math Magnet Program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair accelerates the math by combining classes to speed it up. That may not be great for all kids.

I suspect that in practice it is a tacit acknowledgement that some kids, who didn't go to WPES or Frost MS, ended up learning Algebra 2 on their own, and so can handle the 1-Yr Algebra 2 + Precalculus "Functions" class.
Similarly for kids who didn't take Geometry in MS, but succeeded with double math in 9th because they actually learned Geometry at home.

What is WPES

Wealthy Potomac ES. A mythical place where they get algebra 1 in 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair accelerates the math by combining classes to speed it up. That may not be great for all kids.

I suspect that in practice it is a tacit acknowledgement that some kids, who didn't go to WPES or Frost MS, ended up learning Algebra 2 on their own, and so can handle the 1-Yr Algebra 2 + Precalculus "Functions" class.
Similarly for kids who didn't take Geometry in MS, but succeeded with double math in 9th because they actually learned Geometry at home.

What is WPES

Wealthy Potomac ES. A mythical place where they get algebra 1 in 5th grade.

And not so mythical place where kids many take AIM in 5th!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair offers through MultiVariable calculus, plus some electives like linear algebra (you can see in their course bulletin.) If Blair is your base school, you can make it first choice and will get in. Even if you aren't in the SMCS program, you can still access the highest math classes.

RMHS also offers through MVC and the IB HL math class covers a lot of advanced topics similar to Blair electives. You can either apply to the magnet program for 9th grade, or if RM is your home school you can join the diploma program in 11th.

The W schools may offer math beyond BC Calculus, but they won't have the concentration of top math students that Blair and RM have due to the magnets.

Many HSs offer MV Calculus.

If You select a rental in Blair, RM or Poolesville, your DC can sign up for any magnet class. No need to be accepted into the magnet, in case you move here after magnet test. I heard there are also kids tested in before summer because they moved to MC in the summer. Anything is possible but you need to contact the school.

This is only somewhat true. At RM you can take some IB electives if you are not in the IB program but not core classes. At Blair you can take some classes if you have the prereqs and there is space after the magnet kids have registered. You can not take the freshman and sophomore math/science curriculum.

Also please be aware that most colleges do not care at all about random IB courses. The IB diploma is a big deal but random courses and not getting the diploma means nothing. Better off taking AP courses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair offers through MultiVariable calculus, plus some electives like linear algebra (you can see in their course bulletin.) If Blair is your base school, you can make it first choice and will get in. Even if you aren't in the SMCS program, you can still access the highest math classes.

RMHS also offers through MVC and the IB HL math class covers a lot of advanced topics similar to Blair electives. You can either apply to the magnet program for 9th grade, or if RM is your home school you can join the diploma program in 11th.

The W schools may offer math beyond BC Calculus, but they won't have the concentration of top math students that Blair and RM have due to the magnets.

Many HSs offer MV Calculus.

If You select a rental in Blair, RM or Poolesville, your DC can sign up for any magnet class. No need to be accepted into the magnet, in case you move here after magnet test. I heard there are also kids tested in before summer because they moved to MC in the summer. Anything is possible but you need to contact the school.

This is only somewhat true. At RM you can take some IB electives if you are not in the IB program but not core classes. At Blair you can take some classes if you have the prereqs and there is space after the magnet kids have registered. You can not take the freshman and sophomore math/science curriculum.

Also please be aware that most colleges do not care at all about random IB courses. The IB diploma is a big deal but random courses and not getting the diploma means nothing. Better off taking AP courses

Colleges would weigh a random IB course like an AP. Honors courses however they'd likely disregard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a 4 year old thread.

Noting for the record that FOUR YEARS AGO folks were claiming that changes were coming to high school admissions, based on rumours, and that change never arrived.

Luckily it was not, because magnet MS programs have been destroyed significantly (checking back next year for math/national history/short documentary/science bowl competition results because next year the entire MS magnet program will be consists of lottery kids). CES stays less harmed because of the relative homogeneity of the catchment area.

For what it is worth, people claimed universal screening and localized norming was going to destroy the magnets as well. TPMS did very well this year in math competitions, while Eastern MS had the highest number of C-SPAN winners in years. https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/easternms/news-index/easterns-2023-c-span-studentcam-winners/

Weren't the current TPMS and Eastern 8th graders pre-lottery and universally screened? Doesn't this make the opposite argument that this is the most competitive year ever?

Here is someone on page 2 of this very thread talking about how the kids accepted through universal screening were ruining the magnets: "it's only a matter of time before the lower magnets are filled with lesser students and the higher level’s pool of applicants is watered down and the shinny gone"

That's the tenor of discussion back in 2019 about the very kids who are now doing very well in all the metrics DCUM seems to care about (national competitions, high school admissions).

If the current crop of kids is better than the "sky is falling" crowd claimed it would be, maybe we shouldn't listen to them about the lottery either.

There are plenty of top lottery kids, just not as many as before since random selection isn't ideal. IMO the best they could do is expand these programs to include more of these kids but ditch the lottery to ensure the students who need this most aren't missed because of randomness.

[Anonymous]

Not the same thing. The lower performing students in the universal screening cohort were probably very few and the 99th percentile higher performers probably outnumbered them by a lot.

In the lottery just by virtue of how numbers work a large percentage of the class is going to be an 80th-95th percentile kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not the same thing. The lower performing students in the universal screening cohort were probably very few and the 99th percentile higher performers probably outnumbered them by a lot.

In the lottery just by virtue of how numbers work a large percentage of the class is going to be an 80th-95th percentile kid.

I'm the PP and I actually agree it's not the same. However, you can't deny a huge "Chicken Little" contingent that predicted the total collapse of the magnet system based on universal screening and peer cohort.

In fact, there's an argument to be made that the move to a lottery system was catalyzed by the lawsuit that some excitable Potomac pre-K parents filed over universal screening.