Chance of possible HS magnet test/entrance requirement changes for the upcoming school year?

[Anonymous]

Curious to know if rising 8th graders should expect testing/entrance evaluation changes for the upcoming school year’s magnet application process. I wasn’t paying much attention to last year’s middle school magnet changes. Does anyone remember when those were announced? Anyone have insider information as to whether things will change this year?

TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious to know if rising 8th graders should expect testing/entrance evaluation changes for the upcoming school year’s magnet application process. I wasn’t paying much attention to last year’s middle school magnet changes. Does anyone remember when those were announced? Anyone have insider information as to whether things will change this year?

TIA

Which magnets? My understanding is that this past year was the first year that the new screening process was used to screen all 8th graders in the catchment area for the Blair magnets. I think I heard they were going to use this same process for the Poolsville magnets this coming year. Not sure when the changes to the process were announced but I am sure it was not later than September/October because when our PTA planned an October meeting about magnet programs we knew that the process was changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious to know if rising 8th graders should expect testing/entrance evaluation changes for the upcoming school year’s magnet application process. I wasn’t paying much attention to last year’s middle school magnet changes. Does anyone remember when those were announced? Anyone have insider information as to whether things will change this year?

TIA

Which magnets? My understanding is that this past year was the first year that the new screening process was used to screen all 8th graders in the catchment area for the Blair magnets. I think I heard they were going to use this same process for the Poolsville magnets this coming year. Not sure when the changes to the process were announced but I am sure it was not later than September/October because when our PTA planned an October meeting about magnet programs we knew that the process was changing.

Oh, no wait, that was for the 5th graders being screened for middle school not the 8th graders for HS. Sorry. Ignore.

[Anonymous]

they were trying to achieve more racially diverse class. it sucks if you have smart white/Asian kids.

[Anonymous]

Yes, there will be changes in HS magnet entrance requirement this year, similar to the ones that happened for rising 5th graders last year. Pay attention and kindly get more involved in the school, PTA, MCCPTA etc. These topics are being discussed in various forums.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, there will be changes in HS magnet entrance requirement this year, similar to the ones that happened for rising 5th graders last year. Pay attention and kindly get more involved in the school, PTA, MCCPTA etc. These topics are being discussed in various forums.

OP here. I am on a MS PTA but I've heard nothing.

[Anonymous]

Is PP ignorant of the process or just too lazy to post anything other than "get up to speed?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:they were trying to achieve more racially diverse class. it sucks if you have smart white/Asian kids.

Is this really something you say when face to face with people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they were trying to achieve more racially diverse class. it sucks if you have smart white/Asian kids.

Is this really something you say when face to face with people?

It does not stop being true because people struggle not to say it.

We are actively destroying MoCo magnet system. If we keep it up, in 10 years there will be no more competition to study at the magnet because there will be no value added. People with well-prepared kids will instead struggle to buy the smallest apartment districted for a decent school.

As a nation, we need to stop attacking our best public high schools under the pretext of achievement gap. The attacks won't fix the achievement gap. They will, however, result in even less upward mobility for non-legacy middle class kids whose dedication and perseverance has the best chance of maintaining our long-term economic sustainability.

The way forward is more mini-magnets or tracking in all schools starting with the earliest grades. That will make neighborhood school education competitive for a normal, often lucrative, career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they were trying to achieve more racially diverse class. it sucks if you have smart white/Asian kids.

Is this really something you say when face to face with people?

?? No but not sure why that's relevant?? There are a lot of stuff I don't say/discuss with people - sex, religion, politics...etc. It doesn't mean I don't have an opinion or my opinion is incorrect, it just means I simply don't want to engage others face-to-face.

[Anonymous]

From the mcps website, last year’s application deadline was November 3. So I would expect more info about this year’s process in Sept/October

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, there will be changes in HS magnet entrance requirement this year, similar to the ones that happened for rising 5th graders last year. Pay attention and kindly get more involved in the school, PTA, MCCPTA etc. These topics are being discussed in various forums.

OP here. I am on a MS PTA but I've heard nothing.

I'm also on a MS PTA and on a listserve for kids in MCPS gifted programs and have only heard rumors and innuendo, but no one has pointed to a plan, or a statement, or even a hint from MCPS itself that they are touching the magnet high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:they were trying to achieve more racially diverse class. it sucks if you have smart white/Asian kids.

No. It rocks if you have smart white or Asian kids and live in an integrated neighborhood, actually. The only people impacted are the people who have been claiming for years that their schools are the only ones in MCPS worth attending, because of the "peer group." Now that the kids have to go to middle school with the same peers, though, it is suddenly the gravest injustice since Jim Crow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, there will be changes in HS magnet entrance requirement this year, similar to the ones that happened for rising 5th graders last year. Pay attention and kindly get more involved in the school, PTA, MCCPTA etc. These topics are being discussed in various forums.

OP here. I am on a MS PTA but I've heard nothing.

I'm also on a MS PTA and on a listserve for kids in MCPS gifted programs and have only heard rumors and innuendo, but no one has pointed to a plan, or a statement, or even a hint from MCPS itself that they are touching the magnet high schools.

Two years ago they tested revisions to the ES process. Last year they tested revisions to the MS process. It stands to reason that this year they will test revisions to the HS process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they were trying to achieve more racially diverse class. it sucks if you have smart white/Asian kids.

Is this really something you say when face to face with people?

It does not stop being true because people struggle not to say it.

We are actively destroying MoCo magnet system. If we keep it up, in 10 years there will be no more competition to study at the magnet because there will be no value added. People with well-prepared kids will instead struggle to buy the smallest apartment districted for a decent school.

As a nation, we need to stop attacking our best public high schools under the pretext of achievement gap. The attacks won't fix the achievement gap. They will, however, result in even less upward mobility for non-legacy middle class kids whose dedication and perseverance has the best chance of maintaining our long-term economic sustainability.

The way forward is more mini-magnets or tracking in all schools starting with the earliest grades. That will make neighborhood school education competitive for a normal, often lucrative, career.

On the contrary, it does not start being true because people are willing to say it anonymously on the Internet.