Middle school magnet waitlist

[Anonymous]

That is sixth grade? Sixth grade is watershed, human impacts on the environment, matter and energy

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Just to be clear, if there are 137 seats, they are only adding 25 (about one extra class). Eastern had 112 seats before. Also, I have heard a lot of people are getting both offers. It is starting to look intentional on MCPS’s part. Maybe to make to make the waitpool more predictable. You have to decline the other offer so there’s less likelihood of last minute changes, eg if your child really wanted STEM but got into Humanities first.

Oh wow. That makes a lot of sense.

So maybe there are 3 pulls - kids who are in both lotteries, and kids who are in one lottery only.

NP. My DC also got invites to both EMS (on Wed.) and TPMS (yesterday). DC feels torn having to choose one over the other, or neither.

Oops, I meant Tue. for EMS invite.

DP - I know these things can happen, but I think it’s utter BS that kids can “win” both lotteries, when so many don’t even get one. That just sucks. Many kids, including my DD, were entered in both lotteries and selected from neither. That multiple people can be selected from both really needs to stop.

I see what you are saying. I think it's better for the kids who are picked because they get to choose and better for MCPS because the lottery goes faster and less kids moving from one program to another but worse for the kids who are not picked and possibly worst for those only in one pool. Anyone good at math?

There is no way all these kids getting 2 choices is random. Either MCPS is making a mistake in how they are doing the lottery or they are purposely letting kids who are in both pools choose. If the probability for certain groups is reduced by this change MCPS needs to explain why they did it.

It definitely doesn’t seem random or statistically plausible. They must have switched up the process. Obviously a lot of people were turning the spots down. Rather than offer both spots with a super short deadline, maybe they should, you know, ask families of qualified students if they’re even interested in joining the lottery?

PP who protested about the double lottery winners - yes, the bolded, exactly! My DD is in both lotteries, but has zero interest in Eastern. If they had *asked us* we would have told them to only put us in the TPMS lottery. Probably many families have a preference. Much as I don’t love forcing kids to be overly specialized at a young age, if they’re going to have these programs and these lotteries, they should limit each kid to one or the other. It wouldn’t be a hard change to make, but it would improve the process.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:^^ And to be clear, it was confirmed by the Takoma magnet coordinator. There is still a benefit of being in the magnet program to be cohosted together, but the curriculum is not different for science (though it is different for math and computer science).

Huh? There was nothing about this during the admitted students presentation.

In the presentation, the magnet coordinator said they use the new MCPS curriculum but Takoma magnet kids do all of it and not all the other schools do.

TPMS magnet math for example includes set theory and covers fields. Didn't realize these topics were part of the MCPS curriculum.

And they go more in depth in all stem subjects,

It is only the science class that uses MCPS curriculm. The math and computer science are still their own curriculum. And for science, it is only 6th grade this year that is using it, because MCPS has not yet rolled out the new curriculum to 7th and 8th grades.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the science curriculum that is the same. Which doesn’t mean TPMS isn’t going deeper into the topics but it’s the same curriculum. Math and compsci are different. If you have a sixth grader in the magnet program, can you tell us how it differs? Is it just the discussion? More labs? Now that they don’t do science fair it is hard to compare curricula.

I don't pay close attention, but I have seen what appears to be organic chem on my magnet kid's screen. I doubt they're going that deep but was still kind of a surprise.

organic chem for TP magnet? That's beyond impressive.

[Anonymous]

Is the lottery still moving ? I heard in my local ES so many kids are getting invite for Easton MS. I’m wondering whether it’s really lottery based or is there anything more to it ? Can any one explain ? Thanks

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the science curriculum that is the same. Which doesn’t mean TPMS isn’t going deeper into the topics but it’s the same curriculum. Math and compsci are different. If you have a sixth grader in the magnet program, can you tell us how it differs? Is it just the discussion? More labs? Now that they don’t do science fair it is hard to compare curricula.

I don't pay close attention, but I have seen what appears to be organic chem on my magnet kid's screen. I doubt they're going that deep but was still kind of a surprise.

organic chem for TP magnet? That's beyond impressive.

It's normal for middle school. It's not a whole college semester.

https://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/evidence_statement/black_white/MS-LS1-7%20Evidence%20Statements%20June%202015%20asterisks.pdf

https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-life-science-2.0/section/2.2/primary/lesson/organic-compounds-ms-ls/

https://study.com/academy/topic/organic-chemistry-overview.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the lottery still moving ? I heard in my local ES so many kids are getting invite for Easton MS. I’m wondering whether it’s really lottery based or is there anything more to it ? Can any one explain ? Thanks [/quote

[Anonymous]

I really dislike this new process where they identify a lot of kids who "need" enrichment and then randomly select from it. They really should be pulling the kids who need the enrichment the most like they used to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really dislike this new process where they identify a lot of kids who "need" enrichment and then randomly select from it. They really should be pulling the kids who need the enrichment the most like they used to do.

They should pull (or push teaching in) all the kids who need enrichment. The lottery system is a direct confession that they are either refusing students they deem qualified, or are doing an experiment on kids who don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the lottery still moving ? I heard in my local ES so many kids are getting invite for Easton MS. I’m wondering whether it’s really lottery based or is there anything more to it ? Can any one explain ? Thanks

There was a lottery pull just before spring break that included slots opened up following the first round of waitlist lottery offers in early March. Not sure if there will be another big round of offers at this point, but I assume some kids will continue to drop out as fall gets closer and they change their mind (long commute, etc.). Supposedly, even when it's just a single slot, it's filled via the lottery. But if you want to find that our for sure, you can contact DCCAPS. I have reached out to them with process questions and they are responsive by phone and email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the lottery still moving ? I heard in my local ES so many kids are getting invite for Easton MS. I’m wondering whether it’s really lottery based or is there anything more to it ? Can any one explain ? Thanks

I know a kid who had said yes to Eastern but recently changed their mind for home school.