Blair SMCS Program October 23 info session

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the 4 schools?

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf

That's post-pandemic

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wooton, WJ, Blair and other DCC schools. Some but not a lot from Churchill.
Very few from Whitman and BCC as others noted.

Churchill has the second highest at 77 after Wootton’s 105. WJ and Blair are distant 3rd and 4th.

Where is this data?

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://us-east1-menlo-inspect.menlosecurity.com/safeview-fileserv/tc_download/2aae7c3a79e628ba27c64773ff6fb5d89c88f7c7ec304b65405cbd60ea3d2309/?&cid=NB13E88EC8B89&rid=9f85e389f4d575cc7550437afd715a74&cl=od_menlo_2c&file_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.boarddocs.com%2Fmabe%2Fmcpsmd%2FBoard.nsf%2Ffiles%2FDJVQ56678E2B%2F%24file%2FAttachment%2520D%2520SY2025%2520Student%2520Enrollment%2520Countywide%2520Programs%2520250724.pdf&type=original

Uninstall Adobe Acrobat. It's junk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the 4 schools?

I know three are Blair, Wootton, and Churchill. It was in some slides presented at one of the BOE meetings. I don’t know the fourth.

It’s not like Wootton and Churchill are the closest schools to Blair, suggesting proximity isn’t the main driver of who utilizes the program.

Ah someone posted the data above. The fourth is WJ.

Yet Whitman and BCC are further away and send relatively few kids to the program. BCC and Whitman have more NMSF than the above schools, so it's hard to argue that they're lacking in talent there.

The schools above send many of their MMSF to Blair which is why Blair is typically so well represented. Even saying Blair (which is the biggest high school in the county) is one of the biggest feeders to SMCS is disingenuous. Even with the leg up of anchored slots in the middle school magnets for Takoma Park that feed SMCS, Blair only sends a small group of kids every year (less than 10) per grade (Out of a freshman class of almost 1000) out of the 110 magnet admissions per grade. Hell the county most likely bumped it up from 100 to get the couple of local kids in. Truth is 261 kids from the 5 Ws take up 60% of the total slots and the other 12 High schools only manage 40% combined. That 60/40 split doesn't even take into account it isn't prioritized or pushed at BCC and Whitman where the need to hunt for peer group is minimal and money provides way more access to colleges than any course load in a public school will ever hope to.

Truth is that without that influx of talent into Blair it will fall precipitously in standing and test scores in the new reginal model

The special Blair curriculum does not exist to give kids good PSAT scores. Parents provide their kids test prep independently of school offerings, just as many parents put their kids in MAP test prep to get into Blair.

760 Math before they even enter 9th grade, and 730 verbal definitely isn't coming from listening to audiobooks in English class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the 4 schools?

I know three are Blair, Wootton, and Churchill. It was in some slides presented at one of the BOE meetings. I don’t know the fourth.

It’s not like Wootton and Churchill are the closest schools to Blair, suggesting proximity isn’t the main driver of who utilizes the program.

Ah someone posted the data above. The fourth is WJ.

Yet Whitman and BCC are further away and send relatively few kids to the program. BCC and Whitman have more NMSF than the above schools, so it's hard to argue that they're lacking in talent there.

The schools above send many of their MMSF to Blair which is why Blair is typically so well represented. Even saying Blair (which is the biggest high school in the county) is one of the biggest feeders to SMCS is disingenuous. Even with the leg up of anchored slots in the middle school magnets for Takoma Park that feed SMCS, Blair only sends a small group of kids every year (less than 10) per grade (Out of a freshman class of almost 1000) out of the 110 magnet admissions per grade. Hell the county most likely bumped it up from 100 to get the couple of local kids in. Truth is 261 kids from the 5 Ws take up 60% of the total slots and the other 12 High schools only manage 40% combined. That 60/40 split doesn't even take into account it isn't prioritized or pushed at BCC and Whitman where the need to hunt for peer group is minimal and money provides way more access to colleges than any course load in a public school will ever hope to.

Truth is that without that influx of talent into Blair it will fall precipitously in standing and test scores in the new reginal model

The special Blair curriculum does not exist to give kids good PSAT scores. Parents provide their kids test prep independently of school offerings, just as many parents put their kids in MAP test prep to get into Blair.

760 Math before they even enter 9th grade, and 730 verbal definitely isn't coming from listening to audiobooks in English class.

What evidence do you have that all these Blair students took the PSAT before 9th grade and got those scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

What additional content do you want to know? There are parents on this forum who may be able to help, unless you’re wondering about stuff like potential changes due to the regional programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

What additional content do you want to know? There are parents on this forum who may be able to help, unless you’re wondering about stuff like potential changes due to the regional programs.

As a parent of a SMCS junior, I can't answer if all the upper-level electives are going to remain selectable for next year's new students. I bet Mr. O doesn't know either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

What additional content do you want to know? There are parents on this forum who may be able to help, unless you’re wondering about stuff like potential changes due to the regional programs.

As a parent of a SMCS junior, I can't answer if all the upper-level electives are going to remain selectable for next year's new students. I bet Mr. O doesn't know either.

*If* implemented as proposed, I think the answer to whether ALL of the electives will still be available would have to be definitely not, right? They've said they're making the program smaller, so that would mean fewer classes. The outstanding question is by how much will the program be shrunk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

What additional content do you want to know? There are parents on this forum who may be able to help, unless you’re wondering about stuff like potential changes due to the regional programs.

As a parent of a SMCS junior, I can't answer if all the upper-level electives are going to remain selectable for next year's new students. I bet Mr. O doesn't know either.

Can you please tell the MAP score of your child? Some say it should be in 300s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

What additional content do you want to know? There are parents on this forum who may be able to help, unless you’re wondering about stuff like potential changes due to the regional programs.

As a parent of a SMCS junior, I can't answer if all the upper-level electives are going to remain selectable for next year's new students. I bet Mr. O doesn't know either.

He said so during the presentation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

What additional content do you want to know? There are parents on this forum who may be able to help, unless you’re wondering about stuff like potential changes due to the regional programs.

As a parent of a SMCS junior, I can't answer if all the upper-level electives are going to remain selectable for next year's new students. I bet Mr. O doesn't know either.

Can you please tell the MAP score of your child? Some say it should be in 300s?

Parent of a SMCS sophomore here -- my kid had about a 270 MAP-M in 7th spring and 8th grade fall. Has been doing great overall at Blair, but math is definitely the most challenging class for my kid. Can definitely tell that their middle school background (at a not-great MCPS middle school) doesn't match what kids from other schools, especially TPMS, were exposed to . My kid also doesn't do any outside math activities or tutoring, so it makes sense that they aren't top at that class given some of the other kids in the program. But they are still doing fine in math and are really doing well in and enjoying the science and comp sci classes and they are glad to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they can't at least post the slides from *this* year's presentation.

so the person upthread posted slides from last year's Blair presentation? Sigh.

No. The person upthread shared the link that was shared at the presentation. Definitely that link, i just checked.

Yes It is this year’s presentation. Bad news is that it is fairly useless in terms of content

What additional content do you want to know? There are parents on this forum who may be able to help, unless you’re wondering about stuff like potential changes due to the regional programs.

As a parent of a SMCS junior, I can't answer if all the upper-level electives are going to remain selectable for next year's new students. I bet Mr. O doesn't know either.

Can you please tell the MAP score of your child? Some say it should be in 300s?

Parent of a SMCS sophomore here -- my kid had about a 270 MAP-M in 7th spring and 8th grade fall. Has been doing great overall at Blair, but math is definitely the most challenging class for my kid. Can definitely tell that their middle school background (at a not-great MCPS middle school) doesn't match what kids from other schools, especially TPMS, were exposed to . My kid also doesn't do any outside math activities or tutoring, so it makes sense that they aren't top at that class given some of the other kids in the program. But they are still doing fine in math and are really doing well in and enjoying the science and comp sci classes and they are glad to be there.

Thank you for your answer! My son is really into math and he is interested in Blair. Hopefully, he gets in.