Current CES class: only one kid got into a magnet MS

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s another thread about the magnet middle school. Sorry!

My child at a CES told me today that only one student in the class of 28 was accepted to a magnet MS. I understand that they’ve changed the criteria, but my question is WHY did they put these children through hours of testing if they pretty much knew they wouldn’t get in because the middle school that is their home base provides a cohort?

[Anonymous]

In the coming years parents will start to reject testing, clearly.

So sorry. this great program going to waste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s another thread about the magnet middle school. Sorry!

My child at a CES told me today that only one student in the class of 28 was accepted to a magnet MS. I understand that they’ve changed the criteria, but my question is WHY did they put these children through hours of testing if they pretty much knew they wouldn’t get in because the middle school that is their home base provides a cohort?

For the illusion of "opportunity". I say this not as a joke either. I think MCPS has to show that they are giving everyone an opportunity.

It's like this, it is like telling someone they can have this sandwich for a price and offering it to child A for $1, and offering it to child B for $1000. We can say that child B is richer and has more opportunity so should be able to afford it, but when you set the bar so high for child B, it is almost a guarantee that they won't be able to afford it.

I am not against picking the outlier. I do think it's pretty crummy that they try to give the illusion that there is reasonable opportunity. I am also of the mindset that it's cruel that MCPS presents the CES kids with an opportunity with a trade-off of leaving their home school. It is incredibly disruptive to their social life for a trade that only lasts for such a short period. Many of these kids have made real friends at the CES, and it saddens me that it will come to an end soon. If I had my choice, CES should be from 4th - 8th grade. Carry them all the way to high school, and allow for multiple entry points into the program (i.e. if a kid is a late bloomer and shows by all indicators that he excels in 5th grade rather than 4th, let him enter the program!).

[Anonymous]

Everyone who has a 99th percentile kid who got rejected has every right to be upset. You’re entitled to your opinion on whether the program is serving the population it should be serving. That’s all fine. But damn, as long as there are children benefiting from this program, even if it’s not your kid, it’s not “going to waste.”

Sometimes you deserve something - maybe you’ve even earned it - and for whatever reason, you still don’t get it, and someone less deserving (in your opinion) does. Learning how to deal with adversity and disappointment, how to be resilient and persevere, is a great lesson, so your child is still getting something out of this.

[Anonymous]

Your kid started CES under the old application system, so it is a harder thing I think because you didn't choose CES knowing it would only be for 2 years and back to home MS. At least now that is more the expectation, and so people who think their kid will really suffer socially from being gone those 2 years can opt out of CES. Also, there is more incentive to try to maintain at least some home school friendships over the 2 years of CES.

Personally I am more concerned about whether the MS magnet kids generally get to continue to the HS program or whether this is going to happen again at the 9th grade transition. I went to a magnet MS and then back to my home HS and it sucked. I only lasted 1 semester before transferring back to the HS my MS friends were at. I was able to do that in the 90s but doubt it would be possible now.

[Anonymous]

25% of the CES kids at Drew (the CES for the NEC/Sherwood area) received a magnet admission. I know of three that were accepted to both eastern and takoma park, and that's just from the handful my kid talked to.

I agree with the other poster who said it would be great if CES went from 4th-8th grade. It is sad to break up all the new friendships after only two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s another thread about the magnet middle school. Sorry!

My child at a CES told me today that only one student in the class of 28 was accepted to a magnet MS. I understand that they’ve changed the criteria, but my question is WHY did they put these children through hours of testing if they pretty much knew they wouldn’t get in because the middle school that is their home base provides a cohort?

OP, if you don't mind sharing, what CES is your child in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:25% of the CES kids at Drew (the CES for the NEC/Sherwood area) received a magnet admission. I know of three that were accepted to both eastern and takoma park, and that's just from the handful my kid talked to.

I agree with the other poster who said it would be great if CES went from 4th-8th grade. It is sad to break up all the new friendships after only two years.

NP here. The Drew kids came into the CES under the test of the new CES admissions process. That process is pretty much the same as the current process for MS magnet admissions. It makes sense to me that more of those kids fit the current MS admissions process. The Drew kids came from a universal assessments process. The kids from the (so far according to dcum poster) CES having only 1 student invited to MS magnet this year probably got into CES through the parent initiated application process. That process had approx 800 applicants vs the 11000 or so that are reviewed for CES under current system (of whom maybe approx. 4000 test?).

[Anonymous]

My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

You really think that the previous system of considering only those who applied was the way to "pick the best candidates"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

Is a high performing student who spent the summer in magnet test prep courses funded by his/her professor parents a better candidate than an almost as high performing student with a single parent and no test prep? The best candidate, imho, will always be the one who has done the most with the least. It's not simply test scores - though maybe you didn't mean that?

[Anonymous]

Many of us have ancestors who survived the Cultural Revolution in China or the Communist revolution and its aftermath in Russia. We are all too familiar what it means to live in a society where your career prospects depend on how Jewish you look or whether your parents are too educated to be trustworthy in a new social order.

This is nothing in comparison. Our ancestors survived, and our children's careers and futures will somehow survive. But yea, don't bother with your propaganda.

[Anonymous]

Op here, my child is currently at Barnsley and will go to Tilden MS. A pp is spot on that they gave us the illusion that it was a possibility. It was a big deal to pull our child from the home school and make the trek to Barnsley for the conferences and back to school nights and social events to now have to break up with all the friends my dc has made. I do wish the system was different. In FCpS their high gifted centers go from 3rd to 6th grade—4 years makes so much more sense than just two.

I’m not upset that my dc isn’t going to a middle school magnet, I’m just annoyed that the whole process of testing and rejection was basically a ruse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of us have ancestors who survived the Cultural Revolution in China or the Communist revolution and its aftermath in Russia. We are all too familiar what it means to live in a society where your career prospects depend on how Jewish you look or whether your parents are too educated to be trustworthy in a new social order.

This is nothing in comparison. Our ancestors survived, and our children's careers and futures will somehow survive. But yea, don't bother with your propaganda.

Glad you learned not to step on anyone on your way up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here, my child is currently at Barnsley and will go to Tilden MS. A pp is spot on that they gave us the illusion that it was a possibility. It was a big deal to pull our child from the home school and make the trek to Barnsley for the conferences and back to school nights and social events to now have to break up with all the friends my dc has made. I do wish the system was different. In FCpS their high gifted centers go from 3rd to 6th grade—4 years makes so much more sense than just two.

I’m not upset that my dc isn’t going to a middle school magnet, I’m just annoyed that the whole process of testing and rejection was basically a ruse.

In FCPS they have 20% of the kids in AAP. There isn't anyway to have universal testing except to invite all to test. I expect fewer will bother to test in future years.