feedback on Argyle Middle School Magnet Program for digital design and development

[Anonymous]

Would love to hear feedback on Argyle. We just learned that our son got a spot and trying to gather info and decide

[Anonymous]

We have friends who have sent children to Argyle for the magnet. The magnet classes are great. The student population, however, is not great. Getting the wrong teacher for a class can mean that your child is in a group that is completely out of control. Phones out, videos being watched, even chairs being thrown instead of learning. Kids are physically harmed and threatened with worse if they report it in the locker room after gym class (where there is no adult supervision). This is not an exaggeration.

[Anonymous]

Argyle has been a mess for decades. The area is heavily populated by garden style apartments and other rentals. Many of the stores across the street practically go on lockdown when the school bell rings.

I would not send my child into that school building.

[Anonymous]

I toured it as my DC is highly interested in tech and I suspect that will be his future. From my hour+ there, I agree with the PP. The focused classes are great, but there are so many hours in the rest of the day that are driven by the rest of the population -- the lunchroom seemed tough, and there are so many classes that are "mixed" that it's not really a 'magnet' school in any true sense. I'd tour it yourself, but probably recommend avoiding

[Anonymous]

My high schooler has 3 or 4 friends who attended Argyle. Their parents have only said positive things about the school.

Argyle kids are well represented in Wheaton’s magnet programs.

[Anonymous]

From the person who spent an hour there and said the lunchroom “seemed tough” to the person who heard from a friend of a friend that mean things happened in the locker room, what I’m hearing is “Hispanic kids are trouble.” How many of these behaviors would be “boys will be boys” if they were white? Middle school kids misbehave everywhere.

More on point: a friend’s son went there and liked it but didn’t find it too challenging. Much like most of the middle schools in the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I toured it as my DC is highly interested in tech and I suspect that will be his future. From my hour+ there, I agree with the PP. The focused classes are great, but there are so many hours in the rest of the day that are driven by the rest of the population -- the lunchroom seemed tough, and there are so many classes that are "mixed" that it's not really a 'magnet' school in any true sense. I'd tour it yourself, but probably recommend avoiding

All the classes are mixed. It’s a whole school program. There no magnet kids and non magnet kids. They are all in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the person who spent an hour there and said the lunchroom “seemed tough” to the person who heard from a friend of a friend that mean things happened in the locker room, what I’m hearing is “Hispanic kids are trouble.” How many of these behaviors would be “boys will be boys” if they were white? Middle school kids misbehave everywhere.

More on point: a friend’s son went there and liked it but didn’t find it too challenging. Much like most of the middle schools in the county.

It was not a friend of a friend l, it was a direct report from a friend/parent, who removed her kids back to home school due to bullying. They liked the program and wanted to give it a chance. I do not know the ethnicity of the attackers in the locker room. I only know that they were in 8th grade attacking a 6th grade child. It was a very dangerous situation and the administration did little.

[Anonymous]

DS has played soccer for a few years with a boy zoned for Argyle. His mom decided against Argyle and went private, starting in 5th grade, FWIW.

Personally, I agree that ALL Middle Schools have issues, and MCPS has system-wide issues with school safety, and a complete lack of consequences for misbehavior. But, some schools can be worse than others, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS has played soccer for a few years with a boy zoned for Argyle. His mom decided against Argyle and went private, starting in 5th grade, FWIW.

Personally, I agree that ALL Middle Schools have issues, and MCPS has system-wide issues with school safety, and a complete lack of consequences for misbehavior. But, some schools can be worse than others, I think.

If he was zoned for Argyle, he should have been able to choose from among the 3 schools - Argyle, parkland, Loiederman. They claim that over 90% of in-bounds students get their choice (I seem to remember it was 96% on the open house presentation). That's 3 schools from which they could have selected, but they went private instead, even before considering any middle school processes, including applications to TMPS/Eastern. Is is possible that the problem was just that all MCPS middle schools have issues, or their child had other issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I toured it as my DC is highly interested in tech and I suspect that will be his future. From my hour+ there, I agree with the PP. The focused classes are great, but there are so many hours in the rest of the day that are driven by the rest of the population -- the lunchroom seemed tough, and there are so many classes that are "mixed" that it's not really a 'magnet' school in any true sense. I'd tour it yourself, but probably recommend avoiding

If your child is interested in tech, wouldn't Parkland be a better option, anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Argyle has been a mess for decades. The area is heavily populated by garden style apartments and other rentals. Many of the stores across the street practically go on lockdown when the school bell rings.

I would not send my child into that school building.

I’m a Parkland parent, but I live in the area. The stores do NOT go on lockdown . Stop. You probably haven’t been over here since Giant was across the street.

My neighbor’s kid goes to Parkland and they have nothing but good things to say. A friend of mine who lives in the community next door (not garden apartments, btw) sent all four of her kids there. Three are now at Blair and are doing fine. I’ve met the principal through my community service work in my community—very attentive principal who is serious about seeing all students succeed. My Parkland kid, while he didn’t choose Argyle, doesn’t have bad things to say about it.

OP, this is the last place to ask for input about certain schools, because people who haven’t set foot in the area for more than two hours back in 2010 are going to give you feedback like it’s the gospel. Good luck on your decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Argyle has been a mess for decades. The area is heavily populated by garden style apartments and other rentals. Many of the stores across the street practically go on lockdown when the school bell rings.

I would not send my child into that school building.

I’m a Parkland parent, but I live in the area. The stores do NOT go on lockdown . Stop. You probably haven’t been over here since Giant was across the street.

My neighbor’s kid goes to Parkland and they have nothing but good things to say. A friend of mine who lives in the community next door (not garden apartments, btw) sent all four of her kids there. Three are now at Blair and are doing fine. I’ve met the principal through my community service work in my community—very attentive principal who is serious about seeing all students succeed. My Parkland kid, while he didn’t choose Argyle, doesn’t have bad things to say about it.

OP, this is the last place to ask for input about certain schools, because people who haven’t set foot in the area for more than two hours back in 2010 are going to give you feedback like it’s the gospel. Good luck on your decision.

Ugh—that should say my neighbor’s kid goes to Argyle, etc. Sorry for the error. It’s early. ?????
Also-my kid’s biggest complaint about the school when he visited was that “it’s an old building”...which is eh, but I wouldn’t rule it out just for that. Good luck, again.

[Anonymous]

MY dd had a friend there. He liked the design classes, but the other classes were mostly miss. And, the student body was rough. (Nothing specifically horrible that he reported to dd, though).

[Anonymous]

Parent of a kid zoned for the MSMC here, and I teach in one of the ESes. The "problem" with Argyle is that it's sort of the odd one out when it comes to the MSMC, and the local kids get to rank their choices of the three. Loiederman is the visual and performing arts school, which attracts not just artsy kids, but also the quieter and more shy students, as well as a higher percentage of girls. My experience from my students is that Loiederman has a reputation for being "safe" both socially and emotionally. Nice kids go there. My own third grader has already decided that's where she wants to go.

Parkland, with the aerospace focus, has a reputation for really smart kids. Even if they're not particularly interested in space, kids who get really good grades want to go there because they assume they will be around other really smart kids. It's reputation here on DCUM is even good, which says a lot given it's location, and the way DCUM typically reacts to schools in our neck of the woods.

Argyle, however, has a somewhat vague (to rising 6th graders, that is) magnet focus, and ends up being a sort of catch-all choice. If you DON'T want "the girls school" or "the nerd school" you pick Argyle, because you have to pick one of them. It's not necessarily kids who have chosen to be in a digital design program. I think what PPs are witnessing (or have heard) is just local kids who didn't have a particular passion when it came to choosing middle school, or didn't get their top lottery choice, or moved into the area too late to choose and Argyle was the only one with spots left.

Having said all that, I have never actually been to Argyle during a student day or seen classes in progress for myself. I have however taught many, many of the students there, and in my 15 years at my current school, there have been only a handful of students that I would specifically NOT want my own children to be in class with.

I'm not sure what to tell you about what you should do, OP. Perhaps give it a try for a quarter or semester, and be prepared to move to your child's home school if it doesn't work out. Your DS always has the option of his home school, but you can't give up your spot at Argyle and get it back later if he changes his mind.