If Your Bethesda/Potomac Kid Goes to Blair Magnet, How Do You Handle After-School Activities?

[Anonymous]

Do a lot of the magnet kids end up not doing too many after-school activities?

I can't imagine the amount of driving we would have to do if our DD wanted to do a ton of after school activities. How do most parents handle this? Or, do the far-away kids just end up not participating?

[Anonymous]

There is a late bus. There are car pools. Your kid will learn to drive...and last resort you get used to driving it at times. Magnet kids seem to be pretty active.

[Anonymous]

The kids learn to take public transportation.

[Anonymous]

We live in Rockville. Our DC was on a sports team all 12 seasons. The kids in the car pool were like our second family.

The only time it felt like a lot was the semester DC went for extra help every morning before school started.

By then end of the semester, that got turned into a car pool as well because help is more efficient than figuring things out by yourself.

[Anonymous]

You bought in Bethesda/Potomac for the great schools. Keep your kids at their home school and leave Blair for the poors you hate so much or move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in Rockville. Our DC was on a sports team all 12 seasons. The kids in the car pool were like our second family.

The only time it felt like a lot was the semester DC went for extra help every morning before school started.

By then end of the semester, that got turned into a car pool as well because help is more efficient than figuring things out by yourself.

There are a lot more kids from Rockville than from Bethesda. In one year there was only one kid in the grade from our whole cluster.

[Anonymous]

As mentioned there is an activity bus for magnet kids, public bus, car pool, my kid ubers when activities run late/misses the bus. Looking forward to her driving herself if she can get a parking pass.

[Anonymous]

Sports are harder because they end after the late bus and they are 5 days a week.

[Anonymous]

if You are talking activities outside of school, forget it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do a lot of the magnet kids end up not doing too many after-school activities?

I can't imagine the amount of driving we would have to do if our DD wanted to do a ton of after school activities. How do most parents handle this? Or, do the far-away kids just end up not participating?

We peeled out after HGC 4th and 5th grades. Kids were fine - continued their travel sports, MS and HS sports and clubs, and are now in top colleges. One of the bunch is at boarding school for his sport.

[Anonymous]

Our Bethesda listserv has pretty elaborate parent car pools for magnet MS and for Blair. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if You are talking activities outside of school, forget it.

Every kid I know in the magnet is quite involved beyond school.

[Anonymous]

Early grades carpools and also hired a college kid at one point to do pick up and driving and a bit of homework help to follow. Now DD drives.

[Anonymous]

Most SMAC kids are very active outside school. Blair has tons of after school clubs and these are probably easiest for a kid who lives far away)which is most Magnet kids). There is are Magnet activity buses at 4.30 and a lot of kids carpool if they stay past 4.30. I would agree that extracurricular activities that are based at the school are the easiest for Magnet kids to participate in. If your child does fencing or dance or swimming in your neighborhood I imagine the logistics would be challenging. Many magnet kids do band/orchestra, Robotics, newspaper, debate/Model UN, various quiz/math clubs and at least one third of SMAC kids are varsity athletes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You bought in Bethesda/Potomac for the great schools. Keep your kids at their home school and leave Blair for the poors you hate so much or move.

99% of them do