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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Takoma Park Elementary School-Magnet Program
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Anonymous
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Hello,
Anyone could comment on Takoma Park Elementary School-Magnet Program? Is this a good science program? We are currently in Ottawa and our sons attend K and garde 1 in a Montessori school. They have been tested and found 2 classes ahead in Math and Reading. They scored in the very superior range for the tests. We have been offered a job in D.C.but not accepted yet because of the school issue. Is it true that you are subject to a lottery even though you are in the 99.8th percentile? If your child has such a high score but not lucky, what's next? Thanks |
Anonymous
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Yes, it's true that students must first test in and then get in by lottery. There are just far too many qualified students to do it otherwise. I don't think the program is really all that stellar for science, as TPES just has a magnet for grades 1-2. The rigorous magnet for science and math is at Takoma Park Middle School.
I recommend that you direct your questions to the two Yahoo Groups that can provide you with information: GTA Letters and Parent Coalition. Those parents will have a lot to tell you about the programs. Students who don't get in can also try immersion program lotteries if you're interested in that, do the regular programs at TPES/PBES (and I don't think the elementary magnets are much anyway, frankly), or go to private schools. For older elementary kids there are some centers for the highly gifted that take you out of your home school. TPES/PBES parents say their smart kids are accelerated in math, particularly, but again, ask the Yahoo groups |
Anonymous
| You might want to look at some of the elementary schools in the Whitman/Churchill/Wooton Clusters. The children receive differentiated instruction very early and many are several grade levels ahead. (The science program in the county schools is not great though.) My child attends Bannockburn Elementary and by 5th grade, fully one third of the grade is doing 7th grade math. |
Anonymous
16:35 here. Your statement about kids working above grade level in math is true of many affluent schools in MoCo. I don't understand what it has to do with the TPES Magnet, though I guess your parenthetical statement does relate to that indirectly. OP, this PP is right that science isn't really a strength of MCPS. I would say this is true except at the elite middle/high school level (TPMS and Blair magnets). In the TPES magnet, my understanding is that basically it's just a little bit of homogeneous grouping per week and I don't think it's specific to science. At any rate, the parents in the Yahoo groups I recommended can certainly give you a great deal of information. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the great info. |
Anonymous
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You're welcome! Here are the two groups I mentioned:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GTAletters/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Parents_Coalition/ There are many parents with years of experience navigating MCPS on these lists, and they have a special interest in accelerated and gifted instruction, magnet programs, etc. They're a wealth of information. Good luck to you! |
Anonymous
| Not the OP but does anyone know when the parent information sessions/open house is typically held for the magnet program? |
Anonymous
| There are two open houses coming up, one on February 1st and another on February 9, both at 4:30pm. The website is http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/takomaparkes/magnet/magnetprogram.htm. Due to construction, the magnet program is currently located at 5701 Grosvenor Lane in Bethesda and that's where the open houses are. I'm not sure when the program moves back to Takoma Park-maybe someone else on here has updated information? |
Anonymous
TPES will return to Takoma Park this fall. |