ISO recent experience with Eastern MS communications magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Easter probably will. They are having trouble filling spots.

[Anonymous]

Eastern not Easter obviously!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Totally agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Easter probably will. They are having trouble filling spots.

Even if that’s the case, it’s still very unlikely to get a spot given the number of people in the pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Easter probably will. They are having trouble filling spots.

Why is this?
I have noticed several “should we take this spot?” posts lately. Are more people turning down spots?

[Anonymous]

Hi! I went to Eastern for middle school and I'm currently a rising senior at WCHS -- the curriculum there emphasized providing strong reasoning and evidence for your arguments, media literacy + research skills, and the sheer amount of public speaking assignments (speeches, monologues, Socratic seminars) forced me to get over whatever public speaking fears I had.

6th grade was focused on literature and developing writing/argument skills -- books we had to read included The Good Earth, The Hobbit, Animal Farm, and a myriad of Greek myths. 7th grade was focused on developing research skills w/ the ten page research paper & National History Day projects. 8th grade was more interdisciplinary between English/World History/Media classes w/ the capstone New York trip, the C-SPAN documentary, and the Final Conference documentary.

Overall I'd say that Eastern was a formative experience to me, and high school humanities classes (including AP Lang and APUSH) was v easy compared to my middle school humanities classes due to the foundation that was built there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Totally agree.

What do you suggest for schools where there is not a full class of kids who are appropriately placed there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Easter probably will. They are having trouble filling spots.

Why is this?
I have noticed several “should we take this spot?” posts lately. Are more people turning down spots?

I think it's just the time of year. There is often turnover right before school starts. Some families accept knowing they have the whole summer to think about but when the school year actually rolls around they realize it's not the right program. We know multiple families each year that get off the waitlist in August for various magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Totally agree.

What do you suggest for schools where there is not a full class of kids who are appropriately placed there?

Why would any MCPS middle school, as large as they are, not have a cohort of qualifying kids? If for some reason there aren’t enough county-identified kids at a particular school (which I doubt), I’m sure the school could identify additional kids who could handle and benefit from the class(es). I think the current problem is that there are a lot more qualifying students than MCPS provides spots for at magnets. If they bring it back to the schools, then they can serve more kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Easter probably will. They are having trouble filling spots.

I don't think they have "trouble filling spots" or else they would not have increased the size of the program this year. We know plenty of families whose kids were in the pool and did not get a spot, and PPs here have mentioned that as well.

Relatively speaking, I do think that TPMS gets fewer declines for a couple reasons: EMS is viewed as more "dangerous" (whether that's fair or not); the physical condition at EMS is much poorer (compared to TPMS which just had renovations); and the humanities program is known to be very challenging (note, I'm sure that the math and science magnet is also challenging; but I have not seen comparable comments about the workload on this forum, at least). I think overall TPMS has more going for it (outstanding music program; more clubs, etc.). Just my two cents.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi! I went to Eastern for middle school and I'm currently a rising senior at WCHS -- the curriculum there emphasized providing strong reasoning and evidence for your arguments, media literacy + research skills, and the sheer amount of public speaking assignments (speeches, monologues, Socratic seminars) forced me to get over whatever public speaking fears I had.

6th grade was focused on literature and developing writing/argument skills -- books we had to read included The Good Earth, The Hobbit, Animal Farm, and a myriad of Greek myths. 7th grade was focused on developing research skills w/ the ten page research paper & National History Day projects. 8th grade was more interdisciplinary between English/World History/Media classes w/ the capstone New York trip, the C-SPAN documentary, and the Final Conference documentary.

Overall I'd say that Eastern was a formative experience to me, and high school humanities classes (including AP Lang and APUSH) was v easy compared to my middle school humanities classes due to the foundation that was built there.

So did you do it before lottery based admissions? Also were you doing any extra curricular activities while in eastern ? Lastly why did u choose WCHS over any other magnet program? Just curious and trying to get some perspective . Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Easter probably will. They are having trouble filling spots.

Even if that’s the case, it’s still very unlikely to get a spot given the number of people in the pool.

Everyone I know in the pool has already been offered a spot. That’s dozens of people who have told me they got an offer. My kid got offered in May. His best friend was offered a couple of weeks after the original offers went out. It seems they must have almost gone through the entire pool at this point.

[Anonymous]

So did you do it before lottery based admissions? Also were you doing any extra curricular activities while in eastern ? Lastly why did u choose WCHS over any other magnet program? Just curious and trying to get some perspective . Thanks

Yes, I was accepted to the program before lottery based admissions. I participated in theatre shows (musicals & the spring Shakespeare production), after-school orchestra, and I also wrote for the school newspaper. I was waitlisted for RM and my parents thought that by going to Churchill, I would be able to stand out against other students bc of my strong writing background.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Easter probably will. They are having trouble filling spots.

Really? Why are they having trouble filling spots? Is there g same true at Takoma?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all really disheartening to hear as the parent of an incoming 6th grader who thrived in ELC but didn't draw a spot at Eastern despite being in the pool. He's assigned to HIGH for 6th grade, which I've heard is decent. He reads independently for fun and at a high level, but there's no real substitution for being taught to analyze text.

Are there better ELA options in high school? I'm a bit concerned that not getting a magnet spot now means my kid will be at a big disadvantage then, because peers who did attend Eastern will be miles ahead.

At least your kid got CES. My kid was stuck in a school that didn’t even have ELC and just did Benchmark for the last 2 years. Sat in the CES waitlist for both heads, and now is on the Eastern/Takoma waitlists and at this point I am sure spots will not pop up.

This is an example of why MCOS needs to change the model for GT education. They should be creating classes within each school to address needs rather than sending kids away to a center/magnet.

Totally agree.

What do you suggest for schools where there is not a full class of kids who are appropriately placed there?

Then create a small regional offering *just for those schools.* most kids would have their needs met at the local school.