Are middle schools and high schools impacted by 2.0?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Isn't this reverse social-economic discrimination?

Seriously? If the richest areas in Montgomery County don't have one of the very, very small number of test-in middle-school magnet programs, that's socio-economic discrimination?

I'm reminded of the post I read on DCUM recently that said that socioeconomic segregation is good because that way the poor students don't feel bad about not being able to afford thousand-dollar prom dresses, and the rich students don't feel bad about being able to afford thousand-dollar prom dresses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why not? The kids who come to Silver spring from these school districts to attend a magnet programs have really long commutes and have a tough time managing extra currics. as a result. The curriculum in the magnet programs is much better than the curriculum you find at Westland or North Bethesda for example. You also have a much larger peer group in the magnet program. In the middle school magnets for example you have 100 kids who are working at your level, whereas in the aforementioned schools you might have a dozen in the entire grade and these children are not grouped together in one class (except for Math - if you take Algebra in 6th grade for example). They are spread out and are frequently lucky to have a couple of kids working at their level in their classes. So their needs are not met in the "W" schools. Remember we are talking about the top 5% of students. Most of these kids love learning - it is what makes them tick, and they really need the stimulation and challenge of an advanced and accelerated curriculum and a robust group of peers.

I don't understand. Are you talking about students in Bethesda/Potomac being able to go to the middle school magnets? They are able to go to the middle school magnets, if they apply and accepted, just like any other students in any other cluster.

Or are you talking about actually locating a middle-school test-in magnet program in a Bethesda/Potomac cluster? There are 38 middle schools in MCPS. 35 of them do not host a middle-school test-in magnet program.

Moot question, moot offering. Making some kid sit on a bus 90 minutes twice a day to get to some far away, traffic-ladened HGC magnet program is a joke of an offering to gifted students. But, MCPS can get away with it, please keep paying your taxes.

[Anonymous]

Or are you talking about actually locating a middle-school test-in magnet program in a Bethesda/Potomac cluster? There are 38 middle schools in MCPS. 35 of them do not host a middle-school test-in magnet program.

But 2 of the 3 are very close together in a HUGE county..

[Anonymous]

Seriously? If the richest areas in Montgomery County don't have one of the very, very small number of test-in middle-school magnet programs, that's socio-economic discrimination?

The comment was in response to a previous post that people elsewhere in the county would be up in arms at the idea of a magnet in those school clusters. This strikes me as very wrong because these four clusters cover a wide geographic area, have a good number of eligible students, and would be a logical place to put a magnet.

I wasn't aware that MCPS policy disallowed magnet schools in wealthier school districts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Moot question, moot offering. Making some kid sit on a bus 90 minutes twice a day to get to some far away, traffic-ladened HGC magnet program is a joke of an offering to gifted students. But, MCPS can get away with it, please keep paying your taxes.

As I'm constantly reading on DCUM -- choices have consequences.

Also, as I was just reading on DCUM yesterday, or maybe the day before -- all children in Montgomery County have an equal opportunity to go to the magnets. The children of poor, undocumented housecleaners who never made it past 5th grade just as much as the children of rich lawyers in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Seriously? If the richest areas in Montgomery County don't have one of the very, very small number of test-in middle-school magnet programs, that's socio-economic discrimination?

The comment was in response to a previous post that people elsewhere in the county would be up in arms at the idea of a magnet in those school clusters. This strikes me as very wrong because these four clusters cover a wide geographic area, have a good number of eligible students, and would be a logical place to put a magnet.

I wasn't aware that MCPS policy disallowed magnet schools in wealthier school districts.

It's already mostly affluent kids who go to the magnets. So we should put the magnets in the affluent areas, to make it easier for the affluent kids, who already have it easier. Of course that would make it harder for the non-affluent kids, who already have it harder, but eh, so what, there aren't that many of them in the magnets, and there would be even fewer if the magnets were in the affluent areas.

[Anonymous]

Why not have magnets in both areas? It certainly doesn't sound like there would be enrollment problems filling more.

[Anonymous]

just keep it the way it is. that way the asinine location/time logistics keep the acceptance yields low.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, then maybe my kid can get off the waitlist!

[Anonymous]

The two posts from 13:09 contradict each other. More people want to enroll in the magnets than can actually enroll. Also, few people want to enroll in the magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The two posts from 13:09 contradict each other. More people want to enroll in the magnets than can actually enroll. Also, few people want to enroll in the magnets.

In our neighborhood, by mass ave, many students who are accepted want to go. Many do for elementary school, the bus pick up times are OK and you just forfeit most after school activities.
But in MS and HS, they want to go too, but the 5:30am bus pick up time and the 4-5pm bus drop off time are prohibitive. The after school bus route and times are more horrid. Few parents can drop off or pick up, it is too far, no public transport that makes sense, and in too much traffic congestion or far from any office cluster.

So, it's a poorly construed option and they naturally return to their neighborhood school. It does however raise the scores of the host school.

Find out the acceptance rates of those who test in, are accepted and then do not go. MoCo is not providing a viable service to its GT students. Hence the decreasing yields, hence the everlasting churn off the waitlists and hence the low re up/ return rates for distant students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In our neighborhood, by mass ave, many students who are accepted want to go. Many do for elementary school, the bus pick up times are OK and you just forfeit most after school activities.
But in MS and HS, they want to go too, but the 5:30am bus pick up time and the 4-5pm bus drop off time are prohibitive. The after school bus route and times are more horrid. Few parents can drop off or pick up, it is too far, no public transport that makes sense, and in too much traffic congestion or far from any office cluster.

So, it's a poorly construed option and they naturally return to their neighborhood school. It does however raise the scores of the host school.

Find out the acceptance rates of those who test in, are accepted and then do not go. MoCo is not providing a viable service to its GT students. Hence the decreasing yields, hence the everlasting churn off the waitlists and hence the low re up/ return rates for distant students.

Why would the yields be decreasing? The magnets haven't gotten any further away, have they? And how do you know that the yields are decreasing?

[Anonymous]

Yields NOT decreasing! I only know of 1 person off Blair's wait list this year- 2 days before school started (and they left RM's IB program for it.) We live more Eastern in the county but most of my kids friends are from the Whitman district. They all did HGC, Takoma, and Blair- leaving the vaulted 'W' school no less. Kids who want to go don't mind the commute. And most do after school activities. No bus is at 5:30 am either. But you know what, the less folks applying the better, better chances for those who want to go!!

[Anonymous]

Kids who want to go don't mind the commute.

Most untrue statement ever made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Kids who want to go don't mind the commute.

Most untrue statement ever made.

More untrue than "Martin Luther King Jr. was a subspecies of avocado"?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/atgene-weingarten/2013/09/27/a964353e-6679-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html

In any case, what PP presumably meant is that the kids who want to go think that the advantages of going outweigh the disadvantages of the commute.