Current CES class: only one kid got into a magnet MS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

Is a high performing student who spent the summer in magnet test prep courses funded by his/her professor parents a better candidate than an almost as high performing student with a single parent and no test prep? The best candidate, imho, will always be the one who has done the most with the least. It's not simply test scores - though maybe you didn't mean that?

Sure, that's the emotional way of looking at it. The logical way would be to say the latter will be less likely to have the home structure in place to handle the 2 hours of homework per night. So, we will either see more kids fail out of the Magnet program or, more likely, the teachers will be forced by administration to slow down the curriculum to accommodate those bright kids without as much support structure. This, of course, would spell the end of the Magnet program as we know it. Often, when decisions are made based off of emotion, things don't turn out as expected.

- Current HS Magnet Parent

Current HS Magnet Parent - if you are willing, and esp if you have younger children, please consider looking for a role as a gifted education advocate. You are astute and well-spoken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

Is a high performing student who spent the summer in magnet test prep courses funded by his/her professor parents a better candidate than an almost as high performing student with a single parent and no test prep? The best candidate, imho, will always be the one who has done the most with the least. It's not simply test scores - though maybe you didn't mean that?

Sure, that's the emotional way of looking at it. The logical way would be to say the latter will be less likely to have the home structure in place to handle the 2 hours of homework per night. So, we will either see more kids fail out of the Magnet program or, more likely, the teachers will be forced by administration to slow down the curriculum to accommodate those bright kids without as much support structure. This, of course, would spell the end of the Magnet program as we know it. Often, when decisions are made based off of emotion, things don't turn out as expected.

- Current HS Magnet Parent

Current CES parent...a CES teacher told me that they are already “dumbing down” the curriculum compared to 5-10 years ago.

[Anonymous]

A TEACHER said “dumbing down?” Like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

Is a high performing student who spent the summer in magnet test prep courses funded by his/her professor parents a better candidate than an almost as high performing student with a single parent and no test prep? The best candidate, imho, will always be the one who has done the most with the least. It's not simply test scores - though maybe you didn't mean that?

Sure, that's the emotional way of looking at it. The logical way would be to say the latter will be less likely to have the home structure in place to handle the 2 hours of homework per night. So, we will either see more kids fail out of the Magnet program or, more likely, the teachers will be forced by administration to slow down the curriculum to accommodate those bright kids without as much support structure. This, of course, would spell the end of the Magnet program as we know it. Often, when decisions are made based off of emotion, things don't turn out as expected.

- Current HS Magnet Parent

What a load of hypothetical straw man BS. I could just as easily posit that a kid who needs a summer of test prep to get in won't be able to keep up or contribute to class, forcing the class to slow down for their benefit.

You can make your arguments, but suggesting that they are the only "logical" ones and others with different ideas are falling prey to "emotions" is just ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

Is a high performing student who spent the summer in magnet test prep courses funded by his/her professor parents a better candidate than an almost as high performing student with a single parent and no test prep? The best candidate, imho, will always be the one who has done the most with the least. It's not simply test scores - though maybe you didn't mean that?

Sure, that's the emotional way of looking at it. The logical way would be to say the latter will be less likely to have the home structure in place to handle the 2 hours of homework per night. So, we will either see more kids fail out of the Magnet program or, more likely, the teachers will be forced by administration to slow down the curriculum to accommodate those bright kids without as much support structure. This, of course, would spell the end of the Magnet program as we know it. Often, when decisions are made based off of emotion, things don't turn out as expected.

- Current HS Magnet Parent

What a load of hypothetical straw man BS. I could just as easily posit that a kid who needs a summer of test prep to get in won't be able to keep up or contribute to class, forcing the class to slow down for their benefit.

You can make your arguments, but suggesting that they are the only "logical" ones and others with different ideas are falling prey to "emotions" is just ridiculous.

From my experience with the magnet program, the kids who test prepped all summer will almost certainly have a home life where academics are, above all, the top priority. You would never see a kid test prep all summer then all of a sudden not be given any/all ongoing enrichment necessary to succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

Is a high performing student who spent the summer in magnet test prep courses funded by his/her professor parents a better candidate than an almost as high performing student with a single parent and no test prep? The best candidate, imho, will always be the one who has done the most with the least. It's not simply test scores - though maybe you didn't mean that?

Sure, that's the emotional way of looking at it. The logical way would be to say the latter will be less likely to have the home structure in place to handle the 2 hours of homework per night. So, we will either see more kids fail out of the Magnet program or, more likely, the teachers will be forced by administration to slow down the curriculum to accommodate those bright kids without as much support structure. This, of course, would spell the end of the Magnet program as we know it. Often, when decisions are made based off of emotion, things don't turn out as expected.

- Current HS Magnet Parent

What a load of hypothetical straw man BS. I could just as easily posit that a kid who needs a summer of test prep to get in won't be able to keep up or contribute to class, forcing the class to slow down for their benefit.

You can make your arguments, but suggesting that they are the only "logical" ones and others with different ideas are falling prey to "emotions" is just ridiculous.

From my experience with the magnet program, the kids who test prepped all summer will almost certainly have a home life where academics are, above all, the top priority. You would never see a kid test prep all summer then all of a sudden not be given any/all ongoing enrichment necessary to succeed.

I think it's offensive to assume that only kids who test prepped all summer have a home life where academics are a priority. My main point, however, is that if you are going to argue that a classroom shouldn't have to cater to lower performing kids, you should consider the possibility that a kid who is only in the class because of test prep is one of the lower performing kids. But maybe you are now arguing that it's ok to cater to lower performing kids, but only if their parents provide "ongoing enrichment"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through the Mcps magnet programs in years past. My youngest is in magnet HS and my heart aches for the high performing students who are being rejected because of essentially racial politics in MCPS. So sorry. Remember this and translate it into action when you have the opportunity to be able to influence employment, promotion and internships. Be color blind and pick the best candidate. Do the due diligence and make sure that you are not fulfilling some extreme version of racial agenda.

Is a high performing student who spent the summer in magnet test prep courses funded by his/her professor parents a better candidate than an almost as high performing student with a single parent and no test prep? The best candidate, imho, will always be the one who has done the most with the least. It's not simply test scores - though maybe you didn't mean that?

Sure, that's the emotional way of looking at it. The logical way would be to say the latter will be less likely to have the home structure in place to handle the 2 hours of homework per night. So, we will either see more kids fail out of the Magnet program or, more likely, the teachers will be forced by administration to slow down the curriculum to accommodate those bright kids without as much support structure. This, of course, would spell the end of the Magnet program as we know it. Often, when decisions are made based off of emotion, things don't turn out as expected.

- Current HS Magnet Parent

What a load of hypothetical straw man BS. I could just as easily posit that a kid who needs a summer of test prep to get in won't be able to keep up or contribute to class, forcing the class to slow down for their benefit.

You can make your arguments, but suggesting that they are the only "logical" ones and others with different ideas are falling prey to "emotions" is just ridiculous.

From my experience with the magnet program, the kids who test prepped all summer will almost certainly have a home life where academics are, above all, the top priority. You would never see a kid test prep all summer then all of a sudden not be given any/all ongoing enrichment necessary to succeed.

I think it's offensive to assume that only kids who test prepped all summer have a home life where academics are a priority. My main point, however, is that if you are going to argue that a classroom shouldn't have to cater to lower performing kids, you should consider the possibility that a kid who is only in the class because of test prep is one of the lower performing kids. But maybe you are now arguing that it's ok to cater to lower performing kids, but only if their parents provide "ongoing enrichment"?

I never said that. Please re-read.

[Anonymous]

My DC is at Pine Crest CES, and knows of only 2 girls and possibly 1 boy (rumored, but unconfirmed by DC) who got into magnet across the 2 CES classes of 54 students (all 3 are the the same homeroom and math class). My DC was not one of them. Both girls were invited to both magnets.

None of them is in my DC's feeder middle school area. Around 20 others DC talked to said they were rejected from both, and no one that DC knows is slated for DC's feeder middle school got into either (talked to 3 others from home ES and other local ESs).

DC couldn't get more info because the teacher shut down talking about it with so many kids (and their parents) complaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at Pine Crest CES, and knows of only 2 girls and possibly 1 boy (rumored, but unconfirmed by DC) who got into magnet across the 2 CES classes of 54 students (all 3 are the the same homeroom and math class). My DC was not one of them. Both girls were invited to both magnets.

None of them is in my DC's feeder middle school area. Around 20 others DC talked to said they were rejected from both, and no one that DC knows is slated for DC's feeder middle school got into either (talked to 3 others from home ES and other local ESs).

DC couldn't get more info because the teacher shut down talking about it with so many kids (and their parents) complaining.

There is at least 1 more from Pine Crest in that same class, and possibly others because not everyone had been notified yesterday when the kids started discussing this. Also it’s possible that some others got in but were uncomfortable saying so when everyone was venting (my child is also in this class and was rejected and came home yesterday with this same news). Have heard of at least two kids at Oak View getting in (just from the 5 we know of there) and at least 1 from their home elementary school (haven’t spoken to anyone else about it). It is definitely harder to get in from some middle schools than others, but there are still kids getting in.

[Anonymous]

Magnet admissions are so competitive there's something like 3 CES kids per magnet seat. It's not surprising that people are upset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at Pine Crest CES, and knows of only 2 girls and possibly 1 boy (rumored, but unconfirmed by DC) who got into magnet across the 2 CES classes of 54 students (all 3 are the the same homeroom and math class). My DC was not one of them. Both girls were invited to both magnets.

None of them is in my DC's feeder middle school area. Around 20 others DC talked to said they were rejected from both, and no one that DC knows is slated for DC's feeder middle school got into either (talked to 3 others from home ES and other local ESs).

DC couldn't get more info because the teacher shut down talking about it with so many kids (and their parents) complaining.

There is at least 1 more from Pine Crest in that same class, and possibly others because not everyone had been notified yesterday when the kids started discussing this. Also it’s possible that some others got in but were uncomfortable saying so when everyone was venting (my child is also in this class and was rejected and came home yesterday with this same news). Have heard of at least two kids at Oak View getting in (just from the 5 we know of there) and at least 1 from their home elementary school (haven’t spoken to anyone else about it). It is definitely harder to get in from some middle schools than others, but there are still kids getting in.

Also PCES parent -- DC reports 3 boys and 2 girls that they know of... but could be more as PP says. I suspect more will discuss it after the open houses and final decisions are made. Friends at Oak View say 2 kids so far. No one seems to be discussing wait pool, but apparently last year they ended up sending quite a few from wait pool and others who appealed from an initial rejection, got on the wait pool, and ended up being invited as late as August.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s another thread about the magnet middle school. Sorry!

My child at a CES told me today that only one student in the class of 28 was accepted to a magnet MS. I understand that they’ve changed the criteria, but my question is WHY did they put these children through hours of testing if they pretty much knew they wouldn’t get in because the middle school that is their home base provides a cohort?

MCPS has singlehandedly decided they need SES and RACIAL DIVERSITY in ALL our programs and schools.

Merit, test scores, work ethic, being bored out of your mind, etc., do not cut it.

You're in the MCPS Diversity Lotto Game now. But unlike in the NYC magnets debacle, no one is suing MCPS.

[jsteele]

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