Reply to Interesting approach to increasing a child's chance at Takoma Park Middle School Magnet.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is something that might be of interest to those who are thinking about trying for Takoma Park Middle Magnet Program.
Not everyone is aware of the fact that kids living within the boundaries have greater chance to get to the program and many
plan ahead.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/779576.page[/quote]

This makes me wonder.. Are people really willing to uproot and move to an objectively not-so-great neighborhood so that their self-proclaimed 'gifted children' had 'greater chance' of attending a three-year-program in middle school?
Are you serious?[/quote]

(1)  Takoma Park is not &quot;objectively&quot; not-so-great.  That's quite the [i]subjective[/i] judgment.  Considering many people like it there and have for many years.  It seems quite nice to me.  Maybe it's different from Potomac, but you really throw around the word &quot;objective&quot; loosely.

(2)  You're assuming their current neighborhood is wonderful and so much better than Takoma Park.  How about those who live in other DCC areas that meet your definition of &quot;not-so-great&quot;?

(3)  People move all the time to go to better schools, especially at transition times.  The ridiculousness in MoCo is how, if you move in after a transition time, or have to move in during a school year, your child is barred from the top programs.  Other school systems that have GT tracking at all schools, e.g., HoCO, Baltimore County, pretty much everywhere outside the DMV, and a child can be placed in the appropriate class regardless of when they come in.  BCPS has magnet programs in high schools, but even those are county-wide and don't do local spots based on living the the &quot;right&quot; neighborhood.  There's also a lot more certainty about where your gifted child will go to school for all 13 years when there's a GT track.  (I went to school in BCPS on the GT track as a poor kid on free lunch.  My parents wouldn't let me do the Science and Pre-Engineering magnet because it was too far from home, and no transportation was provided back then.  I was already in a very good high school zone and got into MIT without doing a magnet, along with another classmate.)

(4)  People move into neighborhoods before they have children [i]for the schools[/i].  People also move when they have their first baby on the way, after their first child is born, or when their child is about to start kindergarten to be in a better neighborhood, [i]based on schools[/i].  This is really not uncommon.

(5)  People coming from another state choose where to live [i]based on the schools[/i].  They come from other COUNTRIES for the schools.

(6)  Schools can change over time.  Our local ES was acceptable when we moved here and had gifted programming when our oldest was in K and 1st grade and DC was quite happy, but a new principal came when DC was in 2nd grade and removed all gifted programming, most teachers fled his reign (there has been &gt;100% turnover over the last 4 years, many teachers not staying more than a year), and the school has gone way downhill.  Had we known any of this would happen, I guarantee we would not have moved here before our kids were born.  If I'd known [i]anything[/i] about the area, beyond what little I could glean from websites, before moving here in 2005, I would have moved to Takoma Park, but at the time, we were not even married, much less had children, but it was less desirable based on our commute times from the jobs we had then (and neither of us is still in those original jobs).  I would definitely get a different real estate agent next time, but we can't afford to move anytime soon.

(7)  Yes, I would absolutely do what I need to do for my children to have the best opportunity.  They may fail.  They may just not be good enough in the end.  But I would not let their future options be cut off just because of where we live.  If we can live somewhere that can guarantee a better [i]chance[/i] at great opportunities, then that would be our highest priority.  It's too late for our kids for a move to be helpful, and we can't afford to move (parents' being in massive debt would not be the best option for the children), but if it's an option for someone else, and they would not be unhappy living there, then go for it.[/quote]

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