Reply to Are MC magnet programs worthwhile

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Are MC magnet programs worthwhile"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]My kids have been in MCPS magnet programs from ES to HS. The admission process is not easy and yes it is stressful because there are more qualified applicants than seats.  Recent changes that takes into account demographics has further penalized certain groups with high performing kids. It is what it is.

Both my DSs are Asian-American, non-FARMS and non-ESOL.  We live in  UpCounty and are financially a  donut-hole family. Children are STEM students.  Education and EC activities have taken a big part of our focus. It looks effortless to people when they see our kids getting and excelling in these programs, but it is all due to luck and years of making education a priority.  The admission process is also difficult because it evaluates skills and achievements that are gained after putting in effort for a long time.  It also takes something out of parents because our energy, effort and money is being taken up with these kinds of activities.

Doing well in school and standardized testing happens due to the discipline of daily studies and practice. Doing well in EC activities happen because of the tedious nature of daily work and practice. And when you apply - you take all of that and combine it with meeting the deadlines of writing essays, gathering credentials, asking for recommendations, not having disciplinary issues at school, being held in high regard by your teachers and having a history of doing well, documented with the school system. In other words, your MAP and PARCC and other tests also mark you as being advanced.  This is a long marathon and not a sprint.  It is stressful in many ways because anytime you work towards a goal, you are aware that failure can also happen despite your best efforts.

For me as a parent, the big stressor is how to make sure that the kids are doing what they need to do to succeed, while keeping in mind to be strategic and guide them in a way that reduces their stress and harnesses their interests and strengths.  Every kid is different and what motivates and works for one child may not work for another. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics