Reply to Which is best socially Wheaton Engineering or Blair SMAC?

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Reply to "Which is best socially Wheaton Engineering or Blair SMAC?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. Kid is very strong academically and interested in both programs. It’s his choice not mine but he is fairly introverted and doesn’t put himself out there easily to sign up for clubs or social events or to join in without specifically being  encouraged to. Blair is so huge, but Wheaton is a longer commute.[/quote]

I have a not-particularly-social kid at Blair SMAC.  Blair does a lot to try to make the school feel smaller, and the magnet program itself is quite small.  The whole school has lunch at the same time for an hour, and there are lots of clubs that meet then with a very low barrier to participation.  The magnet kids are put into lunch groups that meet roughly once a week in 9th grade, but if I remember right, that took a few weeks to get going. I tried to make DC go to at least one lunch club a week the first couple of months of 9th grade, but they were feeling pretty overwhelmed and preferred to hang out in the classrooms or hallways with a book to decompress.  10th grade has been much easier, socially. [/quote]

Thank you for this information. We have a kid who got into Blair CAP. Do you (or someone familiar with CAP) happen to know if there's a lunch program for the CAP students? This sounds like a good way to make a big school feel smaller. [/quote]

In 9th grade, the CAP kids are grouped into cohorts and they take all 4 CAP classes with the same cohort. I don’t know about lunch activities, but there are so many group projects in CAP that they will become very acquainted with the same 25-30 kids in their cohort.  I believe when DD was in 9th grade, her entire cohort was on a Google group chat or some group app thing. [/quote]

My kid is also admitted to CAP and I love this, but worry if it's the wrong mix it'll be like a bad elementary class. What's the gender balance in CAP? My son has some trepidation with the drama class aspect, but he actually likes screenwriting and tv production. [/quote]

14:04 here.  I recommend you post your question to the other CAP threads.  DC was in 9th grade CAP during Covid, so everything was virtual, so they had a different experience than other grades would’ve had.  E.g., drama done via zoom is very different from in-person.  Not sure any other CAP parents will read this thread.  I just happen to be here bc my other kid goes to Wheaton![/quote]

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