Reply to HS program application this Fall for incoming 8th graders?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid is in a similar situation. The programs and new boundaries will start when they’re in 7th grade. Really scary to make a decision for 6th grade knowing it will likely be vastly different in 7th.

We are in the DCC and there hasn’t been any discussion yet about how the middle school programs will affect things like bell schedule. All 3 DCC middle schools allow kids to take 3 electives because they have a block schedule with 8 periods. No idea how the staffing is for the DCC middle schools compared to the rest of the county. Taylor mentioned staffing costs being more at current high schools with special programs. [/quote]

??  There are 9 DCC middle schools.  And they definitely do not all have a block schedule.[/quote]

They are thinking of the three Middle School Magnet Consortium schools, each of which has a themed program.  Aside from those in-bounds, who rank-order their preference among the three for a lotteried match, 100 seats per grade are available (by a separate lottery) to those couty-wide with interest outside of the overall catchment.  They use a block schedule to get to 8 classes so that they can preserve 2 true electives (similar to those at most 7-period-a-day middle schools) for students after holding one spot for theme-specific programming.

Side note: Like many programs, this was done there to try to boost lagging academic performance, with the themes promoting some interest among those in-bounds and those out-of-bounds presumably supplying a relatively dedicated addition, each infusing some positive vibe across the attending population.  While results have not been universally good, they have, to my understanding, had some progress toward the intended effect.

SSIMS, similarly, has a block schedule to accommodate a true elective for those for those in Spanish and French immersion, who take double-period foreign language.

TPMS had the same to accommodate the extra class for the Math/Science/CS magnet program, but that changed for the upcoming year.  It is not a whole-magnet school like the MSMC schools -- non-magnet students will have the standard two electives and magnet students will have one (often foreign language).

I'm not aware of another DCC middle school with a block schedule, or of one elsewhere utilizing a block schedule without it being a consideration related to a magnet program, but I would not claim omnicience, there.  My understanding (again, uncertain) is that Eastern did not have a block schedule to accommodate its Humanities magnet in the first place.[/quote]

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