Reply to Trying to decide about the magnet program at Eastern MS

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Reply to "Trying to decide about the magnet program at Eastern MS - any advice?"

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[quote=Anonymous]NP.  DC is at Eastern although our home school is Westland.  I would agree with what PP said about the difference in terms of challenge and depth and peer group in the magnet at Eastern. In particular, I think the peer group is a major reason to send a kid to Eastern.  It's not just that they are all smart, but that they all have deep interests in different areas and encourage each other.  Over the course of 3 years they bond into a pretty tight and supportive group.  The friendships my DC will leave with are deep ones with people that really "get" DC.

I think there is a lot of social pressure at Westland that kids in the Eastern magnet escape to a greater extent.  Per my DC, kids at Westland are more focused on dating, conformity and material things to a much greater extent than in the magnet at Eastern.  That's an aspect to consider.

Another thing, IMO, is how emotionally tough and independent your child is.  The magnet is great is some respects -- great projects, real room to do research and grow personal interests.  But, although the program is "challenging" in a substantive, academic sense, it is also challenging in terms of lack of clarity in assignment expectations and deadlines, harsh feedback, and little positive emotional support.  Some kids can handle this. Some kids can't.  Some parents don't want their kids to have to handle this.  By comparison, I don't know how Westland rates on the teacher warmth and compassion scale, but it can't be worse than Eastern in this respect.

FWIW, the after school program at Eastern is terrible.  Most of the offerings are geared to support "at risk" kids -- programs that consist of some mixture of extra academic support and "role modeling".  There's really little that's appropriate for a kid (magnet or comprehensive student) who doesn't have bad grades.  By contrast, Westland seems to have an amazing after school program. This is partially due to wealth differences, but also due to lack of imagination on the part of the Eastern staff.   Sports are available in 7th grade and after.

We were able to set up a morning carpool, and DC takes the bus in the afternoon.  IMO, the commute isn't that bad, unless, perhaps, you live very near to Westland.

For our DC, both Westland and Eastern had significant downsides.  In the end we chose Eastern, and I think that was the right choice for this child in retrospect.  Not sure I would send my other DC, who has a somewhat fragile academic self-esteem and who needs helpful teachers.  [/quote]

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