Reply to Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Based on past boundary changes, do we know what happens with kids at magnet schools? For example, let's say a student is initially zoned to Wootton and gets accepted in the Blair magnet program, which they begin in 9th grade. What happens if they are zoned to Crown starting in 10th grade and Crown is grouped with the Poolesville magnet rather than the Blair magnet? Would that student need to switch magnet programs starting in 10th grade?[/quote]

I don’t know if Blair would even exist for the current 7th grader who will be the 9th graders who have to be forced to leave their current schools. MCPS is talking about replacing the countywide magnet program with 6 regional programs. I don’t know how MCPS can support 6 programs while they struggle to retain good teachers at Blair magnet. I guess they’ll just be watered down and not worth attending. 
[/quote]

Wow just more reasons to add to why MCPS is not worth it anymore.

Other school systems don't have the same options of these magnet and IB programs like MCPS has. And in fact some people in other school systems think that it's ridiculous how there are so many options for MCPS students to go to schools other than their school of residence.

We saw it as a positive where our kids would have the opportunity to keep getting challenged and keeping growing if it meets their needs.  And was a factor in staying in MCPS.  Turns out none of our kids qualified for the programs but it was nice that the option was there if we needed/wanted it.

And sorry but I find it hard to believe that these more regional AP/IB programs are as rigorous as the more traditional ones at Blair, RM, Poolesville, etc.[/quote]

It doesn’t matter what you believe. We had a single county-wide stem magnet in the 1980s. The county is much bigger now than it was then and can probably support multiple rigorous programs, since there are that many more qualified students.

Also, Fairfax and other counties of similar size do have many optional programs like we do. You just have no clue and are comparing with small counties [/quote]

Hmm.  Maybe.  But Fairfax also has a lot of jobs, where many companies choosing to move their headquarters of there instead of Montgomery County.

Montgomery County seems to want to get most of it's revenue from residential taxes, so keeps on building homes, which leaves to overcrowding of schools and no jobs.  Fairfax sure is looking better now.[/quote]

I'm aware of the jobs situation. You were replying to me, and I live in MoCo, but work in Fairfax. I always say the only way I can afford to live in MoCo is because I don't work there. That said, Fairfax isn't really the best always either. I have family at FCPS (Fairfax). They certainly seem to place enrichment slower for regular tracks and have an insane focus on these language immersions, though MoCo is getting that way also. I find overall FCPS to be a bit weaker than MCPS. There is huge disparity here as well between schools.[/quote]

Personally my quality of life went down when I left my job with a fifteen minute commute in Montgomery County to an hour commute outside of the county.

Both my family's quality of life would probably improve if I had the shorter commute again and I'd probably be more productive at work too.

At my kids current age, we're gearing up for high school and college.  So if we move to Virginia, we'd also have access to the number of public schools there.

I've known families leaving Montgomery County for the past twenty years or so.  To Fairfax, Frederick and Howard County.  We just stuck around for the stability.

If anyone doesn't work in Montgomery County and is unhappy with the proposed boundary options, I'd strongly recommend considering moving closer to work.  I know there are other factors, such as maybe going from split articulating to another school with 1 or 2 elementary school classmates to a whole another area where they know no one.

But a lot of people in some of these communities are doctorates and moving around while they were pursuing it and had a family is nothing new.

So I think it's something they should seriously consider.  I'm already planning to contact my realtor depending on the proposals look in September.[/quote]

Sometimes moving isn't an option because of other circumstances.[/quote]

It is not. But if my 9th grader is forced to leave Wootton and attend crown as the first graduating class, then we will have to move, basically being forced to move. [/quote]

WHy would that make you forced to move?[/quote]

Who wants to force 9th grader leave their friends and go to crown not knowing if crown can offer the same rigorous curriculum as Wootton? Will they even offer the same AP classes 10th grade Wootton students can sign up for? Many high schools don’t offer some AP classes due to lack of students signing up. It doesn’t seem crown has a strong cohort to support these rigorous classes, let alone the first year graduate. Do colleges even know this brand new high school with no proven records? Too much uncertainty. [/quote]
If you’re that worried, then just put them in dual enrollment at Montgomery College. They will graduate and have an associates degree at the same time. There’s absolutely no reason to think that crown will be such a terrible high school that your child will fail.
[/quote]

What? My kids are ready to take calculus AP at 10th grade. You tell me to go to Montgomery college? It’s not the same rigor. 
[/quote]
Many kids can take care of then or 11th or 12th grade. It doesn’t matter. Mine is on track to take it at 11th grade and we will absolutely look at dual enrollment. You actually take calculus in the high school and then go onto multi variable calculus and differential equations at Montgomery College. I myself took both of those classes at Montgomery College. I’m doing quite well. Graduating from Montgomery College as they graduate from high school really puts them ahead so they can take more college classes or graduate college earlier. 
[/quote]

Montgomery college classes are not good quality and easy to get As. But it is a good path if you want to attend UMD. Not so good if you aim for more prestigious universities. 
[/quote]

I did it. I did go to UMD, though I got multiple graduate degrees from “higher ranked” universities. It’s just fine at MC[/quote]

We’re not talking about graduate school. [/quote]

You can do just fine to get into whatever school. It’s not relevant.[/quote]

Of course you can do fine. Ending up in Montgomery college is fine too. Doing fine doesn’t justify unfairly treatment. 
[/quote]

There is no "unfairly [sic] treatment" here. There are many ways to get into whatever Ivy League school[/quote]

It’s not that many ways as not everyone is good at other nonacademic areas. It’s unfair that the students are originally on a path for a rigorous curriculum but MCPS rezone them to a lower performing school while not offering the same opportunities. 
[/quote]

BS. You can very much create the academic rigor and extracurricular activities. Taking college classes can do that. If you have the mentality you portray here, something is seriously wrong with you. People get accepted all the time from all kinds of schools nationally. Moreover, you won’t have the competition from the plethora of other students all forced into the “rigorous” courses at the high school. You’ll stand out as the best and get accepted just fine.[/quote]

That’s your belief. Of course, some students will overcome the challenges of being in a lower-performing school and still excel. But others may not reach their full potential as they would have in their original, more rigorous school. The school environment plays a critical role in student success. MCPS failed these students by not providing the same level of rigorous coursework and academic opportunities.
[/quote]

You are just a segregationist trying to justify it[/quote]

You’re just DEI Zealot [/quote]

If the school is close to you, it isn’t at all DEI or unfair to zone you for not. Your problem is in the mirror. If your child has real potential, they can realize it many ways. Getting 4 grades above level is great, but not the only or even best way to get into a good college or path for success. There are many paths. The smart people make it happen, and Crown HS isn’t going to block them.[/quote]

Same poster here..

I’ll add that I was an MCPS magnet student. I do very well, though I didn’t take the traditional path immediately post-HS. I have many friends who went to schools much “worse,” and the smartest ones do just great. When your child goes to college—whether it be UMD or MIT—and maybe it won’t even be those schools or any school at first—they will be surrounded by people who didn’t go to Wootton or Churchill. Their peers didn’t have super enrichment and pushy parents. [/quote]

You had access to the resources you earned. These kids don’t. They’re being rezoned to a school without many friends and without the same academic opportunities their peers they grow up with still have—just because they’re the group being picked to be zoned out.

None of the Wootton area is far from either Wootton or Crown, so this isn’t about distance. It’s about zoning students out of opportunity.

MCPS may claim all schools offer the same opportunities, but that’s not how it plays out. A strong academic cohort makes those opportunities real. A weak one doesn’t. Without a strong cohort, advanced classes don’t run, clubs fall flat, and motivated students get left behind.
[/quote]

So they should apply to RM IB or Poolesville magnet program and they will get a strong hs cohort. [/quote]

This only works if MCPS keeps these magnet programs. They might replace them with smaller regional ones as they recently proposed, but we won’t really know what those will look like until they announce the change.  It seems they want to make a rushed decision for these regional programs to be factored in the capacity planning for the boundary studies. But we alll know MCPS is good at breaking things that work and struggling to build anything better in return.
[/quote]

There are already regional IB programs.  RM is the only countywide one and it should become a regional one as well. [/quote]

People all know these regional IB programs are not that great, far less rigorous and competitive compared to RM. So don’t expect regional stem magnet would be any different. [/quote]
IMO we do need more regional STEM magnets, but I also think keeping Blair a whole county magnet is preferable.[/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