Reply to Changes to the HGC for next year (and to middle/high school magnet application in the future)

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Reply to "Changes to the HGC for next year (and to middle/high school magnet application in the future)"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

This is an ignorant and offensive statement.  You would never make such a statement about a child who needs disability or learning difficulties services or a child who needs additional help with English, why do you feel it is alright in this instance to attack an entire group of children.  These kids are by and large very intelligent and thirsting to learn and so yes many of them (and their parents) are highly motivated to secure admission to these programs.  In addition for many kids it is so important to be with other kids who are like them and who understand and accept their academic inclinations.  I know my child would have been miserable in a regular school setting.  
I don't think I "gamed" the system but here is what I did do: I went to lots of information meetings, researched the programs, helped my child put his application together and made sure he was rested on the day of the exam.  I made sure he did not miss any deadlines.  I did not pay for a prep course, or write his essays or anything like that.  Most of the parents I know who have seen kids through HGCs,and middle school and high school magnets will tell you something similar.  We are indeed mostly solidly middle class and in some cases upper middle class but this is largely by virtue of the fact that most of us have graduate or terminal degrees.  This does make it more likely that our children are also predisposed to doing well in school and seek academic challenge.  This is the most important reason why you see so many UMC families in the magnet programs. [/quote]

Not every family with a kid in the magnet programs is gaming the system -- or even affluent (by DCUM standards or in actual real life). Nonetheless, do you disagree with the idea that being affluent really helps families get and keep their kids in magnet programs? Or do you believe that the only reason kids from affluent families are so over-represented in the magnet programs is because kids from affluent families are smarter and more motivated?

And do you believe that, if MCPS said, "These are the four specific things we look for in application magnet programs, and this is how we calculate their weights", affluent families with time to go to meetings and research programs wouldn't use that information to improve their kids' chances of getting in?[/quote]

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