Reply to Takoma and Eastern Magnets

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]^^^PP here, sorry - I should have said, thank you.

To this PP (with the child who feels unsafe):  If you could have chosen either magnet, would you have chosen Takoma, knowing what you know now?[/quote]

The choice for our family was between home middle school and Eastern.  Pros for Eastern are definitely more challenge academically -- better writing teaching, more interesting project-based work, emphasis on subject matters DC loves.  But, honestly, I underestimated the daily psychic wear and tear my DC feels from the negative behavioral environment.

In retrospect, as a parent, I kind of drank the kool-aid about Eastern and didn't listen so much to the few voices of caution I heard in my extensive research on the school.

I think what makes me saddest when I look at this thread, is that many comments minimize what's going on at Eastern -- by confining problems to the comprehensive program, by saying that the statistics don't represent what they appear to represent on the surface, by assuring everyone that the administration has it "handled", or by a sort of 'blame the victim' approach implying that negative behavior doesn't bother most students just a few weak kids.   It makes me sad because if one can't acknowledge a problem one can't fix it.  Eastern has the potential to be a much better school for both comprehensive and magnet kids.   But that will not happen if parents don't create higher expectations for the school, work to improve the environment, and hold the school administration accountable.  
 
Would I have chosen our home school for DC#1 knowing what I know now?  Perhaps.  At a minimum we would have prepared our child for Eastern far differently.  DC#2 has already expressed an interest in Eastern.  If it came down to it, I would not permit him to apply.[/quote]

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