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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My child is an 8th grader at TPMS (who was also accepted at Eastern). He just got into both Blair's Magnet and RM's IB Program. Mine had friends go to both (but said they'd choose TPMS over Eastern even if no one they knew went.) Everyone at TPMS loves everything about it, where what I hear about Eastern is they Love the program but not the school. TPMS's block schedule is awesome and you don't need to stay after to take a language in 6th grade like at Eastern. [/quote]

This is not true for everyone.  Why oh why does this always have to get down to this?  Eastern's a great school with some really dedicated faculty and admin.  Pick it, don't pick it, but speak from your own experience please.[/quote]

Not the PP to whom you were responding, but PP's description of "what I hear" describes our Eastern Magnet experience pretty well -- love the program but not the school.

You're right; our experience is not true for everyone.  But, IMO, Eastern is not "a great school".  The magnet program concept is great; the execution leaves a LOT to be desired.  Yes, Eastern does have some good teachers some of whom are in the magnet and some of whom are not.  It also has some pretty terrible teachers both inside and outside the magnet. We didn't meet any administrators I would consider "dedicated" (or any other positive adjective).

But, that's just me, speaking from my own experience.  [/quote]

That makes me sad to hear.  I have had the chance to volunteer in different capacities throughtou the school, and I met a lot of really great nonmagnet kids and some amazingly dedicated non-magnet teachers.  I was so impressed at the way they knew the kids and thought about their situations, and spent so much extra time at the school.  And the kids I met were just awesome -- funny and smart.  There's a group of boys at the school called the Distinguished Gentlemen and it just makes me want to cry thinking about them.   This is a group run by a super dedicated teacher to give the boys positive male role models and experience being a leader in the school.  These were some great kids, very helpful and proud of themselves.

And then I come on DCUM and I see everyone dismiss Eastern, and I know a lot of that is because it is a crappy looking school and many of those kids are poor and non-white.  But if you look at the stats and talk to people, you will learn that there's bullying and rough behavior everywhere.  It might take different forms, but I can tell you that the girls in my other kid's middle school, over in much-vaunted Bethesda, can be just as mean and aggressive as the few mean girls I've known of at Eastern.  But because their parents are lawyers instead of recent immigrants, that school gets a hugh pass.  That same Bethesda school had a couple of big fights in the last month or so, but it doesn't get the same amount of clucking and disapproval that less serious incidents at Eastern get.

I also hate it when people have an individul bad experience -- something that can happen in any school -- and extrapolate it out to say, that school is bad, and everyone just stands around nodding.  I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience.  I can say with just as much force that my kid had a great experience.  He had a couple of teachers that were kind of meh, but he had some great teachers outside the magnet too -- thinking particularly of a language teacher and two math teachers that really inspired him.

People are going to choose EMS or TPMS based on what kind of program their kid wants.  And yes, they are going to go over there and see that the school is old and falling apart (a scandal that MCPS should rectify before it builds another fancy addition onto a Chevy Chase school) and that a lot of the kids are black and hispanic.  I just hope they make keep an open mind and don't feel the need to tear down one school to justify their choice.

I have a friend whose son, a magnet 7th grader, was waylaid outside TPMS at the tennis courts and beaten up by some nonmagnet kids.  So TPMS isn't perfect either -- no school is.

[/quote]

Wow.  You're capable of reading a lot into a post that isn't there.  My comments were about the program, the teaching staff, and the administration -- not the students.  DC has amazing peers in the magnet.  DC has also made a lot of friends in the comprehensive program.  These are great kids too.  DC has also witnessed some pretty disturbing fights at school and some pretty ugly sexual harassment.  DC has also been exposed to some pretty tough family situations (which, IMO, is not really a bad thing).  My post didn't say anything about the students.

Nor did my post say anything about the physical plant (which, IMO, is old, but not terrible, and as such is not really an important consideration in placement).  While it is a very nice sound bite to whine about building "another fancy addition onto a Chevy Chase school," you should look at the facts.  For example, the BCC cluster will be getting a brand new middle school, not because the CC people are so rich, but because the school is currently over-enrolled and over-enrollment is projected to rise to 500-700 students from 2017-2028.  By contrast, Eastern MS is currently under-enrolled, and even by 2028 is only scheduled to have 126 students more than capacity ( an overcapacity level Westland currently has and has had for awhile).  Even though Eastern is not over capacity, it has been scheduled for a renovation, although that renovation has been pushed back by 2 years for completion in 2023.   Although Eastern's renovation has been pushed back, five other middle schools in the same DCC with projected overcapacity by 2028 of less than 300 will begin planning this year or next for additions.  What do you think is "fair"?  To renovate a school to make it nicer even though there is currently enough room for all the students?  Or to renovate a school that is currently overcapacity with an absolutely unmanageable overcapacity projected?  IMO, what's not "fair" about the contrast in the two situations is that Eastern is not a great school, and because of that, parents with kids don't move to the neighborhood or send their kids to private, creating a self-perpetuating downward spiral of flight.  The only thing that will break this is naming, shaming, demanding better, and getting vast amounts of magnet, non-magnet and neighborhood participation for change.

Re: Distinguished Gentlemen programs.  While it's great to have positive role models at school for the boys, I think that "role models" are far from the totality of what these kids need.  Those in DG who have bad grades need really intensive, useful support at school so they can catch up, learn how to work effectively in class, get good grades and experience success themselves, not just have it role-modeled for them.  DC sees many of these DG kids stuck with bad teachers and going nowhere because of it (although some DG are in the magnet).  They also need teachers who do not treat minority students differently than non-minority students.  DC sees a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) racism in the classroom/school, with minority students being judged differentially in a more harsh manner for academic and behavioral failures and SES status, while their non-minority peers often get the benefit of the doubt and some kind of support.

So, I am not saying "don't go to Eastern".  Every parent's calculus will be different.  For us it was probably right to send this DC there, because the alternative was not great for entirely different reasons.  Our option was to choose between 2 not great placements.  But I wouldn't not even think for a minute to send my other kids there even though they are also very bright.  I also think it's important to speak the truth about our experience, particularly since I know from other parents that our views are not unique.  We know many families who either left or seriously considered it.  What I hope by being honest is that more magnet and non-magnet parents go in eyes wide open, ask questions about what's going on, complain and hold the administration responsible.  Eastern is capable of being a GREAT school, but it needs better, more imaginative leadership.

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