Reply to Middle and high school on Capitol Hill

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes, we know - we go on SchoolDigger.com, visit schools, talk to old friends who've moved to MD.  We are aware that MoCo is in the grip of a social upheaval. But at least MoCo offers test-in GT at the MS level to a select few, and doesn't seem to fight high SES parents amalgamating around high-performing schools across the board.  [/quote]

The test in Montgomery County elementary GT programs took 477 kids out of 12000 3rd graders, I.e. 4%. Most of the lawyers' kids will have trouble competing with the scientists' kids.[/quote]

There are several MS test-in programs on the eastern side of MoCo.  My sibling has one child at the Takoma Park magnet (math and science, child got a seat set aside for a Takoma Park resident) and the other at Eastern MS in Silver Spring (humanities).  Neither child tested into elementary GT.  All kids in the MS magnets perform at least two years above grade level.  They're academic paradise for advanced kids.   [/quote]

The test in programs have 325 seats among the 4 of them at the middle school level. That's less than 3% of MCPS fifth graders that can be accommodated.[/quote]

Most parents of advanced students are satisfied with the neighborhood programs (generally on the West side of the county) and don't seek seats in the several MS test-in programs in the Downcounty Consortium.  The commute can be an hour one way. But for the kids who test in whose families are willing to brave the commute (on school buses) like my niece/nephew, these programs are a godsend.   The programs aren't designed to help somewhat advanced kids, like in Fairfax and Arlington, they're geared toward really advanced kids who'd be bored out of their skulls in MS programs where "differentiation within the classroom" BS is the norm.   [/quote]

Sure, but the point is that moving to Mo tgomery County for these programs is an act of folly. You'd have better odds shooting craps. Likewise, they are hardly programs for the District to emulate to silence the din of Capitol Hill parents. Few children of the Upper Middle Class in the District would qualify with admission rates like these. When parents demand "test in programs like the suburbs", they assume their kids would get in, when they probably wouldn't, at least with the MCPS model. FCPS 's model is a different story; you just need to get comfortable with test prep.[/quote]

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