Reply to America's Most Challenging High Schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would wager 50% of the white kids and 75% of the Asians that aren't Vietnamese at Blair are in either magnet or Cap.  Without those programs it would be a completely different story and I bet most DCC parents would not push their kids to select.[/quote]
As many PPs have pointed out magnet kids take half their classes with the general population and CAP students take half their classes with the general population so whether you like it or not, the magnet and CAP students are enmeshed in the school and have a big impact on the rigor, quality and variety of courses offered at Blair as well as on the extra curricular options.  Yes, Blair is a diverse school with lots of different kinds of students (which is one reason our family likes it) but there are plenty of kids in AP and honors classes who are not magnet or CAP.  
Again, the kids who feed into Blair from the surrounding neighborhoods come from a variety of backgrounds and there are plenty of UMC kids from Takoma Park and Silver Spring International feeding into Blair.  I don't even know where to begin with your statement about Vietnamese students in the magnet program- it is an ignorant statement.  That is the kindest thing I can say.[/quote]

[u]One only needs to look at the magnet program website and the Magnet Foundation website to realize the magnet is a completely independent school within Blair.  Yes, magnet kids tend to take social studies, English, etc., in classrooms with non-magnet students.  Even in those classes the magnet students tend to be assigned to classes that keep them together.

Magnet students also take a sequence of classes called the magnet sequence.

Be it during lunch, or at the prom, the magnet students stick together.  Mixing is minimal.

But, the Blair administration promotes the achievements of magnet students without acknowledging they are promoting the achievements of a select group.  About 70% of the magnet is Asian and mostly immigrants.  The demographics don't reflect the rest of Blair[/u].[/quote]
BS
So many ignorant statements, hard to know where to start.  The 70% are Asian statement is just plain false.  I would agree that the magnet program is disproportionately Asian and White.  I estimate that around 40% of the Asian and White students at Blair are probably in the magnet program but there are still hundreds of Asian and White kids who are not in the magnet program.
Magnet students don't "tend to" take half their classes with the general population they do take them with the general pop.  If your child has a non magnet class in their last period, then yes, all the students will be magnet (because only magnet kids and 9th grade CAP kids have an extra period) but otherwise the classes are very mixed and we have found these to be taught at a high level.  Of course, magnet kids do tend to take classes with the highest performing kids in the general population but in a big school like Blair which draws from a very diverse area there are plenty of these.
Kids do tend to hang out mostly with kids they are in classes with but my magnet kid has lots of friends who are not in the magnet program.  
I personally am happy that my child is in a strong high school and has friends in magnet, CAP as well as in the general school population.  I hope he is learning that there are lots of different kinds of people in the world and everyone has something to contribute.  He may be good at Math and Science but he has met kids who are great writers, great athletes, great artists or passionate about politics or just really nice people.  I don't see how he would benefit from turning up his nose at people who are not exactly like him, especially since one of the reasons he was not happy in our high performing home school cluster was that he did not always feel accepted.  It would be sad if he had the same attitude towards others who are not like him.  
Setting up an "us vs. them" narrative is both false and harmful.
Luckily, your attitude is not representative of the majority of magnet families I know.  
[/quote]

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