Reply to MS/HS recommendations for artsy kid

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Einstein is academically weak.  [/quote]

Other than math, we’ve been pleased. English and history instruction have been stellar. IB diploma kid. [/quote]

PP with kid at Einstein. DD is not in the IB program and we’re a bit disappointed about lack of AP science. Otherwise, we’ve been ok with the academics. [/quote]

The lack of aps and advance math and science classes is our biggest issue.  They have some very bright and capable teachers who can teach them but the principal will not allocate classes to aps.  [/quote]

Einstein still has AP classes, just not in science, because they have IB science instead.[/quote]

The IB is different from AP classes, and there is no advanced math after Calc BC (i.e., linear algebra or multivariable).  They are taught very differntly. So, your option is to take AB and BC, then Stat's or IB, which is lower than BC.  A lot of kids would prefer AP Science classes.  Some colleges don't take IB credits and prefer AP. Or, you have to go to MC, which either requires a car/transportation or online (and the times offered are usually at night, which rules out sports or other activities).  Many of the high-achieving kids go to Wheaton or Blair, which is unfortunate, as they'd probably get more high-achieving kids if they offered more AP, computer science, and engineering classes.  The AP computer science teacher is very good (or at least our experience).  A lot of parents and students complain about the lack of AP classes but the principal refuses to add more.[/quote]

Einstein used to have both AP and IB science classes, but they had a hard time getting enough students to enroll to justify both, and they need to have IB classes because they're an IB school.[/quote]

They have a hard time as the guidance counselors discourage it and it’s not offered so many smart kids go to other schools or are forced to take classes at Mc.  [/quote]

No, they used to offer both AP and IB science several years ago, but there were only so many students interested in the advanced courses, and they had trouble filling both, so they went with IB for science. [/quote]

If they offered it, more kids might go to Einstein, which would improve test scores and ratings.  They don’t encourage anything it, or at least our experience.   [/quote]

Einstein is seriously overcrowded already, so seems to have no trouble attracting students.[/quote]

The brighter students are going to other schools if they can due to the lack of course offering.  They have a lots of great kids there but you are entirely missing the point.  It’s not about attracting students as kids will be assigned there regardless, it’s about the brighter students who can are choosing to go to other schools and the ones at Einstein go without the classes and clubs they need to be competitive to get into colleges.  If you are arts or humanities, you’ll be fine.  If you are stem, there is very limited courses and clubs.   Given the size of the school they could offer a few science aps, higher math, computer science and engineering classes to attract the high achievers.  That would also bring up test scores and school rating.  We are talking less than a dozen classes.

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One of the features of the DCC is that the different schools have different focuses. Students interested in AP science classes can find them at other schools.[/quote]

The problem is families are not fully explained this and it’s a lottery or application so if you don’t get in too bad and you cannot easily transfer later.  You cannot just take classes at other schools.  [/quote]

[b]I think it's definitely explained in terms of which courses are available where.[/b]  I agree there's less discussion in the MS years about the potential college impact of what path you choose for HS.  But I do feel, living in the DCC, that STEM is all I hear about most of the time.  If you want lots of that, you apply for Blair or Wheaton or even Northwood (for the MC2 program and other MC connections).  I'm on the other side of the fence: extremely artsy kid who is made for the arts and IB programming at Einstein, but who is out-of-bounds DCC and will not automatically get in.  When the arts and humanities programming is at the same level in all the other schools, then I'm open to thinking about (for example) whether Einstein really needs multivariable calculus when Wheaton is so close by.[/quote]

Please point to this resource.  A cross-listing of courses available (not programs and certain courses that might be associated, but also might not be available each year) at each HS (and MS) has been requested for [i]years[/i].  It's info like this that MCPS clearly has, but that they fail to provide, making decisions less effective and advocacy more complicated, that routinely has families frustrated and upset.

Outside-the-bounds families may not be as keenly aware of the phantom that is school choice in the DCC.  The home catchment has priority in the choice process.  An in-bounds Einstein student wanting to go to Blair for the courses offered there is just out of luck since Blair is overbooked just by its own in-bounds population.  Wheaton, too.  Kennedy doesn't have a robust set of advanced offerings.

MC2 at Northwood is not the same as in-school advanced/specialized HS programming -- only a very few classes are on site (basically, a student at any HS can access MC courses, so the relative benefit of the focused Northwood program is rather limited).  This also is not as conducive to the overall HS experiene, with the logistical burden of transporting between schools (and among MC sites) for course access and the impact on socialization, exrracurriculars and the like.  In PP's case, one might cynically refer to the many MC arts courses available to all MCPS HS students as a cure for the lack of such at their home HS, much as they suggested the same for an Einstien student wanting to access Multivariable Calculus.

And some of the advanced/specialized courses that  [i]are available[/i] are, due to seating if not program policy, effectively reserved for the smaller population within a school that has been admitted to a seat-constrained application program.

The upshot is that, despite the many programs MCPS houses, including those in the DCC, the seating limitations, the differential specialized program structure and the cohort requirements currently employed for advanced courses all mean that the system does not provide equitable access to robust education options across school catchments.[/quote]

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