Reply to magnet schools for Bethesda kids?

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Reply to "magnet schools for Bethesda kids?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are plenty of Bethesda area kids who attend Eastern, Takoma Park, Blair and RMIB.  I am not going to knock their home high schools (we are zoned for one of them) but the magnet programs are qualitatively different in terms of curriculum as well as the peer group.  That does not mean that every bright kid would be better off in the magnet programs but if you have a kid who would thrive in that environment (enriched curriculum, able to work at least two grade levels above actual grade, faster pace, cross-disciplinary work, high expectations, peer group that is also bright and loves to learn) it is worth the bus ride.  Yes you take non-magnet courses with the general school population but that is not a terrible thing.  Takoma Park is a good middle school.  At Eastern your child's math and science class is likely to have mostly magnet kids.  Blair is a very good school.  If you are taking AP or honors level classes the teachers are great.  We have been very happy with social studies and english at blair.  Foreign languages not so much. [/quote]

Bethesda parent of 1 Eastern and 1 Takoma magnet student.  Agree about the "qualitatively different" part for MS.  Magnet MS made a huge difference.  Child was much more prepared for high school than other students who were at home school.  At the MS level, there is no option for advanced academics.  By contrast, at least in HS, there are advanced academics (AP or IB depending on school).  Opting for the magnet in HS is a trade off between travel time and what you could use that extra time for if you stayed at home school.  Some of our kids opted not to do HS magnet for this reason.  Home HS with AP/IB load is fine.

IMO, Blair math and science magnet is on a separate plane from other HS programs.  The classes offered there are truly advanced, not available anywhere else in the county, and the peer group has a pretty good chunk of crazy smart kids as well as plain old very smart/highly motivated kids.  Families admitted to this program should not kid themselves that a home high school w/ lots of APs will be a comparable experience.

FWIW, many parents in Bethesda carpool one or both ways to Blair, Eastern or Takoma. The drive is quick but the bus route is 3x as long due to the way everyone is routed through Blair.[/quote]

I totally agree with both the above posters. Eastern MS/Takoma MS is not comparable to a Bethesda area middle school in terms of curriculum or peer group and Blair Science Magnet is indeed on a totally different plane. 
W parent with W and magnet experience.[/quote]

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