Reply to Recent Eastern Magnet Experiences

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]1) Sometimes it was two hours of homework a night, and other times maybe just an hour. Almost always some work to complete on the weekends.

2) On the Report Cards - mostly As with one B one quarter. But some assignments were low grades, but was able to redo for a higher grade.

3) This can be a tough program for some kids with IEPs. It depends on your student and what their accommodations / needs are. Some of the teachers are great at following though with our kid, but others were not. Overall, the case manager has been very supportive, but actual follow-through / support in some of the classes was a battle. Many of the assignments are group work, and we were told cannot be modified, due to the group nature of the work. Actually, in the beginning we were told the curriculum could not be modified at all because it is a magnet, but extra time is allowed - which can lead to stressful piling up of work and getting behind in major projects. The group work put alot of social pressure and conflict on my kid because of some of his challenges (executive functioning, organization, etc), and the other kids depending on his work being on time.

4) The lunchroom - loud and crowded, but some kids eat quickly and then go to the media center.[/quote]

NP. Wanted to add on to the group work comment that [b]many kids in the program tend to be either quirky or arrogant and domineering or both. I am not talking about the kids with IEPs. The share of these kids at Eastern is just really high and it can be really challenging to work with those kids even for NT kids.[/b] There are some really nice, socially adept kids too but just fewer than you might find in a regular program, in the experience of DD. 
[/quote]

Interesting comment about "quirky ... arrogant ... domineering kids...challenging to work with ..even for NT kids."   You preface that with "not talking about the IEP kids", but then say it's difficult for NT kids to work with the kids you've labelled as difficult, imply the kids having problems with are "not neurotypical" "not nice" and "not socially adept".   It's a little stigmatic the way you view kids who are not NT. Maybe you should self-reflect on that.

DC did not find the group work or social relationships to be the challenging at all.  Kids were very kind to each other, amazed by each other's talents and interests, respected differences and supported each other.  Frankly, quirkiness was something to be accepted not stigmatized. There was far more bullying and social dominance at our home MS.  Kids at EMS magnet had their own special interests but the social friendships were deep. In fact, my DC's lifelong closest friends are the ones she went to Eastern with.

YMMV of course. [/quote]

I had the opposite conclusion from that message. It sounded like PP was saying that kids that didn’t have IEPs or other identified learning or behavioral challenges were arrogant and domineering and frankly unpleasant and that was difficult for other kids to deal with. [/quote]

This. It's a self-selecting group and while it's a a diverse program the kids... I will be more blunt than others...  there seems to always be a core group of self-absorbed know-it-alls and show-offs. Saw this with two kids and did not see this at other magnets DCs attended.[/quote]

My kid used to mentioned this too. She thought the kids at Eastern were either way arrogant or too precious (needed coddling or special attention). She opted for Blair SMCS and found "her people" much easier there (because 'everyone thinks they are an idiot'compared to &lt;insert genius kid name here&gt;'). Of course this was years ago and it was before the lottery which may have reduced the arrogance. [/quote]

Sometimes I think there are just cohorts that have more jerks than average. That's going to be true at any school. I had kids at both middle school magnets. My Eastern kid had an absolutely lovely group of kids. There may have been a blow hard or two, and there was definitely at least one kid with significant mental health challenges, but they were overall kind and creative and funny.

My TPMS kid on the other hand was in a cohort that is commonly discussed among parents as being really difficult. I don't know what happened, and I kind of suspect it has to do with the year they spent in pandemic learning, but the group  was competitive and unkind and several kids that I know passed on the Blair magnet because they didn't want to be together with those TPMS kids any longer. Rumor has it that the next year down is lovely however.

I don't think this says anything more broadly about either of the two schools. It was just good luck in one case and bad luck in the other.[/quote]

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