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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Did you know Blair would be an option for DS before you moved? (And, if so, how?) Many thanks!  
 
Yes, Blair always an option for those with Mo. Co. residency if you're OK with the regular "academy" tracks.  We planned to move well in advance, feeling from 7th grade that Latin wouldn't be the best HS option.  All you need to do to enroll a kid is establish residency in the relevant swathe of Mo. Co. in advance-  file taxes there in April before you kid starts school in the fall.  We bought property in Takoma Park over the winter, but could have rented (at least before filing taxes, you could get an extension and wait until June).  You really don't even have to move if you're no longer in DCPS/Charter, just need to establish residency in Mo. Co and get your kid to Blair yourself.

That said, if you're shooting for the math/science magnet, communications (CAP) or IB, you need to get going a lot sooner, no later than October.  It's not at all easy to get into the magnets and a DCPS or DC Charter kid really needs to go the extra mile - you pretty much have to participate in the Johns Hopkins gifted summer programs (they start after 2nd grade) to be in the running.

For the math, also best to get your kid into chess, competitive math teams, computer programming, science camps/research by MS.  For the IB, language summer immersion helps.  And best to get recommendations from the Hopkins instructors because Mo. Co. is unlikely to take DCPS or DC Charter recommendations, or DC-CAS scores, very seriously.  Nobody but Deal teaches 7th grade algebra in DC public and some Mo. Co. kids take it in 6th.  Most of the kids in the Blair magnets are of course coming out of the MS magnets in Takoma (math) and Silver Spring (humanities) doing more serious MS work than anywhere in DCPS or Charter.  But, a DC kid does bring a certain urban savoir faire, and 2 of the Blair magnets were willing to take mine (and they admit around 15% of applicants!).

When you get to Mo. Co. it can be a shock to the system to discover that shooting for the stars academically, never mind the debate over what's equitable and who's poor and included and who's not, is the norm in public schools.   Most of the magnet kids are Asian.

Good luck.

[/quote]

Thank you, PP, for this post. And I now know that we absolutely have to move out of DCPS. My kid loves anything math and science, not sure if he is "gifted" or not, but he is eager and curious to learn. He is only 8, but I can already tell that DCPS will not give us what he wants, which is to excel in science and math. He is attending one of the "prestigious"  JKLM schools, by the way. We are doing the Hopkins Summer program so we will see how he fares compared to his suburban peers.[/quote]

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