Reply to Do these docs show any changes in #s or courses for existing prograns?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Blair SMCS parent here. The math is one-year behind the current one. They remove completely the engineering courses which should span the first two years. CSP in 10th grade? That's a suicidal move for any STEM student.

The internship between 11th and 12th grade summer is laughable, as current students all apply by themselves and there is no organized pathway to guarantee any research internship. Same thing for "national and international STEM competitions". If they are talking about AMC, ARML, F=ma those types of competitions, those are pretty much organized by a single teacher across the entire MCPS currently. And expecting him to expand the access to 3X is ridiculous. All other competition opportunities (e.g., Hackathon, science bowl) are organized by student-led clubs and among peers (and parents need to resolve the logistics). School doesn't organize any of these opportunities other than give students an excused absence approval. [/quote]

Which grade is your kid in? And what are the courses they took/need to take per grade as per the current program schedule?

I don't know what courses an advanced kid should be taking, so pardon my ignorance - why is taking CSP in 10th grade a suicidal move for a STEM student?[/quote]

I also have know idea why taking AP CSP in 10th grade would be a suicidal move for a STEM student since that is exactly when lots of them take it.  Some do take it in 9th to fulfill the tech credit.  Especially those that are technology focused.[/quote]

Its normal to take AP CSP in 10th, AP Java in 11th.[/quote]

No one in SMCS take CSP class or test. They all go directly to AP CSA after finishing 10th grade. CSP is for kids who don’t want to major in STEM. [/quote]

Why do people make statements like this.  AP CSP is meant to be an introductory CS class which can then be followed by Java and other programming languages.

Just because that is not how the SMCS program is setup currently doesn’t mean it’s the only way for a student to show interest in STEM.  Also, STEM is waay more than just Computer Science.[/quote]

Guess what. The current SMCS program doesn't provide AP CSA or AP Calc BC classes. They teach much harder and accelerated contents, and everyone in SMCS program took AP CSA and AP Calc BC tests directly and none took AP CSP or Calc AB tests, because the latter will demonstrate you are weaker or slower than your peers. Same thing for other AP science tests. For example, kids interested in physics or engineering majors do not take AP Physics 1 or 2 courses nor tests. They self-study and directly take AP Physics C tests. The magnet physics course in 9th grade don't even cover half of the AP Physics 1 content. If the future STEM program decides to use the current SMCS curricula and follow their contents, the enrolled students have to know upfront that they have to self-study at least half of the contents in order to be able to get a 5 in those AP science tests. [/quote]

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