Reply to Best elementary school for a STEM gifted child?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The curriculum is the same across the county. At the MS level there are magnet and enriched classes. At the high school level there are STEM tracks, AP and magnets.  There is no acceleration or advancement for K-3 and only compacted math for 4/5. Science is bad at the ES level across the county. It just isn't in the curriculum in a substantive manner.

The highest academic math performers are at ES schools in Churchill, Whitman and Wootton. A portion of these kids used to travel to the TPMS magnet but with the cohort changes they are in their home schools. Pyle, Frost, and Cabin John now have the highest math performers - mostly in the 99-98 percentiles in the county while TPMS now has a few high performers from other schools but mostly able yet not very high performers in the program. If your kid likes math/science but is not a genius or one of the highest performers than TPMS is helpful with the 25 spots for kids that wouldn't normally make it . What is bad is that if your kid misses that cut off then you may not even have an able cohort within TPMS. SSMI has more high performers than TPMS so if you want Silver Spring but don't want to bank on the magnet this is another option.

[b]For a STEM gifted kid, I'd choose a school that feeds into Cabin John, Pyle or Frost.[/b]

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What??? Is this  joke?
For STEM,  these schools don't even come close to TPMS [/quote]

TPMS magnet program only takes a limited number of students. If one considers the rest of the school, Cabin John and Frost are much stronger in STEM.

Of course, if people have confidence that their kids can get into the Magnet program in TPMS, it would not with ES they go to (as long as it is down county).
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Cabin John and Frost cannot come close to Takoma Park. [/quote]

Are you sure about that?

For example, in competitions like mathcounts, I've never seen anyone from Takoma Park MS NOT from their magnet program.
If you just pick the top kids, yes, TPMS is stronger. But that is not a program you just enter if you live in the zone.

Again, TPMS is strong in STEM if you can get in the magnet program. But there is simply no point to live in its school zone.
For non-magnet part, Cabin John and RFMS are clearly stronger.

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#1 I would hope no one would judge an entire program of science and math standings based on math counts! Many of the kids on math counts at TPMS have done lots of outside prep. That really doesn't define the quality of the program overall.

#2 Many kids at TPMS magnet are in-boundary and would be at TPMS anyway.

I'm sure CJ and Frost are good schools too. I don't know why y'all need to try to one up here, though. It's silly.[/quote]

DP:

#1 Oh my, where do I start!

First, you are beating a straw man when you say "That really doesn't define the quality of the program overall" since nobody has questioned the quality of the program. In fact the previous posters are pointing out that TPMS is in the discussion *because of the magnet program.* The comparison they are trying to make is between the NON-magnet TPMS with other schools.

Secondly, saying those kids who represent TPMS in inter school contests had outside prep is neither here nor there: For one, it does nothing to prove the statement that you are defending: "Cabin John and Frost cannot come close to Takoma Park." Secondly, if you think outside prep is what makes the difference in state and/or national level contests, with all due respect, you are clueless (Even if your claim is true, you might want to think about why not everyone of the thousands that attend CTY/RSM/Kumon/AoPS/etc. end up winning state or national level contests). Third, it is very easy to diminish others' achievements by saying things like "Kyrie is very good only because he practices basketball a lot more than my son" but IMHO, it reeks of sour grapes.

#2 I have seen this before from other posters in DCUM as well - "the in-boundary kids at TPMS would be at the magnet anyway even without a quota" with no evidence whatsoever. Fact is, based on statistics, the in-boundary families have a great deal: There is just one middle school where if you are in the eighth percentile - roughly speaking - among the students at your home middle school you get the opportunity to be in the magnet, and that is TPMS. (25 students out of ~300) There is no other middle school where that would be possible. Even before the admissions process change, to be admitted to TPMS one needed to be generally in the top 1-2 percentile of the home middle school cohort.

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