My child got into humanities and smcs magnet program at poolesville. Which program should she choose. She is strong in math, but not in computer science. She is weak in English, but maybe four years in the humanities high school program will improve her writing, etc.....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am starting to think there is something seriously wrong with this program…..

Why?

Maybe because nobody comments about this particular, but there are so many people doling out info about the other pgms.

The lack of posts about Poolesville’s Humanities house in line with posts on this board about the middle school humanities magnets. On this board, everything is Eastern, Eastern, Eastern and MLK is barely mentioned. There’s nothing wrong with MLK’s program, but upcounty parents just don’t post here as much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s because it is only for upcounty and not equivalent to CAP. This board is dominated by people who live downcounty so have access nor interest in the program.

Frankly, I wish downcounty had something like this. CAP basically focuses on all the elements of the Eastern Humanities magnet that my kid really didn't enjoy, and they would have loved to have an option that focused on the Humanities part rather than the Media stuff.

After looking at the course lists, my kid didn't even apply to CAP. They're currently doing well in IB, but the curriculum and requirements are very rigid, and I know they would have appreciated more flexibility to follow their own path as they take different types of classes and their interests develop. I don't know how competitive the Poolesville Humanities program is, but the course list looks interesting and rigorous, at least. Not sure how it compares to the honors/AP offerings at other upcounty HS, though?

I'm curious about this. What types of classes does the Pooleseville humanities program have that are different from the CAP program? Model UN and the other things described seem similar to CAP right?

Is there a program that's more like the literature class at Eastern which my child loved?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am starting to think there is something seriously wrong with this program…..

Why?

Maybe because nobody comments about this particular, but there are so many people doling out info about the other pgms.

Anonymous wrote:I am starting to think there is something seriously wrong with this program…..

Why?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s because it is only for upcounty and not equivalent to CAP. This board is dominated by people who live downcounty so have access nor interest in the program.

Frankly, I wish downcounty had something like this. CAP basically focuses on all the elements of the Eastern Humanities magnet that my kid really didn't enjoy, and they would have loved to have an option that focused on the Humanities part rather than the Media stuff.

After looking at the course lists, my kid didn't even apply to CAP. They're currently doing well in IB, but the curriculum and requirements are very rigid, and I know they would have appreciated more flexibility to follow their own path as they take different types of classes and their interests develop. I don't know how competitive the Poolesville Humanities program is, but the course list looks interesting and rigorous, at least. Not sure how it compares to the honors/AP offerings at other upcounty HS, though?

Hijacking the thread here, but I wanted to ask the PP if their kid is happy with the choice to do IB rather than structure their own path at their home high school. My own Eastern kid is choosing between CAP, IB, and their home school (with APs, etc.) and the rigidity of IB seems like a downside. Do the upsides of IB (cohort, curriculum) balance this out?

I have this same question, making this same decision- bumping this thread in the hopes that some people will share their experiences!

I am starting to think there is something seriously wrong with this program…..

I don't know why there aren't more posts on DCUM about PHS Humanities. There are a fair number of positive DCUM posts about the general PHS environment (along with the ton specifically about Global Ecology and SMCS as noted by PPs).

I have a ninth grade PHS Humanities student who also was in the MLK MS Humanities program. So far DC loves the PHS Humanities program and PHS. DC has a witty, caring, somewhat laid-back peer group here. We have found PHS admin and staff to be welcoming and supportive. The school size -- around 1200 students -- works well for DC.

Looking only from a ninth grade viewpoint, the high school Humanities program so far is definitely less media focused than the middle school program was. The workload does not seem too much different from middle school (although it's a little hard to judge when more than a year of middle school was virtual). DC has been able to fit in an outside activity that has a fairly serious weekly time commitment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s because it is only for upcounty and not equivalent to CAP. This board is dominated by people who live downcounty so have access nor interest in the program.

Frankly, I wish downcounty had something like this. CAP basically focuses on all the elements of the Eastern Humanities magnet that my kid really didn't enjoy, and they would have loved to have an option that focused on the Humanities part rather than the Media stuff.

After looking at the course lists, my kid didn't even apply to CAP. They're currently doing well in IB, but the curriculum and requirements are very rigid, and I know they would have appreciated more flexibility to follow their own path as they take different types of classes and their interests develop. I don't know how competitive the Poolesville Humanities program is, but the course list looks interesting and rigorous, at least. Not sure how it compares to the honors/AP offerings at other upcounty HS, though?

Hijacking the thread here, but I wanted to ask the PP if their kid is happy with the choice to do IB rather than structure their own path at their home high school. My own Eastern kid is choosing between CAP, IB, and their home school (with APs, etc.) and the rigidity of IB seems like a downside. Do the upsides of IB (cohort, curriculum) balance this out?

+1. I’d like to know this as well as I have a kid who choosing between PLTW, IB and home school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s because it is only for upcounty and not equivalent to CAP. This board is dominated by people who live downcounty so have access nor interest in the program.

Frankly, I wish downcounty had something like this. CAP basically focuses on all the elements of the Eastern Humanities magnet that my kid really didn't enjoy, and they would have loved to have an option that focused on the Humanities part rather than the Media stuff.

After looking at the course lists, my kid didn't even apply to CAP. They're currently doing well in IB, but the curriculum and requirements are very rigid, and I know they would have appreciated more flexibility to follow their own path as they take different types of classes and their interests develop. I don't know how competitive the Poolesville Humanities program is, but the course list looks interesting and rigorous, at least. Not sure how it compares to the honors/AP offerings at other upcounty HS, though?

Hijacking the thread here, but I wanted to ask the PP if their kid is happy with the choice to do IB rather than structure their own path at their home high school. My own Eastern kid is choosing between CAP, IB, and their home school (with APs, etc.) and the rigidity of IB seems like a downside. Do the upsides of IB (cohort, curriculum) balance this out?

Anonymous wrote:It’s because it is only for upcounty and not equivalent to CAP. This board is dominated by people who live downcounty so have access nor interest in the program.

Frankly, I wish downcounty had something like this. CAP basically focuses on all the elements of the Eastern Humanities magnet that my kid really didn't enjoy, and they would have loved to have an option that focused on the Humanities part rather than the Media stuff.

After looking at the course lists, my kid didn't even apply to CAP. They're currently doing well in IB, but the curriculum and requirements are very rigid, and I know they would have appreciated more flexibility to follow their own path as they take different types of classes and their interests develop. I don't know how competitive the Poolesville Humanities program is, but the course list looks interesting and rigorous, at least. Not sure how it compares to the honors/AP offerings at other upcounty HS, though?

It’s because it is only for upcounty and not equivalent to CAP. This board is dominated by people who live downcounty so have access nor interest in the program.

I am curious too, why no one talks about the humanities program at poolesville on this forum. It’s always about or smacs, or GE. Is the humanities program not a good program, is their no demand for it?

Anonymous wrote:How is the humanities program at Poolesville? Hows the workload? Is it good/worth it to attend compared to home high school? Any helpful tips or guidance former humanities parents can provide? Everyone on the forum seems to talk about SMACS or global ecology but I don’t hear any mention of humanities program. Thanks!

It is a serious workload commitment. But it’s a wonderful program. It’s where the philosophers, artists, journalists, and future legal scholars are within PHS - history bowl participants, Model UN, forensics, debaters, musicians, actors.

How is the humanities program at Poolesville? Hows the workload? Is it good/worth it to attend compared to home high school? Any helpful tips or guidance former humanities parents can provide? Everyone on the forum seems to talk about SMACS or global ecology but I don’t hear any mention of humanities program. Thanks!