You have to live in Poolesville to be a part of the ISP magnet. Counselors are great. I assume your child has an IEP. Maybe look up the school website and call the IEP coordinator. It’s a fabulous school and community

Your kid will do fine. They really try hard to integrate ISP students with the magnet population.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PHS is a full school magnet. Students who naturally articulate there (ie not the application magnet) are part of the Independent Studies Program (ISP). Most kids who attend PHS including the application magnet students like it because its smaller and less of a competitive vibe despite being full of high academic kids.

Thanks for this information. My kid would probably really thrive as part of the Independent Studies Program or the Global Ecology program. Any specific experiences with those programs?

The PHS application magnets(global ecology, humanities or SMACS) are competitive to gain entry and must be applied to in fall of 8th grade. All of students not in an application magnet are in ISP. The kids I’ve heard about in the respective programs seem happy enough though for some it’s a really long day because of commuting. Global ecology students have several field trips and outdoor experiences, which makes learning time management critical so they can makeup missed worked or plan for it ahead of time.

everyone else who is not in the three application magnets - global ecology, humanities or the science math one - is part of ISP. sorry for typo.

You have to apply in 8th for global ecology. The invites went out recently but everyone else who in the magnet is part of ISP which is honestly better IME than other regular MCPS programs because there is a project component.

Anonymous wrote:PHS is a full school magnet. Students who naturally articulate there (ie not the application magnet) are part of the Independent Studies Program (ISP). Most kids who attend PHS including the application magnet students like it because its smaller and less of a competitive vibe despite being full of high academic kids.

Thanks for this information. My kid would probably really thrive as part of the Independent Studies Program or the Global Ecology program. Any specific experiences with those programs?

PHS is a full school magnet. Students who naturally articulate there (ie not the application magnet) are part of the Independent Studies Program (ISP). Most kids who attend PHS including the application magnet students like it because its smaller and less of a competitive vibe despite being full of high academic kids.

It's a wonderful school and community overall and a nice place for 2e kids. I think about 3/4 of the school is magnet so your DC would find himself in good company of other kids who are high performing but who also need accommodations.

DS is an eighth grader with mild dyslexia/dysgraphia and moderate inattentive ADHD. He needs structure, clear assignments, and a hard working cohort to perform well. And he needs some accommodations to perform well (esp extra time and taking tests in a separate location). He does all his work and really wants to excel in school and can be a bit of a teacher's pet (despite inattention). He has done great in a Catholic K-8 which is small with high academic expectations. His MAP tests have been good but not off-the-charts.

We are thinking about moving to Poolesville for other reasons and wondering how the high school would be for our DS. I know it is full of high performing kids from the magnets. But what is the rest of the school like? The testing levels for kids with disabilities are the best in MCPS....but not sure what those numbers represent.