Anonymous
07/30/2025 10:52
Subject: Re:What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So there will still be special school-based programs that not all students can access? I don’t see the point of all this work to create equivalent regions if this is the case.
There have always been special school-based programs that not all students can access-- almost all high schools have at least one local signature program, often more. The only way to equalize that would be to force all high schools to end all signature program/academies which doesn't seem like a positive step forward...
Watch BOW meetings and read the Program Design website. Every HS will have at least one “program” within their building. All secondary students will have access to the same amount and type of programs within their region. This is more than we can say now.
I was referring to these: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/signatures/
They will go away and be replaced with these (starts at slide 19)
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DHZRGB6A7E13/$file/Program%20Analysis%20Boundary%20Studies%20Update%20250624%20PPT%20REV.pdf
Nothing has been presented or decided about the local signature programs.
Anonymous
07/30/2025 10:48
Subject: Re:What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So there will still be special school-based programs that not all students can access? I don’t see the point of all this work to create equivalent regions if this is the case.
There have always been special school-based programs that not all students can access-- almost all high schools have at least one local signature program, often more. The only way to equalize that would be to force all high schools to end all signature program/academies which doesn't seem like a positive step forward...
Watch BOW meetings and read the Program Design website. Every HS will have at least one “program” within their building. All secondary students will have access to the same amount and type of programs within their region. This is more than we can say now.
I was referring to these: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/signatures/
They will go away and be replaced with these (starts at slide 19)
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DHZRGB6A7E13/$file/Program%20Analysis%20Boundary%20Studies%20Update%20250624%20PPT%20REV.pdf
Probably reclassified, not replaced. Changing eligibility boundaries isn't a reason to throw away the programming.
Anonymous
07/30/2025 10:22
Subject: Re:What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So there will still be special school-based programs that not all students can access? I don’t see the point of all this work to create equivalent regions if this is the case.
There have always been special school-based programs that not all students can access-- almost all high schools have at least one local signature program, often more. The only way to equalize that would be to force all high schools to end all signature program/academies which doesn't seem like a positive step forward...
Watch BOW meetings and read the Program Design website. Every HS will have at least one “program” within their building. All secondary students will have access to the same amount and type of programs within their region. This is more than we can say now.
I was referring to these: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/signatures/
They will go away and be replaced with these (starts at slide 19)
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DHZRGB6A7E13/$file/Program%20Analysis%20Boundary%20Studies%20Update%20250624%20PPT%20REV.pdf
Anonymous
07/30/2025 09:20
Subject: Re:What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So there will still be special school-based programs that not all students can access? I don’t see the point of all this work to create equivalent regions if this is the case.
There have always been special school-based programs that not all students can access-- almost all high schools have at least one local signature program, often more. The only way to equalize that would be to force all high schools to end all signature program/academies which doesn't seem like a positive step forward...
Watch BOW meetings and read the Program Design website. Every HS will have at least one “program” within their building. All secondary students will have access to the same amount and type of programs within their region. This is more than we can say now.
I was referring to these: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/signatures/
Anonymous
07/29/2025 16:24
Subject: Re:What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So there will still be special school-based programs that not all students can access? I don’t see the point of all this work to create equivalent regions if this is the case.
There have always been special school-based programs that not all students can access-- almost all high schools have at least one local signature program, often more. The only way to equalize that would be to force all high schools to end all signature program/academies which doesn't seem like a positive step forward...
Watch BOW meetings and read the Program Design website. Every HS will have at least one “program” within their building. All secondary students will have access to the same amount and type of programs within their region. This is more than we can say now.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 16:22
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
They won’t be called academies or magnets. They will either be merit based or interest based programs. There won’t be room for everyone, but hopefully more than their are now.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 15:58
Subject: Re:What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:So there will still be special school-based programs that not all students can access? I don’t see the point of all this work to create equivalent regions if this is the case.
There have always been special school-based programs that not all students can access-- almost all high schools have at least one local signature program, often more. The only way to equalize that would be to force all high schools to end all signature program/academies which doesn't seem like a positive step forward...
Anonymous
07/29/2025 15:16
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
I thought dcc was going away so I would assume the Wheaton magnets too...unless they are transformed into one of the new magnets. I know it was popular so it's a shame.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 14:29
Subject: Re:What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
So there will still be special school-based programs that not all students can access? I don’t see the point of all this work to create equivalent regions if this is the case.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 13:03
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:In the down county consortium, a student at Blair who can't get into a magnet, could apply for the engineering academy at Wheaton? I wonder if academies will still exist? Will students outside that school in a region be able to apply for them like a student currently can do in the DCC?
Isn't the Wheaton engineering program a criteria-based/magnet program that students apply for? If so I think it would fall under the same umbrella as all the other academic programs being discussed, where it is open to other students in the region as a regional program if it makes the cut. (I wonder if they will make the Wheaton engineering program into the SMCS option for its region, with some tweaks to make it more like Blair/Poolesville? As a popular program drawing students to a high-FARMS school I doubt they'd want to get rid of it entirely so that seems like the most likely option. And Wheaton and Blair are close enough that they could maybe share some of the staff for the high-level elective classes or even have kids travel between the two schools to take classes together. Or are the two programs so different that wouldn't make any sense?)
And then there will still be the various local or signature programs only for students at specific schools which are sometimes called academies. Those will presumably continue to only be for students at the specific school (unless a school's local program matches up well enough with one of the regional program types that MCPS decides to convert it into a regional program to take advantage of the staff and expertise there, which is probably a smart move in some cases ). I guess there is a chance the Wheaton engineering program would turn into that instead.
No.
Wheaton has an engineering magnet that has about thirty kids.
Then there is the engineering academy which has a very similar curriculum and is taught by the same teachers. Anyone who goes to Wheaton (including my Einstein DCC kids who ranked Wheaton first) can go to the engineering academy.
Ah gotcha. So the engineering academy is basically a local/signature program only open to students enrolled at Wheaton like many other high schools have, but because Wheaton's in the DCC it feels a little different because it's a reason some DCC kids from other areas pick Wheaton, is that right?
In that case I imagine that in the future with the disappearance of the DCC it would remain as a local program for only Wheaton kids, unless MCPS decides to build off it to create the region's STEM/SMCS regional program.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 12:40
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:In the down county consortium, a student at Blair who can't get into a magnet, could apply for the engineering academy at Wheaton? I wonder if academies will still exist? Will students outside that school in a region be able to apply for them like a student currently can do in the DCC?
Isn't the Wheaton engineering program a criteria-based/magnet program that students apply for? If so I think it would fall under the same umbrella as all the other academic programs being discussed, where it is open to other students in the region as a regional program if it makes the cut. (I wonder if they will make the Wheaton engineering program into the SMCS option for its region, with some tweaks to make it more like Blair/Poolesville? As a popular program drawing students to a high-FARMS school I doubt they'd want to get rid of it entirely so that seems like the most likely option. And Wheaton and Blair are close enough that they could maybe share some of the staff for the high-level elective classes or even have kids travel between the two schools to take classes together. Or are the two programs so different that wouldn't make any sense?)
And then there will still be the various local or signature programs only for students at specific schools which are sometimes called academies. Those will presumably continue to only be for students at the specific school (unless a school's local program matches up well enough with one of the regional program types that MCPS decides to convert it into a regional program to take advantage of the staff and expertise there, which is probably a smart move in some cases ). I guess there is a chance the Wheaton engineering program would turn into that instead.
No.
Wheaton has an engineering magnet that has about thirty kids.
Then there is the engineering academy which has a very similar curriculum and is taught by the same teachers. Anyone who goes to Wheaton (including my Einstein DCC kids who ranked Wheaton first) can go to the engineering academy.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 12:35
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
It seems like the DCC has had a lot more options than any other area of the county. It seems like they are trying to replicate it across the county which I find interesting as so few DCC parents love the system.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 12:30
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Thanks, Wheaton currently has two engineering programs- one is a magnet and the other is an academy for DCC students.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 12:02
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
Anonymous wrote:In the down county consortium, a student at Blair who can't get into a magnet, could apply for the engineering academy at Wheaton? I wonder if academies will still exist? Will students outside that school in a region be able to apply for them like a student currently can do in the DCC?
Isn't the Wheaton engineering program a criteria-based/magnet program that students apply for? If so I think it would fall under the same umbrella as all the other academic programs being discussed, where it is open to other students in the region as a regional program if it makes the cut. (I wonder if they will make the Wheaton engineering program into the SMCS option for its region, with some tweaks to make it more like Blair/Poolesville? As a popular program drawing students to a high-FARMS school I doubt they'd want to get rid of it entirely so that seems like the most likely option. And Wheaton and Blair are close enough that they could maybe share some of the staff for the high-level elective classes or even have kids travel between the two schools to take classes together. Or are the two programs so different that wouldn't make any sense?)
And then there will still be the various local or signature programs only for students at specific schools which are sometimes called academies. Those will presumably continue to only be for students at the specific school (unless a school's local program matches up well enough with one of the regional program types that MCPS decides to convert it into a regional program to take advantage of the staff and expertise there, which is probably a smart move in some cases ). I guess there is a chance the Wheaton engineering program would turn into that instead.
Anonymous
07/29/2025 11:00
Subject: What does the move toward regional programs mean for non-magnet academy style programs?
In the down county consortium, a student at Blair who can't get into a magnet, could apply for the engineering academy at Wheaton? I wonder if academies will still exist? Will students outside that school in a region be able to apply for them like a student currently can do in the DCC?