Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will the middle school transport change when Blair is only a regional magnet.

Current 8th graders and up will get to stay according to Taylor. So for as long as your kid is at TPMS they will still have enough kids for a bus route.

They will just lose the Blair kids who shared busses. I guess that will better for the MS kids. No stop at Blair.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you think shlepping all the way east to subject your child to an extra class to raise silver spring perception of its self via test scores. You couldn’t imagine any other way to enrich your child with those 3 hours a day that would pay greater dividends? The types of motivated students that do well in magnets do well anywhere and excelling at literally any other extra circular will pay bigger benefits in the long run not to mention local friends and free time.

Not necessarily. Some kids need to be around peers who also care about school. My own kid can’t handle the rude, disruptive kids all day long. They feel bad for the teacher and they are upset the teacher can’t teach or move at the right pace with poorly behaved kids. There can also be a lot of bullying for kids who like school in an environment where nobody else does.

Depends on the cohort of the school then. In better schools where there are more advanced classes than remedial I most likely agree. But in areas with an expectation of success and the resources to adhere, I personally don’t see the value in uprooting the child and dominating their time for a couple of accelerated classes. It’s not like higher SES and studious kids have a hard time getting in to college. Those classes don’t actually do much for them where extracurriculars go much farther.

Your point is kind of the normally unspoken part for many parents, these programs (SES magnets & immersions) are seen more a merit based escape valve for weaker areas even though they are dominated by richer inherently competitive areas as they were intended to so to import that peer group not as prevalent locally.

Anonymous wrote:How will the middle school transport change when Blair is only a regional magnet.

Current 8th graders and up will get to stay according to Taylor. So for as long as your kid is at TPMS they will still have enough kids for a bus route.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if the magnet bus situation has deteriorated since the 90s but for me then the commute wasn't an issue (from Montgomery Village). Mornings could be sleep, music, reading, or finishing assignments. Afternoons were socialization, which meant increased bonds with other kids local to me across grades that extended beyond college. Which also means more of my after school socialization was local for my parents and they weren't already taxed by driving me to and from school when I needed other rides. Obviously all kids are different and if your kid hates the bus it can create a real pickle but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand due to the length of the ride.

Montgomery Villege to TPMS is insanity.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if the magnet bus situation has deteriorated since the 90s but for me then the commute wasn't an issue (from Montgomery Village). Mornings could be sleep, music, reading, or finishing assignments. Afternoons were socialization, which meant increased bonds with other kids local to me across grades that extended beyond college. Which also means more of my after school socialization was local for my parents and they weren't already taxed by driving me to and from school when I needed other rides. Obviously all kids are different and if your kid hates the bus it can create a real pickle but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand due to the length of the ride.

+1

My kids are grown now, but when they were considering TPMS, I told them to consider how long the bus ride was and that if they chose to go, they’d need to view it as a part of their day. One kid used it to socialize and then did homework at home. The other mostly worked on their homework to have more free time at home, or sometimes slept.

If kids want to look at their commute time as time for friends, study, reading, naps, etc., that takes place on a bus, I think it works better. If they just look at it as time stuck on a bus in a kind of limbo, waiting to get home to the rest of their life, it’ll be a lot worse.

You should also consider the times you’ll have to go to school for meetings, PTA events, picking up a child if they’re sick or have an appointment, etc.

How will the middle school transport change when Blair is only a regional magnet.

I don't know if the magnet bus situation has deteriorated since the 90s but for me then the commute wasn't an issue (from Montgomery Village). Mornings could be sleep, music, reading, or finishing assignments. Afternoons were socialization, which meant increased bonds with other kids local to me across grades that extended beyond college. Which also means more of my after school socialization was local for my parents and they weren't already taxed by driving me to and from school when I needed other rides. Obviously all kids are different and if your kid hates the bus it can create a real pickle but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand due to the length of the ride.

Anonymous wrote:What did you think shlepping all the way east to subject your child to an extra class to raise silver spring perception of its self via test scores. You couldn’t imagine any other way to enrich your child with those 3 hours a day that would pay greater dividends? The types of motivated students that do well in magnets do well anywhere and excelling at literally any other extra circular will pay bigger benefits in the long run not to mention local friends and free time.

Not necessarily. Some kids need to be around peers who also care about school. My own kid can’t handle the rude, disruptive kids all day long. They feel bad for the teacher and they are upset the teacher can’t teach or move at the right pace with poorly behaved kids. There can also be a lot of bullying for kids who like school in an environment where nobody else does.

What did you think shlepping all the way east to subject your child to an extra class to raise silver spring perception of its self via test scores. You couldn’t imagine any other way to enrich your child with those 3 hours a day that would pay greater dividends? The types of motivated students that do well in magnets do well anywhere and excelling at literally any other extra circular will pay bigger benefits in the long run not to mention local friends and free time.

Carpool is the way to go if there are other TPMS kids in your neighborhood. We considered TPMS but turned down the spot because the existing carpool graduated, and there was no one for a new one. 2.5-3 hours on a bus each day wasn't worth it for us, as great as the program looked.

How is your home school? We are a year and a half in to driving our kid to/from TP and it is misery. (Bus ride would be over 90 min each way. Yes, kids do it and mine could too but we can technically swing the drive.)
Kid loves TP though and our home school is not great. Or even good. The other complication is her social life. After being in CES and now TP, her friends are all fairly far flung and after so much driving on weekdays the last thing I feel like doing is driving her to get together with her friends.
It really is an individual decision that is dependent on so many factors. Good luck!

What are the afternoon issues? Rising 6th grader headed to Eastern and we plan to carpool in the mornings and take the afternoon bus.

OP, are the afternoon bus issues for the activity bus or regular dismissal bus?

Could you share how challenging the bus ride is?

You are right it is NOT worth it. Give others who are willing to make it work a chance.

Anyone moving their kid back to their base school due to logistics? The constant bus delays in the morning and afternoon are really having us rethink Takoma Park Magnet is probably not worth the pain.