I'm 12:54. I'm fairly certain my magnet kid has more homework than friends at Sidwell, which alone goes some of the way towards saying that A's are tougher to get at the magnet.

But thanks, 7:00, for reminding my what I don't miss about my kids' old private school -- parents like you!

Are all public school parents so defensive and gullible? Maybe since you're either unable or unwilling to pay tuition for your children's education, you're pretty invested in defending MCPS. And as to why I'm on the public school thread -- I check it occasionally since my children went to MCPS for elementary school, where, BTW, they got all Os and As, as do most kids in private elementary school.

Anonymous wrote:Based on first-hand experience (parent of 2 grads and 2 current students) I can tell you that it is total BS that "A's are free on the ground" at Sidwell. I can't speak about any other private school or any magnet as I don't have first-hand experience with those schools. I would suggest, PP, that you also refrain from spreading rumors based on what your child claims his/her friends say their grades are.

Uh, you just outed yourself and your family, unless this is a fake post. The 'tude is so totally in keeping with the ambience of the private school threads, though, that it might just be true.

Heh heh. With 4 kids in Sidwell, which means she's sending $500,000 to the place over the years, she must be pretty concerned about whether she made a good investment.

Why else would she be policing public school boards for anti-Sidwell comments?

Anonymous wrote:Based on first-hand experience (parent of 2 grads and 2 current students) I can tell you that it is total BS that "A's are free on the ground" at Sidwell. I can't speak about any other private school or any magnet as I don't have first-hand experience with those schools. I would suggest, PP, that you also refrain from spreading rumors based on what your child claims his/her friends say their grades are.

Are all Sidwell parents as charming, and willing to dismiss others' experiences, as you are? You sound like a real peach.

Based on first-hand experience (parent of 2 grads and 2 current students) I can tell you that it is total BS that "A's are free on the ground" at Sidwell. I can't speak about any other private school or any magnet as I don't have first-hand experience with those schools. I would suggest, PP, that you also refrain from spreading rumors based on what your child claims his/her friends say their grades are.

[quote=Anonymous][quote][i]... At the high school level, our experience (with limited comparisons to private high schools) is that the magnets are more challenging than private schools, but not necessarily the route to take if your kid wants straight As and a shot at the Ivies. ... [/i][/quote]

12:54 - Why do you think magnet students have a lesser chance at the Ivies than private school students?[/quote]

I'm the poster you quote. I don't know whether magnet students actually do have either a lesser -- or better -- chance at the Ivies. I know of lots of magnet kids who have gone on to Ivies. Then again it's hard to figure out exactly what is going on because lots go to the cheaper UMD or UVA - remember these families don't have an obvious history of already paying $35K/year for private schools. There are a lot of factors to consider. In a magnet your kid will be up against 15-25 (or more!) other national merit scholarship kids from the same magnet, but then again in a top private there are also national merit scholarship kids and also probably more kids with legacy preferences (not that there aren't Harvard and Princeton legacy kids at the magnets, we know a couple of these too).

Mostly I was responding on the narrow issue of grades and grade inflation, which is the only thing I'm at least a bit confident about. Magnet teachers don't have a problem giving your kid a B or a C whereas, as I said, DC's friends in top DC privates say that As are pretty free on the ground. Whether private school parents families sort of "expect" As or push for them, or something else is going on, I don't know. Anyway, the magnet people will tell you that your kid is taking courses they can't get anywhere else and they claim top colleges recognize this. Who knows....

[quote][i]... At the high school level, our experience (with limited comparisons to private high schools) is that the magnets are more challenging than private schools, but not necessarily the route to take if your kid wants straight As and a shot at the Ivies. ... [/i][/quote]

12:54 - Why do you think magnet students have a lesser chance at the Ivies than private school students?

Such an interesting perspective, thank you for sharing. I really like our current elem and ultimate HS, not sure about the middle school though I guess MS is horrible for kids everywhere!

We moved DC to private school for part of elementary school. This, as you will have guessed by now, is how DC comes to have so many friends in top DC privates....

I can't help with the question about whether a public elementary school prepares a kid for a challenging public high school, because we didn't go that route. I think middle and high school are a shock for many kids because are more challenging and require much more organization than elementary school did. I'm not sure this is different whether you go from private elementary to private middle school - it's still a bit of a shock for kids.

In retrospect I'm not sure the move to private school for the 2nd half of elementary was necessary. The private school offered lots of one-on-one help, and social studies and science which were virtually non-existent in DC's MCPS elementary. But DC has caught up on social studies and science in public middle and high schools.

At the high school level, our experience (with limited comparisons to private high schools) is that the magnets are more challenging than private schools, but not necessarily the route to take if your kid wants straight As and a shot at the Ivies.

Anonymous wrote:Is it grade inflation, or are the standards too low? Or a combination of both? I have no answer, although I've noticed the same thing about MCPS elementary schools.

Whichever it is, in our experience, there is grade inflation/lack of challenge in MCPS elementary schools but not in the high school AP-level classes and magnets. My kid at a MCPS high school magnet talks about these issues with BFFs at Sidwell, WIS and some other DC privates. DC's take is that DC spends many more hours doing homework, but it's harder to get As, in the high school magnet as opposed to these top privates. Take it for what it's worth, because it's a small sample size, although DC does have several years of observations at this point.

This is interesting, thank you, and good to know as my child(ten) progress through the system. Looking back on it now, do you think your child would have been better educated/prepared/well-rounded if s/he had been challenged more in elem or do you think the timing of challenging courses later allowed for more extracurricular interests to develop in elem. I guess what I am asking is, does it matter that your DC was the beneficiary of grade inflation in elem (or lack of challenging assignments) to what your DC is doing now?

Is it grade inflation, or are the standards too low? Or a combination of both? I have no answer, although I've noticed the same thing about MCPS elementary schools.

Whichever it is, in our experience, there is grade inflation/lack of challenge in MCPS elementary schools but not in the high school AP-level classes and magnets. My kid at a MCPS high school magnet talks about these issues with BFFs at Sidwell, WIS and some other DC privates. DC's take is that DC spends many more hours doing homework, but it's harder to get As, in the high school magnet as opposed to these top privates. Take it for what it's worth, because it's a small sample size, although DC does have several years of observations at this point.

Anonymous wrote:I was doing some scrapbooking and realized that my DC has received nothing by Os and As during elem school, Os in the lower grades and As in the upper grades. DC is bright but no Einstein. Are these grades unusual or is there grade inflation in MCPS? Should I be wondering whether my DC is bored? Doesn't appear to be, appears to work at homework and doesn't mention being bored, but has never received a lower grade. I guess we were vaguely aware that DC always had good grades on the report card but never ventured further. Should I be?

You should be asking about specific test scores -- where does your child read on the map-r/lexile scale? how is has your child performed on beginning of the year pre-assessment for math at grade level? this will help you understand if your child is mildly advanced (by a year or two) or more advanced (reading years above grade, etc.) IMO, a child currently in MS who received all As and Os in elementary school should now be taking GT/advanced classes and should be on the advanced math track by at least one year so that child can take Calculus in HS.

IMO, I think kids learn important educational and socio-emotional skills when they are challenged in school as opposed to just floating thru.

20% of my daughters' MS gets straight A's. Its nice but I don't think you should buy a Yale sweatshirt yet.

I was doing some scrapbooking and realized that my DC has received nothing by Os and As during elem school, Os in the lower grades and As in the upper grades. DC is bright but no Einstein. Are these grades unusual or is there grade inflation in MCPS? Should I be wondering whether my DC is bored? Doesn't appear to be, appears to work at homework and doesn't mention being bored, but has never received a lower grade. I guess we were vaguely aware that DC always had good grades on the report card but never ventured further. Should I be?