Have a look at the 2010-2011 school safety statistics on the MCPS website. Here are some examples:

Hoover MS in Potomac had three physical threats and one verbal threat reported, along with 3 bullying incidents.

Cabin John MS in Potomac had suspensions for the following: 3 arson/fire/explosives suspensions, 6 attacks, 5 disrespect/insubordination, 1 theft, 2 threats, and 3 weapons. There was one sexual incident, and 20 confirmed reports of bullying.

Eastern had 0 fire/arson, 20 attacks, 3 dangerous substances, 15 fighting, 7 threats, and 1 weapons suspensions. There was one sexual incident, and 1 confirmed bullying report.

Takoma Park's suspensions were: 1 arson/explosive, 10 attack, 1 dangerous substance, 8 disrespect/insubordination, 5 fighting, 3 theft, 4 threat, 2 weapons. There were no sexual incidents and no confirmed bullying reports.

Tilden MS in Rockville had 8 attack suspensions, 4 fighting, 1 threat, 1 weapons, and 3 confirmed bullying reports.

You might draw a couple of conclusions from this, such as that there is more fighting at Eastern and more bullying at Hoover. (Or you could draw conclusions about what's reported and how it's characterized.)

My point is, though, that every MS has issues, including those in so-called "nicer" areas of MoCo., and that Eastern's don't seem to be worse Takoma's.

My guess is that at Eastern the kids who are fighting and cursing are black and hispanic and therefore seem more threatening to some kids. Is your child more likely to get into a fight there? No, probably even less so because the two populations of students are kept pretty separate. Is your child more likely to see a physical fight? Maybe, but it could also just be perception.

^^^PP here, sorry - I should have said, thank you.

To this PP (with the child who feels unsafe): If you could have chosen either magnet, would you have chosen Takoma, knowing what you know now?

Anonymous wrote:On safety at Eastern --

Students were recently arrested for marijuana possession on campus and possession of a knife. The school has also had a problem with "Slap-Ass" week, where kids in the halls were slapping other kids on the butt. Some girls were more than slapped -- they were grabbed or groped on the butt or breasts. There are regularly fights or aggressive disputes that take place in the hallways.

While DC has not been the victim of direct assault, DC has either witnessed assaults/fights or been affected as a bystander or by verbal harassment. DC has expressed not feeling safe at school.

OP here. That is what concerns me. Regular fights and aggressive disputes, and a student expressing that s/he doesn't feel safe at school - not good.

OP here, thanks. I do think that my child could benefit from the Humanities program at Eastern, but likewise DC could benefit from the Math/Science/Computer Science program at Takoma - DC is strong enough in both areas to have been admitted to both.

We are going to attend both open houses and see what we think. On a pure first-impression basis, however, I am leaning towards Takoma.

Anonymous wrote:Meh.

My kid is at Eastern and the things mentioned above ... well, OK. It's a big middle school in a pretty urban/low SES area and these things happen. DS knew about it, knew one of the kids who got in trouble, and basically said, "well, that was a pretty stupid move."

As for Slap Ass week ... again, stupid and unacceptable behavior but the admin seems to deal with it pretty well. I think similar idiotic things go on at all middle schools.

Now, I will say that DS is a tall, athletic boy who is unlikely to feel physically intimidated. I can see that another kid and particularly a girl, a physically small child, or someone who's shy might not like the environment. However, I think it is no more or less safe than any other middle school in the county. Every single one has a weapons or drug or fighting incident every year.

If your child would benefit from the humanities program at Eastern, please don't judge based on anonymous internet posts either way. Call and ask if she/he can shadow a kid for a day, or visit some classes, or something that will give you a good picture. And do the same for your home school, to make sure that what you are afraid of isn't happening at that school too.

I'm not sure that is true. It is likely true for high schools, but I don't believe that every single middle school in the county has such incidents every year.

And RE Slap Ass week - well, yes, stupid and unacceptable, but I don't think that kind of sexual harassment on a wide scale is common at every school.

Meh.

My kid is at Eastern and the things mentioned above ... well, OK. It's a big middle school in a pretty urban/low SES area and these things happen. DS knew about it, knew one of the kids who got in trouble, and basically said, "well, that was a pretty stupid move."

As for Slap Ass week ... again, stupid and unacceptable behavior but the admin seems to deal with it pretty well. I think similar idiotic things go on at all middle schools.

Now, I will say that DS is a tall, athletic boy who is unlikely to feel physically intimidated. I can see that another kid and particularly a girl, a physically small child, or someone who's shy might not like the environment. However, I think it is no more or less safe than any other middle school in the county. Every single one has a weapons or drug or fighting incident every year.

If your child would benefit from the humanities program at Eastern, please don't judge based on anonymous internet posts either way. Call and ask if she/he can shadow a kid for a day, or visit some classes, or something that will give you a good picture. And do the same for your home school, to make sure that what you are afraid of isn't happening at that school too.

On safety at Eastern --

Students were recently arrested for marijuana possession on campus and possession of a knife. The school has also had a problem with "Slap-Ass" week, where kids in the halls were slapping other kids on the butt. Some girls were more than slapped -- they were grabbed or groped on the butt or breasts. There are regularly fights or aggressive disputes that take place in the hallways.

While DC has not been the victim of direct assault, DC has either witnessed assaults/fights or been affected as a bystander or by verbal harassment. DC has expressed not feeling safe at school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think down the road. Takoma tends to feed into Blair, and Eastern tends to feed into RM. If you have a strong preference there's your answer.

You may also want to consider the demographics of each school and program. I am not talking about prejudice- I am talking about middle school cliques. Birds of a feather hang together. If you want your kid to go to Takoma and you are asian, your kid will have plenty of company. If your kid is not asian....they may feel left out.

Everyones experience is different, of course- but from a been-there-done-that parent, that's what I'd take time to think about if I had to make the decision again.

My TPMS magnet student is not Asian, and does not feel left out.

Ditto for my non-Asian kid at the TPMS magnet. He has plenty of friends, some Asian, some not.

PP here. To answer your other questions: yes, I think my child is safe. He may see more rough behavior than kids in some other schools but not really more than Takoma. DS has not reported any tensions between magnet and nonmagnet kids and he has friends in both groups. And yes, for the most part the teachers are great and I really like the magnet program coordinator.

Eastern also feeds into the Blair CAP program.

My child is there and interestingly, his favorite class and favorite teacher are math (outside of the magnet program). So far the education has been fantastic and he's learning so much. The only class he doesn't enjoy is science (also a non magnet class but, due to schedule factors, almost all magnet kids) but I believe it's because the very sweet and well-intentioned teacher doesn't have very good class management skills so it's a bit out of control in there.

The magnet kids are not with the regular school kids very much but I will say that he's already seen his share of fights etc. but he also knows and likes kids who are there from the neighborhood.

Socially, the kids in the magnet seem to be a varied bunch and there are different social groups so many opportunities to find your niche and fit in. There's your typical middle school stuff but my impression is that the magnet kids are pretty tolerant of differences. It's also a very diverse group which is an added bonus.

There's a lot of reading and writing so I would just make sure it isn't going to be a constant battle to get work done. Adapting to seven classes/different teachers was a big change for DS and it took him a quarter to get his groove, so to speak.

As for foreign language, that's only for 6th grade -- DS will take a language next year. My other child is going into a different MS in Bethesda, and they are also encouraging kids not to take a language in 6th grade. She's an immersion student so it's not really an issue for us, but I thought it was interesting.

Anonymous wrote:Think down the road. Takoma tends to feed into Blair, and Eastern tends to feed into RM. If you have a strong preference there's your answer.

You may also want to consider the demographics of each school and program. I am not talking about prejudice- I am talking about middle school cliques. Birds of a feather hang together. If you want your kid to go to Takoma and you are asian, your kid will have plenty of company. If your kid is not asian....they may feel left out.

Everyones experience is different, of course- but from a been-there-done-that parent, that's what I'd take time to think about if I had to make the decision again.

OP here. I only have a strong preference because I have formed initial impressions based on the facility and what I know about the curriculum. Not a reasonable substitute for real experience.

In terms of "track," my child is ten years old, for pete's sake. I don't want to put DC on a particular track quite yet - obviously she has strengths in both areas.

I will ignore the rest of your post as the Asian comments are ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:Think down the road. Takoma tends to feed into Blair, and Eastern tends to feed into RM. If you have a strong preference there's your answer.

You may also want to consider the demographics of each school and program. I am not talking about prejudice- I am talking about middle school cliques. Birds of a feather hang together. If you want your kid to go to Takoma and you are asian, your kid will have plenty of company. If your kid is not asian....they may feel left out.

Everyones experience is different, of course- but from a been-there-done-that parent, that's what I'd take time to think about if I had to make the decision again.

My TPMS magnet student is not Asian, and does not feel left out.

Anonymous wrote:Think down the road. Takoma tends to feed into Blair, and Eastern tends to feed into RM. If you have a strong preference there's your answer.

You may also want to consider the demographics of each school and program. I am not talking about prejudice- I am talking about middle school cliques. Birds of a feather hang together. If you want your kid to go to Takoma and you are asian, your kid will have plenty of company. If your kid is not asian....they may feel left out.

Everyones experience is different, of course- but from a been-there-done-that parent, that's what I'd take time to think about if I had to make the decision again.

Where did your child go to middle school?

Do you have experience with Eastern?

Think down the road. Takoma tends to feed into Blair, and Eastern tends to feed into RM. If you have a strong preference there's your answer.

You may also want to consider the demographics of each school and program. I am not talking about prejudice- I am talking about middle school cliques. Birds of a feather hang together. If you want your kid to go to Takoma and you are asian, your kid will have plenty of company. If your kid is not asian....they may feel left out.

Everyones experience is different, of course- but from a been-there-done-that parent, that's what I'd take time to think about if I had to make the decision again.

Does anyone have experience with both of them?

My child was accepted to both and although DC had a strong preference for Takoma, DC is now having doubts and thinking about Eastern.

I am biased against Eastern (despite zero experience there) because the facility is so-so, the population is kind of rough (same w/Takoma but less significantly so) and most importantly (to me), any foreign language instruction would have to be after school (because there are seven periods as opposed to the eight at Takoma). (That last part is very bothersome to me.)

I also have general questions:

What is the math instruction like at Eastern?

What are the relationships between magnet/non-magnet students like? Are there tensions?

Do you feel your child is safe there?

Do you like the teachers (mostly)?

Thanks.