I would recommend the Honors classes at Samuel Ogle or Martin Luther King Middle schools for the TAG students versus the TAG Middle Schools. I had the option to put my child into the TAG center in elementary school but chose not to because the TAG middle schools are not exclusively TAG the way that the TAG elementary schools are. They are integrated into the remainder of the population. The Middle Schools do generally have wonderful Honors Tracks for the TAG identified students.

We kept our TAG child at a local elementary school for 2nd grade. He received TAG in the classroom instruction. Look into what type of TAG program your local school has - some have TAG pull-out (which I am not a fan of) and others have TAG in the classroom (I am not using the right lingo here because I haven't had coffee and can't recall the acronym - sorry - maybe TRC). We were pleased with our local school for our TAG son in 2nd grade because his teacher was EXCELLENT! He also had a lot of homework but I think all the students did - I am not sure if he got extra homework because he was TAG and I never really asked, to be honest. For 3rd grade, we switched him to a TAG center just because a new center became available that was much closer to our home.

Greenbelt Middle school

If my daughter is accepted to a TAG center and my daughter is at a before and after care program near my house. Will the bus go to the daycare to pick my daughter up or do I have to find a before and after care in or near the school? How does the bus transportation work if you are at a TAG center?

You don't have to go to at TAG center to be eligible for a TAG middle. The draw of the TAG ES centers is that if you go to a TAG center for ES you do not have to enter the lottery for the middle school (you are automatically given a spot). But the TAG center ES students do not fill all the seats at the Middle schools so the remaining slots go to TAG identified students from local elementary schools and those slots are allocated via the lottery.

Wow i cannot believe you have to go to a TAG center to be eligible for TAG middle. It should be automatic if you want your child to attend a middle school if they are TAG identified. So lets see this means the children will attend private after 5th grade. Which means middle class will run away from pg schools. I hope this changes before my child has to go to middle. We are testing for TAG next month and i want my seven year old to enjoy school along with rigor.

If you are in a TAG magnet elementary school you are automatically granted admission to a TAG middle school. If you are TAG identified and you choose to get TAG at your local elementary school then you have to enter a lottery to get into a TAG middle school.
The major complaint I hear from parents who have kids at a TAG elementary school is that they get a TON of homework. I know of one family who complained to the county about it. The county contacted the school and informed them that it was too much but that there was no change to amount they were given. We are talking about over an hour of homework a night for second grade.
Even if our daughter tests TAG, we will not enter the lottery. I think it is too much for a 7 year old and I'm not ruining my home life by fighting homework battles every night.
I am really hoping that Dr Maxwell's expansion of magnets will include increasing the capacity at TAG middle schools. If they can guarantee spots at MS for all TAG identified kids, I think that parents would leave their kids at the local elementary schools.

Anonymous wrote:If your child is in TAG at local school can they go to a TAG middle school or do you have to go to a TAG center to get in a TAG middle school?

Continuity to TAG Center Middle School Program is guaranteed to TAG students placed via lottery or living in the attendance area of middle TAG Centers -

If your child is in TAG at local school can they go to a TAG middle school or do you have to go to a TAG center to get in a TAG middle school?

Anonymous wrote:We will be moving to PG county in the spring. My daughter is going to the second grade next year. I noticed that there is TAG testing for children at this age. In MOCO county they can not test for TAG this early. I noticed that the TAG schools are rated very high on school diggers however, if all students are TAG i can see why. Which i do not have a problem because i can understand parents wanting the best program for their child. However, are the TAG schools instruction,teachers, school environment or what they offer much better and is that why parents pull kids from their local schools TAG program.

How many parents have kept their kids in their local school even if they passed the TAG test and are happy? How many parents went TAG and brought their kids back to local school?

Tag Schools in PG county do test very high, but also can be rigorous and give a lot of homework assignments as well. Percentage wise there are more kids in private schools in Moco and Nova then there are in PG county...but nobody ever brings that up. local school may be fine, but the Tag program may push your highly academic child harder and faster, which what most parents of tag teachers want

Agree with pp. Most of the families that I know that put their kids in the TAG center schools do it to get a better middle school option, rather than to get them into a better elementary school.

For pg county I think it's more important as you get to middle school. I am happy with the local public elem but will likely move if my DC doesn't get into TAG. Just not enough good middle schools!

We will be moving to PG county in the spring. My daughter is going to the second grade next year. I noticed that there is TAG testing for children at this age. In MOCO county they can not test for TAG this early. I noticed that the TAG schools are rated very high on school diggers however, if all students are TAG i can see why. Which i do not have a problem because i can understand parents wanting the best program for their child. However, are the TAG schools instruction,teachers, school environment or what they offer much better and is that why parents pull kids from their local schools TAG program.

How many parents have kept their kids in their local school even if they passed the TAG test and are happy? How many parents went TAG and brought their kids back to local school?