Anonymous wrote:This principal has only been there for 3 years. The 25 spots for JW kids as well as the opportunity to do IB in 11th grade have been there since the program started...long before Hoover even.

PP lost me enitrely with the " The Principal probably wanted assurance from Hoover that the 25 kids he would put into the program (probably URM based on Metis report) should get the IB diploma"

Anonymous wrote:

I am not impressed with the Principal at all because he has clearly shown a lack of understanding about why the previous coordinator was important for the program. Sometimes it is just an individual who gives a great name to the entire program. Mrs. Hoover was that person. She was committed to each and every individual RMIB student and ensured that they were given the support to complete the IB diploma requirement. IB diploma does not have any benefit to most students in the college application process, so to ensure that seniors continue to pursue the rigorous requirement of the IB diploma even after they have got admission in a college is a tough sell. Mrs. Hoover did the necessary handholding, motivational outreach etc for each student and parent. The high diploma rate in RMIB has not come because of anything else but an exceptional student body and an exceptional coordinator. Every RMIB student got the individual support for their own unique needs, circumstances and requirements from Mrs. Hoover and that is what made the program exceptional.

RMIB program has ALWAYS been open to RM students who want to join it. Sadly, most students in RM do not want to join it. Why? Because being in a class with magnet students brings other things into the mix - pressure cooker environment of extremely high achieving students, negative impact on GPA because of the curve scoring, ridiculous IB diploma requirements that coincides with the college application process etc. So, good luck to any student who wanders into this program without preperation and a support team behind them. They have to be exceptional and not desire to have a normal high school experience.

I see no reason to not have Mrs. Hoover on board. But I can guess what happened with the Principal and the Coordinator. The Principal probably wanted assurance from Hoover that the 25 kids he would put into the program (probably URM based on Metis report) should get the IB diploma. Unfortunately, since the diploma is being handed out by IB Organization in Europe and they do not care about the grade inflation of MCPS, there is no way Hoover or anyone can hand out these diplomas if they are not earned. Hoover was like a mother hen with the RMIB students because she was getting the cream of MCPS students to work with and if she could keep them on track with their requirements and submissions, she could guide them through the diploma process. She was also aware that the RMIB students who got admitted through the regular admission process were most likely to be able to get to the finish line.

Will the diploma rate plummet for the current IB students with Hoover gone? Who knows. It will certainly become more even more of an angst ridden process and impact the mental health of the current students. Why do these students have to suffer? Because Metis report is being interpreted differently by different people.

The Principal is a moron because he does not know how to create a win-win situation for himself, AEI, his school, RMIB parents and students, as well as the 25 students he wanted to help. He has created an environment of distrust and any regular student who comes into the program will be fairly isolated by students who were selected on merit. He seems like an idiot who is failing as an administrator as well as a politician.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I said watered down, the last thing I was referring to was testing standards. I am talking about day-to-day intellectual rigor and engagement. I am an educator myself, I care about the lived experience in the classroom. Whether or not it has an effect on test scores is not a big concern. They are unlikely to suffer. If I cared most about grades, my child would not travel to/from school for nearly two hours a day.

So the former coordinator was the one that created that atmosphere of intellectual rigor which disappeared this year?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the benefit of IB was an international standard. How is RM able to water it down? They have a very high diploma rate.

That's what I want to know too. How is the program being "watered down" -- besides letting home-school RM students into classes, which apparently is nothing new?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child in the program. We were happy with it. I would say I did not see elitist attitudes among my daughter's friends, but I do know that cohorts coming from magnet middle schools come with this history. The year is still young, but some of the changes we see this year are troubling. The most immediate for us is the reorganization of language classes and combined classes with different levels. Now to be fair, last-year's language classes were also nothing to write home about relative to our middle school instruction. I know some kids also faced problems with reorgization of math. In general, kids are somewhat demoralized. There is a sense that the administration does not care about the program. It has not been very responsive to concerns, with poor communication (a lot of generalities, very few specific responses to concerns). In our case, I might consider bringing my child back to our excellent home school if things go south, as the watered down program and school tensions may not be worth a very long commute and lost hours each day any longer.

I went to the PAC meeting on Wednesday evening and was impressed by the principle. I don't have any child in RMIB currently, but may have one in two years. I decided to check out the program. It seems the principle and the students/parents are not on the same page. The principle seems very enthusiastic about the program and Promises to keep the program excellent. However, the parents/students didn't buy it. The principle wants the program to be inclusive and claimed the 25-35 students from the local school are equally talented as the 100 students selected from 25 mcps high school.

The changes brought by RM principle have support from mcps AEI, suggesting mcps is departing its commitment to meet every student's educate need.

Anonymous wrote:I have a child in the program. We were happy with it. I would say I did not see elitist attitudes among my daughter's friends, but I do know that cohorts coming from magnet middle schools come with this history. The year is still young, but some of the changes we see this year are troubling. The most immediate for us is the reorganization of language classes and combined classes with different levels. Now to be fair, last-year's language classes were also nothing to write home about relative to our middle school instruction. I know some kids also faced problems with reorgization of math. In general, kids are somewhat demoralized. There is a sense that the administration does not care about the program. It has not been very responsive to concerns, with poor communication (a lot of generalities, very few specific responses to concerns). In our case, I might consider bringing my child back to our excellent home school if things go south, as the watered down program and school tensions may not be worth a very long commute and lost hours each day any longer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I said watered down, the last thing I was referring to was testing standards. I am talking about day-to-day intellectual rigor and engagement. I am an educator myself, I care about the lived experience in the classroom. Whether or not it has an effect on test scores is not a big concern. They are unlikely to suffer. If I cared most about grades, my child would not travel to/from school for nearly two hours a day.

So the former coordinator was the one that created that atmosphere of intellectual rigor which disappeared this year?

Anonymous wrote:When I said watered down, the last thing I was referring to was testing standards. I am talking about day-to-day intellectual rigor and engagement. I am an educator myself, I care about the lived experience in the classroom. Whether or not it has an effect on test scores is not a big concern. They are unlikely to suffer. If I cared most about grades, my child would not travel to/from school for nearly two hours a day.

Anonymous wrote:I thought the benefit of IB was an international standard. How is RM able to water it down? They have a very high diploma rate.