OP here. Wow, you guys have really sold it! That's great. We definitely want mellow, solidly middle class, and not a crazy pressure cooker environment. Our kids are a little high strung/anxious and I don't think a W school would serve them well. Now if I can only find a house there!

Shout out to PHS front office staff. Super capable, calm and helpful. The whole vibe of the school and town is very mellow. It really feels like 1950s.

Anonymous wrote:Is the school a pressure cooker? What if you have an average mediocre kid?

Also, what about SN programs? Wondering if they have an autism program.

Actually, the school is not pressure cooker by the virtue of being a magnet school for primarily MC families. Any place that has magnet kids from W schools is usually high pressure because the wealthy W parents are super competitive.

Yes, there are some great SN programs. Especially for the SN kid who do better in a cosy, bucolic and calm school. Its in the middle of nowhere and there is not too much noise, traffic etc around the school.

Yes, there are average and mediocre kids who also do well because of the variety of courses offered that they can pick and choose. The learning environment is supportive and peers are willing to help each other or through tutoring help. Generally sweet, nerdy, sincere and polite kids. It is an extremely small town and people know each other, so students are polite and helpful.

Teachers and counselors are also very supportive and happy to be at PHS. The fatigue that teachers have at other schools due to discipline problems, extreme achievement gap, uninvolved parents etc is absent and teachers can just teach.

Anonymous wrote:Is the school a pressure cooker? What if you have an average mediocre kid?

Also, what about SN programs? Wondering if they have an autism program.

I don’t know how an average mediocre kid would do at PHS and it will probably be hard to get an answer here considering most of the school is magnet. I’d talk with the guidance office. They are very nice to families considering moving into the area.

Is the school a pressure cooker? What if you have an average mediocre kid?

Also, what about SN programs? Wondering if they have an autism program.

Anonymous wrote:The ability to take magnet classes varies over the years and depends on the class. For example, no one but a humanities kid is getting into the 9th grade Criticism class and some of the specialized SMCS classes are limited to that house. But any kid taking Honors Physics in 11th grade might find themselves in a Global section of the class and get to go on some of the Global field trips for that year.

My understanding about the accelerated math pathway is that any kid who was admitted to SMCS can test into it even if they don’t go into that house. But they may have opened it up even further in the last two years.

I have a current Global student who is local and one that graduated a few years ago. He has 4 good friends 2 are in magnets 2 aren’t- all are smart good kids. I have found they really worked with families to ensure that everyone got the classes that they wanted so occasionally you’d have an ISP student in one of the Global classes. There are classes that are really limited though to people in the programs even if they aren’t advertised that way due to prerequisites.

Generally though, non -magnet kids will have math/some science classes with Global and Humanities students. For English/ Humanities classes, a child will be with SMCs and some Global kids. Nice kids. Highly recommend the school.

The ability to take magnet classes varies over the years and depends on the class. For example, no one but a humanities kid is getting into the 9th grade Criticism class and some of the specialized SMCS classes are limited to that house. But any kid taking Honors Physics in 11th grade might find themselves in a Global section of the class and get to go on some of the Global field trips for that year.

My understanding about the accelerated math pathway is that any kid who was admitted to SMCS can test into it even if they don’t go into that house. But they may have opened it up even further in the last two years.

To the OP,

Although I have a 9th grade Humanities student and so I can't comment on the ISP student experience, I can point you to the PHS website which has specific info you might find helpful (links below).

Poolesville has four "houses" -- Global Ecology, Humanities, Science/Math/Computer Science and the Independent Studies Program. Global, Humanities and SMACS are application programs; Global is county-wide, while Humanities and SMACS are regional. ISP is solely for local students in the PHS cluster.

This past fall, I believe all PHS ninth grade students had the option to test into the magnet math sequence (my child didn't want to)? I don't know if ISP students are able to take other magnet house classes -- i think that's unlikely, and you definitely should check with the Magnet Coordinator Allison Wilder or the PHS Counseling department to confirm one way or the other.

This link has the three application programs' open house recordings and slide show presentations from this past fall (for the 2022-23 school year) at the top. Scroll down farther under "Magnet 2021-2022 Admissions Information" to see the prior year's ISP Information Night recording and presentation slides which cover the Ambassador program:

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs/magnet/


This link to the PHS Counseling web page has the graduation certificate checklists for each of the four houses:

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs/counseling/


Here is the ISP House's web page:

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs/magnet/isp/

Anonymous wrote:Old schools breath better so they have more natural ventilation.

AKA, "drafty"!

Anonymous wrote:A co-worker's kids are at Poolesville (mine are further South). Out in the boondocks they don't seem to have much of the mid- and down-county politics. He raves about the school constantly and I don't think his kids are Magnet.

From a purely academic perspective, the school overall rivals Churchill in terms of non-Magnet performance and is consistently rated as one of the top HS in the county. Can't go wrong with Poolesville, imho.

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