Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Mont Cty. My child is in 8th grade and currently taking Alg II. I was told he will be bussed to the HS for this class. I was looking at the MCPS course catalog. It looks like there are 2 levels of Alg II available —Alg 2A and Hon Alg2A.

The class that my kid was placed in is Alg 2A not the honors section. Apparently it’s the section that all the MS kids are in. It’s my understanding that Alg 2 counts towards GPA and the honors section is weighted higher.

So if a kid is advanced why wouldn’t they be placed in the higher level?

Also note that Montgomery County really has some of the best and brightest students in the country. A lot of students, especially immigrant and second generation immigrants do math for sport on the weekends. If your kid is not on that level, then you may want to ease up a little bit. “Advanced” where you are coming from will look very different here.

Anonymous wrote:If your student was extremely advanced in Algebra, and is a self-studier, I would beg the MS to give the kid an Algebra 2 assessment and then let the kid sit in the back of a geometry class and do independent study with Khan or something and take school Algebra 2 tests.

This is a terrible idea.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MS grades for high-school classes will only count toward the GPA if they help it, so don't worry about impact on GPA.

They only do this for unweighted GPA

Why does it matter, weighted or unweighted?

Anonymous wrote:MS grades for high-school classes will only count toward the GPA if they help it, so don't worry about impact on GPA.

They only do this for unweighted GPA

MS grades for high-school classes will only count toward the GPA if they help it, so don't worry about impact on GPA.

What MCPS high school is this? I can't believe it doesn't have a 1st period honors Algebra 2 class??
Maybe they can't accommodate the large number of 8th graders taking Alg 2?

Anonymous wrote:That makes no sense to bus MS kids to HS for a non honors class. You’d be better off just putting him in geometry

In what universe is repeating a class better than progressing?

Anonymous wrote:That makes no sense to bus MS kids to HS for a non honors class. You’d be better off just putting him in geometry

Not advocating for pushing, which careies plenty of negativea, but the system should meet the student where they are. Keeping things equitable has to be about that, as long as they are ensuring equal access to such throughout the system (on which they clearly need to work). They should no sooner put a student having completed Geometry back in Geomerltry for the sake of administrative convenience or of satisfying others than they should fail to provide language supports to those designated as EML.

That makes no sense to bus MS kids to HS for a non honors class. You’d be better off just putting him in geometry

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost Middle has Hon Algebra 2 on campus.

It is probably because it's one of the only schools that allows 6th-grade students with 250+ map-m scores to take Algebra 1.

It's because the HS Algebra 2 teacher can walk from the back door of Wooton down the path to the back door of Frost in about 2 minutes. And bacause MCPS tolerates differential implementation of curricula, bending to group parent pressure at one school but failing to provide the equivalent to students across the county.

No. Algebra 2 at Frost is taught by an MS teacher who also teaches Algebra 1 at Frost.

Also, it's a 5-10 minute walk around the building and up/down hill, or drive around the long block.

I hope it's a mistake, OP! My 8th grader at Westland is bused to BCC first period for her Honors Algebra 2. I didn't even think to check whether it was Honors or not, but now I see that it is.

It's the right class for her: she's appropriately challenged. The only thing that's annoying is that she's not allowed to attend on early release days because there's no time for the bus to get them back in time to Westland. So she's missed a few short lessons, and she doesn't like that. Also, if she has a question, she's not in the same building and can't go at lunchtime to her teacher's office hours. She goes to the office hours of last year's teacher at her middle school, and he's happy to help her, which is nice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost Middle has Hon Algebra 2 on campus.

It is probably because it's one of the only schools that allows 6th-grade students with 250+ map-m scores to take Algebra 1.

It's because the HS Algebra 2 teacher can walk from the back door of Wooton down the path to the back door of Frost in about 2 minutes. And bacause MCPS tolerates differential implementation of curricula, bending to group parent pressure at one school but failing to provide the equivalent to students across the county.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could be any number of things, including that the non-Honors section was the one being offered Period 1, which is the time that MS aged kids can attend a HS class.

I'd let it go. On balance, having your child be with all of the other middle schoolers is the most important thing. Algebra II is going to have kids up to seniors in high school. Let him stay in the class with his grade and age-level peers.

As for the GPA, grades earned in MS only "count" if they help the weighted GPA. But also you need to simmer down. Your child is obviously advanced, or at least extremely well-supported, and will do fine even if they have to take a "regular" A in 8th grade.

If the middle school is sending 8th graders to the high school, it's because they don't have enough 8th graders for a middle school class. The non honors class will have older students on average than a honors class.

+1.

It is possible Honors section was not offered in period 1, or it could be a mistake. If I were the OP, I would talk to the counselor and find out. If honors section is available in period 1, it may be a better placement for an advanced student.

-- DP

+2
A middle school student taking Algebra 2 should be placed in an Honors Algebra section. High schools usually coordinate with the middle schools to offer a 1st period Honors Algebra 2 section. It’s possible this is just a mistake on the counselor’s part. If the section is “full”, they should allow going over cap for the rest of Semester A and level the sections in Semester B.

If for some reason all MS students are in regular Algebra 2, this is a serious error that needs to be fixed for all of them ASAP. They need to be in Honors Algebra 2 in order to be prepared for Honors Precalculus, and then on to Calculus after that.

This isn’t about a GPA issue, there’s a real difference in the pace and depth of material between the Honors and regular versions of Algebra 2. Supplementing won’t make up the difference.

- HS math teacher

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could be any number of things, including that the non-Honors section was the one being offered Period 1, which is the time that MS aged kids can attend a HS class.

I'd let it go. On balance, having your child be with all of the other middle schoolers is the most important thing. Algebra II is going to have kids up to seniors in high school. Let him stay in the class with his grade and age-level peers.

As for the GPA, grades earned in MS only "count" if they help the weighted GPA. But also you need to simmer down. Your child is obviously advanced, or at least extremely well-supported, and will do fine even if they have to take a "regular" A in 8th grade.

If the middle school is sending 8th graders to the high school, it's because they don't have enough 8th graders for a middle school class. The non honors class will have older students on average than a honors class.

+1.

It is possible Honors section was not offered in period 1, or it could be a mistake. If I were the OP, I would talk to the counselor and find out. If honors section is available in period 1, it may be a better placement for an advanced student.

-- DP

Anonymous wrote:Frost Middle has Hon Algebra 2 on campus.

It is probably because it's one of the only schools that allows 6th-grade students with 250+ map-m scores to take Algebra 1.