Anonymous wrote:My kid, who is at Eastern in the magnet, told me something interesting today: that there is a program at Eastern for kids who have been behavior issues at other schools. He says there are a couple of classrooms where these kids are, and that most of the fighting and other similar behavior is from these kids. He said that the magnet and comprehensive kids do the normal middle school stuff but the real wild misbehavior comes from kids who are sent to Eastern from around the county for this program.

He told me that one of his teachers explained this when students in the magnet were asking why so-and-so didn't get into trouble for his behavior. The teacher explained about this program and said that those kids had different kinds of discipline plans and that it wasn't always obvious because the school wanted to be discreet, but that they were addressed with those individual students.

I looked and can find no reference to this but I thought it was interesting that his teacher told them.

Anonymous wrote:My kid, who is at Eastern in the magnet, told me something interesting today: that there is a program at Eastern for kids who have been behavior issues at other schools. He says there are a couple of classrooms where these kids are, and that most of the fighting and other similar behavior is from these kids. He said that the magnet and comprehensive kids do the normal middle school stuff but the real wild misbehavior comes from kids who are sent to Eastern from around the county for this program.

He told me that one of his teachers explained this when students in the magnet were asking why so-and-so didn't get into trouble for his behavior. The teacher explained about this program and said that those kids had different kinds of discipline plans and that it wasn't always obvious because the school wanted to be discreet, but that they were addressed with those individual students.

I looked and can find no reference to this but I thought it was interesting that his teacher told them.

Anonymous wrote:PP here. My child is at Eastern so I feel like I can address this. And I will say that DC has lots of friends at Eastern who don't attend the magnet, because he went to a feeder elementary. I am only familiar with 6th grade though.

DC has four magnet classes, as mentioned above. Due to scheduling issues, his GT science class is all magnet students except for one. He takes IM for math and it is mostly magnet students (and an advanced class so the kids tend to be serious about math and therefore paying attention, etc.).

This leaves gym and lunch, which are a mix of magnet and comprehensive students. I would characterize this as "pretty separate."

I am, I should point out, defending Eastern as a safe school and agree that the classes are safe. I am extremely comfortable sending my child there. He has witnessed some fights etc. but I don't think it's a problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I wouldn't call "3 bullying incidents," "more bullying." I'd be interested to know how bullying is defined and how/whether it is reported. I have a niece at TPMS and I know there is bullying there, as anywhere - but it is not cited in that list.

I will note this, based on the above snapshot: Eastern is the only school with double-digit fighting and attacks incidents listed. And none of the other schools (in this list anyway) cite arrests for drug crimes (thinking of the marijuana one at Eastern recently, which I've heard about from other sources as well).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^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?

The choice for our family was between home middle school and Eastern. Pros for Eastern are definitely more challenge academically -- better writing teaching, more interesting project-based work, emphasis on subject matters DC loves. But, honestly, I underestimated the daily psychic wear and tear my DC feels from the negative behavioral environment.

In retrospect, as a parent, I kind of drank the kool-aid about Eastern and didn't listen so much to the few voices of caution I heard in my extensive research on the school.

I think what makes me saddest when I look at this thread, is that many comments minimize what's going on at Eastern -- by confining problems to the comprehensive program, by saying that the statistics don't represent what they appear to represent on the surface, by assuring everyone that the administration has it "handled", or by a sort of 'blame the victim' approach implying that negative behavior doesn't bother most students just a few weak kids. It makes me sad because if one can't acknowledge a problem one can't fix it. Eastern has the potential to be a much better school for both comprehensive and magnet kids. But that will not happen if parents don't create higher expectations for the school, work to improve the environment, and hold the school administration accountable.

Would I have chosen our home school for DC#1 knowing what I know now? Perhaps. At a minimum we would have prepared our child for Eastern far differently. DC#2 has already expressed an interest in Eastern. If it came down to it, I would not permit him to apply.

Anonymous wrote:^^^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: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.

Anonymous wrote: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.