Anonymous
Post 01/05/2015 11:21     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Blair for the non-magnet student would be sort of in-your-face "you're not good enough".


not really

The magnets are small. They don't tend to determine the atmosphere of the school.


I agree.

Most people that I met that went to either the IB and magnet programs mentioned how they were in their own little world and didn't really interact with the other students at the school.

The people that I met who went to those schools that weren't in those programs said something similar. Where they said that those programs were in their own section of the building. And they usually don't see the students from those programs other than maybe in the parking lot or whatever.

Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 22:56     Subject: Re:How is Blair for non magnet students
According to the Blair 'At a Glance' the average class size is around 25

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04757.pdf
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 22:35     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Blair for the non-magnet student would be sort of in-your-face "you're not good enough".


Not so, at least not in our case. My Blair 9th grader has never expressed this feeling. He just seems relieved he doesn't have their workload.

And the reality is, he's got a lot of those kids in his classes. His Algebra 2, Physics and Spanish 3 classes are full of CAP kids, and his history and English classes have a bunch of math magnet kids.


Thank you pp.
How large are class sizes?


I just asked DS and he reports "around thirtyish"

I'm pretty sure that no matter the overall size of the school, there are countywide standards about the size of individual classes. So I presume class size is pretty consistent across MCPS.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2015 17:04     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Blair for the non-magnet student would be sort of in-your-face "you're not good enough".


Not so, at least not in our case. My Blair 9th grader has never expressed this feeling. He just seems relieved he doesn't have their workload.

And the reality is, he's got a lot of those kids in his classes. His Algebra 2, Physics and Spanish 3 classes are full of CAP kids, and his history and English classes have a bunch of math magnet kids.


Thank you pp.
How large are class sizes?
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 16:34     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:Blair for the non-magnet student would be sort of in-your-face "you're not good enough".


Not so, at least not in our case. My Blair 9th grader has never expressed this feeling. He just seems relieved he doesn't have their workload.

And the reality is, he's got a lot of those kids in his classes. His Algebra 2, Physics and Spanish 3 classes are full of CAP kids, and his history and English classes have a bunch of math magnet kids.
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 15:41     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:Blair for the non-magnet student would be sort of in-your-face "you're not good enough".


not really

The magnets are small. They don't tend to determine the atmosphere of the school.
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 13:51     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Blair for the non-magnet student would be sort of in-your-face "you're not good enough".
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 11:01     Subject: Re:How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:Every kid needs to learn to advocate for him/herself, it's an essential skill. High school is a good place to start.


Yeah - But you don't throw them into a huge setting with the expectation that the setting changes them.

Sadly, some kids can't handle larger settings. And Blair is the largest school in MCPS.
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 09:23     Subject: Re:How is Blair for non magnet students
Every kid needs to learn to advocate for him/herself, it's an essential skill. High school is a good place to start.
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2015 09:20     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the replies.
If you have students currently attending Blair what are some of the concerns you have?
How would it be for quiet students who do not advocate for themselves?[/quote]

Without knowing more about the kid, it's hard to answer this, but I would say that very generally speaking, a massive and frenetic school like Blair might not be the best place for an unassertive kid. Same reason that a large university might not be the best fit. If you'll be living in the downcounty consortium area, perhaps a school like Einstein, which is about half the size of Blair, would be more comfortable. Then again, there are surely lots of shy kids at Blair doing great.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2014 14:47     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
OP here. Thanks for the replies.
If you have students currently attending Blair what are some of the concerns you have?
How would it be for quiet students who do not advocate for themselves?
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2014 12:37     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
I've seen parents respond to questions on schools with everything from support to concerns...I'm the PP whose DS is going to Blair next year. We certainly have seen some people move out of our area because they had concerns about schools. We have seen a few families move and come back for a variety of reasons (commute length, needing a larger home than they had in Bethesda come to mind.) And we have heard from parents who are concerned about their kids currently in Blair.

But I do think the people who are going to respond here are the ones who generally have positive things to say. I would estimate that positive outweighs the negative things we hear about 70/30. Again, this isn't personal (yet) but is based on candid conversations with neighbors and friends.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2014 12:25     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Blair without magnet is just like typical low performing MoCo HS - a lot of blacks, Latino students.


The OP wisely asked only for responses from parents with actual kids at Blair to avoid this sort of knee-jerk, know-nothing comment from someone who's familiarity with the school comes from a peek at the "at a glance" sheet.



But don't most parents respond "we love our school" regardless?


I wouldn't know how most parents respond, but I take your point. I suppose what you're saying is that it's inadvisable to seek truthful, accurate information on an anonymous site list this. And I agree.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2014 12:01     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Blair without magnet is just like typical low performing MoCo HS - a lot of blacks, Latino students.


The OP wisely asked only for responses from parents with actual kids at Blair to avoid this sort of knee-jerk, know-nothing comment from someone who's familiarity with the school comes from a peek at the "at a glance" sheet.



But don't most parents respond "we love our school" regardless?
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2014 10:55     Subject: How is Blair for non magnet students
Anonymous wrote:Blair without magnet is just like typical low performing MoCo HS - a lot of blacks, Latino students.


The OP wisely asked only for responses from parents with actual kids at Blair to avoid this sort of knee-jerk, know-nothing comment from someone who's familiarity with the school comes from a peek at the "at a glance" sheet.