Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here.
Thanks for all the info. Mcps has so many options/pathways compared to howard or pg, that it overwhelming trying to figure it out.

If you give us some info - the age of your kids, what type of magnets they might be interestedl.

Kids are under 5 (one just barely). We have commutes to downtown dc and college park and are trying to identify areas to move to where we would have access to good safe schools and reasonable commutes outside of places like bethesda which would be beyond our budget. We love the idea of immersion and strong science programs.

We love Takoma Park, which would fit your commuting needs and possibly school interests. It has gotten considerably more expensive than when we moved here, though.

My kids went through all the magnet programs. I think the one for TPES is gone. Even when my last was there, there wasn't much of a program. I think there are now more seats for the 4th/5th grade programs. They were called HGC and at Pine Crest and Oak View when my kids were that age, but I think Piney Branch has it's own program now, so more TP kids are getting access. Still not easy to get into. For MS, as others said, TPMS has 25 seats for Piney Branch and East Silver Spring area kids (ie its own catchment). The exposure at TPMS is great for Blair magnet, Wheaton Engineering or Biomed or an IB. If kid gets into and goes to Eastern ms humanities program, it's not a bad commute and good prep for Blair CAP or IB.

I had initially hoped for a language immersion program, but mine didn't get a high lottery number. Friends loved those programs. Worked out ok for mine, though.

Also, if kid doesn't get into various programs, the TP schools in TPMS cluster are all good. TPES and PBES are grades k-2 and 3-5 of the same catchment. ESS is k-5 with smaller catchment.

As a long time RM teacher with kids at another elementary cluster (one of whom is in the CES right now in grade 4), I say look in Rockville. If you kids are zoned for RM and don't get into (or don't want to apply for) the magnet, they can simply do the DP (diploma programme) in grades 11 and 12. IMO, the magnet is a pressure cooker and kids tend to have a harder time applying and getting into college here. It's just a bunch of talented, smart kids in one place, and colleges aren't going to take but so many of them.

I am very happy to know my own kids will be going to Wood and then Rockville High School. I prefer a non-magnet IB program with the added plus of the career programme at Rockville, as well as engineering and journalism programs.

FYI someone restarted this 6-year-old thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RM is a Great School 8...not exactly a big risk.

The "8" part of RM is mainly attributed to the IB magnet. So in reality the IB is probably a 10 and the regular program a 6 or 7. Which averages out to 8.

So you have kids at RM then? Or teach there? Do tell.

Anonymous wrote:What selective magnet is located in an undesirable area?!

Right?? lollll

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids zoned for TPMS (so, Takoma Park and East Silver Spring) Jane a slight advantage in that lottery. As PP said, RM also has preference at the level.

There are also all school magnets (so, no application) but I don't know much about those.

TPMS Math and Science magnet and RMIB magnet are not lotteries. You have to take tests, write application essays, get letters of recommendation etc. But it is easier if you are zoned for these schools because TPMS has a certain number of slots for local kids - 20 or 25. I can't remember the number but it is a lot. I don't know how many kids are admitted from Julius West Middle School into RMIB but again it is a lot - around 20 or more.

The only all school magnet I am aware of is Poolesville but I don't know how that application process works. I know they have different learning communities you have to apply to (Math and Science, Global Ecology and maybe something else) but I don't know if you are guaranteed admission to at least one if you live in the catchment area. this should be easy to google.

It's an all-school magnet in the same way everyone at our HS is in advanced English. I think two of the magnets are competitive but I think the 3rd was added for everyone else so nobody is left out?

Global Ecology was a PVHS program before they added humanities and the upcounty SMCS. The “4th” program is independent studies (ISP), usually known as a regular high school program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids zoned for TPMS (so, Takoma Park and East Silver Spring) Jane a slight advantage in that lottery. As PP said, RM also has preference at the level.

There are also all school magnets (so, no application) but I don't know much about those.

TPMS Math and Science magnet and RMIB magnet are not lotteries. You have to take tests, write application essays, get letters of recommendation etc. But it is easier if you are zoned for these schools because TPMS has a certain number of slots for local kids - 20 or 25. I can't remember the number but it is a lot. I don't know how many kids are admitted from Julius West Middle School into RMIB but again it is a lot - around 20 or more.

The only all school magnet I am aware of is Poolesville but I don't know how that application process works. I know they have different learning communities you have to apply to (Math and Science, Global Ecology and maybe something else) but I don't know if you are guaranteed admission to at least one if you live in the catchment area. this should be easy to google.

It's an all-school magnet in the same way everyone at our HS is in advanced English. I think two of the magnets are competitive but I think the 3rd was added for everyone else so nobody is left out?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RM is a Great School 8...not exactly a big risk.

The "8" part of RM is mainly attributed to the IB magnet. So in reality the IB is probably a 10 and the regular program a 6 or 7. Which averages out to 8.

These magnets are small programs within a larger school and don't have as much of an impact as some like to imagine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning,
We are contemplating a move to montgomery county and am trying to figure out some of the school choice options. From what I can gather it seems some areas have an advantage in some of the magnet lotteries when it coincides with their boundaries. What are some areas where this is the case?
Woodside residences zoned to blair aren't more likely to get into the blair magnet than people zoned to other schools, right? but i've read takoma park has some advangtages. Thanks!

TPMS students have an advantage getting into the TPMS magnet because there are about 25 out of 125 seats set aside specifically for TPMS students only. Some think that means that a TPMS student can get into the TPMS magnet with lower scores than those applying from outside TPMS, but there is no hard data publicly available to support this.

I have heard that about half of the TPMS students go on to Blair magnet. It is assumed that TPMS magnet students have an advantage in getting into Blair magnet only in the sense that TPMS magnet students have had access thru the magnet program to higher and deeper levels of math and science instruction, so people assume that that means that a TPMS magnet student will find it easier to score well on the Blair magnet exam. Of course, an alternative explanation might be that kids who are naturally good testers will get into TPMS and that same natural testing ability means that they would have also gotten into Blair. There is no hard data publicly available to know whether there is something about the TPMS magnet program instruction that gives those kids a special knowledge advantage in applying for Blair; it is just an assumption.

I'd also heard about half the TPMS kids end up at Blair Magnet but I think it is partly for two reasons:

1) In the past, kids at TPMS were those who tested high on the CogAT, which was also used for admission to Blair
2) Kids at TPMS were also more inclined to accept an invite to Blair Magnet since they'd already left their home school for a magnet in MS

Although I don't think it's as big a deal as some might think, it does help prepare kids for the HS program. Both my kids went through these programs.

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park Elementary also has a primary magnet that favors in boundary students.

Takoma Park ES magnet ended a few years ago, but they still have one of the only enriched math programs for early ES, and although PBES has a local CES, they don't offer AIM to anyone. TPMS has the in boundary set aside for the MS magnet. There is no set aside for Blair, but anyone who meets the prereqs can take magnet classes in 11th and 12th grade for advanced math and science electives.

Takoma Park Elementary also has a primary magnet that favors in boundary students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What selective magnet is located in an undesirable area?!

Eastern, Takoma, and Blair were once considered undesirable areas. If they are not viewed that way now, it is partly due to the magnets.

Har! As someone who has shopped for a home multiple times over the years, I can tell you Takoma Park has never been considered "undesirable." Except, perhaps, by hard-core Republicans.

Anonymous wrote:Except its only feeder middle (Julius West) is a 9..and about a quarter of the magnet are neighborhood kids..more by the time they add kids for 11th grade.

Some people will never be convinced that a non W school could possibly ever be a good school. It just defies their logic and shatters their little world.

Except its only feeder middle (Julius West) is a 9..and about a quarter of the magnet are neighborhood kids..more by the time they add kids for 11th grade.

Anonymous wrote:RM is a Great School 8...not exactly a big risk.

The "8" part of RM is mainly attributed to the IB magnet. So in reality the IB is probably a 10 and the regular program a 6 or 7. Which averages out to 8.