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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

Can you elaborate on how it is more rigouous? Do they use a different curicullum? Genunienly trying to understand- my DC is inclined towards STEM and strong in math, so I could see him applying for this magnet. How many kids really need the extra-rigourous MVC at Blair vs. the MVC offered elsewhere and does it really matter for college acceptance? Some of these course offerings are way beyond what was available at my high school.

I would not go there for college acceptance — send your kid if they are genuinely interested in going deeper in all of the required courses, and putting in a lot more work than us at the local school. (Blair has a list of courses and descriptions on the magnet website.) The reality is that your kid will be competing with others from the magnet for college admission — and that could make it harder to get in unless your kid is outstanding within the magnet population.

Many of our kids put in the effort at their home schools and take MVC junior or senior year. It's not a big deal and nothing to brag about. It isn't going deeper, as they have the same amount of time and often combine classes to cover the material. But keep telling yourself that. We had no interest in it as my kids were already on the advanced math tracks, and the commute with outside activities wouldn't work.

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

You clearly have an idea how magnetic programming differs. What makes you more informed than me?

Its the same track as other kids at their home school or dual enrollment.. doesn't sound special at all.

Good grief. The casual disinformation you throw around to try to dismiss others' concerns. Terrible.

Look, you are doing a bad job of persuading us this program is worth the cost for $400 students.

Addressing the needs of the many vs. the needs of the few (or the one; "live long and prosper") is a separate matter from whether a magnet provides a different experience for a particular class, which happens to be the case, here.

Again, there is enough disinformation out there, already. It doesn't help to pile on, there, perhaps not even in support of your particular thrust. (Of course, MCPS central is guilty of that, too, if mostly from a lack of detailed information allowing disinformation to be assumed/proliferate).

Offering these programs for a few financially makes no sense when other students are going without.

Again, that is a separate matter, not a justification for posting disinformation.

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

You clearly have an idea how magnetic programming differs. What makes you more informed than me?

Its the same track as other kids at their home school or dual enrollment.. doesn't sound special at all.

Good grief. The casual disinformation you throw around to try to dismiss others' concerns. Terrible.

Look, you are doing a bad job of persuading us this program is worth the cost for $400 students.

Addressing the needs of the many vs. the needs of the few (or the one; "live long and prosper") is a separate matter from whether a magnet provides a different experience for a particular class, which happens to be the case, here.

Again, there is enough disinformation out there, already. It doesn't help to pile on, there, perhaps not even in support of your particular thrust. (Of course, MCPS central is guilty of that, too, if mostly from a lack of detailed information allowing disinformation to be assumed/proliferate).

Offering these programs for a few financially makes no sense when other students are going without.

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Anonymous wrote:These changes are going to devastate Einstein which will be left with graphic arts.

Einstein seems to disproportionally lose in all this. Their performing arts are really strong and often celebrated by MCPS (including in today’s social media feed). I understand gradually tweaking the programs to make more sense but not taking two major programs out of Einstein, not replacing them, and significantly reducing its student population which in turn means fewer teachers and fewer offerings. I have a kid at Einstein who loves it and another headed there next year. I want to trust that the offerings will be the same for 8th graders but of course they won’t be. It would be great if we could help build programs at more schools but not by taking it away from others.

I know nothing is set in stone, but I would be surprised if the Einstein community allowed VAPA and VAC to be taken away. It took years to build these programs, and they are a big part of the school’s reputation today. My son graduated from Einstein’s VAC program and now works for Disney+, and has a friend who is a background dancer for Kendrick Lamar, along with other friends who have built amazing careers in the arts. They wouldn’t be where they are today without the training they received at Einstein. This is devastating, VAPA and VAC must stay.

Congrats to your son. My daughter was waitlisted for VAC because it only had 25 seats (or was it 50?) and most of the applicants are female. She did IB at a different school, one with a far weaker arts department, and that was a damn shame. She's happy in college now, but it was completely absurd to have a fine arts option with so few spots for so many schools.

I liked the DCC, it worked out well for our family academically... but let's not kid ourselves: it also shuts a lot of kids out.

They don't have enough art teachers to increase numbers, which really don't make sense. They should add a few teachers and open it to more students.

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

You clearly have an idea how magnetic programming differs. What makes you more informed than me?

Its the same track as other kids at their home school or dual enrollment.. doesn't sound special at all.

Good grief. The casual disinformation you throw around to try to dismiss others' concerns. Terrible.

Look, you are doing a bad job of persuading us this program is worth the cost for $400 students.

Addressing the needs of the many vs. the needs of the few (or the one; "live long and prosper") is a separate matter from whether a magnet provides a different experience for a particular class, which happens to be the case, here.

Again, there is enough disinformation out there, already. It doesn't help to pile on, there, perhaps not even in support of your particular thrust. (Of course, MCPS central is guilty of that, too, if mostly from a lack of detailed information allowing disinformation to be assumed/proliferate).

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

First, your sharing about the stats has some wrong numbers. Each year there are about 80 kids taking MVC/Diff Eqn, among which 10-15 are juniors and the rest are seniors, so on average 80% per grade students will end up with taking MVC/Diff Eqn. This is a significant amount. Spreading them back to their regions will cause some of these kids lose the opportunity to take these courses. Secondly, the reason for declining enrollment number of Linear Algebra is because the teacher is unpopular among kids. Again, this proves how difficult to train and retain a good high-level math (or any other STEM subject) teacher and now we are talking about 5X more. Thirdly, if you check the college admission (e.g., this year's data: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/10/mcps-students-college/), you'll see 10% of Blair SMCS students end up in MIT, 30% end up in Top 10, and 50% end up in Top 20. Even TJ can't achieve this high rate of elite college admission. Destroying this program is like destroying Apple or Nvidia for U.S.

Of course those of us with a foot in the real world who aren't horrible snobs who are convinced our Larloans will be in that ten percent, can make the much more intelligent calculation that attending Blair actually hurts your chances of admission to these programs. They're not going to admit everyone.

We likely never will have the data to draw a proper conclusion about the relative college-admission chance imparted by attendance at the magnet. Would a student stand out enough at Churchill if they attend there to make up for the smaller percentage of those gaining admission to top 20s? (Not that Churchill sends few to top 20s, but it's not 50%.)

As the others have noted, it really should be about the high school experience that best fits the student.

MCPS hasn't been very forthcoming with clear information about differences among schools, programs and classes. (What else is new? How hard would it be to construct a spreadsheet with such information, given they can direct each school to fill in their bit and only have to verify/clean up formatting?) When discussing directly with magnet coordinators/teachers (or some well informed parents), one can get a better understanding of the differences between courses offered via a magnet and similar courses offered elsewhere, whether that is from acceleration, coverage of extra topics/approaches for depth, cross-curricular integration or some other enrichment. Not all courses at all magnets are different in this way, but I believe SMCS treatment of MVC falls into this category along one or other line.

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

Can you elaborate on how it is more rigouous? Do they use a different curicullum? Genunienly trying to understand- my DC is inclined towards STEM and strong in math, so I could see him applying for this magnet. How many kids really need the extra-rigourous MVC at Blair vs. the MVC offered elsewhere and does it really matter for college acceptance? Some of these course offerings are way beyond what was available at my high school.

I would not go there for college acceptance — send your kid if they are genuinely interested in going deeper in all of the required courses, and putting in a lot more work than us at the local school. (Blair has a list of courses and descriptions on the magnet website.) The reality is that your kid will be competing with others from the magnet for college admission — and that could make it harder to get in unless your kid is outstanding within the magnet population.

They don’t go deeper I’d the classes are more condensed to combine multiple classes.

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

Can you elaborate on how it is more rigouous? Do they use a different curicullum? Genunienly trying to understand- my DC is inclined towards STEM and strong in math, so I could see him applying for this magnet. How many kids really need the extra-rigourous MVC at Blair vs. the MVC offered elsewhere and does it really matter for college acceptance? Some of these course offerings are way beyond what was available at my high school.

It depends on your child. I don’t think it’s any different but not all schools offer MVC, which I’d the bigger issue.

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

Can you elaborate on how it is more rigouous? Do they use a different curicullum? Genunienly trying to understand- my DC is inclined towards STEM and strong in math, so I could see him applying for this magnet. How many kids really need the extra-rigourous MVC at Blair vs. the MVC offered elsewhere and does it really matter for college acceptance? Some of these course offerings are way beyond what was available at my high school.

I would not go there for college acceptance — send your kid if they are genuinely interested in going deeper in all of the required courses, and putting in a lot more work than us at the local school. (Blair has a list of courses and descriptions on the magnet website.) The reality is that your kid will be competing with others from the magnet for college admission — and that could make it harder to get in unless your kid is outstanding within the magnet population.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

First, your sharing about the stats has some wrong numbers. Each year there are about 80 kids taking MVC/Diff Eqn, among which 10-15 are juniors and the rest are seniors, so on average 80% per grade students will end up with taking MVC/Diff Eqn. This is a significant amount. Spreading them back to their regions will cause some of these kids lose the opportunity to take these courses. Secondly, the reason for declining enrollment number of Linear Algebra is because the teacher is unpopular among kids. Again, this proves how difficult to train and retain a good high-level math (or any other STEM subject) teacher and now we are talking about 5X more. Thirdly, if you check the college admission (e.g., this year's data: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/10/mcps-students-college/), you'll see 10% of Blair SMCS students end up in MIT, 30% end up in Top 10, and 50% end up in Top 20. Even TJ can't achieve this high rate of elite college admission. Destroying this program is like destroying Apple or Nvidia for U.S.

Of course those of us with a foot in the real world who aren't horrible snobs who are convinced our Larloans will be in that ten percent, can make the much more intelligent calculation that attending Blair actually hurts your chances of admission to these programs. They're not going to admit everyone.

HS is not all about calculating the chance of getting in an elite college, and whether the existence of this program will or will not increase your DC’s chance to top universities shouldn’t be the reason to kill the program, right? Many kids need and enjoy the programs. Numerous alumni achieve extremely successful careers.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

First, your sharing about the stats has some wrong numbers. Each year there are about 80 kids taking MVC/Diff Eqn, among which 10-15 are juniors and the rest are seniors, so on average 80% per grade students will end up with taking MVC/Diff Eqn. This is a significant amount. Spreading them back to their regions will cause some of these kids lose the opportunity to take these courses. Secondly, the reason for declining enrollment number of Linear Algebra is because the teacher is unpopular among kids. Again, this proves how difficult to train and retain a good high-level math (or any other STEM subject) teacher and now we are talking about 5X more. Thirdly, if you check the college admission (e.g., this year's data: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/10/mcps-students-college/), you'll see 10% of Blair SMCS students end up in MIT, 30% end up in Top 10, and 50% end up in Top 20. Even TJ can't achieve this high rate of elite college admission. Destroying this program is like destroying Apple or Nvidia for U.S.

Of course those of us with a foot in the real world who aren't horrible snobs who are convinced our Larloans will be in that ten percent, can make the much more intelligent calculation that attending Blair actually hurts your chances of admission to these programs. They're not going to admit everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These changes are going to devastate Einstein which will be left with graphic arts.

Einstein seems to disproportionally lose in all this. Their performing arts are really strong and often celebrated by MCPS (including in today’s social media feed). I understand gradually tweaking the programs to make more sense but not taking two major programs out of Einstein, not replacing them, and significantly reducing its student population which in turn means fewer teachers and fewer offerings. I have a kid at Einstein who loves it and another headed there next year. I want to trust that the offerings will be the same for 8th graders but of course they won’t be. It would be great if we could help build programs at more schools but not by taking it away from others.

I know nothing is set in stone, but I would be surprised if the Einstein community allowed VAPA and VAC to be taken away. It took years to build these programs, and they are a big part of the school’s reputation today. My son graduated from Einstein’s VAC program and now works for Disney+, and has a friend who is a background dancer for Kendrick Lamar, along with other friends who have built amazing careers in the arts. They wouldn’t be where they are today without the training they received at Einstein. This is devastating, VAPA and VAC must stay.

Congrats to your son. My daughter was waitlisted for VAC because it only had 25 seats (or was it 50?) and most of the applicants are female. She did IB at a different school, one with a far weaker arts department, and that was a damn shame. She's happy in college now, but it was completely absurd to have a fine arts option with so few spots for so many schools.

I liked the DCC, it worked out well for our family academically... but let's not kid ourselves: it also shuts a lot of kids out.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

Can you elaborate on how it is more rigouous? Do they use a different curicullum? Genunienly trying to understand- my DC is inclined towards STEM and strong in math, so I could see him applying for this magnet. How many kids really need the extra-rigourous MVC at Blair vs. the MVC offered elsewhere and does it really matter for college acceptance? Some of these course offerings are way beyond what was available at my high school.

Hahah — disinformation man thinks he is persuasive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me a break. The Blair magnet serves more than 400 students, it has served thousands of moco families well over the years, stabilized and improved the largest and most diverse high school in Maryland (Go Blazers), and brought national rep to the school district. Pretty good ROI. I would care about that collateral damage.

400 a year is not very much, given the need. That's 100 per grade.

Well, even the 400 is a little bit of a "hide the ball" situation. Of the 100 kids per grade, only a handful are taking the massively accelerated courses that might not be sustainable when the program is duplicated.

When people talk about the "gem" that is SMCS, they don't actually mean that 400 kids per year are taking Linear Algebra or Organic Chemistry. Most Blair magnet kids are taking a normal math progression, ending with Multivariable or AP Statistics, and a normal math progression ending with Physics C (or whatever).

A very small number of kids are doing much more, and there is a critical mass of ES and MS parents who are convinced their children will be in that group, and who are lamenting what they perceive to be a loss of programs.

But it actually doesn't make sense to stand up a magnet around 15 kids per year, and I credit Taylor for being willing to walk away from the madness.

This is what doesn't make sense. If they aren't doing anything really accelerated, what's the point of it beyond bragging rights? I'd expect these kids to complete MV and Linear Algebra. It doesn't seem to make sense financially.

See my comments below. You are responding to a post full of inaccurate numbers. At least 80% of the kids reach the MVC/Diff Eqn level by graduation and take advantage of this program.

Ok, and the point is that many of these kids can do it in their home schools so why do we need to bus them cross country and not save those spots for kids who don't have access at their home schools? Many of our kids take those classes... its nothing to brag about.

No, they cannot do it at their home schools. That's why they chose to go to Blair.
DP

Yes, many of them can. Look at the course guides.

Why do they want to go to Blair if everything can be taken in their home schools?

No idea why. The W schools and BCC have advanced classes, other schools do not. In the DCC, only Wheaton and Blair have advanced classes.

You clearly have no idea how magnetic programming differs from regular programming. MVC at Blair, for example, is much more rigorous than what is offered at Ws/B-CC. Having a course on the topic does not make it the same.

You clearly have an idea how magnetic programming differs. What makes you more informed than me?

Its the same track as other kids at their home school or dual enrollment.. doesn't sound special at all.

Good grief. The casual disinformation you throw around to try to dismiss others' concerns. Terrible.

Look, you are doing a bad job of persuading us this program is worth the cost for $400 students.