If you want your kid to be able to apply to any of the choice programs for HS, they will need to be enrolled in 8th grade in MCPS. I'm not saying you do -- my kid personally would rather stay at her home school -- but just beware that if you don't move for MS, that will not be an option.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The above is a valid point - that MS is for survival and maybe we should send her to the okayish MS here with her elementary friends, get through that, and then try to move. Things would certainly be clearer from school boundary and program perspectives. I wanted her to maybe do the IB middle years program at a school properly implementing it but maybe that’s misguided given all the factors at play.

This is what I would do. We moved to MC for MS and it was a trash fire of bullying and administrative indifference. Regional IB, on the other hand, was fantastic. I don't regret moving for high school; I still regret middle school. Keep her with her friends in DC for MS... There's no compelling MS programs worth moving for. I bet her DC MS won't take them to Medieval Times for history class.

Actually, I've noticed the kids who stayed with DCPS or the charters for HS seemed to have a lot more interesting opportunities for a lot of things--and I suspect a leg up for college admissions. Pretty much everyone I know's kid went either to Latin or DCI for high school, and, while the regional IB was a great experience, I feel like my kid missed out on a lot of cultural opportunities that would have been more available.

Anonymous wrote:What is IB exactly?
I’m not from the US and have a rising 8th grader in the NEC.
She’s more sporty than academic. I keep hearing about Springbrook and the IB program but what does it mean exactly?

IB means international baccalaureate.