Anonymous wrote:I have twin 5th graders our local MS is Lakelands. Their default MS due to being in CI is Hoover. They both got into the Parkland MS Aerospace Program and then one twin got an invite Clemente CS magnet program but the other twin did not. The twin that did not had much higher MAP Math and Reading scores so not sure why they did not get the invite. So we have several options for MS for them to go together which are Lakelands, Hoover, and Parkland. We are leaning toward Hoover since all their friends from CI are going there, but we are responsible for drop off and pick up ourselves since we are not in the school district for Hoover and it is quite the commute. Which options is the best out of the 3?

Anonymous wrote:Is there any way to find out local norms? Especially for kids come from private school?

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Anonymous wrote:Honestly if they’re not going to offer accelerated or enriched courses in all subjects at the home schools they should take the kids with the top scores and grades and get rid of the lottery system. What they offer at the home schools is neither comparable nor sufficient for any student who needs above grade level instruction. It is unbelievable to me that they’d take kids with lower scores/demonstrated readiness, and then refuse to meet the needs of the students they don’t have enough seats to accommodate. My own two kids never got off the lottery waiting pool lists and completely languished academically in middle school. Such a missed opportunity.

Or just cancel the programs. Our home school needs more smart kids with involved parents desperately but we lose so many to those programs, and it really hurts those left behind in terms of peer group and class offerings.

Unfortunately canceling the programs isn’t going to make the home schools better. I’m the PP whose kids languished. Our school had more than enough bright students left. It did not make up for the unchallenging curriculum (that literally repeated books from elementary school), teachers unwilling and unable to differentiate, and dumbing down of expectations so that on and below grade level students didn’t completely fail in the mixed ability classrooms. Like playing the entire audio book in class over three weeks every day at the expense of complementary instruction because some students couldn’t or wouldn’t read the book. Closing down the magnet would not have changed any of this at the home school. It just would have deprived every single student of appropriate instruction rather than many.

But then there would be more mad parents, which might force changes. Right now everyone just shrugs and says “well there a magnet for the lucky ones”

There are plenty of mad parents now-- only a tiny fraction of eligible kids get into the magnets. The issue is that MCPS doesn't really care about mad parents .. increasing the number of upset parents by like 10% is not going to have the impact you think it is.

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Anonymous wrote:Honestly if they’re not going to offer accelerated or enriched courses in all subjects at the home schools they should take the kids with the top scores and grades and get rid of the lottery system. What they offer at the home schools is neither comparable nor sufficient for any student who needs above grade level instruction. It is unbelievable to me that they’d take kids with lower scores/demonstrated readiness, and then refuse to meet the needs of the students they don’t have enough seats to accommodate. My own two kids never got off the lottery waiting pool lists and completely languished academically in middle school. Such a missed opportunity.

Or just cancel the programs. Our home school needs more smart kids with involved parents desperately but we lose so many to those programs, and it really hurts those left behind in terms of peer group and class offerings.

Unfortunately canceling the programs isn’t going to make the home schools better. I’m the PP whose kids languished. Our school had more than enough bright students left. It did not make up for the unchallenging curriculum (that literally repeated books from elementary school), teachers unwilling and unable to differentiate, and dumbing down of expectations so that on and below grade level students didn’t completely fail in the mixed ability classrooms. Like playing the entire audio book in class over three weeks every day at the expense of complementary instruction because some students couldn’t or wouldn’t read the book. Closing down the magnet would not have changed any of this at the home school. It just would have deprived every single student of appropriate instruction rather than many.

But then there would be more mad parents, which might force changes. Right now everyone just shrugs and says “well there a magnet for the lucky ones”

Anonymous wrote:My straight A and 99th percentile kid for both MAP tests was entered into both lotteries and did not get a spot for either. We would have struggled to send her but were considering it because the home MS is not strong (weakest link in our pyramid by far). Our whole experience with gifted kids in MCPS has been so different than what I hoped for. Enrichment is really not a priority anymore.

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Anonymous wrote:Can you please help me understand how you get into the lottery pool? My son got 99% on Cogat in 3rd grade + 99% MapM but 85% on MapR. He never got into the lottery for 4/5 grade. He will b in 5 grade next year. Am I supposed to enter him into the lottery pool? School with very low farms rate.

They don't look at math to put you in the lottery during the 3rd grade review for 4/5 CES, just MAP-R, so his was too low.. With those scores they should have put him in compacted math at the home school, though.

If he has similar scores next fall (and gets As is the relevant subjects) then he will be in the pool for the math/science MS magnet but probably not the humanities magnet unless his MAP-R scores improve. You don't need to do anything, they automatically put kids in the lottery who qualify. (Assuming there are no changes next year from how they've done it the last few years )

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly if they’re not going to offer accelerated or enriched courses in all subjects at the home schools they should take the kids with the top scores and grades and get rid of the lottery system. What they offer at the home schools is neither comparable nor sufficient for any student who needs above grade level instruction. It is unbelievable to me that they’d take kids with lower scores/demonstrated readiness, and then refuse to meet the needs of the students they don’t have enough seats to accommodate. My own two kids never got off the lottery waiting pool lists and completely languished academically in middle school. Such a missed opportunity.

Or just cancel the programs. Our home school needs more smart kids with involved parents desperately but we lose so many to those programs, and it really hurts those left behind in terms of peer group and class offerings.

Unfortunately canceling the programs isn’t going to make the home schools better. I’m the PP whose kids languished. Our school had more than enough bright students left. It did not make up for the unchallenging curriculum (that literally repeated books from elementary school), teachers unwilling and unable to differentiate, and dumbing down of expectations so that on and below grade level students didn’t completely fail in the mixed ability classrooms. Like playing the entire audio book in class over three weeks every day at the expense of complementary instruction because some students couldn’t or wouldn’t read the book. Closing down the magnet would not have changed any of this at the home school. It just would have deprived every single student of appropriate instruction rather than many.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you please help me understand how you get into the lottery pool? My son got 99% on Cogat in 3rd grade + 99% MapM but 85% on MapR. He never got into the lottery for 4/5 grade. He will b in 5 grade next year. Am I supposed to enter him into the lottery pool? School with very low farms rate.

They don't look at math to put you in the lottery during the 3rd grade review for 4/5 CES, just MAP-R, so his was too low.. With those scores they should have put him in compacted math at the home school, though.

If he has similar scores next fall (and gets As is the relevant subjects) then he will be in the pool for the math/science MS magnet but probably not the humanities magnet unless his MAP-R scores improve. You don't need to do anything, they automatically put kids in the lottery who qualify. (Assuming there are no changes next year from how they've done it the last few years )

Anonymous wrote:Can you please help me understand how you get into the lottery pool? My son got 99% on Cogat in 3rd grade + 99% MapM but 85% on MapR. He never got into the lottery for 4/5 grade. He will b in 5 grade next year. Am I supposed to enter him into the lottery pool? School with very low farms rate.