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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

Incorrect. They just showed at the board meeting the distribution of high achieving students- evenly spread across the county.

Who made that up? Look at the SAT scores per HS. That is so laughable that anyone would believe that. MCPS is so desperate to show that every HS has equal amounts of high achievers that they'd make sh** up.

For them "high achieving students" are students with high grades. People naively think that all high grade students are same. They are not. Some high grade students will ace SAT and some will have mediocre results. Years of dumbing down curriculum in high schools resulted in this false impression that there are thousands of students that are magnet material. But in reality, many of them wouldn't know what hit them if faced with current county magnet classes.

Wait they define high achieving by grades and not external test scores? Well that is a joke. We all know how much grade inflation there is.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

High achieving kids are at all schools. The difference is not all kids have the same opportunities as its only at certain HS's. MCPS preaches equity and its pretty much a joke.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

Incorrect. They just showed at the board meeting the distribution of high achieving students- evenly spread across the county.

That data was unclear as to whether the chart designated where the students live or where they go to school. They might live all over the county, but end up only in a few high achieving programs.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

You guys really need to provide some evidence of how having 95th-98th percentile kids in a program makes it "weak" and ruins it.

Totally agree. There are plenty of top tier kids who don’t get into the criteria based programs who have to settle for the scraps…they will find kids to fill the criteria based options within the regions.

The majority of students at DC school score between the 95th and 98th percentiles on the MAP M. Those selected for magnet typically have well above 99%.

There’s a significant difference in math ability between these students and the rest of the school, although this gap isn’t always reflected in regular school math classes. Many students who are selected for magnet also participate in math competitions, math/science bowl clubs, etc.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.[/quote]

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors? [/quote]

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.[/quote]

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.
[/quote]

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)[/quote]
The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.[/quote]

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity. [/quote]
A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.[/quote]

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially. [/quote]

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs. [/quote]

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.[/quote]
It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.[/quote]

You guys really need to provide some evidence of how having 95th-98th percentile kids in a program makes it "weak" and ruins it.[/quote]
it's not that there 98%ile kids; it's that certain magnet classes are really hard, and not many kids are interested in taking it. But, if you have a program that takes the strongest kids from the county, then there is more demand for such classes.

This is the same type of scenario that MCPS uses when selecting students for the MS magnet. If you don't have a cohort in your home school, then you get selected. In this case, the cohort of kids would be those choosing to take the most challenging classes possible. Not even all of the RMIB kids take IB AA HL math. But there are enough of them who do that warrants that class.

If Kennedy IB had many students wanting that class, they would have offered it. Or, are they not offering it because there are no teachers who can teach it? That is also a problem.

RMIB also offers magnet level courses starting from 9th grade. The regional programs don't do that. Are they going to change it? Are the teachers from the other regions prepared to teach to that level in one year?

RMIB is pretty well known nationally at the IB conferences. Most IB schools only have like 10 to 15 kids in their IB HL AA math class, if at all. RMIB has 30+. Spreading those kids out to the regionals isn't going to create 6 strong programs. Rather, it will dilute it.[/quote]

Look, I'm actually a big supporter of the "we need to invest in highly rigorous options for very gifted kids, even when they're a small minority" approach. But if the objections are boiling down to not wanting to make things worse for 30 kids a year at RMIB or 20 kids at Blair who want to take certain high level math classes-- if the issue is literally that you will not be able to offer these classes in 6 places around the county because there are only a few dozen kids a year in our 160,000-kid school system who are interested in and prepared to succeed in these classes-- then I'm sorry, but that's just excessive. I support brainstorming creative ways to support these kids getting the classes some other way, but it should absolutely not be used to tank the idea of more regional magnet programs that can serve and benefit hundreds and hundreds of smart, motivated kids a year more conveniently and equitably.[/quote]

Thiiiiiiiis

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

You guys really need to provide some evidence of how having 95th-98th percentile kids in a program makes it "weak" and ruins it.

it's not that there 98%ile kids; it's that certain magnet classes are really hard, and not many kids are interested in taking it. But, if you have a program that takes the strongest kids from the county, then there is more demand for such classes.

This is the same type of scenario that MCPS uses when selecting students for the MS magnet. If you don't have a cohort in your home school, then you get selected. In this case, the cohort of kids would be those choosing to take the most challenging classes possible. Not even all of the RMIB kids take IB AA HL math. But there are enough of them who do that warrants that class.

If Kennedy IB had many students wanting that class, they would have offered it. Or, are they not offering it because there are no teachers who can teach it? That is also a problem.

RMIB also offers magnet level courses starting from 9th grade. The regional programs don't do that. Are they going to change it? Are the teachers from the other regions prepared to teach to that level in one year?

RMIB is pretty well known nationally at the IB conferences. Most IB schools only have like 10 to 15 kids in their IB HL AA math class, if at all. RMIB has 30+. Spreading those kids out to the regionals isn't going to create 6 strong programs. Rather, it will dilute it.

Look, I'm actually a big supporter of the "we need to invest in highly rigorous options for very gifted kids, even when they're a small minority" approach. But if the objections are boiling down to not wanting to make things worse for 30 kids a year at RMIB or 20 kids at Blair who want to take certain high level math classes-- if the issue is literally that you will not be able to offer these classes in 6 places around the county because there are only a few dozen kids a year in our 160,000-kid school system who are interested in and prepared to succeed in these classes-- then I'm sorry, but that's just excessive. I support brainstorming creative ways to support these kids getting the classes some other way, but it should absolutely not be used to tank the idea of more regional magnet programs that can serve and benefit hundreds and hundreds of smart, motivated kids a year more conveniently and equitably.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

Incorrect. They just showed at the board meeting the distribution of high achieving students- evenly spread across the county.

DP. How did they define high achieving? Was not able to watch - thank you!

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

You guys really need to provide some evidence of how having 95th-98th percentile kids in a program makes it "weak" and ruins it.

Totally agree. There are plenty of top tier kids who don’t get into the criteria based programs who have to settle for the scraps…they will find kids to fill the criteria based options within the regions.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

Incorrect. They just showed at the board meeting the distribution of high achieving students- evenly spread across the county.

Who made that up? Look at the SAT scores per HS. That is so laughable that anyone would believe that. MCPS is so desperate to show that every HS has equal amounts of high achievers that they'd make sh** up.

For them "high achieving students" are students with high grades. People naively think that all high grade students are same. They are not. Some high grade students will ace SAT and some will have mediocre results. Years of dumbing down curriculum in high schools resulted in this false impression that there are thousands of students that are magnet material. But in reality, many of them wouldn't know what hit them if faced with current county magnet classes.

100% agree

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

Incorrect. They just showed at the board meeting the distribution of high achieving students- evenly spread across the county.

Who made that up? Look at the SAT scores per HS. That is so laughable that anyone would believe that. MCPS is so desperate to show that every HS has equal amounts of high achievers that they'd make sh** up.

For them "high achieving students" are students with high grades. People naively think that all high grade students are same. They are not. Some high grade students will ace SAT and some will have mediocre results. Years of dumbing down curriculum in high schools resulted in this false impression that there are thousands of students that are magnet material. But in reality, many of them wouldn't know what hit them if faced with current county magnet classes.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

Incorrect. They just showed at the board meeting the distribution of high achieving students- evenly spread across the county.

Who made that up? Look at the SAT scores per HS. That is so laughable that anyone would believe that. MCPS is so desperate to show that every HS has equal amounts of high achievers that they'd make sh** up.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

You guys really need to provide some evidence of how having 95th-98th percentile kids in a program makes it "weak" and ruins it.

it's not that there 98%ile kids; it's that certain magnet classes are really hard, and not many kids are interested in taking it. But, if you have a program that takes the strongest kids from the county, then there is more demand for such classes.

This is the same type of scenario that MCPS uses when selecting students for the MS magnet. If you don't have a cohort in your home school, then you get selected. In this case, the cohort of kids would be those choosing to take the most challenging classes possible. Not even all of the RMIB kids take IB AA HL math. But there are enough of them who do that warrants that class.

If Kennedy IB had many students wanting that class, they would have offered it. Or, are they not offering it because there are no teachers who can teach it? That is also a problem.

RMIB also offers magnet level courses starting from 9th grade. The regional programs don't do that. Are they going to change it? Are the teachers from the other regions prepared to teach to that level in one year?

RMIB is pretty well known nationally at the IB conferences. Most IB schools only have like 10 to 15 kids in their IB HL AA math class, if at all. RMIB has 30+. Spreading those kids out to the regionals isn't going to create 6 strong programs. Rather, it will dilute it.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.

Incorrect. They just showed at the board meeting the distribution of high achieving students- evenly spread across the county.

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Anonymous wrote:A screenshot of the Regions that were online yesterday are available in this article:

https://montgomeryperspective.com/2025/06/24/will-there-be-regions-in-mcps/

MCPS Parents: They should subdivide the county into smaller regions. NO, not like that!

MCPS Parents: They should offer more magnet programs to meet the needs of our bright kids who have bright parents. NO, not like that!

The word “region” refers to geography. So explain how these regions make sense geographically. It’s clear they are doing everything they can to make certain schools more desirable (ie Kennedy)

Correct. If you're going to cluster schools into groups for reasons other than geography, it doesn't really make sense to call them regions.

Making horizontal regions across the county is not any more ridiculous than making vertical ones. It's just that the vertical cuts would have preserved segregation, so it's what certain parents wanted.

It still doesn’t make sense. How many high schools are there between Kennedy and Magruder? They aren’t all in the same region. It clear the BOE is dividing up the less desirable schools like Northwood and Kennedy

Because I love all of you so much, I made maps! Here are three of the zones that cover the southern half of the county. https://imgur.com/a/QBYCaLB

You can see that, for example, there are several schools between Kennedy and Magruder, but the zone is contiguous and makes sense.

Thank you! This is helpful. And arguably work MCPS should be doing as it explains its rationale for this model.

Would love to see more data about these regions like they included in the boundary study options from travel distance and demographics. It’s 10 miles from Kennedy to Wootton, so they think a kid would apply for that kind of commute? One could also argue that worst kind of commute in MoCo is the east to west or Vice versa commute. Maybe McPS thinks the purple line will solve these problems?

Commute is longer from Wootton to Kennedy than Wootton to Blair! I thought MCPS wants to reduce bus time.

exactly. I just said up thread, some of the regional program may still be pretty far out for your area.

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Anonymous wrote:For those of you with super special bright children, good for you. But this is public school and it cannot cater to the needs of a tiny minority.

I don’t understand why this kind of narrative continues to prevail. Whether it’s countywide or regional magnet programs, they only serve a small minority of students. Take TJ in Fairfax, for example — it’s the same case. So why can’t MCPS offer the same level of opportunity that Fairfax County does? Are we just inferior to our neighbors?

It’s about resources. There are limited resources.

Yeah in MoCo we pay higher taxes but have fewer resources. Maybe they should look at all the wasteful spending MCPS does. So if Blair/poolsville/RM no longer exist as countywide programs, more people will be fleeing away from this crappy place. It’s asinine and shortsighted to kill these long time established flagship programs at Moco while Fairfax keeps to be proud of its well-known TJ.

If parents are really going to flee because they can't bear to have their top 1% kid in class with a lowly top 5% kid, or because they might have to take one math class virtually their senior year, then good riddance, honestly. They can go to the private schools they crave and their families can afford, and meanwhile 6 times more kids who would benefit from strong programming will get it (including top 1% kids who used to not be able to go to countywide programs due to logistics.)

The vast majority of magnet kids are not wealthy enough to send their kids to specialized private school. But even if they could, most private schools cannot offer what MCPS magnet schools offer, which is why some private school students end up going to these magnets if they get in.

Those county wide magnets are one of the few shining stars in MCPS. It's one of the reasons why we were drawn to this school district from out west. It offers various programs for very high achieving kids that many school districts do not. Even if my kid didn't make it to one of the magnets, the fact that there are such programs here means it draws high achieving kids to the school district.

If you take that away, MCPS becomes a middling school district. It's ironic that MCPS likes to tout the SAT/AP scores etc of high achieving students, and then at the same time tell them that they should not expect to have their needs met in school.

Dumbing down the entire school district is not a worthy goal. A county wide magnet attracts the very top, which means they have a sizeable cohort of like high achieving students.

I think regional programs have its place, but so does a county wide magnet.

Why dod we need a county wide magnet if we have regional magnets. If the regional model offered what kids needed who would be choosing to go further away from home just to attend a county wide magnet. Yes you moved here because of what you heard about one magnet. That doesn't mean it's going to stay like that forever into eternity.

A county wide magnet draws the top performers in the entire county, whereas the regional only draws from a few HS. The peer group will be different.

Look at the IB classes offered at RMIB vs a school like Kennedy, a regional IB magnet. RMIB offers more IB classes than Kennedy because there is demand for it. RM has IB AN/APP HL, and it also has two MVC classes. Kennedy doesn't offer IB HL math.

If you make RM regional, the demand for these classes will be lower, and it will not be cost effective to keep those additional IB classes.

This effectively dumbs down the IB program.

That's an assumption. The Kennedy IB program and the RMIB program were not setup to operate the same initially.

The "magnet" portion of the Kennedy IB program is also very new. Class of 2025 was the first graduating class, which means it was also the first real opportunity for HL math. I'm not defending the decision not to offer it, but this is a new program, in a troubled school, with a tiny cohort. I don't think it tells us much about regional programs.

Exactly. And the fact that the RM county-wide program still exist as a county program, actually dilutes from the regional programs.

It's the other way. If you split the strong RMIB cohort across six regions mixed with other students you will just have weaker regional IB programs. RMIB is the strongest program in part because the top 100 or so are in one program. Splitting them up just dilutes a strong program into several weaker ones.

I think you are making an assumption here that is not factual. You are assuming that all kids who would thrive in the program apply, and that all those who are accepted choose to attend. I have a child who was accepted and did not choose to attend based almost exclusively on distance, and I know others who never applied for the same reason who seem equally competent.

Folks are always going on about how high achieving the area is, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that there are many more kids who would benefit from a program like this one, and who would thrive and succeed, then there are applicants with commutes being what they are at the moment.

The regional program may also not be too close to you. There are high achieving kids in MCPS, but most of them are in certain HS clusters. Let's not pretend otherwise.