Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading everything here with interest. My DC has also gotten into CAP but from a non-magnet middle school. PP said that their DD has 2 hours of homework/night. Do others find something similar? Just weighing the extra period with my DC's ADHD and commute time and the stamina to handle a huge homework load daily. Thanks.

Yeah, I would love to know what's the homework differential between CAP and Whitman (if honors class, etc.). For example, if CAP is 2 hours of homework every night, what would it be like at Whitman, for example?

Homework load is so kid-dependent. One of my kids handled 5 APs (with As and 5s) both Jr and Sr years and never spent much time on homework. Other had much less rigorous classes but took much more time to do less homework.

Don't expect a light HW load at Whitman in all honors/AP classes. Also, the same sort of group of quirky kids exists at every school, you just have to find them.

Anonymous wrote:We have loved all the classes Blair has to offer (I have a magnet kid) but lots of CAP friends, and classes outside the CAP & magnet are really good too. Plus a million clubs. CAP kids can take magnet classes in 11/12.

Anonymous wrote:What does “CAP” mean?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we've been having the same debate at our house, although in our case it's a different W school vs. CAP. DD also got into RMIB but won't be going there (which is 100% fine with us). We have two older kids, one of whom went to the home W HS and one of whom went to RMIB, so we have those experiences for comparison.

DD is super into drama/theater, as are all of her Eastern friends, so she wants to go to CAP. My spouse and I have been discussing a lot and basically we decided that it's got to be our choice, not her choice, both for family reasons and based on our evaluation of what's best for her. Here's why we have decided she can't go to CAP:

1) CAP has a great program that's a continuation of Eastern (and really Barnsley as well since that's more of a humanities focus), but we are concerned about the quality of the rest of the classes outside CAP, given non-magnet Blair (which admittedly we have no experience with) vs. WJ. I want her to be able to take AP classes in 9th grade (AP Government), and I want her to have a strong all-around education, not simply a specialty in humanities that is most apparent in the first two years and then tapers off in junior/senior years.

2) The length of the school day (eight periods) and the length of the commute are huge factors. She's on the bus at 7 am and doesn't get home until 4:30 pm as it is (and that is the same bus schedule she'd have next year). With eight periods, that's a lot less time for extracurriculars, downtime, family time, and sleep, all of which are important. I can't find what time the activity buses run, but we aren't on a magnet activity bus route for Eastern and I don't think we'd be on one for Blair.

3) I am tired of not having a parent community to exchange favors and information with. Given the distances, there's no one to carpool with for afterschool activities. There aren't any parents I can rely on to exchange favors when there's a time crunch.

4) Relatedly, the logistics of getting her to/from school are too much for us. With traffic (and there's almost always traffic) it's 25-30 minutes each way. My spouse and I are working from home still but that's not going to last forever -- we can't just get over there to get her quickly on a moment's notice.

5) DD went to Barnsley ES before Eastern, so has been out of the neighborhood friend loop since 4th grade. None of her Barnsley friends went to Eastern, and none are going to the home HS. It's really becoming problematic because every get-together is a schlep, as all her friends are in Silver Spring. That's two hours of driving round-trip for us as her parents. She's lonely on weekends because there's no one local to hang out with. She suffers from some social anxiety, too, so is always reluctant to be the one to initiate a hang-out.

6) We know our home high school. It's a happy, well-run place and it's 600 kids fewer than Blair. Our older kid had a great experience there. DD has been out of the loop with her friends from elementary and the neighborhood, but still knows a lot of them and will reconnect and/or make new friendships. Our DD can put together a rigorous, challenging program and have a lot more time in her day both for school and for extracurriculars at the home HS.

7) We let our other kid go to RMIB -- it was her choice even though we weren't thrilled about it. We have experienced some of the issues above, and it's also been a brutal program both on its own merits and because of the pandemic. It's cost a lot in terms of time, stress, pressure, anxiety, etc. We are not happy that we're making this decision for our youngest instead of letting her make it for herself, but we're much more aware now of the impacts to our whole family of one kid going to a magnet program.

So that's where we are. Reading your posts, I'd say there's no compelling reason for your kid to go to CAP for some of the same reasons we have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading everything here with interest. My DC has also gotten into CAP but from a non-magnet middle school. PP said that their DD has 2 hours of homework/night. Do others find something similar? Just weighing the extra period with my DC's ADHD and commute time and the stamina to handle a huge homework load daily. Thanks.

Yeah, I would love to know what's the homework differential between CAP and Whitman (if honors class, etc.). For example, if CAP is 2 hours of homework every night, what would it be like at Whitman, for example?

Homework load is so kid-dependent. One of my kids handled 5 APs (with As and 5s) both Jr and Sr years and never spent much time on homework. Other had much less rigorous classes but took much more time to do less homework.

Don't expect a light HW load at Whitman in all honors/AP classes. Also, the same sort of group of quirky kids exists at every school, you just have to find them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading everything here with interest. My DC has also gotten into CAP but from a non-magnet middle school. PP said that their DD has 2 hours of homework/night. Do others find something similar? Just weighing the extra period with my DC's ADHD and commute time and the stamina to handle a huge homework load daily. Thanks.

Assuming they take 7-8 classes, that is 30 minutes per class, so that sounds reasonable. You need to ask your child.

Blair has block scheduling, so kids have 5 classes a day, with one a 90-minute double period and the others 45 minutes apparently (if I'm understanding the website correctly). I wish there was more information clearly laid out on the CAP website about this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd choose Whitman. Blair is a ridiculously large and over crowded school. The few kids I know who went to CAP were smart, but ended up in meh colleges, for what it's worth. Not saying that's the norm, but getting a leg up in college placement should not figure into your decision to go there. Being you live in the Whitman cluster, I think CAP would not be worth the hassle, since your home school is as good or better.

Your personal anecdote aside, Blair has the most impressive admissions of any HS in the county. Go read the Bethesda Beat issue that shows the stats. There's really no comparison.

Can you link the Bethesda Beat stats article, please

They publish the admission stats for thee schools annually. Blair is always the top performer. It's a great school but having two outstanding small magnets doesn't hurt.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-magazine/september-october-2021/college-bound-6/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd choose Whitman. Blair is a ridiculously large and over crowded school. The few kids I know who went to CAP were smart, but ended up in meh colleges, for what it's worth. Not saying that's the norm, but getting a leg up in college placement should not figure into your decision to go there. Being you live in the Whitman cluster, I think CAP would not be worth the hassle, since your home school is as good or better.

Your personal anecdote aside, Blair has the most impressive admissions of any HS in the county. Go read the Bethesda Beat issue that shows the stats. There's really no comparison.

Can you link the Bethesda Beat stats article, please

Anonymous wrote:OP, we've been having the same debate at our house, although in our case it's a different W school vs. CAP. DD also got into RMIB but won't be going there (which is 100% fine with us). We have two older kids, one of whom went to the home W HS and one of whom went to RMIB, so we have those experiences for comparison.

DD is super into drama/theater, as are all of her Eastern friends, so she wants to go to CAP. My spouse and I have been discussing a lot and basically we decided that it's got to be our choice, not her choice, both for family reasons and based on our evaluation of what's best for her. Here's why we have decided she can't go to CAP:

1) CAP has a great program that's a continuation of Eastern (and really Barnsley as well since that's more of a humanities focus), but we are concerned about the quality of the rest of the classes outside CAP, given non-magnet Blair (which admittedly we have no experience with) vs. WJ. I want her to be able to take AP classes in 9th grade (AP Government), and I want her to have a strong all-around education, not simply a specialty in humanities that is most apparent in the first two years and then tapers off in junior/senior years.

2) The length of the school day (eight periods) and the length of the commute are huge factors. She's on the bus at 7 am and doesn't get home until 4:30 pm as it is (and that is the same bus schedule she'd have next year). With eight periods, that's a lot less time for extracurriculars, downtime, family time, and sleep, all of which are important. I can't find what time the activity buses run, but we aren't on a magnet activity bus route for Eastern and I don't think we'd be on one for Blair.

3) I am tired of not having a parent community to exchange favors and information with. Given the distances, there's no one to carpool with for afterschool activities. There aren't any parents I can rely on to exchange favors when there's a time crunch.

4) Relatedly, the logistics of getting her to/from school are too much for us. With traffic (and there's almost always traffic) it's 25-30 minutes each way. My spouse and I are working from home still but that's not going to last forever -- we can't just get over there to get her quickly on a moment's notice.

5) DD went to Barnsley ES before Eastern, so has been out of the neighborhood friend loop since 4th grade. None of her Barnsley friends went to Eastern, and none are going to the home HS. It's really becoming problematic because every get-together is a schlep, as all her friends are in Silver Spring. That's two hours of driving round-trip for us as her parents. She's lonely on weekends because there's no one local to hang out with. She suffers from some social anxiety, too, so is always reluctant to be the one to initiate a hang-out.

6) We know our home high school. It's a happy, well-run place and it's 600 kids fewer than Blair. Our older kid had a great experience there. DD has been out of the loop with her friends from elementary and the neighborhood, but still knows a lot of them and will reconnect and/or make new friendships. Our DD can put together a rigorous, challenging program and have a lot more time in her day both for school and for extracurriculars at the home HS.

7) We let our other kid go to RMIB -- it was her choice even though we weren't thrilled about it. We have experienced some of the issues above, and it's also been a brutal program both on its own merits and because of the pandemic. It's cost a lot in terms of time, stress, pressure, anxiety, etc. We are not happy that we're making this decision for our youngest instead of letting her make it for herself, but we're much more aware now of the impacts to our whole family of one kid going to a magnet program.

So that's where we are. Reading your posts, I'd say there's no compelling reason for your kid to go to CAP for some of the same reasons we have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading everything here with interest. My DC has also gotten into CAP but from a non-magnet middle school. PP said that their DD has 2 hours of homework/night. Do others find something similar? Just weighing the extra period with my DC's ADHD and commute time and the stamina to handle a huge homework load daily. Thanks.

Yeah, I would love to know what's the homework differential between CAP and Whitman (if honors class, etc.). For example, if CAP is 2 hours of homework every night, what would it be like at Whitman, for example?

Homework load is so kid-dependent. One of my kids handled 5 APs (with As and 5s) both Jr and Sr years and never spent much time on homework. Other had much less rigorous classes but took much more time to do less homework.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading everything here with interest. My DC has also gotten into CAP but from a non-magnet middle school. PP said that their DD has 2 hours of homework/night. Do others find something similar? Just weighing the extra period with my DC's ADHD and commute time and the stamina to handle a huge homework load daily. Thanks.

Assuming they take 7-8 classes, that is 30 minutes per class, so that sounds reasonable. You need to ask your child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading everything here with interest. My DC has also gotten into CAP but from a non-magnet middle school. PP said that their DD has 2 hours of homework/night. Do others find something similar? Just weighing the extra period with my DC's ADHD and commute time and the stamina to handle a huge homework load daily. Thanks.

Yeah, I would love to know what's the homework differential between CAP and Whitman (if honors class, etc.). For example, if CAP is 2 hours of homework every night, what would it be like at Whitman, for example?