Anonymous wrote:OP - avoid Takoma Park and Silver Spring. The posters on this forum are nuts. Its not a nice area to live and the schools are not strong. Look at Howard if you can handle the commute or stay in DC and go private.
Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park Elementary School for K-2 then Piney Branch for 3-5th with hopes of CES placement at Piney Branch. Both TPES and PBES have STEM and TPES has a great advanced math program for 2nd grade. Plus, being at PBES does open up a higher chance of being offered a seat in the Takoma Park Middle School Magnet Program, since they do currently reserve a certain number of seats for kids coming from PBES as well as East Silver Spring Elementary School. Although this is not a given as there were many students in the current PBES CES program who did not get invited to the Takoma Park Middle School Program. Of course all of this may be revised by the time your kid reaches these various points in education since MCPS is revising the Gifted and Talented Programs/Approaches.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Where can you afford to live? What is your budget? What is the point of talking about anything without knowing your budget?
OP here. Budget not an issue.
Then send your kid to private.
Thanks. We are looking at all the options. What’s your attitude about?
I didn't see any attitude in PP's post? If budget isn't an issue, go private. Mcps isnt known for it's STEM. Buy in Potomac or Bethesda so you can send them to McLean
MCPS is not known for its STEM? ????Are you that clueless?
MCPS leads STEM awards and competitions.
Yes, they're clueless, bitter or both. Blair’s small STEM magnet consistently wins more Intel Prizes and has more students in the U.S. Math Olympiad compared to any local public or private.
Who cares. OP has 4 other kids. Get into a school cluster that will best serve those kids. The 1 will place in somewhere and be find. Or be with a high level peer group in local school and again, be fine.
Yes, Takoma Park it is.
Best of both worlds.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Where can you afford to live? What is your budget? What is the point of talking about anything without knowing your budget?
OP here. Budget not an issue.
Then send your kid to private.
Thanks. We are looking at all the options. What’s your attitude about?
I didn't see any attitude in PP's post? If budget isn't an issue, go private. Mcps isnt known for it's STEM. Buy in Potomac or Bethesda so you can send them to McLean
MCPS is not known for its STEM? ????Are you that clueless?
MCPS leads STEM awards and competitions.
TJ is a large program but gets far fewer awards than the MCPS stem programs.
+1 -- really bizarre. Of course MCPS is known for stem! Even outside the magnets, they accelerate as needed. Best in the area (other than TJ)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I agree that MCPS is good at science at the high school, but our experience in our W-feeder middle school is that middle school is a wasteland with no acceleration in science. One size fits all. My pointy math and science kid snoozed through middle school math and science (we can't afford private and don't qualify for financial aid) and has only really started accelerating in science in high school by his choice of classes -- certainly MCPS itself won't specifically set an accelerated curriculum in science unless a kid is at the math/science magnet middle or magnet HS.
What is a pointy math and science kid?

Anonymous wrote:I agree that MCPS is good at science at the high school, but our experience in our W-feeder middle school is that middle school is a wasteland with no acceleration in science. One size fits all. My pointy math and science kid snoozed through middle school math and science (we can't afford private and don't qualify for financial aid) and has only really started accelerating in science in high school by his choice of classes -- certainly MCPS itself won't specifically set an accelerated curriculum in science unless a kid is at the math/science magnet middle or magnet HS.
Anonymous wrote:Check out Feynman. It's a private school for gifted kids that offers differentiation and acceleration in math.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Where can you afford to live? What is your budget? What is the point of talking about anything without knowing your budget?
OP here. Budget not an issue.
Then send your kid to private.
Thanks. We are looking at all the options. What’s your attitude about?
I didn't see any attitude in PP's post? If budget isn't an issue, go private. Mcps isnt known for it's STEM. Buy in Potomac or Bethesda so you can send them to McLean
MCPS is not known for its STEM? ????Are you that clueless?
MCPS leads STEM awards and competitions.
TJ is a large program but gets far fewer awards than the MCPS stem programs.
+1 -- really bizarre. Of course MCPS is known for stem! Even outside the magnets, they accelerate as needed. Best in the area (other than TJ)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Where can you afford to live? What is your budget? What is the point of talking about anything without knowing your budget?
OP here. Budget not an issue.
Then send your kid to private.
Thanks. We are looking at all the options. What’s your attitude about?
I didn't see any attitude in PP's post? If budget isn't an issue, go private. Mcps isnt known for it's STEM. Buy in Potomac or Bethesda so you can send them to McLean
MCPS is not known for its STEM? ????Are you that clueless?
MCPS leads STEM awards and competitions.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Where can you afford to live? What is your budget? What is the point of talking about anything without knowing your budget?
OP here. Budget not an issue.
Then send your kid to private.
Thanks. We are looking at all the options. What’s your attitude about?
I didn't see any attitude in PP's post? If budget isn't an issue, go private. Mcps isnt known for it's STEM. Buy in Potomac or Bethesda so you can send them to McLean
MCPS is not known for its STEM? ????Are you that clueless?
MCPS leads STEM awards and competitions.
Yes, they're clueless, bitter or both. Blair’s small STEM magnet consistently wins more Intel Prizes and has more students in the U.S. Math Olympiad compared to any local public or private.
Who cares. OP has 4 other kids. Get into a school cluster that will best serve those kids. The 1 will place in somewhere and be find. Or be with a high level peer group in local school and again, be fine.
Anonymous wrote:
It's true there's another magnet on the other side of the county but aside from the TKPK set-aside, there are roughly 75 students who attend the TPMS magnet out of a grade of 12K.