Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at a non-magnet school and taking Algebra in 6th.

From what I’ve heard, MCPS goes back and forth on whether to allow students to take Algebra in 6th. There seem to be quite a few 6th graders in Algebra this coming year, but for current high schoolers, Algebra in 6th would have been very rare.

Having spoken to Math and Science teachers at the ES and secondary level, the reason for the switch (which I term de-acceleration) of the math curriculum is because they found that students lacked the true math understanding necessary to do well in the upper math class without teachers either having to review a bunch of stuff or slow down the upper math classes (or worse lots of kids needing tutors/extra help). Maybe not at specific magnets but definitely in general. This is why you see 1st/2nd grade math seemingly as boring and less kids taking algebra 6th. Even without algebra in 6th grade a student can still track to complete Calculus before graduation, so slowing things down made more sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Times have changed, I guess (my kid is only in ES, so this is new to me). I went to the magnet at Blair and we all took Physics our Freshman year, but it was more like Honors+, not AP.

That is still how it is. I am assuming this kid is not in the magnet.

Regardless, the same teachers who teach magnet classes teach other classes, and another reason why Blair is head and shoulders over other MCPS HS.