Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a critical mass of highly able students in the same classroom, a good program, and good teachers for this to be successful. Montgomery county benefited from the national awards won by Blair, Poolesville, and RM students, by increased tax revenue for instance. It is simply not possible to achieve the same level of success with regional programs. There won't be enough interested and capable students to justify the same level of classes at the same number of classes. There won't be enough teachers capable of teaching these classes at the same level they are taught today. For all practical purposes, this is the end of a very successful program. Sad.

Totally agree. It’s just impossible to duplicate those highly successful programs across all six regions. Eventually, the so-called magnet programs in each region will become just regular programs with a few advanced classes.

But I guess no one cares.

People don't care because the few magnets slots are placed in the far eastern part of the county or upper Northwest part of the county. For the vast majority of us, our kids either didn't qualify because we haven't been prepping them since the age of 5 AND/OR we live far away and travel time isn't worth it. What is the plan for middle school magnets? IMO, that is the level where we most need reform.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a critical mass of highly able students in the same classroom, a good program, and good teachers for this to be successful. Montgomery county benefited from the national awards won by Blair, Poolesville, and RM students, by increased tax revenue for instance. It is simply not possible to achieve the same level of success with regional programs. There won't be enough interested and capable students to justify the same level of classes at the same number of classes. There won't be enough teachers capable of teaching these classes at the same level they are taught today. For all practical purposes, this is the end of a very successful program. Sad.

Totally agree. It’s just impossible to duplicate those highly successful programs across all six regions. Eventually, the so-called magnet programs in each region will become just regular programs with a few advanced classes.

But I guess no one cares.

Please explain what you mean by "highly successful" and why they need to stay at their current locations and not be expanded. Will the current students not do well at other locations?

Different person by the way.

Blair SMCS has courses that are "more advanced," but are actually unique and taught by very skilled teachers. Spreading the program thin into 5 regions would kill it. It would just be an illusion of "expanding opportunity." The program would just end up being like honors for all.

Also, these magnets are successful because they have many highly motivated and high achieving students in 1 program. That is why Blair has consistently been at the top of the nation in terms of academics and competitions. It is also why Blair's students are able to organize clubs and tournaments for the community, like their math tournament, which gets a few hundred participants every year.

Blair magnet is highly regarded because they bus a highly selective group of kids cherry picked from one of the largest and wealthy school districts in the county to it. Those kids will now just stay closer to home and aren’t leaving the county. The classes and teachers are the smallest of variables.

What will happen is Blair will drop to one of the worst high schools in the county just like eastern middle. Unable to hide behind the boost in perception and test scores provided by the program and middle class parents will be pushing there kids to sign up for what ever program is offered in BCC or Whitman even if it is basket weaving to make it easier for poor kids to opt in there.

No logic to your argument. Because there is a critical mass of highly able motivated students at Blair the class offerings are extremely advanced and the teachers have decades of experience teaching them. There is no way to replicate this for 10 highly able students at another high school vs 100 at Blair. The classes offered and the teachers available, plus also the number of truly gifted kids in the region are all key.

And no one is going out of county. You do understand that Blair is in Montgomery county, don’t you?

Oh, I think a lot of students, including the highly able, will be looking at private schools with this new regional program system. If I was a private school president, I would immediately start planning how I could duplicate one of the magnets now that MCPS is changing its system.

They can’t possibly replicate it.

That might be so, but since MCPS is, in effect, tossing these programs aside, some private schools might try to try to fill that void.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about each school has advanced (gifted, whatever you want to call it, but truly advanced) classes so kids at all schools can access rigorous courses if they are ready for the material? Beginning in elementary school so there’s no more of this lottery nonsense where some people get a golden ticket to go to special snowflake magnet programs and other equally eligible students get nothing. I hate all the gate keeping this county does. If anyone is so convinced that their kid needs to go to Blair or Richard Montgomery to access the most advanced classes, and that the only way their kid’s advanced educational abilities and needs can be adequately served is by the county making so few spots available that those few people can feel so special that they got in, those people are delusional.

The delusional ones are those that claim that “gifted” programs at every school can truly be advanced. Or that there are enough specialized teachers to provide the breadth of advanced classes available at Blair at every school.

Whatever you say. All I know is that MCPS has started identifying elementary and middle school students for magnet programs and then placing those kids in lotteries. How is it fair to identify kids for programs and then not provide it to them? And then how does that not trickle up to application programs at the high school level? If kids in a math magnet in middle school get extra exposure to classes and content, and equally eligible students who didn’t lottery in didn’t get that same benefit, who has the better shot at the math program at Blair? And how is that fair? This is public school. I’ll take a baseline gifted program in every single school over some arbitrary lottery that picks winners and losers among equally eligible kids. People like you who want to gatekeep must not have ever been on the losing side of MCPS’s arbitrariness, but I can tell you it’s frustrating. I also find it hard to believe that a school system as big as MCPS can’t find enough good teachers to teach the classes Blair offers and do it well. But I guess let’s never try so you can continue to believe that this is the only way.

+1

My oldest is 7, so what do I know, but I’d rather not gamble that my kids win all the lotteries and make the cut for the very top high school magnets. And not just them, but all their friends.

I have a kid in the Blair magnet and it’s not for everyone. It’s an extremely advanced, intense program. It’s tough. It’s only suitable for the most motivated, most organized students who are extremely hard working and grasp concepts very quickly. The selection process is good, but some of the kids selected are probably not in the right place. This assumption that thousands of kids could benefit from such a pace is misplaced. Not everyone needs to be accelerated to that extent and, by the time your 7 year old is getting ready for high school, you likely will also know whether that would be the right place for then. It’s not the right place for the vast majority of kids. Most kids are not ready for calculus in sophomore year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a critical mass of highly able students in the same classroom, a good program, and good teachers for this to be successful. Montgomery county benefited from the national awards won by Blair, Poolesville, and RM students, by increased tax revenue for instance. It is simply not possible to achieve the same level of success with regional programs. There won't be enough interested and capable students to justify the same level of classes at the same number of classes. There won't be enough teachers capable of teaching these classes at the same level they are taught today. For all practical purposes, this is the end of a very successful program. Sad.

Totally agree. It’s just impossible to duplicate those highly successful programs across all six regions. Eventually, the so-called magnet programs in each region will become just regular programs with a few advanced classes.

But I guess no one cares.

Please explain what you mean by "highly successful" and why they need to stay at their current locations and not be expanded. Will the current students not do well at other locations?

Different person by the way.

Blair SMCS has courses that are "more advanced," but are actually unique and taught by very skilled teachers. Spreading the program thin into 5 regions would kill it. It would just be an illusion of "expanding opportunity." The program would just end up being like honors for all.

Also, these magnets are successful because they have many highly motivated and high achieving students in 1 program. That is why Blair has consistently been at the top of the nation in terms of academics and competitions. It is also why Blair's students are able to organize clubs and tournaments for the community, like their math tournament, which gets a few hundred participants every year.

Blair magnet is highly regarded because they bus a highly selective group of kids cherry picked from one of the largest and wealthy school districts in the county to it. Those kids will now just stay closer to home and aren’t leaving the county. The classes and teachers are the smallest of variables.

What will happen is Blair will drop to one of the worst high schools in the county just like eastern middle. Unable to hide behind the boost in perception and test scores provided by the program and middle class parents will be pushing there kids to sign up for what ever program is offered in BCC or Whitman even if it is basket weaving to make it easier for poor kids to opt in there.

No logic to your argument. Because there is a critical mass of highly able motivated students at Blair the class offerings are extremely advanced and the teachers have decades of experience teaching them. There is no way to replicate this for 10 highly able students at another high school vs 100 at Blair. The classes offered and the teachers available, plus also the number of truly gifted kids in the region are all key.

And no one is going out of county. You do understand that Blair is in Montgomery county, don’t you?

Oh, I think a lot of students, including the highly able, will be looking at private schools with this new regional program system. If I was a private school president, I would immediately start planning how I could duplicate one of the magnets now that MCPS is changing its system.

They can’t possibly replicate it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a critical mass of highly able students in the same classroom, a good program, and good teachers for this to be successful. Montgomery county benefited from the national awards won by Blair, Poolesville, and RM students, by increased tax revenue for instance. It is simply not possible to achieve the same level of success with regional programs. There won't be enough interested and capable students to justify the same level of classes at the same number of classes. There won't be enough teachers capable of teaching these classes at the same level they are taught today. For all practical purposes, this is the end of a very successful program. Sad.

Totally agree. It’s just impossible to duplicate those highly successful programs across all six regions. Eventually, the so-called magnet programs in each region will become just regular programs with a few advanced classes.

But I guess no one cares.

Please explain what you mean by "highly successful" and why they need to stay at their current locations and not be expanded. Will the current students not do well at other locations?

Different person by the way.

Blair SMCS has courses that are "more advanced," but are actually unique and taught by very skilled teachers. Spreading the program thin into 5 regions would kill it. It would just be an illusion of "expanding opportunity." The program would just end up being like honors for all.

Also, these magnets are successful because they have many highly motivated and high achieving students in 1 program. That is why Blair has consistently been at the top of the nation in terms of academics and competitions. It is also why Blair's students are able to organize clubs and tournaments for the community, like their math tournament, which gets a few hundred participants every year.

Blair magnet is highly regarded because they bus a highly selective group of kids cherry picked from one of the largest and wealthy school districts in the county to it. Those kids will now just stay closer to home and aren’t leaving the county. The classes and teachers are the smallest of variables.

What will happen is Blair will drop to one of the worst high schools in the county just like eastern middle. Unable to hide behind the boost in perception and test scores provided by the program and middle class parents will be pushing there kids to sign up for what ever program is offered in BCC or Whitman even if it is basket weaving to make it easier for poor kids to opt in there.

No logic to your argument. Because there is a critical mass of highly able motivated students at Blair the class offerings are extremely advanced and the teachers have decades of experience teaching them. There is no way to replicate this for 10 highly able students at another high school vs 100 at Blair. The classes offered and the teachers available, plus also the number of truly gifted kids in the region are all key.

And no one is going out of county. You do understand that Blair is in Montgomery county, don’t you?

Oh, I think a lot of students, including the highly able, will be looking at private schools with this new regional program system. If I was a private school president, I would immediately start planning how I could duplicate one of the magnets now that MCPS is changing its system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about each school has advanced (gifted, whatever you want to call it, but truly advanced) classes so kids at all schools can access rigorous courses if they are ready for the material? Beginning in elementary school so there’s no more of this lottery nonsense where some people get a golden ticket to go to special snowflake magnet programs and other equally eligible students get nothing. I hate all the gate keeping this county does. If anyone is so convinced that their kid needs to go to Blair or Richard Montgomery to access the most advanced classes, and that the only way their kid’s advanced educational abilities and needs can be adequately served is by the county making so few spots available that those few people can feel so special that they got in, those people are delusional.

The delusional ones are those that claim that “gifted” programs at every school can truly be advanced. Or that there are enough specialized teachers to provide the breadth of advanced classes available at Blair at every school.

Whatever you say. All I know is that MCPS has started identifying elementary and middle school students for magnet programs and then placing those kids in lotteries. How is it fair to identify kids for programs and then not provide it to them? And then how does that not trickle up to application programs at the high school level? If kids in a math magnet in middle school get extra exposure to classes and content, and equally eligible students who didn’t lottery in didn’t get that same benefit, who has the better shot at the math program at Blair? And how is that fair? This is public school. I’ll take a baseline gifted program in every single school over some arbitrary lottery that picks winners and losers among equally eligible kids. People like you who want to gatekeep must not have ever been on the losing side of MCPS’s arbitrariness, but I can tell you it’s frustrating. I also find it hard to believe that a school system as big as MCPS can’t find enough good teachers to teach the classes Blair offers and do it well. But I guess let’s never try so you can continue to believe that this is the only way.

+1

My oldest is 7, so what do I know, but I’d rather not gamble that my kids win all the lotteries and make the cut for the very top high school magnets. And not just them, but all their friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a critical mass of highly able students in the same classroom, a good program, and good teachers for this to be successful. Montgomery county benefited from the national awards won by Blair, Poolesville, and RM students, by increased tax revenue for instance. It is simply not possible to achieve the same level of success with regional programs. There won't be enough interested and capable students to justify the same level of classes at the same number of classes. There won't be enough teachers capable of teaching these classes at the same level they are taught today. For all practical purposes, this is the end of a very successful program. Sad.

Totally agree. It’s just impossible to duplicate those highly successful programs across all six regions. Eventually, the so-called magnet programs in each region will become just regular programs with a few advanced classes.

But I guess no one cares.

Please explain what you mean by "highly successful" and why they need to stay at their current locations and not be expanded. Will the current students not do well at other locations?

Different person by the way.

Blair SMCS has courses that are "more advanced," but are actually unique and taught by very skilled teachers. Spreading the program thin into 5 regions would kill it. It would just be an illusion of "expanding opportunity." The program would just end up being like honors for all.

Also, these magnets are successful because they have many highly motivated and high achieving students in 1 program. That is why Blair has consistently been at the top of the nation in terms of academics and competitions. It is also why Blair's students are able to organize clubs and tournaments for the community, like their math tournament, which gets a few hundred participants every year.

Blair magnet is highly regarded because they bus a highly selective group of kids cherry picked from one of the largest and wealthy school districts in the county to it. Those kids will now just stay closer to home and aren’t leaving the county. The classes and teachers are the smallest of variables.

What will happen is Blair will drop to one of the worst high schools in the county just like eastern middle. Unable to hide behind the boost in perception and test scores provided by the program and middle class parents will be pushing there kids to sign up for what ever program is offered in BCC or Whitman even if it is basket weaving to make it easier for poor kids to opt in there.

No logic to your argument. Because there is a critical mass of highly able motivated students at Blair the class offerings are extremely advanced and the teachers have decades of experience teaching them. There is no way to replicate this for 10 highly able students at another high school vs 100 at Blair. The classes offered and the teachers available, plus also the number of truly gifted kids in the region are all key.

And no one is going out of county. You do understand that Blair is in Montgomery county, don’t you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about each school has advanced (gifted, whatever you want to call it, but truly advanced) classes so kids at all schools can access rigorous courses if they are ready for the material? Beginning in elementary school so there’s no more of this lottery nonsense where some people get a golden ticket to go to special snowflake magnet programs and other equally eligible students get nothing. I hate all the gate keeping this county does. If anyone is so convinced that their kid needs to go to Blair or Richard Montgomery to access the most advanced classes, and that the only way their kid’s advanced educational abilities and needs can be adequately served is by the county making so few spots available that those few people can feel so special that they got in, those people are delusional.

The delusional ones are those that claim that “gifted” programs at every school can truly be advanced. Or that there are enough specialized teachers to provide the breadth of advanced classes available at Blair at every school.

Whatever you say. All I know is that MCPS has started identifying elementary and middle school students for magnet programs and then placing those kids in lotteries. How is it fair to identify kids for programs and then not provide it to them? And then how does that not trickle up to application programs at the high school level? If kids in a math magnet in middle school get extra exposure to classes and content, and equally eligible students who didn’t lottery in didn’t get that same benefit, who has the better shot at the math program at Blair? And how is that fair? This is public school. I’ll take a baseline gifted program in every single school over some arbitrary lottery that picks winners and losers among equally eligible kids. People like you who want to gatekeep must not have ever been on the losing side of MCPS’s arbitrariness, but I can tell you it’s frustrating. I also find it hard to believe that a school system as big as MCPS can’t find enough good teachers to teach the classes Blair offers and do it well. But I guess let’s never try so you can continue to believe that this is the only way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a critical mass of highly able students in the same classroom, a good program, and good teachers for this to be successful. Montgomery county benefited from the national awards won by Blair, Poolesville, and RM students, by increased tax revenue for instance. It is simply not possible to achieve the same level of success with regional programs. There won't be enough interested and capable students to justify the same level of classes at the same number of classes. There won't be enough teachers capable of teaching these classes at the same level they are taught today. For all practical purposes, this is the end of a very successful program. Sad.

Totally agree. It’s just impossible to duplicate those highly successful programs across all six regions. Eventually, the so-called magnet programs in each region will become just regular programs with a few advanced classes.

But I guess no one cares.

Please explain what you mean by "highly successful" and why they need to stay at their current locations and not be expanded. Will the current students not do well at other locations?

Different person by the way.

Blair SMCS has courses that are "more advanced," but are actually unique and taught by very skilled teachers. Spreading the program thin into 5 regions would kill it. It would just be an illusion of "expanding opportunity." The program would just end up being like honors for all.

Also, these magnets are successful because they have many highly motivated and high achieving students in 1 program. That is why Blair has consistently been at the top of the nation in terms of academics and competitions. It is also why Blair's students are able to organize clubs and tournaments for the community, like their math tournament, which gets a few hundred participants every year.

Blair magnet is highly regarded because they bus a highly selective group of kids cherry picked from one of the largest and wealthy school districts in the county to it. Those kids will now just stay closer to home and aren’t leaving the county. The classes and teachers are the smallest of variables.

What will happen is Blair will drop to one of the worst high schools in the county just like eastern middle. Unable to hide behind the boost in perception and test scores provided by the program and middle class parents will be pushing there kids to sign up for what ever program is offered in BCC or Whitman even if it is basket weaving to make it easier for poor kids to opt in there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about each school has advanced (gifted, whatever you want to call it, but truly advanced) classes so kids at all schools can access rigorous courses if they are ready for the material? Beginning in elementary school so there’s no more of this lottery nonsense where some people get a golden ticket to go to special snowflake magnet programs and other equally eligible students get nothing. I hate all the gate keeping this county does. If anyone is so convinced that their kid needs to go to Blair or Richard Montgomery to access the most advanced classes, and that the only way their kid’s advanced educational abilities and needs can be adequately served is by the county making so few spots available that those few people can feel so special that they got in, those people are delusional.

The delusional ones are those that claim that “gifted” programs at every school can truly be advanced. Or that there are enough specialized teachers to provide the breadth of advanced classes available at Blair at every school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need a critical mass of highly able students in the same classroom, a good program, and good teachers for this to be successful. Montgomery county benefited from the national awards won by Blair, Poolesville, and RM students, by increased tax revenue for instance. It is simply not possible to achieve the same level of success with regional programs. There won't be enough interested and capable students to justify the same level of classes at the same number of classes. There won't be enough teachers capable of teaching these classes at the same level they are taught today. For all practical purposes, this is the end of a very successful program. Sad.

Totally agree. It’s just impossible to duplicate those highly successful programs across all six regions. Eventually, the so-called magnet programs in each region will become just regular programs with a few advanced classes.

But I guess no one cares.

Please explain what you mean by "highly successful" and why they need to stay at their current locations and not be expanded. Will the current students not do well at other locations?

Different person by the way.

Blair SMCS has courses that are "more advanced," but are actually unique and taught by very skilled teachers. Spreading the program thin into 5 regions would kill it. It would just be an illusion of "expanding opportunity." The program would just end up being like honors for all.

Also, these magnets are successful because they have many highly motivated and high achieving students in 1 program. That is why Blair has consistently been at the top of the nation in terms of academics and competitions. It is also why Blair's students are able to organize clubs and tournaments for the community, like their math tournament, which gets a few hundred participants every year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about each school has advanced (gifted, whatever you want to call it, but truly advanced) classes so kids at all schools can access rigorous courses if they are ready for the material? Beginning in elementary school so there’s no more of this lottery nonsense where some people get a golden ticket to go to special snowflake magnet programs and other equally eligible students get nothing. I hate all the gate keeping this county does. If anyone is so convinced that their kid needs to go to Blair or Richard Montgomery to access the most advanced classes, and that the only way their kid’s advanced educational abilities and needs can be adequately served is by the county making so few spots available that those few people can feel so special that they got in, those people are delusional.

The delusional ones are those that claim that “gifted” programs at every school can truly be advanced. Or that there are enough specialized teachers to provide the breadth of advanced classes available at Blair at every school.