Anonymous
11/03/2025 21:02
Subject: Re:Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, this is the question MCPS refuses to answer. If they couldn't successfully scale the RMIB program regionally, it is implausible they'd be able to accomplish what they're claiming to do with their regional program proposal, which strives to do what the Regional IB program tried to do on steroids.
Taylor explained his take on this at one of the first regional program meetings. He thinks that keeping RMIB available as a countywide program prevented the regional programs from succeeding, because the highest flyers were still intent on going there and not interested in the regions.
But that's not true. Take Kennedy, for example. Most of the kids who attended the Kennedy IB program were zoned for Kennedy. Look at RMIB: Most of the kids in that program were from RM cluster and the W schools. The countywide was not pulling kids who otherwise would've attended the Kennedy Regional IB.
So as usual, Taylor is lying.
It looks like the Watkins Mill regional numbers support his theory, though. Many more students from Clarksburg, Damascus, Northwest, and Quince Orchard chose RMIB over WMIB.
Ok, but this program was scaled to Kennedy, Watkins Mill, Springbrook and Seneca Valley.
That theory being true for one cluster (WM), does not explain why MCPS did not replicate RM's results at Springbrook and Kennedy. And Taylor should not make sweeping statements that make it seem as such.
The application programs have only graduated two cohorts, and those were from the covid years. It's hardly a fair comparison. If you look at actual college admissions for Kennedy and Springbok, you'll see some impressive results.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 20:57
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
What I think most of you are missing in your eager rush to take more opportunities away from poor families (poor immigrant families, for the most part--when talking about Moco demographics) is that access to something like an IB program is very important to them, and can be the key to future success. Unlike the AP, IB is about holistic learning. Educating the whole student. Creating well-rounded citizens. Your own kids with their access to privilege and your own obsession with STEM may not feel the need for it. But those kids do.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 19:04
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The MCPS position is that they were failures because RMIB was still around as a countywide program, and if there are no countywide programs then the regional ones will succeed.
I don't know how much it would change.
Seneca Valley regional IB - new and the biggest unknown.
Paint Branch regional IB - barely any change
Kennedy regional IB - biggest change with WJ being part of the region
Watkins Mill regional IB -- slight change with QO and some boundary changes from Crown
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ546789D4/$file/Attachment%20B%20Program%20Analysis%20Data%20Slides%20250724.pdf
RMIB has 475 students. 225 from the same region 4. Almost half of RMIB students come from this region.
110 from RM - region 4
63 from Churchill - region 4
62 from Wootton - region 4
42 Walter Johnson Kennedy region 3.
31 Northwest new SV IB region 6
28 Clarksburg new SVIB region 6 ( IMO, NW and Clarksburg would have the biggest loss here)
19 QO - region 5 Watkins IB regional
17 Damascus region 6 new SV IB
11 Macgruder region 5 Watkins IB regional)
The rest are < 10.
Region 1 BCC IB - no significant population in RMIB from this region. This region is mostly currently served by the current Kennedy region. So not much would change.
BCC
Whitman
Einstein
Blair
Northwood
Region 2
Springbrook IB new region would serve: Sherwood, Blake, Paint Branch.
Springbrook IB regional current enrollment 252 already serves those schools. Nothing would change. RMIB doesn't have any significant population from these schools.
Blake 74
Paint Branch 54
Springbrook 114
Sherwood < 10
Region 3
Kennedy IB regional would serve: Einstein, Woodward, WJ. This one may change due to the Woodward boundary changes.
Current Kennedy IB enrollment 196 total:
Kennedy 86
Einstein 17
WJ 42 from RMIB
Woodward ? -
Region 5
Watkins Mill IB would serve: QO, GHS, Seneca, Crown, Macgruder. This one may change slightly due to Crown.
Current enrollment 163
Current RMIB - 19 for QO
It doesn't appear that a significant portion of Wootton would go to Crown with the new boundary.
GHS 18
WM 111
Rest are < 10
So, out of the 4 current IB programs, I think only Kennedy would see a significant change.
With regards to RMIB, the statistics you are quoting are not in the link you provided.
Moreover, those statistics appear to include not only the set-aside for JWMS but also the kids in-bounds for RM who opted into the IB program in 11th grade. That's not a real metric of where the criteria-based admissions are coming from.
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf
A lot of the RMIB kids are from RM, Wootton, Churchill - all in region 4.
WJ might help Kennedy IB, but it would depend on how many students at WJ would be willing to go to Kennedy over the programs at Woodward/WJ.
MCPS is assuming that the interest in IB will remain static, and that the same number of students interested in a program in School A will be the same number of students interested in a program in school B, thereby not impacting capacity. But, I guarantee you that this is not going to be the way it plays out. There are stronger interests in programs like STEM than there are in other programs.
Another way to look at this is essentially as a proximity map. You seem to want to use the data as a marker for how many kids would qualify, but it's also a marker for how close those schools are to RM. The schools sending the most kids to RM are, by and large, also the closest schools without a criteria-based program.
A person could argue that the link between proximity and matriculation at these programs tells the story of why more criteria-based programs are needed.
Not sure about that. Wooton and Churchill also send a ton of kids to Blair as well, and it's certainly not close.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 17:51
Subject: Re:Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, this is the question MCPS refuses to answer. If they couldn't successfully scale the RMIB program regionally, it is implausible they'd be able to accomplish what they're claiming to do with their regional program proposal, which strives to do what the Regional IB program tried to do on steroids.
Taylor explained his take on this at one of the first regional program meetings. He thinks that keeping RMIB available as a countywide program prevented the regional programs from succeeding, because the highest flyers were still intent on going there and not interested in the regions.
It's also interesting to note that the original plan for the regional IB programs was to NOT keep RM as countywide- but that changed at the last minute. While all the planning was going on it was for 4 regional programs, not 3 regional and one county wide. The last minute pivot may have impacted results. IF the regionals all offered the same courses as RM I think you'd see different results.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 17:43
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The MCPS position is that they were failures because RMIB was still around as a countywide program, and if there are no countywide programs then the regional ones will succeed.
I don't know how much it would change.
Seneca Valley regional IB - new and the biggest unknown.
Paint Branch regional IB - barely any change
Kennedy regional IB - biggest change with WJ being part of the region
Watkins Mill regional IB -- slight change with QO and some boundary changes from Crown
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ546789D4/$file/Attachment%20B%20Program%20Analysis%20Data%20Slides%20250724.pdf
RMIB has 475 students. 225 from the same region 4. Almost half of RMIB students come from this region.
110 from RM - region 4
63 from Churchill - region 4
62 from Wootton - region 4
42 Walter Johnson Kennedy region 3.
31 Northwest new SV IB region 6
28 Clarksburg new SVIB region 6 ( IMO, NW and Clarksburg would have the biggest loss here)
19 QO - region 5 Watkins IB regional
17 Damascus region 6 new SV IB
11 Macgruder region 5 Watkins IB regional)
The rest are < 10.
Region 1 BCC IB - no significant population in RMIB from this region. This region is mostly currently served by the current Kennedy region. So not much would change.
BCC
Whitman
Einstein
Blair
Northwood
Region 2
Springbrook IB new region would serve: Sherwood, Blake, Paint Branch.
Springbrook IB regional current enrollment 252 already serves those schools. Nothing would change. RMIB doesn't have any significant population from these schools.
Blake 74
Paint Branch 54
Springbrook 114
Sherwood < 10
Region 3
Kennedy IB regional would serve: Einstein, Woodward, WJ. This one may change due to the Woodward boundary changes.
Current Kennedy IB enrollment 196 total:
Kennedy 86
Einstein 17
WJ 42 from RMIB
Woodward ? -
Region 5
Watkins Mill IB would serve: QO, GHS, Seneca, Crown, Macgruder. This one may change slightly due to Crown.
Current enrollment 163
Current RMIB - 19 for QO
It doesn't appear that a significant portion of Wootton would go to Crown with the new boundary.
GHS 18
WM 111
Rest are < 10
So, out of the 4 current IB programs, I think only Kennedy would see a significant change.
With regards to RMIB, the statistics you are quoting are not in the link you provided.
Moreover, those statistics appear to include not only the set-aside for JWMS but also the kids in-bounds for RM who opted into the IB program in 11th grade. That's not a real metric of where the criteria-based admissions are coming from.
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf
A lot of the RMIB kids are from RM, Wootton, Churchill - all in region 4.
WJ might help Kennedy IB, but it would depend on how many students at WJ would be willing to go to Kennedy over the programs at Woodward/WJ.
MCPS is assuming that the interest in IB will remain static, and that the same number of students interested in a program in School A will be the same number of students interested in a program in school B, thereby not impacting capacity. But, I guarantee you that this is not going to be the way it plays out. There are stronger interests in programs like STEM than there are in other programs.
No one chooses Kennedy and no will choose WJ over Kennedy. MCPS needs to see the actual demand for IB. Many families prefer AP.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 17:31
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The MCPS position is that they were failures because RMIB was still around as a countywide program, and if there are no countywide programs then the regional ones will succeed.
I don't know how much it would change.
Seneca Valley regional IB - new and the biggest unknown.
Paint Branch regional IB - barely any change
Kennedy regional IB - biggest change with WJ being part of the region
Watkins Mill regional IB -- slight change with QO and some boundary changes from Crown
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ546789D4/$file/Attachment%20B%20Program%20Analysis%20Data%20Slides%20250724.pdf
RMIB has 475 students. 225 from the same region 4. Almost half of RMIB students come from this region.
110 from RM - region 4
63 from Churchill - region 4
62 from Wootton - region 4
42 Walter Johnson Kennedy region 3.
31 Northwest new SV IB region 6
28 Clarksburg new SVIB region 6 ( IMO, NW and Clarksburg would have the biggest loss here)
19 QO - region 5 Watkins IB regional
17 Damascus region 6 new SV IB
11 Macgruder region 5 Watkins IB regional)
The rest are < 10.
Region 1 BCC IB - no significant population in RMIB from this region. This region is mostly currently served by the current Kennedy region. So not much would change.
BCC
Whitman
Einstein
Blair
Northwood
Region 2
Springbrook IB new region would serve: Sherwood, Blake, Paint Branch.
Springbrook IB regional current enrollment 252 already serves those schools. Nothing would change. RMIB doesn't have any significant population from these schools.
Blake 74
Paint Branch 54
Springbrook 114
Sherwood < 10
Region 3
Kennedy IB regional would serve: Einstein, Woodward, WJ. This one may change due to the Woodward boundary changes.
Current Kennedy IB enrollment 196 total:
Kennedy 86
Einstein 17
WJ 42 from RMIB
Woodward ? -
Region 5
Watkins Mill IB would serve: QO, GHS, Seneca, Crown, Macgruder. This one may change slightly due to Crown.
Current enrollment 163
Current RMIB - 19 for QO
It doesn't appear that a significant portion of Wootton would go to Crown with the new boundary.
GHS 18
WM 111
Rest are < 10
So, out of the 4 current IB programs, I think only Kennedy would see a significant change.
With regards to RMIB, the statistics you are quoting are not in the link you provided.
Moreover, those statistics appear to include not only the set-aside for JWMS but also the kids in-bounds for RM who opted into the IB program in 11th grade. That's not a real metric of where the criteria-based admissions are coming from.
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf
A lot of the RMIB kids are from RM, Wootton, Churchill - all in region 4.
WJ might help Kennedy IB, but it would depend on how many students at WJ would be willing to go to Kennedy over the programs at Woodward/WJ.
MCPS is assuming that the interest in IB will remain static, and that the same number of students interested in a program in School A will be the same number of students interested in a program in school B, thereby not impacting capacity. But, I guarantee you that this is not going to be the way it plays out. There are stronger interests in programs like STEM than there are in other programs.
Another way to look at this is essentially as a proximity map. You seem to want to use the data as a marker for how many kids would qualify, but it's also a marker for how close those schools are to RM. The schools sending the most kids to RM are, by and large, also the closest schools without a criteria-based program.
A person could argue that the link between proximity and matriculation at these programs tells the story of why more criteria-based programs are needed.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 15:43
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The MCPS position is that they were failures because RMIB was still around as a countywide program, and if there are no countywide programs then the regional ones will succeed.
I don't know how much it would change.
Seneca Valley regional IB - new and the biggest unknown.
Paint Branch regional IB - barely any change
Kennedy regional IB - biggest change with WJ being part of the region
Watkins Mill regional IB -- slight change with QO and some boundary changes from Crown
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ546789D4/$file/Attachment%20B%20Program%20Analysis%20Data%20Slides%20250724.pdf
RMIB has 475 students. 225 from the same region 4. Almost half of RMIB students come from this region.
110 from RM - region 4
63 from Churchill - region 4
62 from Wootton - region 4
42 Walter Johnson Kennedy region 3.
31 Northwest new SV IB region 6
28 Clarksburg new SVIB region 6 ( IMO, NW and Clarksburg would have the biggest loss here)
19 QO - region 5 Watkins IB regional
17 Damascus region 6 new SV IB
11 Macgruder region 5 Watkins IB regional)
The rest are < 10.
Region 1 BCC IB - no significant population in RMIB from this region. This region is mostly currently served by the current Kennedy region. So not much would change.
BCC
Whitman
Einstein
Blair
Northwood
Region 2
Springbrook IB new region would serve: Sherwood, Blake, Paint Branch.
Springbrook IB regional current enrollment 252 already serves those schools. Nothing would change. RMIB doesn't have any significant population from these schools.
Blake 74
Paint Branch 54
Springbrook 114
Sherwood < 10
Region 3
Kennedy IB regional would serve: Einstein, Woodward, WJ. This one may change due to the Woodward boundary changes.
Current Kennedy IB enrollment 196 total:
Kennedy 86
Einstein 17
WJ 42 from RMIB
Woodward ? -
Region 5
Watkins Mill IB would serve: QO, GHS, Seneca, Crown, Macgruder. This one may change slightly due to Crown.
Current enrollment 163
Current RMIB - 19 for QO
It doesn't appear that a significant portion of Wootton would go to Crown with the new boundary.
GHS 18
WM 111
Rest are < 10
So, out of the 4 current IB programs, I think only Kennedy would see a significant change.
With regards to RMIB, the statistics you are quoting are not in the link you provided.
Moreover, those statistics appear to include not only the set-aside for JWMS but also the kids in-bounds for RM who opted into the IB program in 11th grade. That's not a real metric of where the criteria-based admissions are coming from.
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf
A lot of the RMIB kids are from RM, Wootton, Churchill - all in region 4.
WJ might help Kennedy IB, but it would depend on how many students at WJ would be willing to go to Kennedy over the programs at Woodward/WJ.
MCPS is assuming that the interest in IB will remain static, and that the same number of students interested in a program in School A will be the same number of students interested in a program in school B, thereby not impacting capacity. But, I guarantee you that this is not going to be the way it plays out. There are stronger interests in programs like STEM than there are in other programs.
I actually think it'll hurt Kennedy IB. High-achieving Kennedy kids with means and resources will jump at the opportunity to be in a higher-performing high school like Walter Johnson and will apply to programs at Woodward and Walter Johnson just to escape the squalor and struggle at Kennedy. Which will further weaken the pool of quality IB candidates for the Kennedy IB program.
Good point. And nobody from WJ will commute to Kennedy for their Watkins Mill-type IB or for their vocational medical training programs.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 14:09
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The MCPS position is that they were failures because RMIB was still around as a countywide program, and if there are no countywide programs then the regional ones will succeed.
I don't know how much it would change.
Seneca Valley regional IB - new and the biggest unknown.
Paint Branch regional IB - barely any change
Kennedy regional IB - biggest change with WJ being part of the region
Watkins Mill regional IB -- slight change with QO and some boundary changes from Crown
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ546789D4/$file/Attachment%20B%20Program%20Analysis%20Data%20Slides%20250724.pdf
RMIB has 475 students. 225 from the same region 4. Almost half of RMIB students come from this region.
110 from RM - region 4
63 from Churchill - region 4
62 from Wootton - region 4
42 Walter Johnson Kennedy region 3.
31 Northwest new SV IB region 6
28 Clarksburg new SVIB region 6 ( IMO, NW and Clarksburg would have the biggest loss here)
19 QO - region 5 Watkins IB regional
17 Damascus region 6 new SV IB
11 Macgruder region 5 Watkins IB regional)
The rest are < 10.
Region 1 BCC IB - no significant population in RMIB from this region. This region is mostly currently served by the current Kennedy region. So not much would change.
BCC
Whitman
Einstein
Blair
Northwood
Region 2
Springbrook IB new region would serve: Sherwood, Blake, Paint Branch.
Springbrook IB regional current enrollment 252 already serves those schools. Nothing would change. RMIB doesn't have any significant population from these schools.
Blake 74
Paint Branch 54
Springbrook 114
Sherwood < 10
Region 3
Kennedy IB regional would serve: Einstein, Woodward, WJ. This one may change due to the Woodward boundary changes.
Current Kennedy IB enrollment 196 total:
Kennedy 86
Einstein 17
WJ 42 from RMIB
Woodward ? -
Region 5
Watkins Mill IB would serve: QO, GHS, Seneca, Crown, Macgruder. This one may change slightly due to Crown.
Current enrollment 163
Current RMIB - 19 for QO
It doesn't appear that a significant portion of Wootton would go to Crown with the new boundary.
GHS 18
WM 111
Rest are < 10
So, out of the 4 current IB programs, I think only Kennedy would see a significant change.
With regards to RMIB, the statistics you are quoting are not in the link you provided.
Moreover, those statistics appear to include not only the set-aside for JWMS but also the kids in-bounds for RM who opted into the IB program in 11th grade. That's not a real metric of where the criteria-based admissions are coming from.
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf
A lot of the RMIB kids are from RM, Wootton, Churchill - all in region 4.
WJ might help Kennedy IB, but it would depend on how many students at WJ would be willing to go to Kennedy over the programs at Woodward/WJ.
MCPS is assuming that the interest in IB will remain static, and that the same number of students interested in a program in School A will be the same number of students interested in a program in school B, thereby not impacting capacity. But, I guarantee you that this is not going to be the way it plays out. There are stronger interests in programs like STEM than there are in other programs.
I actually think it'll hurt Kennedy IB. High-achieving Kennedy kids with means and resources will jump at the opportunity to be in a higher-performing high school like Walter Johnson and will apply to programs at Woodward and Walter Johnson just to escape the squalor and struggle at Kennedy. Which will further weaken the pool of quality IB candidates for the Kennedy IB program.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 14:03
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The MCPS position is that they were failures because RMIB was still around as a countywide program, and if there are no countywide programs then the regional ones will succeed.
I don't know how much it would change.
Seneca Valley regional IB - new and the biggest unknown.
Paint Branch regional IB - barely any change
Kennedy regional IB - biggest change with WJ being part of the region
Watkins Mill regional IB -- slight change with QO and some boundary changes from Crown
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ546789D4/$file/Attachment%20B%20Program%20Analysis%20Data%20Slides%20250724.pdf
RMIB has 475 students. 225 from the same region 4. Almost half of RMIB students come from this region.
110 from RM - region 4
63 from Churchill - region 4
62 from Wootton - region 4
42 Walter Johnson Kennedy region 3.
31 Northwest new SV IB region 6
28 Clarksburg new SVIB region 6 ( IMO, NW and Clarksburg would have the biggest loss here)
19 QO - region 5 Watkins IB regional
17 Damascus region 6 new SV IB
11 Macgruder region 5 Watkins IB regional)
The rest are < 10.
Region 1 BCC IB - no significant population in RMIB from this region. This region is mostly currently served by the current Kennedy region. So not much would change.
BCC
Whitman
Einstein
Blair
Northwood
Region 2
Springbrook IB new region would serve: Sherwood, Blake, Paint Branch.
Springbrook IB regional current enrollment 252 already serves those schools. Nothing would change. RMIB doesn't have any significant population from these schools.
Blake 74
Paint Branch 54
Springbrook 114
Sherwood < 10
Region 3
Kennedy IB regional would serve: Einstein, Woodward, WJ. This one may change due to the Woodward boundary changes.
Current Kennedy IB enrollment 196 total:
Kennedy 86
Einstein 17
WJ 42 from RMIB
Woodward ? -
Region 5
Watkins Mill IB would serve: QO, GHS, Seneca, Crown, Macgruder. This one may change slightly due to Crown.
Current enrollment 163
Current RMIB - 19 for QO
It doesn't appear that a significant portion of Wootton would go to Crown with the new boundary.
GHS 18
WM 111
Rest are < 10
So, out of the 4 current IB programs, I think only Kennedy would see a significant change.
With regards to RMIB, the statistics you are quoting are not in the link you provided.
Moreover, those statistics appear to include not only the set-aside for JWMS but also the kids in-bounds for RM who opted into the IB program in 11th grade. That's not a real metric of where the criteria-based admissions are coming from.
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf
A lot of the RMIB kids are from RM, Wootton, Churchill - all in region 4.
WJ might help Kennedy IB, but it would depend on how many students at WJ would be willing to go to Kennedy over the programs at Woodward/WJ.
MCPS is assuming that the interest in IB will remain static, and that the same number of students interested in a program in School A will be the same number of students interested in a program in school B, thereby not impacting capacity. But, I guarantee you that this is not going to be the way it plays out. There are stronger interests in programs like STEM than there are in other programs.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 13:55
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:The whole thing is ridiculous pie in the sky because they can't get enough IB qualified teachers to teach at all these schools. Even RM has struggled to replace people for some positions. As usual, MCPS is trying to get all creative and re-invent the wheel, instead of just improving the wheel that they currently have.
They are constantly wasting money implementing new models and after a few years, decide the model doesn't really work. If they just focused this money on giving the teachers the tools and support they need to actually teach, they could probably solve a lot of the current problems. I feel like every year, the teachers just get more irritated and less willing to make allowances or go the extra mile for kids -- they are all drawing their boundaries because they feel like MCPS will otherwise just use them up and spit them out. That's the real problem in the district. Give teachers more planning time and more actual curriculum specific support -- don't just keep changing the model on them.
BINGO!
Anonymous
11/03/2025 13:26
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
The whole thing is ridiculous pie in the sky because they can't get enough IB qualified teachers to teach at all these schools. Even RM has struggled to replace people for some positions. As usual, MCPS is trying to get all creative and re-invent the wheel, instead of just improving the wheel that they currently have.
They are constantly wasting money implementing new models and after a few years, decide the model doesn't really work. If they just focused this money on giving the teachers the tools and support they need to actually teach, they could probably solve a lot of the current problems. I feel like every year, the teachers just get more irritated and less willing to make allowances or go the extra mile for kids -- they are all drawing their boundaries because they feel like MCPS will otherwise just use them up and spit them out. That's the real problem in the district. Give teachers more planning time and more actual curriculum specific support -- don't just keep changing the model on them.
They are constantly wasting money implementing new models and after a few years, decide the model doesn't really work. If they just focused this money on giving the teachers the tools and support they need to actually teach, they could probably solve a lot of the current problems. I feel like every year, the teachers just get more irritated and less willing to make allowances or go the extra mile for kids -- they are all drawing their boundaries because they feel like MCPS will otherwise just use them up and spit them out. That's the real problem in the district. Give teachers more planning time and more actual curriculum specific support -- don't just keep changing the model on them.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 13:21
Subject: Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Many students don't want IB.
This. We are at a non-RM school that offers the IB and my kid much prefers taking AP classes. Zero interest in IB.
Why? What about an IB class makes it less desirable than an AP class?
AP you can focus on the disciplines you are interested in. And if you fail one test at the end (a 2), you did not waste your time on all the other AP courses you took.
IB you have to invest in the whole program and be willing/capable of rigorous work across multiple disciplines. Fail one test at the end and you don’t get the diploma.
That's not quite right. You have to get a cumulative number of points, plus I think at least a 3/7 on each of them, plus do your research paper. Even if you don't get the diploma, it's still worth something to have taken the IB tests for subjects you did well in. Most colleges give credit for IB test like they do for APs (although some colleges effectively set the bar higher for IB tests, because they don't understand the grading scale well enough).
But they are just different educational systems. IB focuses more in in-depth analysis of topcis and applied knowledge. So for instance even in math,you have to write a paper applying the math to a real-world problem. In history, instead of a survey course, you focus on a number of historical themes or events and go in-depth on them. Whereas the AP history classes are more like survey classes with a lot of multiple choice, short answer, and focus on using specific terminology/references in your response. I think there are benefits to each approaches. Many kids hate the amount of reading and writing involved in IB classes, but other kids really love the opportunity to dig into a topic.
TLDR -- the differences are less in the college application process, and more in what you are learning and how you are learning it.
Anonymous
11/03/2025 13:09
Subject: Re:Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, this is the question MCPS refuses to answer. If they couldn't successfully scale the RMIB program regionally, it is implausible they'd be able to accomplish what they're claiming to do with their regional program proposal, which strives to do what the Regional IB program tried to do on steroids.
Taylor explained his take on this at one of the first regional program meetings. He thinks that keeping RMIB available as a countywide program prevented the regional programs from succeeding, because the highest flyers were still intent on going there and not interested in the regions.
But that's not true. Take Kennedy, for example. Most of the kids who attended the Kennedy IB program were zoned for Kennedy. Look at RMIB: Most of the kids in that program were from RM cluster and the W schools. The countywide was not pulling kids who otherwise would've attended the Kennedy Regional IB.
So as usual, Taylor is lying.
It looks like the Watkins Mill regional numbers support his theory, though. Many more students from Clarksburg, Damascus, Northwest, and Quince Orchard chose RMIB over WMIB.
Ok, but this program was scaled to Kennedy, Watkins Mill, Springbrook and Seneca Valley.
That theory being true for one cluster (WM), does not explain why MCPS did not replicate RM's results at Springbrook and Kennedy. And Taylor should not make sweeping statements that make it seem as such.
Seneca Valley is a local IB program, not regional (currently).
Yes, I realized that after I made that post. But my point still stands for Springbrook and Kennedy as I said in my second sentence.