Is there any info on the CES teachers and how they are selected? We just went to the virtual opening house this week and there were a few flags for me. I don't want to go into them because I get that what qualifies as flags for me do not mean she isn't a good fit for gifted education, but in general I would love some reassurance that the teachers are selected for this because of either aptitude or education for gifted kids...

PP, many parents are pretty angry about the changed criteria and I think their anger is understandable. There are families, especially from some immigrant groups, that feel the magnets will help their child have a better life.

If MCPS used a straight ranking of test scores and grades their children might have gotten in but instead the county is emphasizing diversity.

We can debate whether this is good or bad all day long and both sides have legitimate points. Other kids shouldn't be telling your child he should not have been admitted but you should have some empathy for those children and those families.

This must be really hard for them.

Before you attack me for being a bitter person, my child got in to their choice of magnet. After my child was at the open house and word got around that my child got in, several students told my child the only reason was because of race. I do know where you are coming from but I don't see any sense that you see the other side.

Anonymous wrote:
I don't believe this for a second. I have a kid at CCES CES, and almost no one got into the MS magnets. Irrespective of what ES they came from. It's not possible that none of these kids are the top kid when compared with the pool at the home school. They absolutely are considering the CES kids to be coming "from" the CES elementary school, not from the home school. I strongly believe that going to the CES now reduces the chance of getting into the MS magnets. But I can also see some value to spreading around those opportunities. My kid got 2 great years in CES, and now a kid from our home ES who didn't have that will have a similarly rigorous experience in MS. And my kid will be coming from a different MS when time rolls around for HS programs. Or kid will have a great experience at the home HS. It is what it is and you're not guaranteed the perfect individualized learning experience from public school. If that's what you want you have to go pay for it. Our kid has flourished in the CES. But kid will most likely also be fine at the home MS. It is what it is.

I wish more parents said things like this around their kids. DC goes to a regional CES school but is not in CES. DC was admitted to both magnets, which some kids found out when they saw each other at the open houses. Kids from the CES actually came up to DC on the playground and said they shouldn't have been admitted because they weren't in CES. Not saying that necessarily comes from home, but ... Some of it probably comes from home.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there is a Piney Branch info session tonight? Our letter says there is, but we didn’t get info on how to participate.

There was a zoom meeting tonight for PBES. You can contact the principal to ask what was covered. Sorry you missed it!

Anonymous wrote:We are similarly having difficulty deciding about CES (Chevy Chase) for our daughter. She is very comfortable and has great friends at our home school. She didn't even want to take the test because it might mean she would be moved to a different school, so we haven't told her yet that she was accepted. She is very anxious in new social situations, and there is no easy way to introduce her to the new school in these crazy times. So we are really struggling with weighing her social/emotional and academic well being right now.

CCES mom here. I've got a boy, but I agree with PP that the kids are really nice, and the teachers are as well, so I think the transition into the school will likely be pretty smooth. I think the MUCH harder transition is the transition into MS. I have girls as well, and the MS girl social scene is really tough. Especially in 6th grade, the girls are banded together into groups from their ES and don't seem to mix much. The schools are really too big to encourage good social mixing, and the girls are often socially anxious so they circle the wagons on their social groups. Of course, if she has a tight group from ES already, and they don't ditch her over the next two years, then she should be able to reintegrate without problems. Or if she is into some activities that will give her an "in" with girls. My older daughter does have a friend that went to a CES and then back to home school, and seems like she did fine so clearly it's not an insurmountable issue. (he did decide not to apply to the magnet HS, though I'm not sure why.)
Note that I already posted about the social concerns with changing schools twice in 3 years....just so you don't think that there are multiple posters raising these issues. If you have friends with older daughters at your middle school, you might want to talk to them and see what they thought about the social transitions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't believe this for a second. I have a kid at CCES CES, and almost no one got into the MS magnets. Irrespective of what ES they came from. It's not possible that none of these kids are the top kid when compared with the pool at the home school. They absolutely are considering the CES kids to be coming "from" the CES elementary school, not from the home school. I strongly believe that going to the CES now reduces the chance of getting into the MS magnets. But I can also see some value to spreading around those opportunities. My kid got 2 great years in CES, and now a kid from our home ES who didn't have that will have a similarly rigorous experience in MS. And my kid will be coming from a different MS when time rolls around for HS programs. Or kid will have a great experience at the home HS. It is what it is and you're not guaranteed the perfect individualized learning experience from public school. If that's what you want you have to go pay for it. Our kid has flourished in the CES. But kid will most likely also be fine at the home MS. It is what it is.

+1 to the almost no one got in this year.

We are also at CCES and haven't heard of anyone getting in.

Does anyone know if there is a Piney Branch info session tonight? Our letter says there is, but we didn’t get info on how to participate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids from the feeder elementary schools.

So of the kids in the catchment area for the regional CES at CCES, the MS magnet admissions go mostly to CES kids for in-bounds CCES kids, and the home school kids for the other schools? Is that right? It seems a little weird.

Sorry to keep using CCES as an example, same question applies to any of the regional CES schools. And I’m not sure if I’m using the right vocabulary here - we’re still pretty new to MCPS.

My child is at Oak View regional CES. I am aware of four kids admitted to one of the magnet programs, and six or seven admitted to the other, and then three or so admitted to both.

How do I know? We saw them at open house, and kids have formed Google messenger groups with other kids they know are going to the schools.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know how you even know who got in. My kid is not in a CES but he’s at a school that houses a regional CES program. He was admitted to TPMS. He knows of one other kid going there too but hasn’t discussed with anyone else and has no idea if other kids from his school got in.

People are setting up carpools, and kids saw each other at the open houses. They are also all talking about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids from the feeder elementary schools.

So of the kids in the catchment area for the regional CES at CCES, the MS magnet admissions go mostly to CES kids for in-bounds CCES kids, and the home school kids for the other schools? Is that right? It seems a little weird.

Sorry to keep using CCES as an example, same question applies to any of the regional CES schools. And I’m not sure if I’m using the right vocabulary here - we’re still pretty new to MCPS.

No idea if in-bounds CCES kids got in. Have not heard of any but there are a lot of classes.

I don’t know how you even know who got in. My kid is not in a CES but he’s at a school that houses a regional CES program. He was admitted to TPMS. He knows of one other kid going there too but hasn’t discussed with anyone else and has no idea if other kids from his school got in.

Anonymous wrote:Kids from the feeder elementary schools.

So of the kids in the catchment area for the regional CES at CCES, the MS magnet admissions go mostly to CES kids for in-bounds CCES kids, and the home school kids for the other schools? Is that right? It seems a little weird.

Sorry to keep using CCES as an example, same question applies to any of the regional CES schools. And I’m not sure if I’m using the right vocabulary here - we’re still pretty new to MCPS.

Kids from the feeder elementary schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't believe this for a second. I have a kid at CCES CES, and almost no one got into the MS magnets. Irrespective of what ES they came from. It's not possible that none of these kids are the top kid when compared with the pool at the home school. They absolutely are considering the CES kids to be coming "from" the CES elementary school, not from the home school. I strongly believe that going to the CES now reduces the chance of getting into the MS magnets. But I can also see some value to spreading around those opportunities. My kid got 2 great years in CES, and now a kid from our home ES who didn't have that will have a similarly rigorous experience in MS. And my kid will be coming from a different MS when time rolls around for HS programs. Or kid will have a great experience at the home HS. It is what it is and you're not guaranteed the perfect individualized learning experience from public school. If that's what you want you have to go pay for it. Our kid has flourished in the CES. But kid will most likely also be fine at the home MS. It is what it is.

+1 to the almost no one got in this year.

So you’re saying that more CCES kids who are not in CES were admitted to the MS magnets? Or is it that there are kids from the other CCES CES feeder elementary schools who got in?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't believe this for a second. I have a kid at CCES CES, and almost no one got into the MS magnets. Irrespective of what ES they came from. It's not possible that none of these kids are the top kid when compared with the pool at the home school. They absolutely are considering the CES kids to be coming "from" the CES elementary school, not from the home school. I strongly believe that going to the CES now reduces the chance of getting into the MS magnets. But I can also see some value to spreading around those opportunities. My kid got 2 great years in CES, and now a kid from our home ES who didn't have that will have a similarly rigorous experience in MS. And my kid will be coming from a different MS when time rolls around for HS programs. Or kid will have a great experience at the home HS. It is what it is and you're not guaranteed the perfect individualized learning experience from public school. If that's what you want you have to go pay for it. Our kid has flourished in the CES. But kid will most likely also be fine at the home MS. It is what it is.

+1 to the almost no one got in this year.

That's really interesting. My child is at a different regional CES and a ton of kids got in this year. Can I ask if your child is a boy or a girl? I only ask because I've found that girls are (in general) much more likely to be openly talking about where they are going next year and therefore to know who is headed where.