It’s that time of year again. BCPS mailed out hundreds of letters to hopeful 5th and 8th graders and their anxious parents. Who made it into a magnet school and who didn’t?
For some kids it means they get to participate in exciting programs not offered in every school, programs like mass communications, engineering, graphic arts and theater. For other kids, acceptance means a ticket out of an under-performing zoned school, a school with a less than desirable academic or social environment.
So here it is, March 5th and the letter is in my hand. And my third child is sick in bed, already knowing his best buddy is just 5th on the waiting list. I tell myself there’s no sense praying now, because the letter is in my hand. Five years ago, I ripped into the envelope and saw my daughter’s name with the word ‘accepted’. Two years ago, I ripped into it, expecting to see my oldest son’s name with the same word. Instead, I saw 185 on the waiting list.
After requesting special transfers to 3 area middle schools we were turned down. Instead we were offered special transfers to a few other equally non-performing schools in our area, including transportation for one year. This, we turned down. We ventured into the world of home schooling and were offered a place in the Baltimore County Virtual Instruction Program. It was an answer for our family… an answer some seriously questioned . My son has been able to continue his education and is doing very well. His grades, MSAs and attitude reflect it. He was one of the few who were able to continue in the virtual instruction program when Baltimore County chose not to include it in their budget this year.
So, here I am again. He’s hoping to be with the friend he’s been alongside since Kindergarten. And it’s time to open the envelope…. There’s his name… he passed the test…. he’s only… 255th on the waiting list.
Written by Bonnie Wesselhoff, Correspondence Secretary of Emerging Minds of Maryland
Tags: BCPS, Emerging Minds, Magnet School, Virtual Instruction
At a meeting at our school it was suggested to us that we should try to get our son into a specific magnet school. We went to the open house of that school and thought this would be good. Our son is very intelligent but he has learning issues and this school looked like it would meet his needs, his current school was not meeting his needs.
We applied and was told that he was not allowed to go to that specific magnet school because he was going to the wrong elementary school. We would have had to live less than two miles from our current location and go to that area’s elementary school, even though both of these elementary schools fed the same failing middle school. The only magnet school he could apply to was not of the same standard as the original one we had visited.
Our son was not accepted, he missed it based on his grades which were below his potential due to his learning issues even though he is intelligent. His IEP was not a consideration in the process.
This was an incredibly unsatisfying experience for me and hard on my child. I can not believe this was the advice we got from his school.
He now attends a virtual school and has been doing extremely well. I am grateful everyday that this option is available to us. I’d like to see this option available to all families.
Oh, goodness! I am a huge proponent of school choice, and I’m glad you are doing what you have to do for your son to have a good education. I’ve not heard of the virtual school, but it seems like a wonderful option!