Does anyone have experience or opinions on BCPS magnet schools or magnet schools in general? Specific schools I'd like to know about are Halstead, Cromwell, or lutherville, although info on any of the others would be helpful too. Are magnet schools generally more flexible with accommodating gifted kids? I'm thinking up backup plans incase our plan for next year doesn't work out. Also curious in general about these types of schools.

Thanks!

I don't know any specifics about BCPS magnets, but I have heard of some of those schools by reputation. Cromwell has a great reputation, but I don't have any first-hand knowledge to base that one, just word of mouth.

Good luck!

I have a child who currently attends Cromwell Valley. It is a great school with a active PTA. My child is only in first grade so I can't answer specifically about the GT program which doesn't begin in BCPS until 3rd Grade. The technology aspect of the curriculum gives it something extra which is why I chose the school. I also applied to Lutherville Lab but it is very difficult to get into through the lottery since it is mostly filled up with neighborhood kids. Cromwell is almost entirely composed of students from the lottery. Also, they admit 24 kids per class with 3 classes per grade so there is always a uniform number of students in each class. I love the school! It is much more diverse than our neighborhood school but it manages great test scores too. Let me know if you have any other questions Stephi1307.

Thanks! My son will be in 1st grade next year so depending on how things go at his zoned school I may contact you =]. I think he would be interested in a technology school though. I'm glad to hear that you like it. That one is not too far of a drive from us. Is the basic math, language, science (etc) curriculum exactly the same as the regular bcps schools?

Since CVE is a magnet school, it is difficult to get into unless you apply for kindergarten. They do have a waiting list for other grades though. I think there were 1 or 2 students who left my child's class over the summer so they did fill those spots for first grade from the waiting list. Check out the BCPS website for info about the waiting lists:
http://www.bcps.org/offices/omp/waitlist_faq.html
The curriculum is the same as other BCPS for the most part although each school implements everything a little differently. Each classroom has Smart Boards that are part of most of their reading and math lessons. They learn and use other technology that other BCPS don't use at that level such as Skype, Voice Thread, personalized reading and math programs, etc. I feel like my child is getting a more individualized reading and math program because of them although he still follows the same reading and math curriculum as the other schools in the county.