95 E Wayne Ave #411
Silver Spring, MD 20901

My daughter attended the Math and Science magnet at Blair, and it provided an extraordinary education for her. She was admitted to an Ivy League school and she has told us that she would not have survived majoring in a STEM subject without the rigorous preparation she received in the magnet, especially in mathematics. She pointed specifically to the extraordinary teachers in the magnet, some with PhDs in their subject, and their commitment, even during COVID, to ensuring student learning. They deserve a lot more recognition than they get! I had some reluctance for her to attend the Blair magnet, because the Takoma Park middle school magnet did not cultivate student cooperation, and let really destructive competitive behavior run rampant. By contrast, Blair magnet students were encouraged by teachers and the magnet principal to work with each other and support each other. (BTW, I am concerned that if Blair is destroyed as a county-wide STEM magnet, that this wonderful county resource will be lost.) The overall Blair HS administration did not harm the magnet, and that was all that was needed for the magnet to thrive. Other positives: the music theory class was amazing, and a great AP prep. My only negatives: the English program was appalling-- the teachers in that department were apathetic (especially during remote learning), students barely read anything for their classes, there were not many writing assignments, and my daughter had to catch up for college work by reading and writing in her spare time. And the school makes parents feel unwelcome-- I get the security concerns-- but by the time you go through all the security checkins, you are made to feel like a suspicious outsider rather than a partner in your child's education. And the sports facilities, while in good shape for this large student body, are not as open to the community outside of school hours as they should be. But overall, I recommend the science and math magnet to all students with a keen STEM interest!

My son keeps getting bullied principals don't care

My daughter has attended Oak View for the last three years and we've had a great experience with the teachers and staff, but I have been a little disappointed to notice that student performance does seem to suffer some due to the significant number of children who speak English as a second language. On the other hand, the multi-ethnic mix at the school has been its own unique learning experience, and I know my daughter has benefited from being friends with kids from different backgrounds. In general, faculty and staff at the school are wonderful and know all the kids by name. Mrs. Salazar, the principal, is very hands-on, and it's obvious she enjoys the kids and they like her in return. The student body at Oak View is relatively small but class sizes are still large. My daughter's classes have consistently had around 25 kids each year, and I think the large classes make it hard to challenge the kids who are advanced. This year my daughter is in the GT program, and it has by far been her best year at Oak View. If the GT program is an option, I highly recommend it.

The school is separated by the magnet and non-magnet programs - think protected and unprotected children. The non-magnet program, where most kids are enrolled, is like general population with all sorts of clicks and gang-like students who relentlessly bully, misbehave or just don't care to be there. It's like one city with a gated community who love their experience, as they get most of the attention and resources, and another-non-gated community who gets far less in terms of attention, unless it's to police activities of nearly all other malcontents.