April 18 - Scuba

Someone recently asked me how the magnet schools here work for middle school (thinking the kids are 'not getting a well rounded education', which is not the case):

Core Classes & PE (science, ELA, social studies): the same at all schools (regular & honors level)

Math: kids entering Luke's school can test out of year of math; this puts them on a BC calculus track in HS as opposed to AB calc like the rest of the honors students (I signed Luke up for it and forgot to take him last year, oops!)

Electives (choir, band, art, music, theater): non-magnet students are required to take 2 of these; magnet students take one

Misc Electives: PE is required for 2 years so in 8th grade all the schools offer Spanish, food science, etc. 

Science Magnet (Julia's program): they take 2 extra science classes a year; a scientific research class in the fall and a specialized class like astronomy, body works, etc. in the spring.

WAVE Magnet (Luke's program): they take 4 mini-courses (9 weeks each) and there are a huge range of classes available. Luke is required to do robotics the first 9-weeks as a member of the WIRED robotics team. Second 9 weeks he did 'Game Theory' (he thinks he is a master negotiator now haha), third he did 'Ancient Warfare' and now he is doing scuba (they even have the opportunity to run a coffee shop in 8th grade). 

Luke is absolutely loving scuba! They have 10 pool days at one of the local high schools and classroom days as well. The first pool day they had to complete a swim test (200 yards without stopping) and treading water for 10min. They have done 2 days in their wet suits and he's loving it. He has already completed the entire classroom curriculum online but still reviewing everything in the classroom with the instructor. Over Memorial Day weekend, the students will go to a local lake for multiple dives over a 2-day period for their final certification.