On March 26, 2026, the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Board of Education (BOE) approved a new regional approach to secondary programs, overhauling the entire magnet system and bringing major change to the county. The programs are being implemented as a result of MCPS’ desire to increase county-wide equity. MCPS made this decision based on continuous analysis and surveys over the last decade as well as the major multi-year boundary study that also contributed to the controversial closing of Thomas S. Wootton High School. Incoming freshmen will be the first to attend the newly rolled out programs in the 2027-2028 school year and they will expand by one grade level annually. Additionally, students in current magnets will be able to finish their programs, but starting in the 2027-2028 school year, the programs will be phased out by not accepting any new applicants. By the 2031-2032 school year, the programs will be fully implemented.
The program splits up MCPS high schools into six regions, each with a group of four to five schools. Within these regions, each school has up to seven program pathways that house different classes related to their pathway. WCHS is in MCPS’ Region Four, along with Thomas S. Wootton High School, Richard Montgomery High School and Rockville High School. WCHS houses the region’s Humanities, Mandarin Chinese Immersion and Video and Audio Production programs, allowing students from any high school in the region to apply. Furthermore, WCHS hosts MCPS’ only Video and Audio Production program, a possible major draw to the school. The lead program coordinator will be WCHS US History and African American Studies teacher Sandy Young, who will be responsible for managing the program and recruiting student applicants.
“With this program, students are more immersed in what they really see for themselves in the future,” Young said. “Some of them will be able to take the Chinese courses, fashion, history and English. There are opportunities to get more immersed in the program and to do more cross-curricular work, where you can see the connection between the literature you’re reading in English and what you’re learning in US history.”
The new regional system has received pushback from members of the MCPS community and will likely continue to face scrutiny. Resources and program quality are cited as two major concerns for many opponents to the new system. With the splitting up of major magnets such as programs at Montgomery Blair High School, Richard Montgomery High School and Poolesville High School, many parents and community members believe that program excellence and enrichment for gifted students will decrease.
“I strongly oppose how MCPS is implementing the new MCPS Regional Magnet Program because it destroys 40-year successful programs of the Blair magnet, Richard Montgomery IB and Poolesville Science, Mathematics and Computer Science,” Montgomery Blair High School magnet program parent Emily Tai said. “It does not actually serve students’ needs, but [instead] exacerbates the equity issues MCPS claims to fix. Besides, MCPS underestimates the actual cost of their proposal so all Montgomery County taxpayers are going to pay more.”
Students across the county will be impacted in various ways as the old system is phased out and new programs are initiated. Some students worry that their learning experience will be affected if qualified teachers are diluted throughout the county with the diversification of some programs and elimination of others.
“I think the county needs to prioritize having good enough teachers for these programs,” Montgomery Blair High School magnet sophomore Albert Lee said. “The teachers are really what makes the Blair Magnet program good right now as they understand how to best teach the curriculum. So, to be able to replicate the program, it requires good teachers that are experienced and able to work well with the students in the program. However, it is going to be very difficult if not impossible to train however many teachers they need for the expansion. There is already an issue with teachers for the program.”
MCPS aims the regional program model at providing more opportunities for students across the county and increasing accessibility to many of the specialized programs. One of its goals is to address inequalities that many students face who struggle to attend schools with magnet programs, which can be hours away from their homes.
“Primarily, there will be more seats available for our most competitive programs and these programs will not be as geographically removed,” MCPS Supervisor of Academic Programs Peter Ostrander said. “[Previously], there were students that spent almost two hours a day getting to and from school. The regional model will allow for more than three times the space in these programs. The expansion of specialized programs in MCPS is both ambitious and needed. There are always growing pains associated with this process, but there are many offices that are working to minimize the challenges that may come up.”
