wilson v bcc/blair/walter johnson

[Anonymous]

looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

[Anonymous]

My kids have been at WJ, and we've been very happy with the school. They've been able to take challenging classes (probably a total of 10-12 each) without it feeling like a pressure cooker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

You specifically mention "Central American immigrants" in a derisive way, as though they're lower or inherently not as good. I know quite a few people from that subgroup who have done amazing in their HS experience and their college acceptances. People who hold that identity range from those escaping war to those whose families work in government jobs. Also, everyone knows well-funded schools/communities get higher rankings on Great Schools and Niche. Words matter, please be watchful. Going back to the OP, all of these schools are extremely strong depending on what your student is looking for. Keep in mind that Blair & WJ are quite large population wise, B-CC has a strong IB community, so on and so forth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

They offer the same curriculum and have the same teachers more or less. There is very little difference between these schools other than SES/demographics. The same kid will do the same at any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

As a PP mentioned, these schools are fairly similar in that the same kid will likely do about the same at any of them, but there are things worth noting.

Blair is the most diverse school in the state. It is close to a perfect balance of all major demographic groups. It also offers many courses that go beyond the ordinary APs and are available to everyone but only available at magnets schools. It is by far the most accomplished high school in the state with the best college admission track record. My point is there are amazing opportunities here for anyone, but many parents in western moco suffer from a condition known on this board as Blair envy.

BCC is mostly overrated. For a high-SES school it's stats are very disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

I live in a completely different part of MoCo so have no skin in the game here, but the bias and hyperbole in this post made me literally LOL and wake up my dog.


As a PP mentioned, these schools are fairly similar in that the same kid will likely do about the same at any of them, but there are things worth noting.

Blair is the most diverse school in the state. It is close to a perfect balance of all major demographic groups. It also offers many courses that go beyond the ordinary APs and are available to everyone but only available at magnets schools. It is by far the most accomplished high school in the state with the best college admission track record. My point is there are amazing opportunities here for anyone, but many parents in western moco suffer from a condition known on this board as Blair envy.

BCC is mostly overrated. For a high-SES school it's stats are very disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

I live in a completely different part of MoCo so have no skin in the game here, but the bias and hyperbole in this post made me literally LOL and wake up my dog.


As a PP mentioned, these schools are fairly similar in that the same kid will likely do about the same at any of them, but there are things worth noting.

Blair is the most diverse school in the state. It is close to a perfect balance of all major demographic groups. It also offers many courses that go beyond the ordinary APs and are available to everyone but only available at magnets schools. It is by far the most accomplished high school in the state with the best college admission track record. My point is there are amazing opportunities here for anyone, but many parents in western moco suffer from a condition known on this board as Blair envy.

BCC is mostly overrated. For a high-SES school it's stats are very disappointing.

[Anonymous]

And all will have more stress then Wilson though better selection of classes and more APs early in MoCo. No APs in Wilson freshman year, only two useless ones offered Sophomore year. I feel like the W schools in MoCo are not as dependent on the "great teacher" model as Wilson. Not sure who's central office is more messed up though. That said, Wilson's college admits are very good this year, I can't remember the last time there was a suicide and the kids I know at Wilson seem a little more relaxed. Purely anecdotal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

So, without insinuating that there is anything wrong with Central American immigrants, that's just not how HS works. At Blair, or any other MCPS high school, classes are largely homogenous. So, even a non-magnet kid who was university-bound would take Honors English 9, Algebra II, AP US History, and an advanced science class. Unlike Wilson, MCPS is not doing "honors for all" at the HS level, so you do get some differentiation there.

Yes, Blair has new Americans who had their previous education interrupted, and I'm glad those kids can get an education. But the kid who was a goatherd until three years ago is going to take different classes than the well-supported middle class kids who make up a big swathe of Blair.

The only other school on your list that I have experience with is B-CC. It's an odd duck. Really rich kids, genuinely middle class kids, and some working class kids. Given residential/educational segregation in MoCo, it's unusual to have such a wide band in one school. The one thing I'd say is that B-CC has a reputation for some kind of douchey frat-bro behavior. I'm not sure why there would be more of those white hatted, flip-flop wearing, lacrosse dudes at B-CC than at another Bethesda school, but it's one stereotype that holds some truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And all will have more stress then Wilson though better selection of classes and more APs early in MoCo. No APs in Wilson freshman year, only two useless ones offered Sophomore year. I feel like the W schools in MoCo are not as dependent on the "great teacher" model as Wilson. Not sure who's central office is more messed up though. That said, Wilson's college admits are very good this year, I can't remember the last time there was a suicide and the kids I know at Wilson seem a little more relaxed. Purely anecdotal.

This seems spot on. Wilson parent here. I do think Wilson is having a hard time recovering from the pandemic but this is probably also true of the other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

You specifically mention "Central American immigrants" in a derisive way, as though they're lower or inherently not as good. I know quite a few people from that subgroup who have done amazing in their HS experience and their college acceptances. People who hold that identity range from those escaping war to those whose families work in government jobs. Also, everyone knows well-funded schools/communities get higher rankings on Great Schools and Niche. Words matter, please be watchful. Going back to the OP, all of these schools are extremely strong depending on what your student is looking for. Keep in mind that Blair & WJ are quite large population wise, B-CC has a strong IB community, so on and so forth.

PP, you responded with such grace. Thank you for correcting without shaming.

[Anonymous]

My kid went to BCC and I am honestly unaware of a reputation for douchey frat bro behavior. Doesn’t mean those kids don’t exist but I hardly think they are representative or dominant.

I think kids view the football games as social events (when they are allowed to go) but honestly the girls sports and club teams seem to be more successful than the bro-ey sports, fwiw.

I do agree BCC is a mix of kids from different backgrounds, although as with Blair, there may be less mixing in practice. I wouldn’t say BCC is overrated— my kid did IB and had a good experience/education.

I don’t follow much about Wilson but people seem unhappy about a 4x4 class schedule these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:looking at moving to one of these school districts...curious for people's thoughts on how the high schools compare. particularly, how the moco schools compare to wilson (level of rigor, diverse course offerings, how much of a pressure cooker, "culture"). cross-posting in the dc forum as well.

All will have more rigor than Wilson.

Blair is divided into magnet Vs non magnet, so you are either with the top 2% of students in this highly educated county, or you are in with a lot of Central American immigrants. It’s rough.

WJ is pretty good, though very suburban. A bit of a pressure cooker.

BCC has super high achieving kids from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring, but it also has another element.

Read the reviews on Great Schools and Niche.

As a PP mentioned, these schools are fairly similar in that the same kid will likely do about the same at any of them, but there are things worth noting.

Blair is the most diverse school in the state. It is close to a perfect balance of all major demographic groups. It also offers many courses that go beyond the ordinary APs and are available to everyone but only available at magnets schools. It is by far the most accomplished high school in the state with the best college admission track record. My point is there are amazing opportunities here for anyone, but many parents in western moco suffer from a condition known on this board as Blair envy.

BCC is mostly overrated. For a high-SES school it's stats are very disappointing.

I only know Blair HS, and it is amazing for the reasons pp described. I have a kid in the magnet and just learned that magnet electives are open to anyone at the school though I would imagine the classes are geared towards juniors and seniors. Do the other high schools offer quantum and thermodynamics physics, chemistry of art, horticulture? Blair does!

[Anonymous]

The diversity at Blair is really a great thing. In addition to the magnet programs and the regular program, which itself has a lot of very smart kids, I think there are a number of career readiness programs.