Talk to me about McKinley

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We thought the physical plant at McKinley was great, especially the engineering lab. The teachers also seemed dedicated and accomplished.

Unfortunately, for us, we were hoping the school was akin to Blair Magnet or TJ, but it is absolutely not anywhere close. We wish DCPS would transform McKinley into a DC TJ, but that doesn't seem like it will ever happen.

The commute was too much for us as well...if it was located where Walls is located (or anywhere in central DC) then the calculation would have been different

There just aren't that many educated/education-pushing households with high school aged kids in DC compared to the TJ or Blair catchment areas.

Banneker is the DC TJ

This may be the most delusional thing I've read on this very bizarre board! Banneker is great at what it does . But it's not in the same galaxy as TJ.

+100. Get real, people. There is not a TJ equivalent in DC. Full stop.

There isn't. However, does there really need to be?

There are students who could use a top-tier science high school. My DC is one of them.

So move and get your DC into a magnet. Then you’ll be on the MoCo or AAP board obsessing over how your “cogat 262” kid did not get admitted or whatever. It ain’t pretty over there.

Walls or Banneker can provide plenty of challenges for a kid who actually is bright and science-focused. (McKinley I think the jury is still out.) DC doesn’t need another selective HS - it needs better MS and ES instruction.

Thoughtful suggestion, but we can't move out of DC.

And no, Walls and Banneker do not have sufficient advanced science offerings. J-R is more promising, but then again, it is a neighborhood high school and not the one we are zoned for.

There is no reason that a city the size of DC shouldn't have programs suitable for strong STEM students. McKinley is the right idea, but it isn't high-level enough for top students.

Since when do HS students have to have “advanced science offerings” to be able to handle science courses in college? SWW has 4 AP science classes and 3 AP math classes. It also has AP seminar and AP research that can be a platform for a STEM project.

Does Walls offer those courses consistently? The website says they have to have at least 15 students to offer the course.

And a science-loving student would have no trouble handling college science offerings. But they have little chance of getting in top science colleges (like MIT or CalTech) if they have had no chance to show that they are at all competitive with students from the many, many high schools around the country with strong STEM offerings.

That's just not true. I know many people who went to MIT for undergrad (my husband and best friend both went, so I know dozens and dozens of alums) and many of them came from very mediocre -poor public schools in random small towns. They took the hardest classes available to them, got near perfect SATs and were the top student at their school, but it's just not true that you need to go to a pressure cooker suburban high school like TJ to get in and to do well in college.

Oddly enough, DCPS is not a poor district in a random small town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live close to Banneker but our kid goes to JR. Would have loved mckinley to be a strong option, but it’s not currently a high achieving school. Banneker is a great school for bright and motivated students willing to work hard, but my kid thought it seemed like a grind.

JR has a creative media academy that might be good for OP’s kid.

Yes to this. I am the previous poster where I shared that my son reordered his list from Banneker 1 to McKinley Tech 1 for this exact reason "a grind". After meeting students at both he decided that Tech was better FOR HIM. I can share that we are Black and he had the opportunity to talk to students at both. He works hard We have generational DC ties (even though I didn't grow up here) so we know alum from both schools. I also have first hand knowledge of JR from quite a few years ago and that was enough to not consider moving in town for him to be in boundary. I know it wouldn't have been a good fit for him and I'll withhold any other thoughts I have because this thread isn't about JR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid originally ranked Banneker over McKinley Tech then changed it after both of his interviews. He is now attending McKinley Tech.

How do you like McKinley? How does your child like McKinley?

My kid is only in the 9th grade, so we haven't been there too long. So far so good though.

- 75% of his teachers I love! I think they are smart and thoughtful about the work he gets. It is challenging and helping him to get a clear grasp of the content and improving skills, like his writing. This portion also keeps the grades up to date and has been clear on expectations for assignments and policies for revision.
- Communication from the 9th grade team has also been great. The team leader sends out a weekly newsletter which has updates from most teachers.

I'm still getting a handle on what the rest of his cohort is like. I know some of the students who came from his school. My kid takes a little while to make new friends, but has joined some clubs so that is moving slowly, but surely.

Logistically, most things have been fine. Based on the fact that the whole city is on "fire" crime wise, there was an incident with two McKinley students after school headed to the metro and I heard about it at a safety town hall, but there didn't seem to be communication from the school prior to the safety meeting. He got his schedule before school started, it was uploaded to ASPEN and he was in the "right" classes based on his transcript and placement tests.

[Anonymous]

Yes to this. I am the previous poster where I shared that my son reordered his list from Banneker 1 to McKinley Tech 1 for this exact reason "a grind". After meeting students at both he decided that Tech was better FOR HIM. I can share that we are Black and he had the opportunity to talk to students at both. He works hard We have generational DC ties (even though I didn't grow up here) so we know alum from both schools. I also have first hand knowledge of JR from quite a few years ago and that was enough to not consider moving in town for him to be in boundary. I know it wouldn't have been a good fit for him and I'll withhold any other thoughts I have because this thread isn't about JR.

OP here. Thank you for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid originally ranked Banneker over McKinley Tech then changed it after both of his interviews. He is now attending McKinley Tech.

How do you like McKinley? How does your child like McKinley?

My kid is only in the 9th grade, so we haven't been there too long. So far so good though.

- 75% of his teachers I love! I think they are smart and thoughtful about the work he gets. It is challenging and helping him to get a clear grasp of the content and improving skills, like his writing. This portion also keeps the grades up to date and has been clear on expectations for assignments and policies for revision.
- Communication from the 9th grade team has also been great. The team leader sends out a weekly newsletter which has updates from most teachers.

I'm still getting a handle on what the rest of his cohort is like. I know some of the students who came from his school. My kid takes a little while to make new friends, but has joined some clubs so that is moving slowly, but surely.

Logistically, most things have been fine. Based on the fact that the whole city is on "fire" crime wise, there was an incident with two McKinley students after school headed to the metro and I heard about it at a safety town hall, but there didn't seem to be communication from the school prior to the safety meeting. He got his schedule before school started, it was uploaded to ASPEN and he was in the "right" classes based on his transcript and placement tests.


OP here. Thank you for the info!

[Anonymous]

Someone posted that there is a low pass rate for AP’s at McKinley. The perspective I’d like to share is that there are some students getting 4 and/or 5’s in McKinley AP classes. I personally know students at McKinley with 4’s and 5’s. These students are not getting these scores due to heroic outside tutoring. This means that for a student at McKinley with the capability and desire to pass the AP exam, the teaching in the course is sufficient to get them there.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:So seriously, the standard we're setting for McKinley Tech is "how many of its students are going to Caltech?"

Love that.

No, McKinley Tech is fine for many science-focused students. But for the kids who have the potential for CalTech, DCPS does not offer a good solution. Don't those students matter too?

CalTech is only 980 students total...so only about 245 per class. It is my understanding that not a single kid from any DC school (public, private or charter) was admitted to CalTech for the 2023 class. That said, very few applied.

DCPS sends kids to MIT, Ivy League, Stanford, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, etc. every year. Yes, probably 90%+ of those students attend Walls or JR (though McKinley sent some as well...believe the Valedictorian last year is at Cornell). You would agree those are strong schools.

By 2023 year, do you mean kids who were admitted in the spring of this year? Because I know that a student at BASIS DC was admitted to Caltech this past spring.

Yes…so that is a good reference…none of the privates nor JR or Walls had any. Nice there was one DC kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the families who have kids who attend McKinley, what has your experience been like?

This may seem strange, but another way to learn a little more about Tech is to watch the speeches from the Valedictorian and Salutatorian at graduation.

This is the 2023 graduation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL5ImA3w0cs

Salutatorian is at 38min, Valedictorian at 44min. Cool to hear their stories and also see what the outgoing cohort was like.

This is the 2022 graduation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRwLpTCkAQ8

Salutatorian 23min, Valedictorian at 31 min.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So seriously, the standard we're setting for McKinley Tech is "how many of its students are going to Caltech?"

Love that.

No, McKinley Tech is fine for many science-focused students. But for the kids who have the potential for CalTech, DCPS does not offer a good solution. Don't those students matter too?

CalTech is only 980 students total...so only about 245 per class. It is my understanding that not a single kid from any DC school (public, private or charter) was admitted to CalTech for the 2023 class. That said, very few applied.

DCPS sends kids to MIT, Ivy League, Stanford, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, etc. every year. Yes, probably 90%+ of those students attend Walls or JR (though McKinley sent some as well...believe the Valedictorian last year is at Cornell). You would agree those are strong schools.

By 2023 year, do you mean kids who were admitted in the spring of this year? Because I know that a student at BASIS DC was admitted to Caltech this past spring.

Yes…so that is a good reference…none of the privates nor JR or Walls had any. Nice there was one DC kid.

I’m sorry I think your bar is just too high. Who even knows how many kids at JR or Walls applied to CalTech? Lots of kids from those schools study engineering or math at Cornell, Princeton, UMichigan, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, UPenn, UC schools, etc.

[Anonymous]

I'm close to the parent of a McKinley grad. Family lives in Ward 8. The student graduated from McKinley and received a full ride to George Mason (forensic science). Working full-time at internship turned full-time job while weighing grad school options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So seriously, the standard we're setting for McKinley Tech is "how many of its students are going to Caltech?"

Love that.

No, McKinley Tech is fine for many science-focused students. But for the kids who have the potential for CalTech, DCPS does not offer a good solution. Don't those students matter too?

CalTech is only 980 students total...so only about 245 per class. It is my understanding that not a single kid from any DC school (public, private or charter) was admitted to CalTech for the 2023 class. That said, very few applied.

DCPS sends kids to MIT, Ivy League, Stanford, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, etc. every year. Yes, probably 90%+ of those students attend Walls or JR (though McKinley sent some as well...believe the Valedictorian last year is at Cornell). You would agree those are strong schools.

By 2023 year, do you mean kids who were admitted in the spring of this year? Because I know that a student at BASIS DC was admitted to Caltech this past spring.

Yes…so that is a good reference…none of the privates nor JR or Walls had any. Nice there was one DC kid.

I’m sorry I think your bar is just too high. Who even knows how many kids at JR or Walls applied to CalTech? Lots of kids from those schools study engineering or math at Cornell, Princeton, UMichigan, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, UPenn, UC schools, etc.

I agree with you…I would be shocked if 20 kids in all of DC across every school even applied.

This was all in response to PP that said McKinley kids should get accepted to Caltech when the entire school only has 245 kids in each class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So seriously, the standard we're setting for McKinley Tech is "how many of its students are going to Caltech?"

Love that.

No, McKinley Tech is fine for many science-focused students. But for the kids who have the potential for CalTech, DCPS does not offer a good solution. Don't those students matter too?

CalTech is only 980 students total...so only about 245 per class. It is my understanding that not a single kid from any DC school (public, private or charter) was admitted to CalTech for the 2023 class. That said, very few applied.

DCPS sends kids to MIT, Ivy League, Stanford, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, etc. every year. Yes, probably 90%+ of those students attend Walls or JR (though McKinley sent some as well...believe the Valedictorian last year is at Cornell). You would agree those are strong schools.

By 2023 year, do you mean kids who were admitted in the spring of this year? Because I know that a student at BASIS DC was admitted to Caltech this past spring.

Yes…so that is a good reference…none of the privates nor JR or Walls had any. Nice there was one DC kid.

I’m sorry I think your bar is just too high. Who even knows how many kids at JR or Walls applied to CalTech? Lots of kids from those schools study engineering or math at Cornell, Princeton, UMichigan, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, UPenn, UC schools, etc.

I agree with you…I would be shocked if 20 kids in all of DC across every school even applied.

This was all in response to PP that said McKinley kids should get accepted to Caltech when the entire school only has 245 kids in each class.

Nobody said McKinley kids should get accepted specifically to CalTech. That was one example given of a tier of elite STEM schools.

And, yes, you would hope that some kids at DC's application tech school could apply and get in to the top tier of tech universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So seriously, the standard we're setting for McKinley Tech is "how many of its students are going to Caltech?"

Love that.

No, McKinley Tech is fine for many science-focused students. But for the kids who have the potential for CalTech, DCPS does not offer a good solution. Don't those students matter too?

CalTech is only 980 students total...so only about 245 per class. It is my understanding that not a single kid from any DC school (public, private or charter) was admitted to CalTech for the 2023 class. That said, very few applied.

DCPS sends kids to MIT, Ivy League, Stanford, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, etc. every year. Yes, probably 90%+ of those students attend Walls or JR (though McKinley sent some as well...believe the Valedictorian last year is at Cornell). You would agree those are strong schools.

Going to college on the opposite side of the U.S. is not easy. I wouldn’t think many kids would do it unless they have family in CA. The only thing that makes sense is Stanford over MIT to me. Stanford is a feeder into the SV startup scene. The only thing coming out of MIT are inflated egos/self-worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So seriously, the standard we're setting for McKinley Tech is "how many of its students are going to Caltech?"

Love that.

No, McKinley Tech is fine for many science-focused students. But for the kids who have the potential for CalTech, DCPS does not offer a good solution. Don't those students matter too?

CalTech is only 980 students total...so only about 245 per class. It is my understanding that not a single kid from any DC school (public, private or charter) was admitted to CalTech for the 2023 class. That said, very few applied.

DCPS sends kids to MIT, Ivy League, Stanford, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, etc. every year. Yes, probably 90%+ of those students attend Walls or JR (though McKinley sent some as well...believe the Valedictorian last year is at Cornell). You would agree those are strong schools.

By 2023 year, do you mean kids who were admitted in the spring of this year? Because I know that a student at BASIS DC was admitted to Caltech this past spring.

Yes…so that is a good reference…none of the privates nor JR or Walls had any. Nice there was one DC kid.

I’m sorry I think your bar is just too high. Who even knows how many kids at JR or Walls applied to CalTech? Lots of kids from those schools study engineering or math at Cornell, Princeton, UMichigan, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, UPenn, UC schools, etc.

Plus, that is far away from DC! Distance is a factor for most when choosing a college. If you are not from Cali, CalTech and the other Cali schools are probably not too high on your list. Especially for east coast kids. Their are just too many other options closer to home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So seriously, the standard we're setting for McKinley Tech is "how many of its students are going to Caltech?"

Love that.

No, McKinley Tech is fine for many science-focused students. But for the kids who have the potential for CalTech, DCPS does not offer a good solution. Don't those students matter too?

CalTech is only 980 students total...so only about 245 per class. It is my understanding that not a single kid from any DC school (public, private or charter) was admitted to CalTech for the 2023 class. That said, very few applied.

DCPS sends kids to MIT, Ivy League, Stanford, UC schools, Michigan, UVA, etc. every year. Yes, probably 90%+ of those students attend Walls or JR (though McKinley sent some as well...believe the Valedictorian last year is at Cornell). You would agree those are strong schools.

By 2023 year, do you mean kids who were admitted in the spring of this year? Because I know that a student at BASIS DC was admitted to Caltech this past spring.

Yes…so that is a good reference…none of the privates nor JR or Walls had any. Nice there was one DC kid.

I’m sorry I think your bar is just too high. Who even knows how many kids at JR or Walls applied to CalTech? Lots of kids from those schools study engineering or math at Cornell, Princeton, UMichigan, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, UPenn, UC schools, etc.

Plus, that is far away from DC! Distance is a factor for most when choosing a college. If you are not from Cali, CalTech and the other Cali schools are probably not too high on your list. Especially for east coast kids. Their are just too many other options closer to home.

We are digressing. Walls and JR send 20+ kids to UC and other CA schools each year, as well as University of Washington in Seattle. CalTech is just a tough one because the school is so small and wants national/international math competition winners.