Tell me about Albert Einstein HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Future Einstein parent here - would some please share where they top 10-15% of students are headed to in the fall?

This video about Einstein's Visual Arts Center (VAC) contains a list of where those students are heading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=B3zkywiukNQ&app=desktop

Great video! Looks like wonderful resource. Is this available to all Einstein students?

No. Perhaps aspects of it are, but the VAC is a program kids have to apply for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Future Einstein parent here - would some please share where they top 10-15% of students are headed to in the fall?

This video about Einstein's Visual Arts Center (VAC) contains a list of where those students are heading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=B3zkywiukNQ&app=desktop

Great video! Looks like wonderful resource. Is this available to all Einstein students?

I should have hit Google instead of submit. Here's what the website says, in case others are interested:

"Most VAC graduates go on to study fine art or related fields at many prestigious art colleges, liberal arts colleges and university art programs. Over the last twelve years, VAC students have won many national and local awards for their portfolios and as a group have garnered over $20 million dollars in scholarship and grant offers. The VAC is an M.C.P.S. 'Application Program.' Qualifying Montgomery County high school students may attend the Visual Art Center any semester and during the summer."
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/vac/about/

Based on this, I assume that the list of schools at the end of the video applies only to the VAC graduates. Looks like a great program.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor's kid is in the VAC and I went to their art show this year. Stunning, stunning work by a group of truly gifted kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attending Einstein means one of two things - 1) you are zoned to Einstein and your DC can't get into magnet or 2) you don't have $ to afford W zoned areas. It's one of the low performing schools in MCPS. EVERYBODY knows that!

I don't know that.

What I do wonder, though, is why some posters (you, for example) on DCUM are so insistent about the badness of Einstein. What's their/your motivation?

Isn't it obvious in stated reason #2? Some people feel the need to constantly validate their decision to pay a big premium to live in a certain school district by denigrating other schools.

Exactly! And then they wonder why those of us who choose to live in Silver Spring don't want to overpay for a house so that they can live next door to such "lovely" people. No thanks--I'll keep the neighbors I have (and want to spend time with).

And no, I'm not saying that everyone in a W school district is a bad person (my best friend lives in a W district and she's wonderful). But you don't do yourselves any favors in making your neighborhood and schools look better with this attitude. It just shows your insecurity and I don't want to live my life around people like that. It's really that simple.

[Anonymous]

OP here. This thread has been interesting.

There does seem to be a lot of folks saying Einstein is bad but without firsthand knowledge. I can look up the Great School score and see that is it bad (last year it was a 6, now it is a 5). But I don't necessarily think that captures everything which is why I was hoping for some first hand knowledge of the school.

There are definitely folks who have friends and neighbors with kids at Einstein who have good experiences but not really anyone saying that they have a kid there. There is the VAC program but that is something you apply for and I don't know that I would compare colleges (I think a PP hinted that if you compare the college list to a college list of a W school, the W school would be a list of Ivies and high ranking schools, but I think if your child is really that specialized, it is really about the program so a comparison of VAC students to the top students at another school (or even Einstein) is not apples to apples). I guess if you asked for a list of colleges for top Einstein students and didn't get some Ivies and high ranking schools, that would be concerning (I think the prior list that had been distributed was the college fair list and that is not an accurate assessment of where the students are going).

There are also parents with kids headed to Einstein who are maybe more confident in their choices. Seems like people similar to my situation where we could hop the line (we have HHI 250+ which may be small for some folks at the Ws but can get us a house -- I just don't feel as comfortable having most of my savings locked up in the house, hence the choice). Also, the thought that this new group of incoming students will make their way up the MS/HS years.

I wish there were more Einstein posters. Seems there are enough Blair posters and other posters from the western part of the county. Funny - not too many teens in my area - there was a huge influx of small children in the 2005/2006 timeframe and my kids close friends do not have older siblings (although more classmates with older brothers and sisters are going to Newport which is different from when we moved to the area) so I may just have to wait a year or two to ask some parents I know when they hit the HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. This thread has been interesting.

There does seem to be a lot of folks saying Einstein is bad but without firsthand knowledge. I can look up the Great School score and see that is it bad (last year it was a 6, now it is a 5). But I don't necessarily think that captures everything which is why I was hoping for some first hand knowledge of the school.

There are definitely folks who have friends and neighbors with kids at Einstein who have good experiences but not really anyone saying that they have a kid there. There is the VAC program but that is something you apply for and I don't know that I would compare colleges (I think a PP hinted that if you compare the college list to a college list of a W school, the W school would be a list of Ivies and high ranking schools, but I think if your child is really that specialized, it is really about the program so a comparison of VAC students to the top students at another school (or even Einstein) is not apples to apples). I guess if you asked for a list of colleges for top Einstein students and didn't get some Ivies and high ranking schools, that would be concerning (I think the prior list that had been distributed was the college fair list and that is not an accurate assessment of where the students are going).

There are also parents with kids headed to Einstein who are maybe more confident in their choices. Seems like people similar to my situation where we could hop the line (we have HHI 250+ which may be small for some folks at the Ws but can get us a house -- I just don't feel as comfortable having most of my savings locked up in the house, hence the choice). Also, the thought that this new group of incoming students will make their way up the MS/HS years.

I wish there were more Einstein posters. Seems there are enough Blair posters and other posters from the western part of the county. Funny - not too many teens in my area - there was a huge influx of small children in the 2005/2006 timeframe and my kids close friends do not have older siblings (although more classmates with older brothers and sisters are going to Newport which is different from when we moved to the area) so I may just have to wait a year or two to ask some parents I know when they hit the HS.

I am that PP you are referring to. In spite of what others have said, I have nothing against Einstein. Rather than relying on anonymous posts, parents need to do their due diligence and research schools themselves. Keep in mind, no parents of current/past students will say school is less than excellent or they are less than happy.Compare schools' SAT performance, national merit finalists, presidential scholars, colleges kids were admitted/attending...etc. That's the only way you can compare schools in an objective way.

[Anonymous]

Let me respectfully disagree with the pp in that this is NOT how you evaluate a school. You should not be interested as much in the average performance of a school (SAT scores, National Merit, etc.) as you should be in how YOUR student will do there. The truth is that a relatively larger number of first-generation Americans are in the school and are taking the SAT and are the 1st generation to go to college, sometimes at less prestigious places. This brings down the average. But there are also students from educated families with a lot of resources who know about and can afford to go to fancy schools. Averages don't mean much, though I will admit it is much easier to look at a page of statistics than ask people, visit, go to Einstein events, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me respectfully disagree with the pp in that this is NOT how you evaluate a school. You should not be interested as much in the average performance of a school (SAT scores, National Merit, etc.) as you should be in how YOUR student will do there. The truth is that a relatively larger number of first-generation Americans are in the school and are taking the SAT and are the 1st generation to go to college, sometimes at less prestigious places. This brings down the average. But there are also students from educated families with a lot of resources who know about and can afford to go to fancy schools. Averages don't mean much, though I will admit it is much easier to look at a page of statistics than ask people, visit, go to Einstein events, etc.

+1

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

My DD graduated from Einstein two years ago. She and her friends are attending the following colleges: Case Western (for nursing), St. Mary's College (UMD system's Honors College), UM College Park, Towson, Salisbury, UMBC, and NYU. I recognize that this is a small sample, but my daughter's friends came from very diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, social classes. They all just worked hard, were involved in sports and other school activities, and stayed out of trouble. There are opportunities for kids at Einstein.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am that PP you are referring to. In spite of what others have said, I have nothing against Einstein. Rather than relying on anonymous posts, parents need to do their due diligence and research schools themselves. Keep in mind, no parents of current/past students will say school is less than excellent or they are less than happy.Compare schools' SAT performance, national merit finalists, presidential scholars, colleges kids were admitted/attending...etc. That's the only way you can compare schools in an objective way.

Of course they will. People complain all the time. People love to complain. Especially people love to complain about MCPS on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me respectfully disagree with the pp in that this is NOT how you evaluate a school. You should not be interested as much in the average performance of a school (SAT scores, National Merit, etc.) as you should be in how YOUR student will do there. The truth is that a relatively larger number of first-generation Americans are in the school and are taking the SAT and are the 1st generation to go to college, sometimes at less prestigious places. This brings down the average. But there are also students from educated families with a lot of resources who know about and can afford to go to fancy schools. Averages don't mean much, though I will admit it is much easier to look at a page of statistics than ask people, visit, go to Einstein events, etc.

Thank you for this. Exactly. We live in a diverse community - many, many of us because we choose to live here, like my family. As hard as it might be to believe, many of us choose to live in Silver Spring for the community and culture. I don't believe that a child's potential/future is determined by how well they do by jr year in high school at a top high school. It is determined by how a family approaches education and enrichment and that can happen anywhere and certainly does not always happen through formal education. I am not a W/BCC hater at all. I just think that Silver Spring folk have a more global/open view of education and child rearing you won't find in the other part of the county.

It's all about your priorities. Figure out what's important to you. I can tell you 100% that there are wonderful, educated and caring families in Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from Einstein two years ago. She and her friends are attending the following colleges: Case Western (for nursing), St. Mary's College (UMD system's Honors College), UM College Park, Towson, Salisbury, UMBC, and NYU. I recognize that this is a small sample, but my daughter's friends came from very diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, social classes. They all just worked hard, were involved in sports and other school activities, and stayed out of trouble. There are opportunities for kids at Einstein.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me respectfully disagree with the pp in that this is NOT how you evaluate a school. You should not be interested as much in the average performance of a school (SAT scores, National Merit, etc.) as you should be in how YOUR student will do there. The truth is that a relatively larger number of first-generation Americans are in the school and are taking the SAT and are the 1st generation to go to college, sometimes at less prestigious places. This brings down the average. But there are also students from educated families with a lot of resources who know about and can afford to go to fancy schools. Averages don't mean much, though I will admit it is much easier to look at a page of statistics than ask people, visit, go to Einstein events, etc.

Yes, this. SAT scores, in particular, are heavily correlated with family income. These four charts from the Washington Post lay it out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/05/these-four-charts-show-how-the-sat-favors-the-rich-educated-families/

Similarly, many colleges have stopped participating in the National Merit Scholarship program because of the degree to which family income and test scores are linked.

So, the PP would have us look at SAT scores, PSAT scores, and elite college admissions to determine whether Einstein meets the educational needs of our children. But all those things tell us is that Einstein families tend to, on average, be less rich than the families at other schools in the area. She is literally listing things are are purely a proxy for wealth.

If your main proxy for whether a high school is a good fit for your family is "presence of rich kids," then Einstein will fail. But that's a very shallow rationale for choosing a high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me respectfully disagree with the pp in that this is NOT how you evaluate a school. You should not be interested as much in the average performance of a school (SAT scores, National Merit, etc.) as you should be in how YOUR student will do there. The truth is that a relatively larger number of first-generation Americans are in the school and are taking the SAT and are the 1st generation to go to college, sometimes at less prestigious places. This brings down the average. But there are also students from educated families with a lot of resources who know about and can afford to go to fancy schools. Averages don't mean much, though I will admit it is much easier to look at a page of statistics than ask people, visit, go to Einstein events, etc.

Yes, this. SAT scores, in particular, are heavily correlated with family income. These four charts from the Washington Post lay it out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/05/these-four-charts-show-how-the-sat-favors-the-rich-educated-families/

Similarly, many colleges have stopped participating in the National Merit Scholarship program because of the degree to which family income and test scores are linked.

So, the PP would have us look at SAT scores, PSAT scores, and elite college admissions to determine whether Einstein meets the educational needs of our children. But all those things tell us is that Einstein families tend to, on average, be less rich than the families at other schools in the area. She is literally listing things are are purely a proxy for wealth.

If your main proxy for whether a high school is a good fit for your family is "presence of rich kids," then Einstein will fail. But that's a very shallow rationale for choosing a high school.

So what you are saying is rich people are smarter? There are quite a few schools that are lower income in Fairfax county with high SAT, SOLs etc... like burkve or west springfield. SORRY YOUR NARRATIVE DOESN'T WORK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If your main proxy for whether a high school is a good fit for your family is "presence of rich kids," then Einstein will fail. But that's a very shallow rationale for choosing a high school.

So what you are saying is rich people are smarter? There are quite a few schools that are lower income in Fairfax county with high SAT, SOLs etc... like burkve or west springfield. SORRY YOUR NARRATIVE DOESN'T WORK.

"There is a very strong correlation between SAT scores and family income" does not mean "Rich people are smarter, and it is impossible for poor people to have high test scores". It means that there is a very strong correlation between SAT scores and family income. Which is factually correct; there is.

I'm not the PP you're responding to.