Tell me about Whitman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Status, religion, legacy, smaller class just to name a few. My children did a few years at St Anselms and we were terribly disappointed. Was eye opening and not better and in some ways worse than public. Especially considering we were paying (dumping) $30,000+ per child and not getting the value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

No, they are not dumb. Whitman is a great school. But it is big and is not for everyone. Some kids need or want a smaller environment. We have one at Whitman and one in private. Both provide a great education, but they have different strengths and weaknesses.

[Anonymous]

OP, your son sounds similar to one of my kids at Whitman. We have 2 there and have been really happy with the community, the teachers and the opportunities for kids to get involved in different areas. If your son needs to get a 504 in place, I would start that process ASAP because it takes a while. Whitman gets based on this forum a lot, but we have found the counselors to be very responsive and helpful and our two very different learners are both thriving there. I would recommend looking at the course bulletin to get a sense of classes and requirements and maybe even map out loosely what your child might take over 4 years. Most freshman take PE to get that requirement out of the way and if your son needs to fulfill the tech requirement (I’m assuming he does if he’s coming from private), that’s a good class to take freshman year as well. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Vanity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Vanity.

If by "vanity" you mean a realization that Whitman has been trading on its reputation from 25 years ago for a while now, its recent acceptance results for top colleges have been pedestrian and no longer are even the best among MCPS high schools, and that MCPS is such a train wreck now that it's only going to get worse in years to come, then I agree 100%.

Look, Whitman is a good school. But it's not the best-in-class public school that it once was. To seriously wonder why families would choose to send their kids to some of the best private schools in the DMV over Whitman means you're either in denial and want to make yourself feel better about your personal decision, or you have no ability or desire to understand why it's not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

It is more like what Whitman once was. It use dot be the best in the country, referred to as the Super School. There was no place for it to go and all the other schools had potential. Those schools have since caught up and passed it in some measures especially diversity and nationally it can't compete with the top schools.

Montgomery County Schools aren't even the best in the state anymore. A sad time indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Vanity.

If by "vanity" you mean a realization that Whitman has been trading on its reputation from 25 years ago for a while now, its recent acceptance results for top colleges have been pedestrian and no longer are even the best among MCPS high schools, and that MCPS is such a train wreck now that it's only going to get worse in years to come, then I agree 100%.

Look, Whitman is a good school. But it's not the best-in-class public school that it once was. To seriously wonder why families would choose to send their kids to some of the best private schools in the DMV over Whitman means you're either in denial and want to make yourself feel better about your personal decision, or you have no ability or desire to understand why it's not for everyone.

But it's still better than any private school acceptance results in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is more like what Whitman once was. It use dot be the best in the country, referred to as the Super School. There was no place for it to go and all the other schools had potential. Those schools have since caught up and passed it in some measures especially diversity and nationally it can't compete with the top schools.

Montgomery County Schools aren't even the best in the state anymore. A sad time indeed.

MCPS still carries the state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Status, needs, class, vanity and there are fools born every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is more like what Whitman once was. It use dot be the best in the country, referred to as the Super School. There was no place for it to go and all the other schools had potential. Those schools have since caught up and passed it in some measures especially diversity and nationally it can't compete with the top schools.

Montgomery County Schools aren't even the best in the state anymore. A sad time indeed.

MCPS still carries the state.

Used to

Howard County Public Schools
Montgomery County Public Schools
Worcester County Public Schools
Carroll County Public Schools
Frederick County Public Schools
Calvert County Public Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is more like what Whitman once was. It use dot be the best in the country, referred to as the Super School. There was no place for it to go and all the other schools had potential. Those schools have since caught up and passed it in some measures especially diversity and nationally it can't compete with the top schools.

Montgomery County Schools aren't even the best in the state anymore. A sad time indeed.

MCPS still carries the state.

Used to

Howard County Public Schools
Montgomery County Public Schools
Worcester County Public Schools
Carroll County Public Schools
Frederick County Public Schools
Calvert County Public Schools

Hey, look! You listed some school systems!

Yes, those are school systems, too. Your point is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:grab the popcorn

Lol, my thought exactly.

[Anonymous]

My experience is that the private school my child attends is not better than what was being taught in public. English is worse at the private and math is ok. This is at one of the top privates in DC, we will not be returning next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Status, needs, class, vanity and there are fools born every day.

So these scores of well-educated, well-off families are status seeking, vain or stupid or some combination of these things.

They are plunking down over $120,000 per kid so they don’t have to go to Whitman for free.

These seem like pretty smart people to me. They couldn’t believe that these private schools are better environment, could they?

The kids from Potomac and Bethesda neighborhoods that are zoned to Whitman make up a large chunk of the students at these private schools.

We aren’t talking about just a handful. It’s been pointed out that if the athletes from these neighborhoods went to Whitman instead of Prep, Landon, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Johns, etc., Whitman would be a MoCo powerhouse.

I think this is called “voting with your feet”.