BCC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is RM? And Jackson Reed? That is in DC- we could potentially rent there- how would they compare?

Jackson-Reed was formerly called Wilson, in case you want to search the DCPS Forum archives for older discussions to learn more.

[Anonymous]

There are other threads on BCC in the archives if you want to poke around. You will find a lot of people still parroting the idea that Pyle/Whitman is the “best” pyramid but I don’t there’s much to support that idea one way or the other.

My advice is generally to pick the house you like because the difference between schools for any given student in the end is probably not great, once you get past the IB program.

That said, we were happy the house we ended up with went to BCC because of IB and a little more diversity than Whitman (have friends with kids at Whitman and the wealthy white privilege issues seem a little bigger there).

Our kid had a very good experience at BCC (doing full IB- the school lets kids choose whether to do the full IB diploma program or just to mix IB and AP classes).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BCC is a good school, and (compared to other Bethesda/Potomac area schools, not MCPS as a whole) is very racially and socio-economically diverse. Just under 20% of students qualify for free and reduced meals at BCC, while the number who do at other Bethesda area schools is far lower. Because school ratings are largely based on test scores/AP participation & performance/etc—things that are tied to family income, you will notice lower ratings at BCC due to it having a higher number of children living in poverty.

Agree you can get an excellent education at BCC or any MCPS HS. They have the same teachers and courses by and large. Anyone, interested in learning can do well at any of these fine schools.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids at Whitman and am friends with several BCC families. All the kids I know at both schools are great and have strong friend groups. All seem happy in their schools, although the stress about academics/college seems to set in as early as sophomore year.

My sense is that both schools are pretty similar, in general, in that they’re both large public high schools with a lot to offer. A bunch of high-achieving students in both places.

BCC has 2 feeder middle schools, while Whitman has one. So it might be easier socially for a transfer student at BCC b/c there may be more mixing of friend groups in 9th grade.

One of the biggest difference for academics is that BCC has an IB track, and Whitman doesn’t. Whitman has an engineering track and recently launched a “social justice” track.

Whitman’ s school paper, The Black and White, is excellent. (I’m not saying BCC’s isn’t, I just don’t know.). Whitman is also known for having a top-notch drama program.

One challenge at Whitman is that a lot of extra curriculars are super competitive. If your kids are not playing club sports or in high level music or drama programs, my sense is that it will be very hard for them to participate in the formal school program.

But it’s a big school with lots of fun activities (like drum line, bocce, Whitman shorts) that seem easier to join.

The Whitman principal is great. There is a fair bit of drug use and drinking among students, and he’s open and direct about that. There also was recently some antisemitic graffiti on the school’s entry sign, and I think he handled that situation beautifully.

The location of BCC is great, with downtown Bethesda and the metro both in easy walking distance.

Good luck! I think you have good choices either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can only share my experience: we moved to a BCC area from a W school area because we were unhappy with the culture we saw at the W school (my kids are in ES, but we were close with many families with W school kids) - we wanted a more diverse environment with a more traditional high school feel and more options for kids to set their own path. We are very very happy with the decision - the community and culture of our new neighborhood is a much better fit.

The NP here - thank you for the feedback, PP. This is my thinking too. I assume Westland for MS would be just fine? I know BCC is pretty good. I hear Pyle is a really good MS though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - I am also interested to learn more about BCC; just like the OP, we are planning to move that school zone in 2023. I am trying to decide between BCC or WW though. Our decision as to where to move will be mainly based on the MS/HS. My kids will start MS, so it is either Westland or Pyle. I know that Westland/BCC is more diverse, but I am trying to get honest feedback (not just from realtors) if Pyle/WW is really stronger schools than Westland/BCC. Thanks for any feedback!

What do you mean by "stronger school"?

Strong, meaning rigorous, good, supportive, kind teachers, good - kind - ambitious kids with similar families. Good choice of courses, clubs etc. I think it is pretty obvious what I mean. At the same time, I am tending towards BCC rather than WW, due to it's (in my case mainly) economic diversity and more ease of access by public transportation. Also due to its IB program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are other threads on BCC in the archives if you want to poke around. You will find a lot of people still parroting the idea that Pyle/Whitman is the “best” pyramid but I don’t there’s much to support that idea one way or the other.

My advice is generally to pick the house you like because the difference between schools for any given student in the end is probably not great, once you get past the IB program.

That said, we were happy the house we ended up with went to BCC because of IB and a little more diversity than Whitman (have friends with kids at Whitman and the wealthy white privilege issues seem a little bigger there).

Our kid had a very good experience at BCC (doing full IB- the school lets kids choose whether to do the full IB diploma program or just to mix IB and AP classes).

Thank you for the useful feedback, much appreciated. I think it helps for me to make my decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids at Whitman and am friends with several BCC families. All the kids I know at both schools are great and have strong friend groups. All seem happy in their schools, although the stress about academics/college seems to set in as early as sophomore year.

My sense is that both schools are pretty similar, in general, in that they’re both large public high schools with a lot to offer. A bunch of high-achieving students in both places.

BCC has 2 feeder middle schools, while Whitman has one. So it might be easier socially for a transfer student at BCC b/c there may be more mixing of friend groups in 9th grade.

One of the biggest difference for academics is that BCC has an IB track, and Whitman doesn’t. Whitman has an engineering track and recently launched a “social justice” track.

Whitman’ s school paper, The Black and White, is excellent. (I’m not saying BCC’s isn’t, I just don’t know.). Whitman is also known for having a top-notch drama program.

One challenge at Whitman is that a lot of extra curriculars are super competitive. If your kids are not playing club sports or in high level music or drama programs, my sense is that it will be very hard for them to participate in the formal school program.

But it’s a big school with lots of fun activities (like drum line, bocce, Whitman shorts) that seem easier to join.

The Whitman principal is great. There is a fair bit of drug use and drinking among students, and he’s open and direct about that. There also was recently some antisemitic graffiti on the school’s entry sign, and I think he handled that situation beautifully.

The location of BCC is great, with downtown Bethesda and the metro both in easy walking distance.

Good luck! I think you have good choices either way.

This is a very useful comment as well, thank you for this!

[Anonymous]

The (fairly new) Silver Creek MS also feeds into BCC. Opens up real estate options too. Older kids went to Westland and we’re very happy with Silver Creek. BCC was great school for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The (fairly new) Silver Creek MS also feeds into BCC. Opens up real estate options too. Older kids went to Westland and we’re very happy with Silver Creek. BCC was great school for our kids.

and were you happy with Westland MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BCC is a good school, and (compared to other Bethesda/Potomac area schools, not MCPS as a whole) is very racially and socio-economically diverse. Just under 20% of students qualify for free and reduced meals at BCC, while the number who do at other Bethesda area schools is far lower. Because school ratings are largely based on test scores/AP participation & performance/etc—things that are tied to family income, you will notice lower ratings at BCC due to it having a higher number of children living in poverty.

Agree you can get an excellent education at BCC or any MCPS HS. They have the same teachers and courses by and large. Anyone, interested in learning can do well at any of these fine schools.

NP. Disagree. While the curriculum is the same, the peer cohort is not. Yes, there are high achieving students in almost every HS, however, the quantity of the high achieving peers is a lot smaller in some schools compared to others.

We aren't in a W school, so I am not saying W schools are the way to go. And as a matter of fact, we purposefully chose a non W school for the diversity.

I think BCC would be a great choice. As would RM that someone else mentioned.

[Anonymous]

I’m the former Westland/now Silver Creek parent: Westland was big when my older kids went. Silver Creek feels and is smaller - more connection. I as a parent did like Westland - my kids would say they didn’t like as much as BCC. Some teachers at Westland maybe were particularly bad. The principal at Silver Creek apparently had opportunities to hand select much of staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the former Westland/now Silver Creek parent: Westland was big when my older kids went. Silver Creek feels and is smaller - more connection. I as a parent did like Westland - my kids would say they didn’t like as much as BCC. Some teachers at Westland maybe were particularly bad. The principal at Silver Creek apparently had opportunities to hand select much of staff.

Another BCC parent with a similar experience. When my oldest went to Westland it was so overcrowded (and the bus ride so long) that it was just miserable and complicated any afterschool activities, etc. Kid was much, much happier at BCC than at Westland. I should caveat that Westland may be terrific now that it's not wildly overcrowded. I have a younger kid at SC now and it's a much better experience than Westland was, both for my kid and for us as parents. I've been really impressed with the teachers there.

I happen to think it's possible to get a great education and have a great experience at a lot of different high schools in MCPS - I have colleagues with kids in other parts of the county who are very happy. But if I had to choose, I'd stick with BCC - good teachers & leadership, nice community, great location, lots of academic and extracurricular opportunities, and strong college outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the former Westland/now Silver Creek parent: Westland was big when my older kids went. Silver Creek feels and is smaller - more connection. I as a parent did like Westland - my kids would say they didn’t like as much as BCC. Some teachers at Westland maybe were particularly bad. The principal at Silver Creek apparently had opportunities to hand select much of staff.

Another BCC parent with a similar experience. When my oldest went to Westland it was so overcrowded (and the bus ride so long) that it was just miserable and complicated any afterschool activities, etc. Kid was much, much happier at BCC than at Westland. I should caveat that Westland may be terrific now that it's not wildly overcrowded. I have a younger kid at SC now and it's a much better experience than Westland was, both for my kid and for us as parents. I've been really impressed with the teachers there.

I happen to think it's possible to get a great education and have a great experience at a lot of different high schools in MCPS - I have colleagues with kids in other parts of the county who are very happy. But if I had to choose, I'd stick with BCC - good teachers & leadership, nice community, great location, lots of academic and extracurricular opportunities, and strong college outcomes.

Thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the former Westland/now Silver Creek parent: Westland was big when my older kids went. Silver Creek feels and is smaller - more connection. I as a parent did like Westland - my kids would say they didn’t like as much as BCC. Some teachers at Westland maybe were particularly bad. The principal at Silver Creek apparently had opportunities to hand select much of staff.

Another BCC parent with a similar experience. When my oldest went to Westland it was so overcrowded (and the bus ride so long) that it was just miserable and complicated any afterschool activities, etc. Kid was much, much happier at BCC than at Westland. I should caveat that Westland may be terrific now that it's not wildly overcrowded. I have a younger kid at SC now and it's a much better experience than Westland was, both for my kid and for us as parents. I've been really impressed with the teachers there.

I happen to think it's possible to get a great education and have a great experience at a lot of different high schools in MCPS - I have colleagues with kids in other parts of the county who are very happy. But if I had to choose, I'd stick with BCC - good teachers & leadership, nice community, great location, lots of academic and extracurricular opportunities, and strong college outcomes.

It's similar to most any MCPS high-school but overall one of the better choices if we're going to split hairs.