Reassure me about Walter Johnson / explain the DCC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at WJ and BCC. Walter Johnson is academically stronger than BCC, OP (teachers are more rigorous and teach better, which is the important thing!). The housing is more pleasant around downtown Bethesda. So you have to choose what's more important to you

Woodward will open in 2025. Your older kid might be allowed to stay the whole 4 years. In theory, kids within walking distance to their school are not redistricted, but these two schools are so close, who knows. Maybe your best bet is to find a house at the far south-west side of the WJ cluster? But I'm sure Woodward will be a good school, too.

No--its opening has now been delayed to 2026.

The delay is so it can be used as a holding school during the Northwood renovations, correct?

It is going to be used as a holding school during the Northwood renovations, but that was true even before the one-year delay. The stated reason for the delay is "due to fiscal constraints, the County Council, in the adopted FY2023-2028 CIP, delayed this project one year."

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks everyone! The housing market is still such madness, with near 0 inventory, that I needed to hear that wherever we end up will be fine school wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone! The housing market is still such madness, with near 0 inventory, that I needed to hear that wherever we end up will be fine school wise.

I'm a firm believer in how your experience is what you make of it. IMO, a student can do well in several non W MCPS HS. I posted this up thread.. honestly, in terms of college admissions, being in a non W school might actually be an advantage if your child is high achieving. Big fish; little pond. However, I would stay away from schools very really high FARMs rate. Those schools have too many issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Tilden MS. Read the thread. WJ is not as bad.

+1

Any middle school in area is far better.

[Anonymous]

No one can reassure you about WJ boundary. It's going to change. WJ and Woodward are so close that if you are going to take a bus then both school will be an option.

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure Woodward is back on track for 2025 opening, but agree, you cannot go wrong with any of the schools mentioned.

[Anonymous]

These are all great schools, really. If you move to this ara, you will be fine.

[Anonymous]

BCC is the W schools' middle class cousin, OP. I think people mistakenly assume it's excellent because it has IB (which isn't that great when you're applying to US colleges) and there's "Bethesda" right in the name. The schools offering the most AP courses (which ARE useful for applications to US colleges because they match college classes better), the most academically-oriented student bodies, and the best teachers, are: Walt Whitman, Wooton, Winston Churchill, and Walter Johnson.

The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure Woodward is back on track for 2025 opening, but agree, you cannot go wrong with any of the schools mentioned.

The new boundaries will be decided in spring 2025, but Woodward will be opening in fall 2026.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/boundarystudypdfs/WoodwardHS_BoundaryStudyScope.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
BCC is the W schools' middle class cousin, OP. I think people mistakenly assume it's excellent because it has IB (which isn't that great when you're applying to US colleges) and there's "Bethesda" right in the name. The schools offering the most AP courses (which ARE useful for applications to US colleges because they match college classes better), the most academically-oriented student bodies, and the best teachers, are: Walt Whitman, Wooton, Winston Churchill, and Walter Johnson.

The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

That's because BCC has a lot of IB classes. Whereas Whitman, Wootton (double u, double o, double t, o n), Churchill, and WJ don't have any IB classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
BCC is the W schools' middle class cousin, OP. I think people mistakenly assume it's excellent because it has IB (which isn't that great when you're applying to US colleges) and there's "Bethesda" right in the name. The schools offering the most AP courses (which ARE useful for applications to US colleges because they match college classes better), the most academically-oriented student bodies, and the best teachers, are: Walt Whitman, Wooton, Winston Churchill, and Walter Johnson.

The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

BCC has some lower and middle class from Silver Spring but pulls from other very wealthy areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
BCC is the W schools' middle class cousin, OP. I think people mistakenly assume it's excellent because it has IB (which isn't that great when you're applying to US colleges) and there's "Bethesda" right in the name. The schools offering the most AP courses (which ARE useful for applications to US colleges because they match college classes better), the most academically-oriented student bodies, and the best teachers, are: Walt Whitman, Wooton, Winston Churchill, and Walter Johnson.

The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

They cannot even qualify to take 15 is only one is allowed freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
BCC is the W schools' middle class cousin, OP. I think people mistakenly assume it's excellent because it has IB (which isn't that great when you're applying to US colleges) and there's "Bethesda" right in the name. The schools offering the most AP courses (which ARE useful for applications to US colleges because they match college classes better), the most academically-oriented student bodies, and the best teachers, are: Walt Whitman, Wooton, Winston Churchill, and Walter Johnson.

The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

That's because BCC has a lot of IB classes. Whereas Whitman, Wootton (double u, double o, double t, o n), Churchill, and WJ don't have any IB classes.

That's the problem! The IB is a load of horseshite. IB math, for example, doesn't reach the depth and challenge of AP Calc BC, not by a long shot. Replacing AP courses with IB is really not an intelligent choice, because college admissions counselors are aware of the differences in content. It's a shame, because otherwise BCC has a lot going for it. And don't talk to me about the Middle Years Programme at Westland MS. The kids spent this year's MYP time (which is a handful of hours a year, tops) reading feel-good stuff about LGBTQ+ gender roles. Yippee.

[Anonymous]

Stick to Whitman , much safer and not likely have a huge change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

You're really overstating things. I haven't found WJ to be a pressure cooker. I've had two kids go through without feeling the need to compete by hiring tutors, and I've been happy with both their high school education and their college results.