Marshall HS in Tysons vs Churchill in Potomac?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Churchill, easy choice. Marshall has little sense of community - it's mostly just a bunch of random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Vienna, and Tysons that ended up at a school others didn't want to attend. Churchill, on the other hand, is the main high school for Potomac.

This is not true. My son is about to start freshman year at Marshall and there's definitely a community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Churchill, easy choice. Marshall has little sense of community - it's mostly just a bunch of random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Vienna, and Tysons that ended up at a school others didn't want to attend. Churchill, on the other hand, is the main high school for Potomac.

This is not true. My son is about to start freshman year at Marshall and there's definitely a community.

Are you trepidatious about IB at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any other state school in Maryland other than U Maryland (hard to get into)? Is it just that the Virginia schools are better or just more options?

Lots of state schools - Towson, UMBC, St. Marys, Frostburg, Morgan, Frostburg, etc. Certain people on this board have very narrow vision about colleges...

[Anonymous]

I grew up in moco and live in Va now. There is. No question, Churchill. However, the in state college options in VA are one million times better than in Maryland. Taxes are a lot lower in Va too. Choose wisely. Marshall is a fine school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in moco and live in Va now. There is. No question, Churchill. However, the in state college options in VA are one million times better than in Maryland. Taxes are a lot lower in Va too. Choose wisely. Marshall is a fine school.

What does this mean, Churchill or Marshall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in moco and live in Va now. There is. No question, Churchill. However, the in state college options in VA are one million times better than in Maryland. Taxes are a lot lower in Va too. Choose wisely. Marshall is a fine school.

If we are just comparing churchill to Marshall and not worrying about colleges or taxes, Churchill wins? Isn't it significantly more stressful and more grindy?

[Anonymous]

They're pretty equivalent high schools. Maryland is in the midst of a lot of tinkering on state standards with the Maryland Blueprint. There was an article in the Post recently about the change in Math, which is a lot more about getting everyone to minimum standards than it is to support advanced learners. If you have other younger kids, choose VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They're pretty equivalent high schools. Maryland is in the midst of a lot of tinkering on state standards with the Maryland Blueprint. There was an article in the Post recently about the change in Math, which is a lot more about getting everyone to minimum standards than it is to support advanced learners. If you have other younger kids, choose VA.

I love how people write the bolded as if that is a problem. If the standards are quality, then the key focus should be on getting everyone to them. Support for advance learners would be on top of the basic minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They're pretty equivalent high schools. Maryland is in the midst of a lot of tinkering on state standards with the Maryland Blueprint. There was an article in the Post recently about the change in Math, which is a lot more about getting everyone to minimum standards than it is to support advanced learners. If you have other younger kids, choose VA.

OP here, no , my student has strengths, but they are not math and science. My concern is more the amount of stress and academic competition. I am afraid she will fall through the cracks at Churchill. Is Marshall more easygoing? She also does not want to stay in MD or VA for college anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard of Marshall but my kids have gone to Churchill. I've spoken with quite a number of in my neighborhood here who regret not buying their house in Virginia to take advantage of in-state at UVA and WM. Some seriously considering moving for this reason. UMD is quite good, but not as good as UVA. More than that, Virginia has a number of good universities if you don't like/don't get into UVA but in MD, UMD is pretty much the only one most of my circle would be excited about. My kids have seriously considered William & Mary (I'd prefer that over UMD due to school size) but it comes out being twice as expensive out of state. The other publics in MD are quite a step down from UMD. (Note that UMD is getting quite difficult to get into from Churchill-- I know some kids with 1500+SATs getting rejected because they don't want to fill their whole class with W school kids so the lack of depth makes a difference.).

Most students at Churchill and most people living in Potomac are not aiming for state schools.
Cool story, though.

Oh Jeez if this is what Churchill people are like I would prefer Marshall

Let's be for real. Most NOVA kids aren't aiming for state schools either. THe typical HS UMC or MC kid is looking to go out of state. NOVA kids aren't aspiring to go to JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in moco and live in Va now. There is. No question, Churchill. However, the in state college options in VA are one million times better than in Maryland. Taxes are a lot lower in Va too. Choose wisely. Marshall is a fine school.

If we are just comparing churchill to Marshall and not worrying about colleges or taxes, Churchill wins? Isn't it significantly more stressful and more grindy?

Churchill, hands down. It’s a great school with strong academics, tons of school spirit, and great sports. The community is super active and full of smart, well-rounded kids. Sure, there’s plenty of wealth, but most of the kids are just genuinely good. For some kids, it might feel a bit stressful at times, but it’s not one of those pressure-cooker schools where every kid is expected to chase after straight A’s and load up on APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're pretty equivalent high schools. Maryland is in the midst of a lot of tinkering on state standards with the Maryland Blueprint. There was an article in the Post recently about the change in Math, which is a lot more about getting everyone to minimum standards than it is to support advanced learners. If you have other younger kids, choose VA.

I love how people write the bolded as if that is a problem. If the standards are quality, then the key focus should be on getting everyone to them. Support for advance learners would be on top of the basic minimum.

I hear your point, but there is a disconnect between meeting minimum standards and college prep these days. The state has not even addressed a path to calculus and the proposed state curriculum misses key pre-calc concepts. As someone who expects kids to go to college, it's a serious gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in moco and live in Va now. There is. No question, Churchill. However, the in state college options in VA are one million times better than in Maryland. Taxes are a lot lower in Va too. Choose wisely. Marshall is a fine school.

If we are just comparing churchill to Marshall and not worrying about colleges or taxes, Churchill wins? Isn't it significantly more stressful and more grindy?

Churchill, hands down. It’s a great school with strong academics, tons of school spirit, and great sports. The community is super active and full of smart, well-rounded kids. Sure, there’s plenty of wealth, but most of the kids are just genuinely good. For some kids, it might feel a bit stressful at times, but it’s not one of those pressure-cooker schools where every kid is expected to chase after straight A’s and load up on APs.

Are the AP options better for college apps and just learning in general , compared to going to an IB program like at Marshall? Daughter needs help honing her research and long format writing skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in moco and live in Va now. There is. No question, Churchill. However, the in state college options in VA are one million times better than in Maryland. Taxes are a lot lower in Va too. Choose wisely. Marshall is a fine school.

If we are just comparing churchill to Marshall and not worrying about colleges or taxes, Churchill wins? Isn't it significantly more stressful and more grindy?

Churchill, hands down. It’s a great school with strong academics, tons of school spirit, and great sports. The community is super active and full of smart, well-rounded kids. Sure, there’s plenty of wealth, but most of the kids are just genuinely good. For some kids, it might feel a bit stressful at times, but it’s not one of those pressure-cooker schools where every kid is expected to chase after straight A’s and load up on APs.

Are the AP options better for college apps and just learning in general , compared to going to an IB program like at Marshall? Daughter needs help honing her research and long format writing skills.

Churchill (and MCPS generally) won't help with that. This is my biggest disappointment-- very little in the way of long form writing, research projects. In fact, I can't think of anything my kids have written that's more than a few pages. It's mostly about short writing tailored to AP testing expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard of Marshall but my kids have gone to Churchill. I've spoken with quite a number of in my neighborhood here who regret not buying their house in Virginia to take advantage of in-state at UVA and WM. Some seriously considering moving for this reason. UMD is quite good, but not as good as UVA. More than that, Virginia has a number of good universities if you don't like/don't get into UVA but in MD, UMD is pretty much the only one most of my circle would be excited about. My kids have seriously considered William & Mary (I'd prefer that over UMD due to school size) but it comes out being twice as expensive out of state. The other publics in MD are quite a step down from UMD. (Note that UMD is getting quite difficult to get into from Churchill-- I know some kids with 1500+SATs getting rejected because they don't want to fill their whole class with W school kids so the lack of depth makes a difference.).

Most students at Churchill and most people living in Potomac are not aiming for state schools.
Cool story, though.

Oh Jeez if this is what Churchill people are like I would prefer Marshall

Let's be for real. Most NOVA kids aren't aiming for state schools either. THe typical HS UMC or MC kid is looking to go out of state. NOVA kids aren't aspiring to go to JMU.

Most are, as their parents.