Montgomery Co. Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose Whitman and are very happy with it. Came in from a private school. It's certainly challenging but not what I would call a pressure cooker, at least compared to the kids we know in private schools. In fact there seem to be plenty of options for kids and you can mix challenging and less challenging classes by subject depending on strengths/interests. I think maybe for a kid who is taking all regular rather than honors/AP classes it might not be the best fit because those classes seem to be a bit more remedial and not that many kids take non honors classes. So you probably need to judge where your child would be in that mix.

I am having a hard time reconciling the idea that it's not a pressure cooker with the idea that not many kids take non honors classes.

Yes, this. My niece, who is not college-bound (and shouldn't be), has had a horrible time at Whitman. There is one mold there, and one mold only, and if you are not an honors-classes, college-bound, high-achievement kid, then you are in the Wrong Place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is a group of kids who gets the highest SAT scores in the state

My sense is that any school where this is part of the school's general self-perception is likely to be more of a pressure cooker than I would like (I say this having gone to a school very much like this, and having done very well etc.)

A few schools in MoCo have lots more NMSSFs - Richard Montgomery and Blair. Does this refer to the average score among all graduating seniors, or something like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is a group of kids who gets the highest SAT scores in the state

My sense is that any school where this is part of the school's general self-perception is likely to be more of a pressure cooker than I would like (I say this having gone to a school very much like this, and having done very well etc.)

A few schools in MoCo have lots more NMSSFs - Richard Montgomery and Blair. Does this refer to the average score among all graduating seniors, or something like that?

Its average SAT scores. NMSFs are PSAT scores. The scores for MCPS schools are all on the MCPS website. Here are the averages for last years seniors for a few of the schools being discussed:

Whitman 1872
Churchill 1813
Wooten 1808
Richard Montgomery 1794
Poolesville 1728
WJ 1722
Blair 1702

[Anonymous]

Here are the NMSF stats.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase: 8
Montgomery Blair: 40
Blake: 1
Winston Churchill: 13
Clarksburg: 1
Einstein: 1
Poolesville: 9
Quince Orchard: 2
Richard Montgomery: 30
Rockville: 1
Seneca Valley: 1
Springbrook: 3
Walter Johnson: 8
Walt Whitman: 24
Watkins Mill: 1
Wootton: 15

[Anonymous]

NMSFs are the top 1% based on PSAT scores - not sure whether by county or state. So in MoCo NFSFs need a PSAT score of 2200 or above.

[Anonymous]

My high school had 38 out of a total class of 100 kids. That was awhile ago, but I'm just sayin' ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are the NMSF stats.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase: 8
Montgomery Blair: 40
Blake: 1
Winston Churchill: 13
Clarksburg: 1
Einstein: 1
Poolesville: 9
Quince Orchard: 2
Richard Montgomery: 30
Rockville: 1
Seneca Valley: 1
Springbrook: 3
Walter Johnson: 8
Walt Whitman: 24
Watkins Mill: 1
Wootton: 15

I think this list may be a year or two old. Blair had 52 NMSFs last spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the NMSF stats.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase: 8
Montgomery Blair: 40
Blake: 1
Winston Churchill: 13
Clarksburg: 1
Einstein: 1
Poolesville: 9
Quince Orchard: 2
Richard Montgomery: 30
Rockville: 1
Seneca Valley: 1
Springbrook: 3
Walter Johnson: 8
Walt Whitman: 24
Watkins Mill: 1
Wootton: 15

I think this list may be a year or two old. Blair had 52 NMSFs last spring.

It is the list that was published about a week ago for this years seniors. It's on the MCPS website if you want to check. I just cut and paste it.

[Anonymous]

Here is the full text for the skeptics out there.

157 MCPS Students Are National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
September 15, 2010

There are 157 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in the 2011 competition, eight more than the previous year. The semifinalists will go on to compete nationally for scholarships that will be offered in the spring. The competition is sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The MCPS semifinalists come from 16 high schools. The schools and their number of semifinalists are:

Bethesda-Chevy Chase: 8
Montgomery Blair: 40
Blake: 1
Winston Churchill: 13
Clarksburg: 1
Einstein: 1
Poolesville: 9
Quince Orchard: 2
Richard Montgomery: 30
Rockville: 1
Seneca Valley: 1
Springbrook: 3
Walter Johnson: 8
Walt Whitman: 24
Watkins Mill: 1
Wootton: 15

Semifinalists from MCPS were selected from among high school juniors (now seniors) who were top scorers on the 2009 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Roughly 16,000 semifinalists across the nation will be considered for advancement to the finalist stage of the competition.

Finalists will be considered for $2,500 National Merit scholarships, plus additional corporate-sponsored and college/university-sponsored scholarships.

[Anonymous]

Why has the list been posted four times?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why has the list been posted four times?

Sorry, why did somebody post it *here* four times?

[Anonymous]

Well why not have the scores in one place?

Whitman: 1879
Churchill: 1824
Wootton: 1822
Poolesville: 1813
Richard Montgomery: 1759
Walter Johnson: 1754
BCC: 1734
Blair: 1727
Quince Orchard: 1633
Damascus: 1627
Sherwood: 1616
Rockville: 1601
Magruder: 1571
Northwest: 1550
Paint Branch: 1534
Seneca Valley: 1531
Blake: 1526
Springbrook: 1522
Einstein: 1517
Gaithersburg: 1496
Watkins Mill: 1493
Northwood: 1492
Clarksburg: 1491
Kennedy: 1445
Wheaton: 1395

[Anonymous]

No surprise here, this is just another example of how SAT scores correlate with household income. Those Whitman parents really pay for lots of SAT prep, don't they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No surprise here, this is just another example of how SAT scores correlate with household income. Those Whitman parents really pay for lots of SAT prep, don't they?

Probably - should they send their income on Nike sneakers for their kids instead?

The SATs at some of the lower-performing schools in MoCo increased substantially this past year, but the number of students taking the SATs at schools like Einstein actually declined. The "party line" was that more students were taking the ACTs instead, but one has to wonder whether some students were steered away from the SATs so Weast et al. could take credit for improving scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No surprise here, this is just another example of how SAT scores correlate with household income. Those Whitman parents really pay for lots of SAT prep, don't they?

Looks like a good argument for SAT prep then doesn't it...