What is Poolesville MS and HS really like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Totally off topic, but as someone from the Bay Area, when I first moved here and saw that sign on the 270 fwy, I chuckled.

Back to the topic at hand.. I've heard good things about Poolesville HS. Always ranked really high in MD and nationally. I thought about moving there for the school, but it's a bit too rural for me.

Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard many W parents say this. It's ironic, given that W schools are also among the least diverse in the county, assuming one counts Asians as not diverse, because Poolesville is one third Asian. I think there is a classism element to this criticism. There is a misperception of Poolesville as a community being a backward redneck place, but somehow it's OK to segregate yourself in Bethesda or Chevy Chase with other UMC white people. Poolesville has a lot of well educated families working in MoCo and the 270 tech corridor, people with Ph.D.s, etc.

Poolesville is technically more affluent than Bethesda. It has a median household income of $180,524, and Bethesda is $164,142. In my experience, W families just don’t want to admit that there is a school in upcounty that can be just as good as their school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

And yet it still has a higher GS rating than North Bethesda MS and the same GS rating as Westland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poolesville HS has a different background than the W schools. It was a decent middle-of-the-road school that leaped ahead in stats over the past 15 years after it introduced its magnet programs.

15 years ago is a long time. Poolesville has the rankings on paper, as do Blair and Richard Montgomery. They have been attracting a lot of educated families to their own attendance areas since then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The HS is top notch.[/qu

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard many W parents say this. It's ironic, given that W schools are also among the least diverse in the county, assuming one counts Asians as not diverse, because Poolesville is one third Asian. I think there is a classism element to this criticism. There is a misperception of Poolesville as a community being a backward redneck place, but somehow it's OK to segregate yourself in Bethesda or Chevy Chase with other UMC white people. Poolesville has a lot of well educated families working in MoCo and the 270 tech corridor, people with Ph.D.s, etc.

Poolesville is technically more affluent than Bethesda. It has a median household income of $180,524, and Bethesda is $164,142. In my experience, W families just don’t want to admit that there is a school in upcounty that can be just as good as their school.

Nope. Not that. We spent many hours out that way. Horseback riding. The local community is white as they come and Trumpy. Conspiracies all over the place. Problems with racism at the school still.

While the Magnet part is good, not worth sitting on the bus or long drive. Yes, the stats have improved, would not send my kids there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

And yet it still has a higher GS rating than North Bethesda MS and the same GS rating as Westland.

"And yet" what?

North Bethesda MS: 56% white, 8% qualify for FARMs
Westland MS: 59% white, 8% qualify for FARMs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

And yet it still has a higher GS rating than North Bethesda MS and the same GS rating as Westland.

"And yet" what?

North Bethesda MS: 56% white, 8% qualify for FARMs
Westland MS: 59% white, 8% qualify for FARMs

If you’re going to use FARMS rate as a measure, 10% of John Poole students qualify for them, so that doesn’t really help your argument. Black and Hispanic students make up 21% of the students at North Bethesda MS, 25% at Westland MS, and 18% at John Poole. They don’t differ much in that regard either. Not to mention that John Poole has far more Black/Hispanic students than a lot of the other W feeder middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does the PP mean?

white?

It is among the least diverse high-schools in the county.

I have heard many W parents say this. It's ironic, given that W schools are also among the least diverse in the county, assuming one counts Asians as not diverse, because Poolesville is one third Asian. I think there is a classism element to this criticism. There is a misperception of Poolesville as a community being a backward redneck place, but somehow it's OK to segregate yourself in Bethesda or Chevy Chase with other UMC white people. Poolesville has a lot of well educated families working in MoCo and the 270 tech corridor, people with Ph.D.s, etc.

Poolesville HS is 33% Asian-American mostly because of the magnet program. John Poole MS is 7% Asian-American, Poolesville ES is 7% Asian-American, and Monocacy ES (with 150 or so students) is <5% Asian-American.

Also, pejoratives aside (and whataboutery aside), it's not a misperception. There are definitely those aspects to Poolesville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard many W parents say this. It's ironic, given that W schools are also among the least diverse in the county, assuming one counts Asians as not diverse, because Poolesville is one third Asian. I think there is a classism element to this criticism. There is a misperception of Poolesville as a community being a backward redneck place, but somehow it's OK to segregate yourself in Bethesda or Chevy Chase with other UMC white people. Poolesville has a lot of well educated families working in MoCo and the 270 tech corridor, people with Ph.D.s, etc.

Poolesville is technically more affluent than Bethesda. It has a median household income of $180,524, and Bethesda is $164,142. In my experience, W families just don’t want to admit that there is a school in upcounty that can be just as good as their school.

Nope. Not that. We spent many hours out that way. Horseback riding. The local community is white as they come and Trumpy. Conspiracies all over the place. Problems with racism at the school still.

While the Magnet part is good, not worth sitting on the bus or long drive. Yes, the stats have improved, would not send my kids there.

Is this really Trump county? We were thinking that it may be a bit more progressive because of its proximity to DMV area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

And yet it still has a higher GS rating than North Bethesda MS and the same GS rating as Westland.

"And yet" what?

North Bethesda MS: 56% white, 8% qualify for FARMs
Westland MS: 59% white, 8% qualify for FARMs

If you’re going to use FARMS rate as a measure, 10% of John Poole students qualify for them, so that doesn’t really help your argument. Black and Hispanic students make up 21% of the students at North Bethesda MS, 25% at Westland MS, and 18% at John Poole. They don’t differ much in that regard either. Not to mention that John Poole has far more Black/Hispanic students than a lot of the other W feeder middle schools.

What argument are you talking about? The one where half of the students at Poolesville HS are at Poolesville HS because they got admitted to the magnet programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard many W parents say this. It's ironic, given that W schools are also among the least diverse in the county, assuming one counts Asians as not diverse, because Poolesville is one third Asian. I think there is a classism element to this criticism. There is a misperception of Poolesville as a community being a backward redneck place, but somehow it's OK to segregate yourself in Bethesda or Chevy Chase with other UMC white people. Poolesville has a lot of well educated families working in MoCo and the 270 tech corridor, people with Ph.D.s, etc.

Poolesville is technically more affluent than Bethesda. It has a median household income of $180,524, and Bethesda is $164,142. In my experience, W families just don’t want to admit that there is a school in upcounty that can be just as good as their school.

Nope. Not that. We spent many hours out that way. Horseback riding. The local community is white as they come and Trumpy. Conspiracies all over the place. Problems with racism at the school still.

While the Magnet part is good, not worth sitting on the bus or long drive. Yes, the stats have improved, would not send my kids there.

Is this really Trump county? We were thinking that it may be a bit more progressive because of its proximity to DMV area.

DP. No, the only precincts Trump won in 2020 are 12-01 and 12-02, in the way north corner of Montgomery County. But there are a lot of Republicans, by Montgomery County standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Totally off topic, but as someone from the Bay Area, when I first moved here and saw that sign on the 270 fwy, I chuckled.

Back to the topic at hand.. I've heard good things about Poolesville HS. Always ranked really high in MD and nationally. I thought about moving there for the school, but it's a bit too rural for me.

Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

get over it. There are many schools that are mostly white all over this country that don't do as well as Poolesville. And yes, the school is ranked highly because there are a lot of smart students there. Duh.

-non Poolesville parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Totally off topic, but as someone from the Bay Area, when I first moved here and saw that sign on the 270 fwy, I chuckled.

Back to the topic at hand.. I've heard good things about Poolesville HS. Always ranked really high in MD and nationally. I thought about moving there for the school, but it's a bit too rural for me.

Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

get over it. There are many schools that are mostly white all over this country that don't do as well as Poolesville. And yes, the school is ranked highly because there are a lot of smart students there. Duh.

-non Poolesville parent

Get over what?

Also: yes, as you say, Poolesville HS is ranked highly because when half of the students at a school, are there because of their high test scores, then that school will have high average school test scores. It would be weird if it didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Totally off topic, but as someone from the Bay Area, when I first moved here and saw that sign on the 270 fwy, I chuckled.

Back to the topic at hand.. I've heard good things about Poolesville HS. Always ranked really high in MD and nationally. I thought about moving there for the school, but it's a bit too rural for me.

Yes, that's what happens when half of the student body is magnet students who got admitted due to high standardized test scores.

For comparison, John Poole MS is 69% white, and 13% of students qualify for FARMs.

get over it. There are many schools that are mostly white all over this country that don't do as well as Poolesville. And yes, the school is ranked highly because there are a lot of smart students there. Duh.

-non Poolesville parent

Get over what?

Also: yes, as you say, Poolesville HS is ranked highly because when half of the students at a school, are there because of their high test scores, then that school will have high average school test scores. It would be weird if it didn't.

Those magnet kids are still all upcounty kids, and it’s all upcounty academic talent. “Half the school population” is a GROSS over-exaggeration. It’s more like 1/4, if that. Plenty of other schools have magnets too, and they don’t rank like Poolesville. B-CC has an IB program and yet it still ranks lower despite it being a much wealthier school. John Poole Middle has the same rating as Westland despite having more students receiving FARMS and similar percentages of Hispanic/Black students. Just take the L.