In-boundary schools worth considering?

[Anonymous]

OP -- the "selective" schools like School Without Walls still have a public school vibe.

[Anonymous]

What about Washington Leadership Academy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about Washington Leadership Academy?

Doesn't seem to apply to OP since it doesn't have in-boundary. It also doesn't have selective admissions like McKinley or Walls or Banneker because it's a public charter school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson has by far the highest test scores. I think a motivated kid can do fine at other schools so long as they aren't distracted by a majority of kids working below grade level. For example, Eastern has an International Baccalaureate program. A smart and focused kid who will do well anywhere might do well there and would stand out.

But Wilson is certainly the safest bet for having a larger group of kids working at grade level. It's also bigger than the other high schools so there are more electives and extracurriculars offered. There are charters and magnet schools too but you'd need to see how the lottery goes.

Are charters and magnet schools different from selective schools? I'm obviously still very early on in my planning, so Google is my friend, but can't hurt to ask!

People use different words to describe them, but magnet schools are test-in schools like School Without Walls, Banneker and Duke Ellington. Anyone can apply but there is selective admission criteria. Charters are city-wide schools. There are no selective admission criteria, but you need to lottery for a spot, as there are often more applicants than available slots.

McKinley Tech could b a good fit for OP.

Watch out. We know a couple white families at McKinley Tech. The school's teachers, college counselors and admins cheer when kids score 3s on AP math and sciences, all but useless scores for white kids applying to competitive colleges. Those kids need 4s and 5s on AP. The program serves low SES minorities who are welcome at elite colleges with 3s on AP tests.

Whoever wrote this knows next to nothing about college admissions. No kid -- white or otherwise -- "needs 4s and 5s on AP." AP exam score barely count AT ALL for college admissions. After all, most students take half or more of their AP classes in the senior year -- and don't even have their exam scores until after they've already been admitted to college. What's important is that you take AP classes, not that you ace the exams.

[Anonymous]

What are you smoking, PP?

BASIS DC students routinely apply to college bringing half a dozen 4s or 5s on AP exams to the table, and they're hardly alone. Roughly one-third of BASIS students start taking APs in 8th grade. By the time they apply to college in October or January of senior year, they're not short on 4s and 5s on APs. Same story in many suburban high schools and DC privates. DCPS aims far too low in college admissions as a system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson has by far the highest test scores. I think a motivated kid can do fine at other schools so long as they aren't distracted by a majority of kids working below grade level. For example, Eastern has an International Baccalaureate program. A smart and focused kid who will do well anywhere might do well there and would stand out.

But Wilson is certainly the safest bet for having a larger group of kids working at grade level. It's also bigger than the other high schools so there are more electives and extracurriculars offered. There are charters and magnet schools too but you'd need to see how the lottery goes.

Are charters and magnet schools different from selective schools? I'm obviously still very early on in my planning, so Google is my friend, but can't hurt to ask!

People use different words to describe them, but magnet schools are test-in schools like School Without Walls, Banneker and Duke Ellington. Anyone can apply but there is selective admission criteria. Charters are city-wide schools. There are no selective admission criteria, but you need to lottery for a spot, as there are often more applicants than available slots.

McKinley Tech could b a good fit for OP.

Watch out. We know a couple white families at McKinley Tech. The school's teachers, college counselors and admins cheer when kids score 3s on AP math and sciences, all but useless scores for white kids applying to competitive colleges. Those kids need 4s and 5s on AP. The program serves low SES minorities who are welcome at elite colleges with 3s on AP tests.

Whoever wrote this knows next to nothing about college admissions. No kid -- white or otherwise -- "needs 4s and 5s on AP." AP exam score barely count AT ALL for college admissions. After all, most students take half or more of their AP classes in the senior year -- and don't even have their exam scores until after they've already been admitted to college. What's important is that you take AP classes, not that you ace the exams.

Whoever wrote this knows next to nothing about getting into colleges admitting in the single digits or teens, e.g. Yale, Stanford, MIT, Univ of Chicago, Georgetown, a military academy. "Most students" don't apply to these sort of colleges. Average students are fine with not submitting AP scores, or International Baccalaureate Diploma exam scores, with college applications. What's important is that families know which type of colleges they're aiming for, and what type of prep is needed to present a competitive application for a particular profile of student (e.g. UMC and white or Asian vs. low SES and minority).

[Anonymous]

If you are black, send your kids to a private school with a well-curated black population so that they can experience a critical mass of same race academic peers sometime before college, which is almost impossible anywhere w/in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Washington Leadership Academy?

Doesn't seem to apply to OP since it doesn't have in-boundary. It also doesn't have selective admissions like McKinley or Walls or Banneker because it's a public charter school.

OP here - I'm reading and appreciating all of these. We are not of means -- I'm a social worker & dad's an account manager, but we're pretty determined to live inside the beltway. I will be exploring what charter schools are worth a damn (open to that input, too!), and will be applying to the selective schools, but I like the knowledge base of in-boundary options just in case we get lucky enough to find a place within the boundaries of a good one.

Thank you and still reading!

[Anonymous]

Also OP here - it looks like Wilson's boundaries are enormous - almost a third of the city. Could that be correct? If so, it must be a giant school to pull from so many. Also if so, finding a place to live within that boundary should not be as difficult as it sounded before I checked the boundary. Correct me if I'm interpreting the city's maps incorrectly.

[Anonymous]

Wilson is your best bet.

[Anonymous]

Walls is also a good bet but this year they did not administer an entrance exam so admissions were a crap shoot and basically a lottery of any kid who had a 3.5 or greater (basically anyone with a pulse in DCPS). No one know if they wok resume the admissions test next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also OP here - it looks like Wilson's boundaries are enormous - almost a third of the city. Could that be correct? If so, it must be a giant school to pull from so many. Also if so, finding a place to live within that boundary should not be as difficult as it sounded before I checked the boundary. Correct me if I'm interpreting the city's maps incorrectly.

Wilson has a very large catchment area, and is a large school, I wouldn't call it giant though, it has about 500 students per class. You can certainly find a place to live within the catchment area, tradeoffs like anything else. There are plenty of decent charters too, though for some of the best ones, slots are mostly only available starting in 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Wilson is it . For test in Banneker, Walls, Ellington is interviews and then charters like Washington Latin (lottery, few spots until they expand and even then...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are you smoking, PP?

BASIS DC students routinely apply to college bringing half a dozen 4s or 5s on AP exams to the table, and they're hardly alone. Roughly one-third of BASIS students start taking APs in 8th grade. By the time they apply to college in October or January of senior year, they're not short on 4s and 5s on APs. Same story in many suburban high schools and DC privates. DCPS aims far too low in college admissions as a system.

BASIS DC students are bringing 4’s and 5’s on AP’s but many of these supposedly brilliant students are having problems in college, changing majors, and even quitting. As a matter of fact, 2 top class of 2017 students recently
graduated from College without honors or any type of distinction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also OP here - it looks like Wilson's boundaries are enormous - almost a third of the city. Could that be correct? If so, it must be a giant school to pull from so many. Also if so, finding a place to live within that boundary should not be as difficult as it sounded before I checked the boundary. Correct me if I'm interpreting the city's maps incorrectly.

Wilson has a very large catchment area, and is a large school, I wouldn't call it giant though, it has about 500 students per class. You can certainly find a place to live within the catchment area, tradeoffs like anything else. There are plenty of decent charters too, though for some of the best ones, slots are mostly only available starting in 5th grade.

Come on, plenty of decent charters for preschool and pre-k, maybe elementary, but certainly not for middle and high school.

It's really just BASIS, Washington Latin (essentially only admitting for 5th grade) and maybe DCI.