DCC residents - what are your plans for high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What are reasons a student would prefer Einstein over Northwood (or vice versa)? The (apparently non-existent) academies or friends or ???

My kid will be at Einstein next year but is starting to talk about switching to Northwood because of friends who'll be there. (I don't think incoming freshmen can switch at this stage, though).
The IB program at Einstein is a big draw. The test scores are decent and the list of colleges that IB graduates attend is, surprisingly, as good as Blair CAP's (in fact, better, in the most recent list).
The music/arts are great and many sports seem to be good enough at Einstein for the teams to have successful seasons but still accessible so that kids who aren't on the way to becoming professional athletes can play.
I just don't know that much about Northwood's academics or what extra-curriculars are good there.

My kid is in eighth grade next year - half of the friend group is zoned for Einstein, the other Northwood. I want to help guide the choice by inspiring school opportunities vs. friends.

It's always nice to go in with a friend but friend groups tend to reshuffle with the school change anyway. But, my daughter's a junior and she's still sorry her best friend ended up somewhere else. The Northwood open house in the fall will be helpful, I was able to spend time talking to several teachers.

[Anonymous]

And what about if they remove the rich, white kids from Whitman and Churchill; or if they remove the white and Asian kids from Wootton, would they be different from other schools? What would be their GS ratings?
Oops, I forgot, Whitman is a former GS 4 rating.


Black students at Churchill are performing better than white and Asian students at Kennedy.


I have the data to back this up. In 2017, 83 Black students at Churchill took AP exams. 66.3% of them scored a 3 or higher. The same year, 41 Asian students took AP exams at Kennedy. Only 41.5% scored a 3 or higher. Fewer than 20 White students at Kennedy took AP exams. 50% scored a 3 or higher.

It's all on p. 18
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/shareda...articipation%20Performance.pdf

OK but Churchill and Wootton are 10/9 schools. DCC schools are all 4-7 rungs below which is a big difference. I'm sure that the academics at Sidwell are better than the DCC schools too but so what? Its not a fair comparison when the OP is considering which school within the DCC to choose. The differences between Kennedy, Blair, Einstein, Northwood and Wheaton is negligible.

[Anonymous]

The demographics are not that different within the DCC. There are large houses on nice lots and newer McMansion style builds zoned to Kennedy. Its just further out and much much cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The demographics are not that different within the DCC. There are large houses on nice lots and newer McMansion style builds zoned to Kennedy. Its just further out and much much cheaper.

Exactly and simple averages like GS only serves to identify which high-schools draw a higher percentage of rich kids. A better, refined analysis looks at the granular data. When you isolate for race which is proxy a for socioeconomic status there is not much of a disparity between the performance of kids of the same backgrounds across these schools. For example, when you compare average SAT scores for MCPS schools for a larger demographic common to all these schools the great schools narrative begins to fall apart and it becomes clear they're not all that different.

Blair 1326
Walter Johnson 1275
Wooton 1262
Churchill 1257
Wheaton 1173
Einstein 1148

[Anonymous]

20:12 - something is very wrong with your scores. You inflated Blair, deflated Churchill, and slightly inflated Wheaton.

Here are the SAT scores available at Niche.com

Churchill 1330
Blair 1270
Einstein and Wheaton 1150

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:12 - something is very wrong with your scores. You inflated Blair, deflated Churchill, and slightly inflated Wheaton.

Here are the SAT scores available at Niche.com

Churchill 1330
Blair 1270
Einstein and Wheaton 1150

I think that the PP might have used subgroup scores for white people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:12 - something is very wrong with your scores. You inflated Blair, deflated Churchill, and slightly inflated Wheaton.

Here are the SAT scores available at Niche.com

Churchill 1330
Blair 1270
Einstein and Wheaton 1150

The PP's intent was to look past simple averages that GS uses which serve only to identify which high-schools draw a higher percentage of rich kids., and provide a better, refined analysis that looks at the granular data.

When you isolate for race which is proxy a for socioeconomic status there is not much of a disparity between the performance of kids of the same backgrounds across these schools.

For example, when you compare average SAT scores for MCPS schools for a larger demographic common to all these schools the great schools narrative begins to fall apart and it becomes clear they're not all that different.

Blair 1326
Walter Johnson 1275
Wooton 1262
Churchill 1257
Wheaton 1173
Einstein 1148

The data is for the largest cohort common to the aforementioned schools on page 10.
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2017/1771102HS%20Princ_SAT%20Partic_Perf%20Class%20of%202017.pdf

[Anonymous]

Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

You know, one of the things that always surprises me the most about DCUM is this right here - this SMUGNESS of a certain group of parents, and the unkindness they show folks who aren't exactly like them.

You would think that having all of the things go *right* enough to be living in the richest part of one of the richest areas of the country would be enough for them. But somehow it isn't. They have to taunt people who didn't have everything go right, or who made other choices, or who started out in a completely different place.

I always wonder what it feels like to be PP. What's the motivation for this kind of mocking? How do you get so insecure when you have so much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

0.223 x 2,952 = 658 kids

I will note, also, that the percentage of white kids at Blair is higher than the percentage of white kids at my kid's high school, Clarksburg (21.6%).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

The majority of the kids in the magnet are not white...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

You know, one of the things that always surprises me the most about DCUM is this right here - this SMUGNESS of a certain group of parents, and the unkindness they show folks who aren't exactly like them.

You would think that having all of the things go *right* enough to be living in the richest part of one of the richest areas of the country would be enough for them. But somehow it isn't. They have to taunt people who didn't have everything go right, or who made other choices, or who started out in a completely different place.

I always wonder what it feels like to be PP. What's the motivation for this kind of mocking? How do you get so insecure when you have so much?

+1 And they base their arguments on opinion or what they think is happening without facts. Please show us the data that says white kids at Blair how low graduation rates or not prepared for college, lol!? You think white kids at Blair or Einstein are "getting distracted" and not taking the SATs?

I'm done with this thread-- the smug stupidity is too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

Have you ever even been near Blair or Einstein? Have you ever met anyone who goes here? Here we have parents of kids at Blair and Einstein telling you it's working well for their kids, they're learning, they're going to good colleges, and you appear to be looking only at a GreatSchools website from your computer 5 miles away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

Agree with the previous two posters. But just add, no one needs to rationalize, the OP asked parents for their experience with the DCC HSs and if they chose to avoid them. But for some reason around here that's an invitation for someone with no experience to comb through test scores and push pet theories. I've lived in the DCC for twenty years and I just haven't heard horror stories of kids from educated families falling through the cracks--parents are quite satisfied with the HS outcomes, and nearly everyone has colleagues and family members in other parts of the county that they can compare notes with--this isn't a bubble.

The one exception is Hispanic professionals--every family I've met has moved their kids to private or left the area by MS age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair’s is spiked by haveing so few white kids and many of the ones that are there are shipped in for the magnet. You would also need to show, graduation rates and college readiness % to get a clear picture. The SAT is voluntary and many of the kids that get distracted hanging out with kids that never had any intent on graduating don’t take it.

While they look similar (sort of) it really just the motivated kids typically do similar but the ratio of those kids is much smaller. That is basically 98% of Whitman where that is like 20% of Einstein. The kids that fall though the cracks and don’t take the test and aren’t counted. Ok now try and rationalize how Einstein has some of the lowest graduation rates and SAT scores in the county but is still good for white kids.

You know, one of the things that always surprises me the most about DCUM is this right here - this SMUGNESS of a certain group of parents, and the unkindness they show folks who aren't exactly like them.

You would think that having all of the things go *right* enough to be living in the richest part of one of the richest areas of the country would be enough for them. But somehow it isn't. They have to taunt people who didn't have everything go right, or who made other choices, or who started out in a completely different place.

I always wonder what it feels like to be PP. What's the motivation for this kind of mocking? How do you get so insecure when you have so much?

+1 And they base their arguments on opinion or what they think is happening without facts. Please show us the data that says white kids at Blair how low graduation rates or not prepared for college, lol!? You think white kids at Blair or Einstein are "getting distracted" and not taking the SATs?

I'm done with this thread-- the smug stupidity is too much.

Yeah, and the percentage of White students taking the SAT is only 55% at Whitman. Hmm, ACT anyone? This is not evidence of falling through cracks.