NMSFs in DC 2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love that almost as many public school students as private school students got the NMSF.

I think this is likely a reflection of the current reality that students who test well attend many different schools in the DC area.

Well, 13 public and 26 private. But that’s certainly a far cry from the 2017 list that’s been floating around that had 3 public and 33 private.

Well, and the other question is how many of the private school students live in DC.

can't say for all the schools, but for a couple of the schools on the list, residency is like 40% DC, 60% outside.

Also MacArthur made the list with almost no students in that class. It has the highest share right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls PARCC/CAPE scores:

2018-19 /exam/84.1% (4+ math)/93.4% (4+ ELA)

2023-24/no exam/67.8% (4+ math)/97% (4+ ELA)

ELA seems about the same but math is definitely lower.

There are no decent public options to Walls in DC (other than BASIS DC, which you can't get into after 5th grade) and it only cherry picks A students, so the fact that Walls has some NMS/top students doesn't necessarily mean that the overall school quality hasn't decreased.

A measure of change in Math standards may be that 2018/19 SWW had 0/0% students taking Algebra I PARCC and 2024/25 SWW has 18/ 11% students taking Algebra I CAPE.

Algebra 1 in 9th grade is a remedial math track that gets you to preCal in 12th, correct?

Why are these students even considered for Walls, let alone got in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls PARCC/CAPE scores:

2018-19 /exam/84.1% (4+ math)/93.4% (4+ ELA)

2023-24/no exam/67.8% (4+ math)/97% (4+ ELA)

ELA seems about the same but math is definitely lower.

There are no decent public options to Walls in DC (other than BASIS DC, which you can't get into after 5th grade) and it only cherry picks A students, so the fact that Walls has some NMS/top students doesn't necessarily mean that the overall school quality hasn't decreased.

A measure of change in Math standards may be that 2018/19 SWW had 0/0% students taking Algebra I PARCC and 2024/25 SWW has 18/ 11% students taking Algebra I CAPE.

Algebra 1 in 9th grade is a remedial math track that gets you to preCal in 12th, correct?

Why are these students even considered for Walls, let alone got in?

Get the PCSB to mandate Algebra I in every 8th grade and maybe you’ll have an argument. As it is, many schools don’t offer Algebra I until 9th, no matter how smart an individual kid might be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls PARCC/CAPE scores:

2018-19 /exam/84.1% (4+ math)/93.4% (4+ ELA)

2023-24/no exam/67.8% (4+ math)/97% (4+ ELA)

ELA seems about the same but math is definitely lower.

There are no decent public options to Walls in DC (other than BASIS DC, which you can't get into after 5th grade) and it only cherry picks A students, so the fact that Walls has some NMS/top students doesn't necessarily mean that the overall school quality hasn't decreased.

A measure of change in Math standards may be that 2018/19 SWW had 0/0% students taking Algebra I PARCC and 2024/25 SWW has 18/ 11% students taking Algebra I CAPE.

Algebra 1 in 9th grade is a remedial math track that gets you to preCal in 12th, correct?

Why are these students even considered for Walls, let alone got in?

Get the PCSB to mandate Algebra I in every 8th grade and maybe you’ll have an argument. As it is, many schools don’t offer Algebra I until 9th, no matter how smart an individual kid might be.

The PCSB is not the issue. The issue is that the kids in DC do so poorly in math that at many schools there is no cohort even able to do Algebra 1 by 8th grade. There may be an individual smart kid but no cohort.

This is due to social promotion and OSSE refusal to do any type of G & T or tracking starting in elementary. The problem is not that schools don’t offer it. The problem is that there is no pathway for poor, smart kids at poorly performing schools.

Regardless, clearly standards have been lowered when you have kids at Walls coming in on a remedial math track. That would not happen if the entrance testing was still offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

In DC public schools, I believe this is more related to individual student effort and prepping, than a reflection on the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

Obviously the reason is that DC-based schools like Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are sub-par institutions that have never and could never send even one student to a T20 college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

Obviously the reason is that DC-based schools like Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are sub-par institutions that have never and could never send even one student to a T20 college.

Or more likely that Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are full of rich kids who are legacies who have hooks to get into T20 colleges despite having poorer academic performance than many of their public school peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

Obviously the reason is that DC-based schools like Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are sub-par institutions that have never and could never send even one student to a T20 college.

Or more likely that Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are full of rich kids who are legacies who have hooks to get into T20 colleges despite having poorer academic performance than many of their public school peers.

Keep telling yourself that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

Obviously the reason is that DC-based schools like Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are sub-par institutions that have never and could never send even one student to a T20 college.

Or more likely that Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are full of rich kids who are legacies who have hooks to get into T20 colleges despite having poorer academic performance than many of their public school peers.

Keep telling yourself that.

I will--because it's true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone just posted list on private school forum:

BASIS (2)
Edmund Burke (1)
DC International School (1)
Georgetown Day School (4)
Georgetown Visitation (2)
Jackson-Reed (3)
MacArthur HS (1)
Maret (1)
National Cathedral School (5)
School Without Walls (3)
Sidwell Friends (4)
St Albans (2)
St Anselm's Abbey (3)
St John's College HS (1)
Washington International (1)
Washington Latin Public Charter (3)

Interesting...usually Sidwell has nearly double digits. NCS had a banner year. Latin did well this year. The BASIS folks must be unhappy.

What's interesting is private schools with 0 NMSFs. Gonzaga and Field off the top of my head.

Why would BASIS be unhappy? They have (by far) the smallest senior class of any of these schools but still had 2 kids who are NMS...about 3% of the class was NMS.

Because BASIS is founded on doing well on standardized tests. If that's core to your identity, then you expect much higher numbers.

Core to its identity? No.

BASIS doesn't emphasize the PSAT. Nor does any of the Big 3.

We all all know that the kids who do well are self-prepping or getting tutors, and a smart, driven kid anywhere can do well on the test.

You really think that J-R is almost the same level/quality as Sidwell or GDS just because J-R has 3 NMS and Sidwell and GDS 4?

Why are we now comparing JR to Sidwell or GDS? Nobody has done that.

BASIS cares far more than any other school about standardized tests and many BASIS people disparage Latin. This is comparing one charter school against another.

NP. First off, how or why do you think BASIS cares about standardized tests? There is no admission test, there is no PSAT class or test prep, they don't spend any time prepping for CAPE. It's a pressure cooker and many other things, but you've simply made up this point.

Second, I've been on DCUM for a very long time and I can't recall once any parent disparaging Latin That's not happening anywhere but inside your own head.

Finally, no one other than you is comparing Latin and BASIS. The point the poster to whom you are responding made went way the heck over your head. They were explaining to you how silly it is to try and illustrate the quality of an education based on NMSF numbers. Their point was that to do so you'd have to argue that GDS and Sidwell are indistinguishable from J-R. Which is silly. But you completely missed the point.

Take a breath, defensive Latin parent. You seem really insecure.

I'm a different parent who doesn't have a student at Latin or Basis (neither of my kids applied to either so I truly have no horse in this race) but there is at least one particular poster who seems to go around many different threads and calls Latin "mid." Then gives many different reason why he or she doesn't like Latin. For example, in the recent USNWR thread, this was done many, many times. So, they are not, in fact, making this up.

Except that it was multiple posters saying that Latin is a great school but didn’t have any big standout things to differentiate it from basis or walls for example. It seems to work for most children. I don’t know that I would describe that as a bad thing. There is a lot of defensiveness that I noticed and I don’t have a dog in this fight either. Latin seems like a really great place but no one has to defend your decision to send your children there either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love that almost as many public school students as private school students got the NMSF.

I think this is likely a reflection of the current reality that students who test well attend many different schools in the DC area.

Well, 13 public and 26 private. But that’s certainly a far cry from the 2017 list that’s been floating around that had 3 public and 33 private.

Well, and the other question is how many of the private school students live in DC.

NMSF is done by location of the school, not students.

All the DC public NMSF live in DC but many of the DC private school NMSF may live in VA or MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

Obviously the reason is that DC-based schools like Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are sub-par institutions that have never and could never send even one student to a T20 college.

Or more likely that Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are full of rich kids who are legacies who have hooks to get into T20 colleges despite having poorer academic performance than many of their public school peers.

Nonsense. Not a secret that the main reason that so many DC students are admitted to T20 colleges (including the Ivy Plus subset) is that the city has unusually good private schools. Poorer academic performance doesn't explain why these kids may beat out public school peers. My own children went to one of the highest performing DCPS elementary schools EotP all the way up. They were somewhat challenged in math, but the ELA writing instruction on offer wasn't just weak, it was hopeless. By the upper grades, we were hiring writing tutors. We switched to parochial for middle school, and they were so far behind in writing that they struggled in English. A jurisdiction like DC without formal GT programs, or a law on GT education, can only do so much to prep students to compete with GDS, NCS, STA and others in college admission. BASIS certainly tries, but their crappy facilities, weak electives and largely inexperienced teachers drive out most of their student talent before HS. Walls has been hamstrung by affirmative action admissions in recent years. Latin doesn't aim high (but a few of its seniors do).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HB Woodlawn, a public school in Arlington that you don’t test into, only has 100 seniors and more NMSF than any school in DC, public or private. Interesting.

lol. cutoffs are different across the board. for example mechanically it is likely that TJ will have more than all DC combined.

They're not that different. This year DC is 225 and DC and MD are at 224. Yes, slightly easier with that 1 point, but does not explain why one school will have 2 NMSFs while another will have 13.

Obviously the reason is that DC-based schools like Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are sub-par institutions that have never and could never send even one student to a T20 college.

Or more likely that Sidwell, GDS, NCS and STA are full of rich kids who are legacies who have hooks to get into T20 colleges despite having poorer academic performance than many of their public school peers.

Nonsense. Not a secret that the main reason that so many DC students are admitted to T20 colleges (including the Ivy Plus subset) is that the city has unusually good private schools. Poorer academic performance doesn't explain why these kids may beat out public school peers. My own children went to one of the highest performing DCPS elementary schools EotP all the way up. They were somewhat challenged in math, but the ELA writing instruction on offer wasn't just weak, it was hopeless. By the upper grades, we were hiring writing tutors. We switched to parochial for middle school, and they were so far behind in writing that they struggled in English. A jurisdiction like DC without formal GT programs, or a law on GT education, can only do so much to prep students to compete with GDS, NCS, STA and others in college admission. BASIS certainly tries, but their crappy facilities, weak electives and largely inexperienced teachers drive out most of their student talent before HS. Walls has been hamstrung by affirmative action admissions in recent years. Latin doesn't aim high (but a few of its seniors do).

Are you trying to say that your parochial middle school is on par with elite privates? Hilarious.

[Anonymous]

No, I'm not. I'm saying that DCPS doesn't challenge its brightest students all the way up, making it very difficult for them to compete with students from elite privates later on, and to emerge as NMSFs.