Talk to me about McKinley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If McKinley were half as good as PP's claim, wouldn't the student body be a lot more diverse? Seriously, why is white enrollment in the single digits and Asian enrollment negligible?

So a school can’t be good if white people and Asian people aren’t there? What about Banneker? It’s always been majority African American, and it’s an excellent school. What about Howard U? If McKinley were in Chevy Chase or Georgetown but still the exact same school, same programs, same level of academics, same teachers, etc., it would be flooded with white parents. Non-families of color who don’t even know anything McKinley still trash talk it. And they see the student body make up and the location and say no way before even learning about the school. So please do stay away. Keep thinking it’s trash so that you don’t send your kid there, and then the school won’t have to deal with you. Also, why does every discussion of Banneker and McKinley have to go this route? This is not just racist—it’s boring and trite. Do better. Think more critically. And get over yourself.

I think the issue is that McKinley is objectively NOT at the level of Banneker or Howard. And of course most middle class black families in DC with high academic aspirations moved to PG long ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If McKinley were half as good as PP's claim, wouldn't the student body be a lot more diverse? Seriously, why is white enrollment in the single digits and Asian enrollment negligible?

So a school can’t be good if white people and Asian people aren’t there? What about Banneker? It’s always been majority African American, and it’s an excellent school. What about Howard U? If McKinley were in Chevy Chase or Georgetown but still the exact same school, same programs, same level of academics, same teachers, etc., it would be flooded with white parents. Non-families of color who don’t even know anything McKinley still trash talk it. And they see the student body make up and the location and say no way before even learning about the school. So please do stay away. Keep thinking it’s trash so that you don’t send your kid there, and then the school won’t have to deal with you. Also, why does every discussion of Banneker and McKinley have to go this route? This is not just racist—it’s boring and trite. Do better. Think more critically. And get over yourself.

I think the issue is that McKinley is objectively NOT at the level of Banneker or Howard. And of course most middle class black families in DC with high academic aspirations moved to PG long ago.

The PP (you?) said basically said that a school can’t be good if white it aside people aren’t interested. This comment is in response to that. And your comment about most middle class black families with high aspirations moving out is ridiculous. Not everyone can just move. So if they don’t, they don’t have high aspirations for their kid? And no McKinley is not Banneker, so what then? It’s just a terrible school by default? This is such nonsense. In this city, people think of schools as Ivy level or trash. There’s no level headed thinking, and most people comment on things they no nothing about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because of parents whose behavior looks for the sure thing then notes the collective dynamic that does not lead large numbers of them to engage.

People talk about a lot of sides of segregation and discrimination, I think somebody should look harder at this unwillingness to take a leap of faith away from status group herd behavior. Because in DC I think it’s very real.

My expectation is that the teachers teach the student body they have. If they have students with drive, experience, technical abilities, they can work with that. None of our kids are doing technically jaw dropping STEM work at 14.

Is your kid at McKinley? My experience so far “taking a leap of faith” at a “diverse” DCPS is that it is in no way academically where it should be, and I’m not willing to continue that into HS.

So you are at the school currently. You are a white family. You are not impressed and will be leaving? Please share more specifics about what about the school has not been good enough for your child.

Simply put the teachers feel no responsibility to prepare the kids for selective HS and college because 90% of the kids are not taking that route. Because of this the level of instruction is set much lower than at a school where more is expected. Kids permitted not to do work in class, to turn in 1-sentence answers. Teachers who just take the day off and let kids be on screens all class if they feel like it. Some teacher very good but overall little effort. A few teachers VERY bad in a way that would not be tolerated at a more affluent school.

Just to clarify. The poster a few comments back said they took the leap of faith and was unwilling to continue for HS. That suggests this comment is referring to their middle school and not McKinley Tech HS.

Yes I am PP and discussing MS. Which I think bears a lot more resemblance to HS than people’s experience in T1 elementary.

This thread is about the HS, which is entirely selective. Kids who cause trouble and have low grades will not get in to McKinley.

Come on. McKinley is not actually selective the way most people mean. Maybe it screens out the most serious behaviors which is a plus, I’ll give you that. But the test results really do speak for themselves.

I’m in the trenches now at a low performing MS and I’m telling you, it is 100% wishful thinking to believe that your kid is going to get a strong education at McKinley anywhere near like the public HS most DCUM parents attended. It has nothing to do with race because Banneker is great.

Some DC parents might be fine with this, and some kids who are naturally very self-motivated and winning might do fine. But no doubt about they will be behind where their suburban peers are when they start college. My nephews in high performing public schools start learning to write research papers and have classes devoted to study skills starting in 6th grade. Meanwhile in my kid’s 6th grade they are happy if the kids remained seated in class and expect three sentence responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because of parents whose behavior looks for the sure thing then notes the collective dynamic that does not lead large numbers of them to engage.

People talk about a lot of sides of segregation and discrimination, I think somebody should look harder at this unwillingness to take a leap of faith away from status group herd behavior. Because in DC I think it’s very real.

My expectation is that the teachers teach the student body they have. If they have students with drive, experience, technical abilities, they can work with that. None of our kids are doing technically jaw dropping STEM work at 14.

Is your kid at McKinley? My experience so far “taking a leap of faith” at a “diverse” DCPS is that it is in no way academically where it should be, and I’m not willing to continue that into HS.

So you are at the school currently. You are a white family. You are not impressed and will be leaving? Please share more specifics about what about the school has not been good enough for your child.

Simply put the teachers feel no responsibility to prepare the kids for selective HS and college because 90% of the kids are not taking that route. Because of this the level of instruction is set much lower than at a school where more is expected. Kids permitted not to do work in class, to turn in 1-sentence answers. Teachers who just take the day off and let kids be on screens all class if they feel like it. Some teacher very good but overall little effort. A few teachers VERY bad in a way that would not be tolerated at a more affluent school.

Just to clarify. The poster a few comments back said they took the leap of faith and was unwilling to continue for HS. That suggests this comment is referring to their middle school and not McKinley Tech HS.

Yes I am PP and discussing MS. Which I think bears a lot more resemblance to HS than people’s experience in T1 elementary.

This thread is about the HS, which is entirely selective. Kids who cause trouble and have low grades will not get in to McKinley.

Come on. McKinley is not actually selective the way most people mean. Maybe it screens out the most serious behaviors which is a plus, I’ll give you that. But the test results really do speak for themselves.

I’m in the trenches now at a low performing MS and I’m telling you, it is 100% wishful thinking to believe that your kid is going to get a strong education at McKinley anywhere near like the public HS most DCUM parents attended. It has nothing to do with race because Banneker is great.

Some DC parents might be fine with this, and some kids who are naturally very self-motivated and winning might do fine. But no doubt about they will be behind where their suburban peers are when they start college. My nephews in high performing public schools start learning to write research papers and have classes devoted to study skills starting in 6th grade. Meanwhile in my kid’s 6th grade they are happy if the kids remained seated in class and expect three sentence responses.

Um, yes, of course McKinley is selective in that way. Yes, it will take kids with lower GPAs than Banneker or Walls will take. That didn’t mean it will take any kid or that the school is trash. Not in the slightest. And your experience with your kid’s MS is not a reflection of McKinley. So what’s the point of mentioning that? No one is saying that McKinley is the best school overall in the entire city. But there’s also no demonstrative reason to trash talk it either. If people don’t want to send their kids there, great, don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If McKinley were half as good as PP's claim, wouldn't the student body be a lot more diverse? Seriously, why is white enrollment in the single digits and Asian enrollment negligible?

So a school can’t be good if white people and Asian people aren’t there? What about Banneker? It’s always been majority African American, and it’s an excellent school. What about Howard U? If McKinley were in Chevy Chase or Georgetown but still the exact same school, same programs, same level of academics, same teachers, etc., it would be flooded with white parents. Non-families of color who don’t even know anything McKinley still trash talk it. And they see the student body make up and the location and say no way before even learning about the school. So please do stay away. Keep thinking it’s trash so that you don’t send your kid there, and then the school won’t have to deal with you. Also, why does every discussion of Banneker and McKinley have to go this route? This is not just racist—it’s boring and trite. Do better. Think more critically. And get over yourself.

I think the issue is that McKinley is objectively NOT at the level of Banneker or Howard. And of course most middle class black families in DC with high academic aspirations moved to PG long ago.

The PP (you?) said basically said that a school can’t be good if white it aside people aren’t interested. This comment is in response to that. And your comment about most middle class black families with high aspirations moving out is ridiculous. Not everyone can just move. So if they don’t, they don’t have high aspirations for their kid? And no McKinley is not Banneker, so what then? It’s just a terrible school by default? This is such nonsense. In this city, people think of schools as Ivy level or trash. There’s no level headed thinking, and most people comment on things they no nothing about.

how old are your kids and where are they in school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because of parents whose behavior looks for the sure thing then notes the collective dynamic that does not lead large numbers of them to engage.

People talk about a lot of sides of segregation and discrimination, I think somebody should look harder at this unwillingness to take a leap of faith away from status group herd behavior. Because in DC I think it’s very real.

My expectation is that the teachers teach the student body they have. If they have students with drive, experience, technical abilities, they can work with that. None of our kids are doing technically jaw dropping STEM work at 14.

Is your kid at McKinley? My experience so far “taking a leap of faith” at a “diverse” DCPS is that it is in no way academically where it should be, and I’m not willing to continue that into HS.

So you are at the school currently. You are a white family. You are not impressed and will be leaving? Please share more specifics about what about the school has not been good enough for your child.

Simply put the teachers feel no responsibility to prepare the kids for selective HS and college because 90% of the kids are not taking that route. Because of this the level of instruction is set much lower than at a school where more is expected. Kids permitted not to do work in class, to turn in 1-sentence answers. Teachers who just take the day off and let kids be on screens all class if they feel like it. Some teacher very good but overall little effort. A few teachers VERY bad in a way that would not be tolerated at a more affluent school.

Just to clarify. The poster a few comments back said they took the leap of faith and was unwilling to continue for HS. That suggests this comment is referring to their middle school and not McKinley Tech HS.

Yes I am PP and discussing MS. Which I think bears a lot more resemblance to HS than people’s experience in T1 elementary.

This thread is about the HS, which is entirely selective. Kids who cause trouble and have low grades will not get in to McKinley.

Come on. McKinley is not actually selective the way most people mean. Maybe it screens out the most serious behaviors which is a plus, I’ll give you that. But the test results really do speak for themselves.

I’m in the trenches now at a low performing MS and I’m telling you, it is 100% wishful thinking to believe that your kid is going to get a strong education at McKinley anywhere near like the public HS most DCUM parents attended. It has nothing to do with race because Banneker is great.

Some DC parents might be fine with this, and some kids who are naturally very self-motivated and winning might do fine. But no doubt about they will be behind where their suburban peers are when they start college. My nephews in high performing public schools start learning to write research papers and have classes devoted to study skills starting in 6th grade. Meanwhile in my kid’s 6th grade they are happy if the kids remained seated in class and expect three sentence responses.

Um, yes, of course McKinley is selective in that way. Yes, it will take kids with lower GPAs than Banneker or Walls will take. That didn’t mean it will take any kid or that the school is trash. Not in the slightest. And your experience with your kid’s MS is not a reflection of McKinley. So what’s the point of mentioning that? No one is saying that McKinley is the best school overall in the entire city. But there’s also no demonstrative reason to trash talk it either. If people don’t want to send their kids there, great, don’t.

McKinley is not “selective”. It has minimal screening criteria and the PARCC/AP results speak for themselves. I believe our MS experience is relevant because it is showing me that in a school system that refuses to track, in fact it does matter if 90% of the kids are not on grade level. Your kid will simply not get taught to the same level as at other schools with more kids at/above grade level. MS is also removing the blinders for me about how much natural intelligence will take kids. I’m learning a lot more about pedagogy a realizing that a sysyem with low expectations that does not push kids will result in kids … not learning much.

[Anonymous]

Lady in the trenches has a 6th grader at somewhere on the Hill, I’d bet.

[Anonymous]

We toured McKinley and I think it would be a good fit for my white kid. He wouldn't be the only, and the currently available statistics are a bit behind.

My son's generation of kids was one of the first much larger classes of charter schools to come online. The kids in his class have been in public schools since PK3. Also, this generation of parents has been and will be open to trying out unknown quantities. To be realistic, since test scores are no longer a factor for SWW. Banneker is getting harder to get into and there's more demand.

As more white kids stay in DC for high school, mark my words, McKinley Tech (which is a good school getting even better) will get more and more diverse every year until it reflects the diversity of DC students attending high schools.

I had a very good feeling touring there.

I would suggest that parents who have no actual experience with it beyond looking at the test scores zip it.

[Anonymous]

Also, in case you've forgotten, Jackson Reed isn't selective at all. It's just white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, in case you've forgotten, Jackson Reed isn't selective at all. It's just white.

But it actually does have more STEM offerings and AP classes than McKinley and lots of STEM ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, in case you've forgotten, Jackson Reed isn't selective at all. It's just white.

The excellent neighborhood schools in the suburbs aren't selective either; anyone who can afford the expensive houses in their districts can attend. Like Jackson-Reed. It's no secret that students from rich families do better on average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We toured McKinley and I think it would be a good fit for my white kid. He wouldn't be the only, and the currently available statistics are a bit behind.

My son's generation of kids was one of the first much larger classes of charter schools to come online. The kids in his class have been in public schools since PK3. Also, this generation of parents has been and will be open to trying out unknown quantities. To be realistic, since test scores are no longer a factor for SWW. Banneker is getting harder to get into and there's more demand.

As more white kids stay in DC for high school, mark my words, McKinley Tech (which is a good school getting even better) will get more and more diverse every year until it reflects the diversity of DC students attending high schools.

I had a very good feeling touring there.

I would suggest that parents who have no actual experience with it beyond looking at the test scores zip it.

LOL! This is such wishful thinking…….

If you don’t have strong middle schools, you won’t get strong high schools. That applies to selective high schools in this town too. Standards in this city is so damn low.

BTW although McKinley says it’s a selective school, everyone gets in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We toured McKinley and I think it would be a good fit for my white kid. He wouldn't be the only, and the currently available statistics are a bit behind.

My son's generation of kids was one of the first much larger classes of charter schools to come online. The kids in his class have been in public schools since PK3. Also, this generation of parents has been and will be open to trying out unknown quantities. To be realistic, since test scores are no longer a factor for SWW. Banneker is getting harder to get into and there's more demand.

As more white kids stay in DC for high school, mark my words, McKinley Tech (which is a good school getting even better) will get more and more diverse every year until it reflects the diversity of DC students attending high schools.

I had a very good feeling touring there.

I would suggest that parents who have no actual experience with it beyond looking at the test scores zip it.

LOL! This is such wishful thinking…….

If you don’t have strong middle schools, you won’t get strong high schools. That applies to selective high schools in this town too. Standards in this city is so damn low.

BTW although McKinley says it’s a selective school, everyone gets in.

This actually isn't true. I work at a DCPS middle school and we had students who didn't get in. No waitlisted and NOT accepted. Student who put McKinley above other schools and simply got into one of their lower ranked schools on the list. Please stop telling this particular thing. As it is false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We toured McKinley and I think it would be a good fit for my white kid. He wouldn't be the only, and the currently available statistics are a bit behind.

My son's generation of kids was one of the first much larger classes of charter schools to come online. The kids in his class have been in public schools since PK3. Also, this generation of parents has been and will be open to trying out unknown quantities. To be realistic, since test scores are no longer a factor for SWW. Banneker is getting harder to get into and there's more demand.

As more white kids stay in DC for high school, mark my words, McKinley Tech (which is a good school getting even better) will get more and more diverse every year until it reflects the diversity of DC students attending high schools.

I had a very good feeling touring there.

I would suggest that parents who have no actual experience with it beyond looking at the test scores zip it.

LOL! This is such wishful thinking…….

If you don’t have strong middle schools, you won’t get strong high schools. That applies to selective high schools in this town too. Standards in this city is so damn low.

BTW although McKinley says it’s a selective school, everyone gets in.

This actually isn't true. I work at a DCPS middle school and we had students who didn't get in. No waitlisted and NOT accepted. Student who put McKinley above other schools and simply got into one of their lower ranked schools on the list. Please stop telling this particular thing. As it is false.

Below is the data for you. No one on the waitlist. They could not even fill all their seats. They filled just under 60% of all seats.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We toured McKinley and I think it would be a good fit for my white kid. He wouldn't be the only, and the currently available statistics are a bit behind.

My son's generation of kids was one of the first much larger classes of charter schools to come online. The kids in his class have been in public schools since PK3. Also, this generation of parents has been and will be open to trying out unknown quantities. To be realistic, since test scores are no longer a factor for SWW. Banneker is getting harder to get into and there's more demand.

As more white kids stay in DC for high school, mark my words, McKinley Tech (which is a good school getting even better) will get more and more diverse every year until it reflects the diversity of DC students attending high schools.

I had a very good feeling touring there.

I would suggest that parents who have no actual experience with it beyond looking at the test scores zip it.

LOL! This is such wishful thinking…….

If you don’t have strong middle schools, you won’t get strong high schools. That applies to selective high schools in this town too. Standards in this city is so damn low.

BTW although McKinley says it’s a selective school, everyone gets in.

This actually isn't true. I work at a DCPS middle school and we had students who didn't get in. No waitlisted and NOT accepted. Student who put McKinley above other schools and simply got into one of their lower ranked schools on the list. Please stop telling this particular thing. As it is false.

Below is the data for you. No one on the waitlist. They could not even fill all their seats. They filled just under 60% of all seats.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay

But, that doesn't actually negate the previous poster's statement. They may actually have standards and not be putting people on the waitlist they don't want there.