High Schools - Walter Johnson v BCC v Whitman?

[Anonymous]

Hi. Our family is moving soon and we're looking at the Bethesda area. Can anyone tell me about the high schools there? I have two teenagers, one will be coming in next Fall as a Junior, the other will a Freshman in 2013. I know Whitman is generally considered the "best" school academically, although I'm not sure this matters since I gather all are strong schools. I think our budget will go farther in neighborhoods that feed to BCC or WJ, and I like the fact that these schools may have a bit more diversity that Whitman.

If anyone has experience with any of these three high schools I'd love to hear your input. I'm curious about both the academics and the social environments. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

there are a TON of threads on this topic in the archives. i'd search for some, in addition to whatever responses you'll receive

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the tip about searching previous threads. I did this and there certainly has been a lot of information. My sense when reading the threads is that all three schools are very good, and which one any family prefers may come down to personal preference. I'd still be interested in hearing anything recent and specific about the high schools. It seems there are a lot more people familiar with the elementary schools than the high schools on this forum, but maybe some people with teens can give me first-hand experience?

[Anonymous]

I have posted before about Whitman, which we are really pleased with. DC entered MCPS in 9th. Very easy transition, great and motivated kids, great teachers. I can't say anything about the other schools although I do have friends with children in each and they are happy with the schools. We didn't really pick Whitman as we bought our house before we had children.

[Anonymous]

OP, just fyi, given when this forum was founded, my sense is that most of the parents who post here (but certainly not all) have kids who are younger. So the pool of people reading these queries who have first hand experience at a HS is much smaller than those who have first hand experience at a preschool or elementary. I live in the BCC district and have opinions about these schools, but no direct experience to tell you about, so I'm keeping out of this. I just wanted to help you understand why you may not get as many responses as you'd like! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I think you will find all 3 schools highly competitive; along with Churchill, these are generally considered the 4 top MoCo high schools, and account for a large share of the Ivy admissions. Historically, Whitman has been known for more rigorous academics, and WJ for its arts programs, but really you wouldn't go wrong with any of these 3.

[Anonymous]

So what is BCC known for?

[Anonymous]

BCC is known for the IB program. Whitman is also known as something of a pressure cooker.

[Anonymous]

I attended Whitman and I chose WJ for my children because it is a bit more diverse and the student body seems a little less entitled. I believe the IB program at BCC is available to those outside the BCC area if you are interested in that, although I would probably chose Richard Montgomery over BCC if my kids were going the IB route.

[Anonymous]

If you're really anxious about colleges, you might want to check out the stats published in Bethesda magazine once a year. They list the reported number of applications and admissions from each of the Bethesda HS plus a few others. Whitman does lead the pack; my impression in watching this for about a decade is that BCC appears to have better outcomes than Wj at a lot of schools. But that's not at all scientific - just my impression and plus it's all self-reported so who really knows. It also shows really great college admissions from the other Rockville schools and Montgomery Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I attended Whitman and I chose WJ for my children because it is a bit more diverse and the student body seems a little less entitled. I believe the IB program at BCC is available to those outside the BCC area if you are interested in that, although I would probably chose Richard Montgomery over BCC if my kids were going the IB route.

Funny: same history, same choice, same observation re entitlement. What really drove my decision was the drug culture at the respective schools, though (and don't kid yourself, all large high schools have a drug culture of one kind or another) -- Whitman has a cocaine culture and WJ a pot culture. My kids are quite social and risk-takers by nature; easy access to coke is *not* what they need! For different kids, I could easily see making the opposite choice, though.

[Anonymous]

OP here again. Yes, I've seen the Bethesda magazine rankings. I was surprised by how well Montgomery Blair seems to do with admissions. I have gone through the college admissions process once with my oldest son, who attended private school. My feeling is he did no better and no worse admissions-wise than if I'd sent him to our local public high school. I've always felt that once you've reached a certain level of competencthe among schools the differences are not that great -- at least as far a chances of college admission go. I do think some schools just provide a better overall experience for kids regardless of where they're likely to get into college. Peer groups where it's okay to be smart, families who are involved in their child's education -- these are the less tangible aspects of education that are very hard to capture through rankings.

[Anonymous]

What really drove my decision was the drug culture at the respective schools, though (and don't kid yourself, all large high schools have a drug culture of one kind or another) -- Whitman has a cocaine culture and WJ a pot culture.

Yikes PP. My kids are still in elementary so I'm still blissfully ignorant about all this. What is the drug culture of BCC, if you happen to know?

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. The drug culture thing is something I've heard before, having already sent one son through high school. He graduated from a private day school with a "drinking culture". The local public high school is my town was known for its "weed culture." A lot of parents in town said the private school kids had more problems because they were more privileged and thus had greater access to drugs and alcohol. I recently talked to my son (now in college) about this. He said this is ridiculous, especially because in later years of high school public and private school kids went to the same parties and were pretty much exposed to the same influences. He said "parents just tell themselves this stuff to make themselves feel better." I'm not sure if I completely believe him, but it was an interesting perspective and makes me think kids are very much the same no matter where you send them to school. They find their group of friends and (hopefully) they usually make responsible choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended Whitman and I chose WJ for my children because it is a bit more diverse and the student body seems a little less entitled. I believe the IB program at BCC is available to those outside the BCC area if you are interested in that, although I would probably chose Richard Montgomery over BCC if my kids were going the IB route.

Funny: same history, same choice, same observation re entitlement. What really drove my decision was the drug culture at the respective schools, though (and don't kid yourself, all large high schools have a drug culture of one kind or another) -- Whitman has a cocaine culture and WJ a pot culture. My kids are quite social and risk-takers by nature; easy access to coke is *not* what they need! For different kids, I could easily see making the opposite choice, though.

No joke--I'm a third poster with same history, same choice! Apparently Viking blood doesn't run deep!