PoC in Walt Whitman High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:where are you moving from? (I've lived other places in NY and CA and can maybe help clarify)

Just realized I should have posted in the MCPS forum, oops.

Moving from Richmond, VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a multiethnic foreigner, I can assure you, OP, that ethnic and national diversity is NOT a problem. Also, economic diversity is not a problem either! There are kids who show up to school driving brand new Jeeps and Teslas, and others, like my kids, who take the bus and if they drove, would have a 12 year old Mazda or nothing at all. Everyone finds their friend group. It's the silver lining of large publics - there's always someone who likes what you like.

NIH is closest to Walter Johnson HS: it's overcrowded but an excellent school! Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS is in downtown Bethesda and slightly less rigorous (fewer APs, but IB program). Walt Whitman HS is as good if not better than WJ, but further away from NIH to the west (a little more homogeneous rich white kids than WJ and BCC).

Excuse me? BCC is just several blocks from NIH. Post docs and others live in downtown or East Bethesda and walk to NIH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:where are you moving from? (I've lived other places in NY and CA and can maybe help clarify)

Just realized I should have posted in the MCPS forum, oops.

Moving from Richmond, VA

Are your kids in private school or Richmond city schools? Or are you really in the burbs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:commute from hoard county and live there. Montgomery County has had it's day and it is never going back to the good ol days,

Just stop

OP ignore the idiot

Yup, some moron loves to jump on these threads to say the same thing everytime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a multiethnic foreigner, I can assure you, OP, that ethnic and national diversity is NOT a problem. Also, economic diversity is not a problem either! There are kids who show up to school driving brand new Jeeps and Teslas, and others, like my kids, who take the bus and if they drove, would have a 12 year old Mazda or nothing at all. Everyone finds their friend group. It's the silver lining of large publics - there's always someone who likes what you like.

NIH is closest to Walter Johnson HS: it's overcrowded but an excellent school! Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS is in downtown Bethesda and slightly less rigorous (fewer APs, but IB program). Walt Whitman HS is as good if not better than WJ, but further away from NIH to the west (a little more homogeneous rich white kids than WJ and BCC).

Give me a break. Are you blind, clueless, or both?

Whitman has less than 5% black and less than 5% FARMS.

70% white and 15% Asian. The other 15% are sprinkles of hispanic, pacific, black and multicultural.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will be moving out of state to Bethesda for work near NIH. Have two high school age children. A future coworker expressed some concern that my children may feel like they don't fit in with their classmates/neighborhood . Should I be concerned as well?

Dear OP,

I beg of you not to send that child not only to Whitman but to any of the W’s. They are going to be mistreated at those schools. Not only are these schools always involve with racial scandals but look at the Instagram @blackatwhitman and read about black students experiences. I made a mistake sending my son to Churchill because I believed that the education was better. However, it took a huge toll on his mental health especially during that N word pass thing. My 14 yr old now attends Einstein and they’re happy, supported, and feel safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a multiethnic foreigner, I can assure you, OP, that ethnic and national diversity is NOT a problem. Also, economic diversity is not a problem either! There are kids who show up to school driving brand new Jeeps and Teslas, and others, like my kids, who take the bus and if they drove, would have a 12 year old Mazda or nothing at all. Everyone finds their friend group. It's the silver lining of large publics - there's always someone who likes what you like.

NIH is closest to Walter Johnson HS: it's overcrowded but an excellent school! Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS is in downtown Bethesda and slightly less rigorous (fewer APs, but IB program). Walt Whitman HS is as good if not better than WJ, but further away from NIH to the west (a little more homogeneous rich white kids than WJ and BCC).

Let me guess, you live in a $2million dollar home and your kids have a 12 year old Mazda because you got yourself a new car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:commute from hoard county and live there. Montgomery County has had it's day and it is never going back to the good ol days,

Some posters like Howard because it's even less diverse. That seems to be in selling point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:commute from hoard county and live there. Montgomery County has had it's day and it is never going back to the good ol days,

Some posters like Howard because it's even less diverse. That seems to be in selling point.

And higher performing, and lower crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a multiethnic foreigner, I can assure you, OP, that ethnic and national diversity is NOT a problem. Also, economic diversity is not a problem either! There are kids who show up to school driving brand new Jeeps and Teslas, and others, like my kids, who take the bus and if they drove, would have a 12 year old Mazda or nothing at all. Everyone finds their friend group. It's the silver lining of large publics - there's always someone who likes what you like.

NIH is closest to Walter Johnson HS: it's overcrowded but an excellent school! Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS is in downtown Bethesda and slightly less rigorous (fewer APs, but IB program). Walt Whitman HS is as good if not better than WJ, but further away from NIH to the west (a little more homogeneous rich white kids than WJ and BCC).

ethnic diversity is not the same as racial diversity.

-non white person

Also, what makes you say BCC is less "rigorous"? By what measure is it "less rigorous"?

We don't live in BCC cluster but I'm curious what measure you are using to define "rigorous"?

To me ethnic is just a better word for racial because it encompasses a greater number of possibilities, PP. There are multiple ethnic origins and cultures inside broad categories of skin colors, and I'm allergic to the uniquely American habit of just defining people by black/white: it completely ignores all the finer points of cultural and regional identity.

To your other question, yes, with years of comparing notes between my friends and I (whose kids go to these three schools), we've come to the conclusion that teacher quality for core classes is higher at WJ and WW. Some core teachers at BCC are apparently terrible, and this materially impacts the students' content mastery and grades. Conversely, I've never heard of a terrible core class teacher at WJ and WW. There are also way more AP offerings at WJ and WW. BCC has the IB programme, which is great for some kids, but the concern is that US college admissions officers might not correctly weigh IB exam scores compared to AP scores. The IB is a European invention, and over there, getting a perfect score is rare. That philosophy has been transferred to IB exam scoring. Whereas if you don't get a 5/5 on an AP exam, you missed something. So I'm not sure the IB scores are as valued as AP scores, if you see what I mean. Students taking the full IB diploma are also locked into a list of courses, instead of being able to select their AP courses a la carte.

Now there's also the question of "big fish, little pond" vs "little fish, big pond" regarding college admissions: admissions officers consider applicant's course choices relative to what their school offers. The large range of advanced courses offered at WJ and WW would tend to push kids to take as many as possible, to prove they've taken advantage of the available selection. This makes for a high-pressure environment. But since there are fewer at BCC, students cannot be faulted for taking AP Calc BC AND multi-variable calculus, since most years the latter is not even offered, due to lack of demand (you could also ask yourself why demand is lower than at the other two schools).

But the bottom line is that they're all SOLID schools, where OP's kids will get a great education. I'm just parsing details because I know some of us here like that sort of thing

Exactly one can get a fine education at any MCPS high school. Despite these ridiculous claims to the contrary, they're all pretty much the same. Small variations in test score averages are due to demographic differences but the same student will do the same at any of these schools. My best advice is pick the school based on the community where you are most comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will be moving out of state to Bethesda for work near NIH. Have two high school age children. A future coworker expressed some concern that my children may feel like they don't fit in with their classmates/neighborhood . Should I be concerned as well?

What race are you? Not all POC are treated the same.

Children are half black/half Indian

OP, perhaps Richard Montgomery may be a good fit for your family. If you find a place close to Rockville metro station, it would be about 20 min to the NIH (medical center) stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will be moving out of state to Bethesda for work near NIH. Have two high school age children. A future coworker expressed some concern that my children may feel like they don't fit in with their classmates/neighborhood . Should I be concerned as well?

What race are you? Not all POC are treated the same.

Children are half black/half Indian

OP, perhaps Richard Montgomery may be a good fit for your family. If you find a place close to Rockville metro station, it would be about 20 min to the NIH (medical center) stop.

RM is an excellent choice. It has many options for advanced learners which aren't available elsewhere because the IB is open to all students beginning in 11th. College admission statistics are also impressive. https://moco360.media/2021/09/06/college-bound-6/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a multiethnic foreigner, I can assure you, OP, that ethnic and national diversity is NOT a problem. Also, economic diversity is not a problem either! There are kids who show up to school driving brand new Jeeps and Teslas, and others, like my kids, who take the bus and if they drove, would have a 12 year old Mazda or nothing at all. Everyone finds their friend group. It's the silver lining of large publics - there's always someone who likes what you like.

NIH is closest to Walter Johnson HS: it's overcrowded but an excellent school! Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS is in downtown Bethesda and slightly less rigorous (fewer APs, but IB program). Walt Whitman HS is as good if not better than WJ, but further away from NIH to the west (a little more homogeneous rich white kids than WJ and BCC).

Give me a break. Are you blind, clueless, or both?

Whitman has less than 5% black and less than 5% FARMS.

70% white and 15% Asian. The other 15% are sprinkles of hispanic, pacific, black and multicultural.

Not to mention the neverending parade of racially motivated hate incidents like the N* word cards or swastikas that seem to routinely happen at these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will be moving out of state to Bethesda for work near NIH. Have two high school age children. A future coworker expressed some concern that my children may feel like they don't fit in with their classmates/neighborhood . Should I be concerned as well?

Dear OP,

I beg of you not to send that child not only to Whitman but to any of the W’s. They are going to be mistreated at those schools. Not only are these schools always involve with racial scandals but look at the Instagram @blackatwhitman and read about black students experiences. I made a mistake sending my son to Churchill because I believed that the education was better. However, it took a huge toll on his mental health especially during that N word pass thing. My 14 yr old now attends Einstein and they’re happy, supported, and feel safe.

+1 As a POC who grew up going to a homogeneous wealthy school, I learned my hard lesson that it’s not only about test scores. So diversity was the top thing I looked for in schools for the kids. We are very happy with the nice students at our school, with no ignorant or racist incidents, unlike where I went and what I see in the Ws. The microaggression, the neurotic comparing test scores. I’d rather my kids be happy and supplement if needed.

[Anonymous]

The demographics at Whitman are shifting. The problem is that right now most of the students of color are in special programs and can't regulate their behaviors, so the white kids are getting really weird impressions of what people of color are like.