Is BCC cluster able to compete with the W's?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

We will see how “better” Whitman truly ranks when it actually has a measurable FARMS rate after this redistricting.

Even if they adjust the boundary it will have minimal impact. There just aren't boatloads of high-FARMs near Whitman. Even if they managed to double Whitman's FARMS and that's a HUGE IF, it would have almost no impact and remain one of the lowest FARMS schools in the county.

But it would still cause Whitman to drop in ranking because the only reason it ranks high is because virtually no disadvantaged students attend that school. If the FARMS rate doubles, then Whitman will easily drop to #6 to #10 in Maryland and stay there.

Not PP you were responding to. We can all agree that poorer families means lesser academic achievement in general. This is just theoretical for Whitman, since there is earthly way for Whitman to increase FARMS rate measurably with any boundary change (no one wants busing, so that won't happen).

There already is busing. If you get school bus service, to a school that is not the nearest school, and you want to stay at that school, then you want busing.

You know what is meant by busing in this thread's context: using a bus to transport lower-income students from a location that geographically should not be within the cluster, for diversity purposes. Parents of all income levels are opposed to changing the boundaries to include more of that, because traffic is bad enough, no one wants their kid for long periods of time on a bus, and families want to feel close to their neighborhood school (some parents have no car, and don't want to trek across the county to get to school meetings).

We are not talking about busing to special programs, CES or magnets.

Right.

Kids from non-poor families, who have long school bus rides to schools that are not geographically the closest? Not busing! Just fine! Don't change the boundaries!

Kids from poor families, who have long school bus rides to schools that are not geographically the closest? Busing! Terrible! Nobody wants that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You are deliberately misunderstanding my post. BCC has way fewer AP courses than many other high schools, including WJ and WW. This is a fact borne out your own chart. IB course are NOT AT ALL the same as AP courses. In math, they are much lower-level. The IB is not as recognized by universities as AP courses. So it's entirely useless to lump the two together and claim that BCC another high schools have "more" courses.

You're comparing apples to oranges and generating confusion here. Talk about AP and IB separately.

Because they're not AP courses?

Conversely, universities don't recognize AP courses as IB courses, because they're not IB courses!

I guess if you are a Whitman over BCC booster you *would* have to entirely discredit the IB program since if you include it, BCC has a much wider variety of high level courses! And, of course, BCC kids can mix & match & take both AP & IB courses regardless of whether they are fully enrolled in the IB program or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18:43 continued

Schools can be divided into 4 groups based on the number of AP and IB courses offered.

50 to 72 courses: Richard Montgomery, Bethesda Chevy Chase, Kennedy, Einstein
40 to 49 courses: Rockville, Springbrook, Seneca Valley, Watkins Mill
30 to 39 courses: Walter Johnson, Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, Quince Orchard, Poolesville
20 to 29 courses: Blair, Blake, Northwest, Clarksburg, Sherwood, Gaithersburg, Damascus, Magruder, Northwood, Paint Branch, Wheaton

Note that if you look in the detail they separate out the APs from IB offerings & BCC is still at the top. Might not account for the specific math offerings at Whitman but I know my kid did dual enrollment at MC & lots of their peers did as well.

OP coming from DCPS - all of MCPS has its issues but fwiw we moved from DC & had similar concerns (minimizing commute especially) & chose BCC over Whitman. We also prefer the tiny bit of diversity it offers over Whitman.

You are deliberately misunderstanding my post. BCC has way fewer AP courses than many other high schools, including WJ and WW. This is a fact borne out your own chart. IB course are NOT AT ALL the same as AP courses. In math, they are much lower-level. The IB is not as recognized by universities as AP courses. So it's entirely useless to lump the two together and claim that BCC another high schools have "more" courses.

You're comparing apples to oranges and generating confusion here. Talk about AP and IB separately.

colleges will look at most IB courses. There is a designation for IB in the college admissions.

https://www.transfercredit.umd.edu/plc/IBGenEd.pdf

Includes a couple of math classes.

Most RMIB kids take both IB and AP exams, which they self study for.

[Anonymous]

At BCC, I thought the first year of the highest level IB math course is AP Calc BC, and the second year goes further. Is that wrong? Also from the offerings they post on their website, it looks like they have MV calc as well.

OP your kids will be fine at all the schools you list. Just find a house you like in a neighborhood you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...
OP your kids will be fine at all the schools you list. Just find a house you like in a neighborhood you like.

This way too rational for DCUM! Where's the hot take?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some background, BCC in the 40s-60s was one of the top 5 high schools in the country year after year. By the 90s its reputation had dropped a number of notches as demographics changed and the school age population dropped. Its beautiful historic building was showing its age and was not well maintained. Implementing IB in the mid 90s alongside AP classes helped to boost the perception of the school. Then the school was substantially renovated. BCC’s reputation for the past 20 years has been on the upswing and the school grew in size. It is currently viewed as one of the best high schools in MCPS. To answer your question, Whitman HS is more uniformly wealthy so it appears better on some stats. The other W schools also have high percentages of Asian families in particular who moved to those districts specifically due to the schools’ high academic stats.

I recently came across this old article from 2002 - it was interesting to read about its renovation and history (this does not include the more recent addition): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/02/02/at-md-high-school-a-rebuilding-and-rebirth/9a0502af-e5a7-4403-b293-2d6f0112316e/

[Anonymous]

I am a BCC parent of a 10th grader. This whole discussion, in my opinion, is sort of stupid about the total number of AP classes the students take at BCC. The "smart" 9th graders take AP Gov. The "smart" 10th graders take APUSH (US history). That leaves a finite number of AP classes to take in your junior and senior years because there is a finite number of classes you can take whether AP or honors track classes. BCC has plenty of AP languages and math and social studies and English/lit classes. For most kids who start with Alg I in 7th grade at SC or Westland (not too many start Algebra sooner), the selection is ample.

[Anonymous]

This discussion is ridiculous. Any student can do well at any of these schools. They have many advanced options for enrichment and even the same curriculum as any MCPS HS. Seriously, the only real difference is the community, and that's subjective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving into the area with kids in grade school from DC. We'd like to stay as close to the city/jobs as possible. Curious why BCC is always ranking behind. Wondering how it can be so different then the others and what is it missing?

BCC can't compete with the W's. If anyone says otherwise, they're simply uninformed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are moving into the area with kids in grade school from DC. We'd like to stay as close to the city/jobs as possible. Curious why BCC is always ranking behind. Wondering how it can be so different then the others and what is it missing?

BCC can't compete with the W's. If anyone says otherwise, they're simply uninformed.

Troll fail