Advice on Choosing Between Blair (General Admission) and Wheaton PLTW Biomed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the choice is between one of the Wheaton programs and REGULAR Blair, choose Wheaton.

If you are choosing between the magnet at Blair and Wheaton, I'd choose Blair. The cohort can be ... a little suffocatingly small.

Great principal at Wheaton, though. And a beautiful building! Easier to get on sports teams, too.

I wondered about this, as my kid just accepted a spot in one of Wheaton's magnets. 30 kids per program per year is tiny! Do they do their English/history/etc. with other students from the wider Wheaton community?

I don’t know for sure but knowing how scheduling works at all high schools I think the answer is probably. With a sprinkling of other kids. The small cohort is for better or worse. Could be amazing, or really annoying. My friend’s daughter was done with many of the kids by sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

I have two Wheaton magnet grads and they definitely had classes with other students. The magnet classes were generally 3 periods a day so the other classes were not cohorted. If you took mainly AP classes, then you’d generally have additional magnet students although those classes are open to everyone. Wheaton has an academy for both Engineering and Biomed. We’re very pleased at Wheaton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're having a tough time choosing between standard enrollment at Blair and the Wheaton Biomed magnet. Blair is much closer to our house, but our DC is really set on becoming a doctor (for now at least). Blair offers an amazing selection of science classes and it seems we could independently cobble together a curriculum somewhat equivalent (and, in some ways, superior) to Wheaton. But we hear that, beyond classwork, PLTW Biomed offers significant advantages on internships and other outside-the-classroom opportunities. It's a coin flip for us right now, so any advice would be very helpful.

The STeM Academy at Blair has good internships, because the academy leader is an excellent educator nd has spent years developing relationships and internship opportunities for students. If your student demonstrates excellent math or science skills, they will be invited to take magnet courses.

[Anonymous]

One thing to keep in mind: Taylor has promised to support students who are completing high school at programs outside their home school. His new regional program initiative will create a huge upswing in bus transportation needs. If you choose Wheaton, be prepared for him to bail on providing school bus transportation for students attending legacy programs. On that basis alone, I would choose Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind: Taylor has promised to support students who are completing high school at programs outside their home school. His new regional program initiative will create a huge upswing in bus transportation needs. If you choose Wheaton, be prepared for him to bail on providing school bus transportation for students attending legacy programs. On that basis alone, I would choose Blair.

At the Wheaton accepted students session they made it clear that if you are in the DCC you will be guaranteed transportation for the entire four years, even though the DCC is going away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid went to the engineering academy at Wheaton (waitlisted for magnet) - not bio. We really liked his STEM teachers. One had graduated from MIT (Mr Bates - look up whether he is still there - he was great), another from Naval Academy, both had been practicing engineers, etc. Good math teachers, etc.

We also loved Wheaton's building. It's fairly new - maybe a decade old? And really quite nice.

The humanities curriculum was pretty poor. Very little writing instruction/feedback. It's probably worse now that Honors for All is in effect in ninth and tenth grade. Meaning everyone is in the same honors English classes in ninth and tenth grade - there's no grade level below Honors.

Also, it's nice to go in bounds so I would factor in commute. I don't know enough about Blair to know how good the non-Magnet science offerings are. Try to talk to Blair parents/kids and ask about that.

Oh also - he didn't get any special internships. I didn't hear anything about that. Maybe the magnet is different.

I heard Mr Bates is leaving next year. He's going to teach abroad somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Parent of Wheaton Biomed student (also in bounds for Blair). The Wheaton program has been great and we really like the school. My child has made good friends, and the cohort really is also with the engineering group for at least 9th grade as they take math and physics together. The cohort classes have been engaging (and challenging). English and history outside the magnet are not great in 9th, but my child is taking APs in 10th that are challenging with an engaged group.

We think the school is well run and there are lots of bus routes covering all over the DCC. The biomed teacher won an award recently, and overall the magnet teachers are committed to the success of the students.

Happy to answer other questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind: Taylor has promised to support students who are completing high school at programs outside their home school. His new regional program initiative will create a huge upswing in bus transportation needs. If you choose Wheaton, be prepared for him to bail on providing school bus transportation for students attending legacy programs. On that basis alone, I would choose Blair.

At the Wheaton accepted students session they made it clear that if you are in the DCC you will be guaranteed transportation for the entire four years, even though the DCC is going away.

Oh yes, it's clear now, but come August 2027, will that legacy bus transportation suddenly evaporate as the system collapses under the strain of intensified cross-county bussing to new regional programs?

[Anonymous]

Wheaton parent who’s had multiple kids go go through. Currently very overcrowded. STEM teachers are excellent, literally excellent, the best anywhere. English teachers are pretty below average. There is an assistant principal who is one of the worst individuals in education I’ve ever encountered. As good as the STEM teachers are, this AP, who has spanned multiple principals, makes certain kids (of certain persuasions) lives miserable. Any recommendation about Wheaton that doesn’t include this fact is an incomplete recommendation. I wish my youngest got into Blair because of her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind: Taylor has promised to support students who are completing high school at programs outside their home school. His new regional program initiative will create a huge upswing in bus transportation needs. If you choose Wheaton, be prepared for him to bail on providing school bus transportation for students attending legacy programs. On that basis alone, I would choose Blair.

At the Wheaton accepted students session they made it clear that if you are in the DCC you will be guaranteed transportation for the entire four years, even though the DCC is going away.

Oh yes, it's clear now, but come August 2027, will that legacy bus transportation suddenly evaporate as the system collapses under the strain of intensified cross-county bussing to new regional programs?

Except that they made a commitment to provide four years of transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wheaton parent who’s had multiple kids go go through. Currently very overcrowded. STEM teachers are excellent, literally excellent, the best anywhere. English teachers are pretty below average. There is an assistant principal who is one of the worst individuals in education I’ve ever encountered. As good as the STEM teachers are, this AP, who has spanned multiple principals, makes certain kids (of certain persuasions) lives miserable. Any recommendation about Wheaton that doesn’t include this fact is an incomplete recommendation. I wish my youngest got into Blair because of her.

+1. Ms. Williams is truly awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wheaton parent who’s had multiple kids go go through. Currently very overcrowded. STEM teachers are excellent, literally excellent, the best anywhere. English teachers are pretty below average. There is an assistant principal who is one of the worst individuals in education I’ve ever encountered. As good as the STEM teachers are, this AP, who has spanned multiple principals, makes certain kids (of certain persuasions) lives miserable. Any recommendation about Wheaton that doesn’t include this fact is an incomplete recommendation. I wish my youngest got into Blair because of her.

Emphasis mine. I would appreciate hearing more about this. I have mixed feelings about the magnet (even though my kid is super excited) because I think they're a bit young to specialize so much and I want my kid to get a well-rounded education, including writing and humanities. Do current/former Wheaton magnet families have advice about what classes to seek so that, for example, their kids are prepared for the writing that will come in college?