If you could choose any MCPS cluster for DC, which would it be and why?

[Anonymous]

We are in Whitman cluster. We chose the neighborhood because we liked the house, liked the neighborhood, and the commute was as good as we could get and stay on the MD side of the line (which was important to me as a native MDer). While one of my kids opted for private high school, the other goes to Whitman and it's been a really great school. DC likes his classes, works hard, has good relationships with teachers, has a really good group of friends, is active in sports and other EC activities. The parents are committed to the school and volunteer for various volunteer activities - Sports teams, Arts Festival, drama, Post prom, etc. My DC does not find it a pressure cooker, as some people say it is, and has a pretty diverse group of friends (which to me is better than going to a so called diverse school but then only being friends with the people who look like you, which seems to be the norm at many of the diverse schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Whitman cluster. We chose the neighborhood because we liked the house, liked the neighborhood, and the commute was as good as we could get and stay on the MD side of the line (which was important to me as a native MDer). While one of my kids opted for private high school, the other goes to Whitman and it's been a really great school. DC likes his classes, works hard, has good relationships with teachers, has a really good group of friends, is active in sports and other EC activities. The parents are committed to the school and volunteer for various volunteer activities - Sports teams, Arts Festival, drama, Post prom, etc. My DC does not find it a pressure cooker, as some people say it is, and has a pretty diverse group of friends (which to me is better than going to a so called diverse school but then only being friends with the people who look like you, which seems to be the norm at many of the diverse schools).

PP, I perceive this as defensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ is not as diverse as you think. It has significantly fewer AAs and Hispanics than the county as a whole and more whites. I know that wasn't the original question.

We are in a position to choose any school, and we choose a small diverse public for elementary and a small diverse private for the upper grades.

Private schools are never as diverse as even the whitest schools in MoCo.

Totally wrong. Most good privates have 30% on financial aid, 30% non-white - far more diverse than W schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Whitman cluster. We chose the neighborhood because we liked the house, liked the neighborhood, and the commute was as good as we could get and stay on the MD side of the line (which was important to me as a native MDer). While one of my kids opted for private high school, the other goes to Whitman and it's been a really great school. DC likes his classes, works hard, has good relationships with teachers, has a really good group of friends, is active in sports and other EC activities. The parents are committed to the school and volunteer for various volunteer activities - Sports teams, Arts Festival, drama, Post prom, etc. My DC does not find it a pressure cooker, as some people say it is, and has a pretty diverse group of friends (which to me is better than going to a so called diverse school but then only being friends with the people who look like you, which seems to be the norm at many of the diverse schools).

PP, I perceive this as defensive.

I perceive that as the truth!! Also factually based - google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Whitman cluster. We chose the neighborhood because we liked the house, liked the neighborhood, and the commute was as good as we could get and stay on the MD side of the line (which was important to me as a native MDer). While one of my kids opted for private high school, the other goes to Whitman and it's been a really great school. DC likes his classes, works hard, has good relationships with teachers, has a really good group of friends, is active in sports and other EC activities. The parents are committed to the school and volunteer for various volunteer activities - Sports teams, Arts Festival, drama, Post prom, etc. My DC does not find it a pressure cooker, as some people say it is, and has a pretty diverse group of friends (which to me is better than going to a so called diverse school but then only being friends with the people who look like you, which seems to be the norm at many of the diverse schools).

PP, I perceive this as defensive.

I perceive that as the truth!! Also factually based - google it.

What am I supposed to google?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ is not as diverse as you think. It has significantly fewer AAs and Hispanics than the county as a whole and more whites. I know that wasn't the original question.

We are in a position to choose any school, and we choose a small diverse public for elementary and a small diverse private for the upper grades.

Private schools are never as diverse as even the whitest schools in MoCo.

Totally wrong. Most good privates have 30% on financial aid, 30% non-white - far more diverse than W schools.

I tried to pick the whitest schools I could think of, like Damascus. Still more diverse than 30% non-white. Private is not the place, in this county, to look for diversity.


Wootton is 47% white.
Walter Johnson and Churchill are both 56% white. So is Poolesville.
BCC is 57% white.
Damascus is 66% white.
Whitman is 70%, which apparently mirrors your private school demographics.

[Anonymous]

Sherwood belongs on the list too -- 55% white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ is not as diverse as you think. It has significantly fewer AAs and Hispanics than the county as a whole and more whites. I know that wasn't the original question.

We are in a position to choose any school, and we choose a small diverse public for elementary and a small diverse private for the upper grades.

Private schools are never as diverse as even the whitest schools in MoCo.

Totally wrong. Most good privates have 30% on financial aid, 30% non-white - far more diverse than W schools.

C'mon folks, layoff the PP. I'm sure to that PP having 30% non white is diverse. PP probably comes from something like 90% white. It's all about perception. Some people think if you have 5 nonwhite people in the school, it's considered diverse.

[Anonymous]

I support the OP who posted about Whitman. She may sound defensive but she is totally right about Whitman. I went there. It is a good diverse.
And the people who act like they wouldn't want to live there are being silly.
Whitman was the diverse where people around you look different and have different backgrounds and yet most are upper middle class and achievers who are children of achievers. This may sound like a cocoon but what it did for me was instill in me the reality that everyone can achieve regardless of race or gender or country of origin or religion. My friends were a map of the world and I was not indoctrinated with a belief that people of certain races cannot do for themselves and need free this or that. I know that some people do need help but I know it is more complex than an issue of skin color.

Also, for health reasons I had to move to private school and the ONLY person I knew that was on financial aid was a white girl from ....Bethesda. Widowed mom was disabled. So stop the Bethesda envy/bashing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Whitman cluster. We chose the neighborhood because we liked the house, liked the neighborhood, and the commute was as good as we could get and stay on the MD side of the line (which was important to me as a native MDer). While one of my kids opted for private high school, the other goes to Whitman and it's been a really great school. DC likes his classes, works hard, has good relationships with teachers, has a really good group of friends, is active in sports and other EC activities. The parents are committed to the school and volunteer for various volunteer activities - Sports teams, Arts Festival, drama, Post prom, etc. My DC does not find it a pressure cooker, as some people say it is, and has a pretty diverse group of friends (which to me is better than going to a so called diverse school but then only being friends with the people who look like you, which seems to be the norm at many of the diverse schools).

PP, I perceive this as defensive.

I perceive that as the truth!! Also factually based - google it.

factual? you can look up the racial demographics of the schools - but the rest of that statement is opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I support the OP who posted about Whitman. She may sound defensive but she is totally right about Whitman. I went there. It is a good diverse.
And the people who act like they wouldn't want to live there are being silly.
Whitman was the diverse where people around you look different and have different backgrounds and yet most are upper middle class and achievers who are children of achievers. This may sound like a cocoon but what it did for me was instill in me the reality that everyone can achieve regardless of race or gender or country of origin or religion. My friends were a map of the world and I was not indoctrinated with a belief that people of certain races cannot do for themselves and need free this or that. I know that some people do need help but I know it is more complex than an issue of skin color.

Also, for health reasons I had to move to private school and the ONLY person I knew that was on financial aid was a white girl from ....Bethesda. Widowed mom was disabled. So stop the Bethesda envy/bashing.

....as long as they have affluent parents.

It is not Bethesda envy/bashing to say that Whitman is a socioeconomically homogeneous school.

And it is a fact that 5% or fewer of Whitman students have ever been on free and reduced meals, compared to 43% of MCPS students as a whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I support the OP who posted about Whitman. She may sound defensive but she is totally right about Whitman. I went there. It is a good diverse.
And the people who act like they wouldn't want to live there are being silly.
Whitman was the diverse where people around you look different and have different backgrounds and yet most are upper middle class and achievers who are children of achievers. This may sound like a cocoon but what it did for me was instill in me the reality that everyone can achieve regardless of race or gender or country of origin or religion. My friends were a map of the world and I was not indoctrinated with a belief that people of certain races cannot do for themselves and need free this or that. I know that some people do need help but I know it is more complex than an issue of skin color.

Also, for health reasons I had to move to private school and the ONLY person I knew that was on financial aid was a white girl from ....Bethesda. Widowed mom was disabled. So stop the Bethesda envy/bashing.

Where are you comparing Whitman to as far as diversity is concerned? MCPS as a whole? Or just your neighborhood? Whitman is 82+% White/Asian, and I don't know if you have heard, but apparently Asians are the token whites as far as education diversity is concerned. FARMS and ESOL population < 5%. This is probably one of the least diverse HS in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

The W also relates to Wealth..Damascus and Poolesville don't pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Wheaton a W school?

Yes.

No, no, no.. it's not about the schools that start with W. It's about the high performing schools where either the first or last name of the school (or both in case of Walt Whitman) has a W in it,

Read the link http://greatergreatereducation.org/post/20089/mont...oast-on-their-good-reputation/

Actually, Wheaton is not a "W school" because it has too many black and Hispanic students for the "diversity"-touting W snobs' comfort. They only like minorities in small, token quantities. OP is a case in point.

To answer the OP's not-question, I don't give a rat's ass what cluster my kid is in. The academics are mediocre anywher--it's just thay higher SES areas have more students whose families expect them to attend top colleges and universities, and have resources to help their kids excel. I care only that the school takes safety seriously. I can supplement academics at home but can't keep my child safe when she's at school.

[Anonymous]

Einstein. Happy.