Wilson vs St. John’s

[Anonymous]

Has not been our experience either. One Deal grad at a DC private on Wisconsin and one at an application DCPS HS.

[Anonymous]

Um....OP never asked about Big 3. Can you take it elsewhere?

OP, Wilson is a great school. SJC is a great school. Have your child look at both and go from there k owing SJC is competitive to get into but kids are equally happy as Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 who attended SJC and 3rd starting this fall. We are also a Deal family. SJC used to be a lot easier to get into when my oldest entered. From the people we know who applied from Deal for this fall few made it in. I don’t know if that is because the Deal applications are up or if more kids are picking SJC from the ADW schools.

We love it. Great school with really nice kids.

Few made it in from Deal to any privates--it was much worse from Deal to the big 3 privates and the Catholics like Visitation and Gonzaga. These last two schools basically took 1 kid each from Deal and the kids they took are Catholic and either standout (all city) athletes or legacy or both. One the "big 3" side of things I know 10-15 kids who applied out from Deal for every 1 who go in to any top private. As a result, all are going to Wilson except for the SJC contingent.

Bullsh*t. Deal is a huge school. How do you know what kids got into what private schools from it? You have absolutely no idea and are just pulling numbers out of your a$$. I’ll bet Deal itself couldn’t answer the question.

+1 Among the kids I know who applied out, quite a few had multiple offers, and only one was disappointed. No parent can know everyone at Deal.

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know who applied to SJC this year from deal got in... I don’t know everyone but I know at least ten kids who applied, all got in and they are not all outstanding students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The ethnicity numbers for SJC above are laughable. The "stats" link is not to an SJC website.

I have 2 kids at SJC and I interact with students on campus 4-8 hrs/wk.

MAYBE 40% white and 40% black, though I'd say more black students than white.

To the question above about Muslim students, I wonder how many would want to attend a Catholic school. Religion classes are required each year, with the 1st 2 yrs are New & Old Testament; the next 2 years the classes are really more ethics from a Christian perspective.

Hindus and Buddhists also represent just under 1% of the US population (Pew 2015) and may be under-represented as well.

As to the socio-economic question, I suggest that SJC has more low-income white students than Wilson. I think it helps kids grow when race and income are not so linked as they are at local schools.

To the original poster I'd say the only reasonable answer to a question about schools: listen to feedback, then go visit any school that you'd consider.

No, just a school profile that SJC publishes and posts on their website. It's the same one that is attached to students' college applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I know who applied to SJC this year from deal got in... I don’t know everyone but I know at least ten kids who applied, all got in and they are not all outstanding students.

Was going to say something similar.

[Anonymous]

We know five families that went to SJC after Deal and then ended up at Wilson for 10th grade. So something weird happens there for some students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know five families that went to SJC after Deal and then ended up at Wilson for 10th grade. So something weird happens there for some students.

it isn't DCPS, they have to do more than just show up some of the time and that is quite a shock to many kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ethnicity numbers for SJC above are laughable. The "stats" link is not to an SJC website.

I have 2 kids at SJC and I interact with students on campus 4-8 hrs/wk.

MAYBE 40% white and 40% black, though I'd say more black students than white.

To the question above about Muslim students, I wonder how many would want to attend a Catholic school. Religion classes are required each year, with the 1st 2 yrs are New & Old Testament; the next 2 years the classes are really more ethics from a Christian perspective.

Hindus and Buddhists also represent just under 1% of the US population (Pew 2015) and may be under-represented as well.

As to the socio-economic question, I suggest that SJC has more low-income white students than Wilson. I think it helps kids grow when race and income are not so linked as they are at local schools.

To the original poster I'd say the only reasonable answer to a question about schools: listen to feedback, then go visit any school that you'd consider.

No, just a school profile that SJC publishes and posts on their website. It's the same one that is attached to students' college applications.

Like I alluded to earlier, to many white folks one black kid is like seeing two. I am not joking when I say that. So what is really 25% can feel like 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know five families that went to SJC after Deal and then ended up at Wilson for 10th grade. So something weird happens there for some students.

it isn't DCPS, they have to do more than just show up some of the time and that is quite a shock to many kids.

This +100. Deal does kids no favors with ZAP/turn in your work late is A-OK. SJC expects all work turned in ontime and zeros are permitted. It Is a shock to a lot of the Deal kids. We also know two kids kicked out of SJC for breaking the rules. One was a heavily recruited athlete. Back to Wilson where he will be a starter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many threads here that you can find by using the search feature on the left.

We were in the same situation a couple of years ago. DS loved SJC and even got a little bit of money. We ultimately decided on Wilson, where he will graduate in a year. It’s not perfect, but then no school is, including SJC.

He has had excellent teachers and made really nice friends. He is involved in sports and music. It’s a big school, and we value the diversity of experiences that are represented there.

For our family, the gains from SJC did not outweigh the costs. We would have been able to pay the tuition, but we would have been living on a much tighter budget and not have been able to provide our kids some of the vacations and experiences they’ve had over the past 3 years.

Breastfeeding/Formula
Stay at home/Work outside the home
Rec soccer/Travel soccer
Wilson/SJC
These are the choices made here on DCUM. None of these choices are bad. Each family makes the decision that is best for them.

No, formula is bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know five families that went to SJC after Deal and then ended up at Wilson for 10th grade. So something weird happens there for some students.

it isn't DCPS, they have to do more than just show up some of the time and that is quite a shock to many kids.

This +100. Deal does kids no favors with ZAP/turn in your work late is A-OK. SJC expects all work turned in ontime and zeros are permitted. It Is a shock to a lot of the Deal kids. We also know two kids kicked out of SJC for breaking the rules. One was a heavily recruited athlete. Back to Wilson where he will be a starter.

Yes it was a real shocker when they too had to enforce the new DCPS grading policy and students started getting low grades on last 2 report cards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know five families that went to SJC after Deal and then ended up at Wilson for 10th grade. So something weird happens there for some students.

You can't necessarily associate leaving SJC with lack of educational success. Some kids try something different and decide it's not for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know five families that went to SJC after Deal and then ended up at Wilson for 10th grade. So something weird happens there for some students.

You can't necessarily associate leaving SJC with lack of educational success. Some kids try something different and decide it's not for them.

Agree. It is a very different atmosphere from what these kids are used to, and for some that is amazing and for others it is oppressive. Sometimes it is the the subtle things.

[Anonymous]

The kids I know who went from Deal--->SJC and then to Wilson for 10th did so because they missed their elementary/middle school friends and being able to walk to school (via commuting to SJC).