In-boundary schools worth considering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime DC resident and DCPS parent. Do yourself a favor and move to Northern Virginia.

Longtime DC resident, DCPS parent, and person who grew up in northern Virginia—move to upper NW.

I mean, this advice boils down to "Be Rich" and that's not particularly helpful advice for anyone.

Which is basically the truth if you want a decent inbound HS in DC.

No, you can rent a 2b/2b apartment along Connecticut Ave. Put a temporary divider in the bedroom if you have 2 kids of opposite sex. Or do like my NYC parents did and have the parents sleep on the pullout couch in living room, and give each teen one of the bedrooms. Voila! Now you're just like all the families in Asian and European capitals, and NYC.

[Anonymous]

If you are aiming for high school you can rent in the Wilson area for a year. Once you’re in, your kid can stay and you can move if you want.

But you didn’t tell us about your kid. Self motivated? Academic? Athletic? Wants to lay around the house and game so you want academic peers?
Tell us (a lot) more abt your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime DC resident and DCPS parent. Do yourself a favor and move to Northern Virginia.

Longtime DC resident, DCPS parent, and person who grew up in northern Virginia—move to upper NW.

I mean, this advice boils down to "Be Rich" and that's not particularly helpful advice for anyone.

Which is basically the truth if you want a decent inbound HS in DC.

No, you can rent a 2b/2b apartment along Connecticut Ave. Put a temporary divider in the bedroom if you have 2 kids of opposite sex. Or do like my NYC parents did and have the parents sleep on the pullout couch in living room, and give each teen one of the bedrooms. Voila! Now you're just like all the families in Asian and European capitals, and NYC.

3 bed rental w/in wilson boundaries:
https://www.apartments.com/4600-connecticut-ave-nw-washington-dc-unit-723/3gdp1df/

2b/2ba walking distance to wilson, $2300 a month. No car needed. A social worker and account administrator with DC salaries should be able to afford this easily. Lovely safe neighborhood, on transit, walkable to groceries, CVS, parks, any errand, plus bars and restaurants. And Rock Creek Park.
https://www.apartments.com/connecticut-heights-washington-dc/e1vnq7m/

[Anonymous]

The other thing to keep in mind is they may add a new HS in NW DC. They have the location for two new schools, was due to be announced at beginning of summer what grade levels would be at those two new schools. One possible option under consideration is a new HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are aiming for high school you can rent in the Wilson area for a year. Once you’re in, your kid can stay and you can move if you want.

But you didn’t tell us about your kid. Self motivated? Academic? Athletic? Wants to lay around the house and game so you want academic peers?
Tell us (a lot) more abt your kid.

My son is pretty great (biased): academic, but not terribly motivated; will not be valedictorian & that's fine with all of us. Athletic - cross country, cycling, & soccer. Inclined toward design/engineering. Social, sensitive, empathic. Very, very interested in experiential learning, outdoors, museums. Responsible and independent - will do fine with public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other thing to keep in mind is they may add a new HS in NW DC. They have the location for two new schools, was due to be announced at beginning of summer what grade levels would be at those two new schools. One possible option under consideration is a new HS.

This is interesting! I will stay tuned to this forum, which I assume will be a good place to learn about such things. Aside from the Post, any other online news sites you all would recommend to stay abreast of relevant community/school happenings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime DC resident and DCPS parent. Do yourself a favor and move to Northern Virginia.

Longtime DC resident, DCPS parent, and person who grew up in northern Virginia—move to upper NW.

I mean, this advice boils down to "Be Rich" and that's not particularly helpful advice for anyone.

Which is basically the truth if you want a decent inbound HS in DC.

No, you can rent a 2b/2b apartment along Connecticut Ave. Put a temporary divider in the bedroom if you have 2 kids of opposite sex. Or do like my NYC parents did and have the parents sleep on the pullout couch in living room, and give each teen one of the bedrooms. Voila! Now you're just like all the families in Asian and European capitals, and NYC.

For what it's worth, his dad and I are divorced and are moving "parallel" - he will have a place, and I will have a place. We are amicably divorced and our son is super well adjusted. So technically we'll need two places, but we're okay with that challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson has by far the highest test scores. I think a motivated kid can do fine at other schools so long as they aren't distracted by a majority of kids working below grade level. For example, Eastern has an International Baccalaureate program. A smart and focused kid who will do well anywhere might do well there and would stand out.

But Wilson is certainly the safest bet for having a larger group of kids working at grade level. It's also bigger than the other high schools so there are more electives and extracurriculars offered. There are charters and magnet schools too but you'd need to see how the lottery goes.

Are charters and magnet schools different from selective schools? I'm obviously still very early on in my planning, so Google is my friend, but can't hurt to ask!

People use different words to describe them, but magnet schools are test-in schools like School Without Walls, Banneker and Duke Ellington. Anyone can apply but there is selective admission criteria. Charters are city-wide schools. There are no selective admission criteria, but you need to lottery for a spot, as there are often more applicants than available slots.

McKinley Tech could b a good fit for OP.

Watch out. We know a couple white families at McKinley Tech. The school's teachers, college counselors and admins cheer when kids score 3s on AP math and sciences, all but useless scores for white kids applying to competitive colleges. Those kids need 4s and 5s on AP. The program serves low SES minorities who are welcome at elite colleges with 3s on AP tests.

Whoever wrote this knows next to nothing about college admissions. No kid -- white or otherwise -- "needs 4s and 5s on AP." AP exam score barely count AT ALL for college admissions. After all, most students take half or more of their AP classes in the senior year -- and don't even have their exam scores until after they've already been admitted to college. What's important is that you take AP classes, not that you ace the exams.

Whoever wrote this knows next to nothing about getting into colleges admitting in the single digits or teens, e.g. Yale, Stanford, MIT, Univ of Chicago, Georgetown, a military academy. "Most students" don't apply to these sort of colleges. Average students are fine with not submitting AP scores, or International Baccalaureate Diploma exam scores, with college applications. What's important is that families know which type of colleges they're aiming for, and what type of prep is needed to present a competitive application for a particular profile of student (e.g. UMC and white or Asian vs. low SES and minority).

Just STOP. AP exam scores do not count for college admissions. PERIOD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you smoking, PP?

BASIS DC students routinely apply to college bringing half a dozen 4s or 5s on AP exams to the table, and they're hardly alone. Roughly one-third of BASIS students start taking APs in 8th grade. By the time they apply to college in October or January of senior year, they're not short on 4s and 5s on APs. Same story in many suburban high schools and DC privates. DCPS aims far too low in college admissions as a system.

BASIS DC students are bringing 4’s and 5’s on AP’s but many of these supposedly brilliant students are having problems in college, changing majors, and even quitting. As a matter of fact, 2 top class of 2017 students recently
graduated from College without honors or any type of distinction.

To be fair, my son had the fourth-highest GPA at his large FCPS high school, 5's on nine AP exams, and also recently graduated from his (Ivy League) college without honors or any type of distinction, so that's hardly an exclusively BASIS phenomenon. (Lack of honors notwithstanding, DS loved his college experience, and I'm confident he will do great in life.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson has by far the highest test scores. I think a motivated kid can do fine at other schools so long as they aren't distracted by a majority of kids working below grade level. For example, Eastern has an International Baccalaureate program. A smart and focused kid who will do well anywhere might do well there and would stand out.

But Wilson is certainly the safest bet for having a larger group of kids working at grade level. It's also bigger than the other high schools so there are more electives and extracurriculars offered. There are charters and magnet schools too but you'd need to see how the lottery goes.

Are charters and magnet schools different from selective schools? I'm obviously still very early on in my planning, so Google is my friend, but can't hurt to ask!

People use different words to describe them, but magnet schools are test-in schools like School Without Walls, Banneker and Duke Ellington. Anyone can apply but there is selective admission criteria. Charters are city-wide schools. There are no selective admission criteria, but you need to lottery for a spot, as there are often more applicants than available slots.

McKinley Tech could b a good fit for OP.

Watch out. We know a couple white families at McKinley Tech. The school's teachers, college counselors and admins cheer when kids score 3s on AP math and sciences, all but useless scores for white kids applying to competitive colleges. Those kids need 4s and 5s on AP. The program serves low SES minorities who are welcome at elite colleges with 3s on AP tests.

Whoever wrote this knows next to nothing about college admissions. No kid -- white or otherwise -- "needs 4s and 5s on AP." AP exam score barely count AT ALL for college admissions. After all, most students take half or more of their AP classes in the senior year -- and don't even have their exam scores until after they've already been admitted to college. What's important is that you take AP classes, not that you ace the exams.

Whoever wrote this knows next to nothing about getting into colleges admitting in the single digits or teens, e.g. Yale, Stanford, MIT, Univ of Chicago, Georgetown, a military academy. "Most students" don't apply to these sort of colleges. Average students are fine with not submitting AP scores, or International Baccalaureate Diploma exam scores, with college applications. What's important is that families know which type of colleges they're aiming for, and what type of prep is needed to present a competitive application for a particular profile of student (e.g. UMC and white or Asian vs. low SES and minority).

Just STOP. AP exam scores do not count for college admissions. PERIOD.

NP. On which planet? I once worked as an admissions official at a college rejecting more than 90% of applicants, then and now. Standardized test scores, including AP (or IB Diploma, A-Levels, French Bacca, German Abitur etc.) counted for a lot in admissions to that particular institution (hint, you've heard of it).

You don't sound like you have direct experience with elite college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson has by far the highest test scores. I think a motivated kid can do fine at other schools so long as they aren't distracted by a majority of kids working below grade level. For example, Eastern has an International Baccalaureate program. A smart and focused kid who will do well anywhere might do well there and would stand out.

But Wilson is certainly the safest bet for having a larger group of kids working at grade level. It's also bigger than the other high schools so there are more electives and extracurriculars offered. There are charters and magnet schools too but you'd need to see how the lottery goes.

Are charters and magnet schools different from selective schools? I'm obviously still very early on in my planning, so Google is my friend, but can't hurt to ask!

People use different words to describe them, but magnet schools are test-in schools like School Without Walls, Banneker and Duke Ellington. Anyone can apply but there is selective admission criteria. Charters are city-wide schools. There are no selective admission criteria, but you need to lottery for a spot, as there are often more applicants than available slots.

I'd add Coolidge Early College Program, which is citywide selective, but within a neighborhood school with the associated extracurriculars, and a somewhat more affordable neighborhood than around Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are black, send your kids to a private school with a well-curated black population so that they can experience a critical mass of same race academic peers sometime before college, which is almost impossible anywhere w/in DCPS.

Which private schools have a “well-curated black population”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are black, send your kids to a private school with a well-curated black population so that they can experience a critical mass of same race academic peers sometime before college, which is almost impossible anywhere w/in DCPS.

Which private schools have a “well-curated black population”?

Pp, phrasing is hilarious. I can just imagine an admissions officer with a checklist saying we already have the sensitive jock, so Johnny is out. Now to filling the role of spunky theater kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are black, send your kids to a private school with a well-curated black population so that they can experience a critical mass of same race academic peers sometime before college, which is almost impossible anywhere w/in DCPS.

Which private schools have a “well-curated black population”?

Pp, phrasing is hilarious. I can just imagine an admissions officer with a checklist saying we already have the sensitive jock, so Johnny is out. Now to filling the role of spunky theater kid

All of them.

[Anonymous]

OP - inner Montgomery County is also "inside the beltway." You might look at some Silver Spring neighborhoods that are walking distance to the metro and downtown. The area is diverse, has decent public schools comparable to Wilson, and is more walkable than areas of upper NW. Just something to consider depending on your reasons for wanting to be in DC proper.