Top 10 Schools in MoCo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Frankly, I do not give a rat's ass about the ranking. Does my kid have a good shot of getting stellar grades, great SAT and AP scores, learning the material, filling content gaps, having excellent EC activities at the end of 4 years? Is he willing to work hard and not depend on MCPS to spoon feed him? Am I willing to support him? Why would I care what the school rating of any other MCPS school is? Why do I care where Joe Shmoe goes? My student is a rising 9th grader in PHS SMACS program - so should he take it easy because by being in PHS he will automagically succeed?

None of the public and private schools in DMV is of the same caliber as Stuyvesant. We should try and concentrate on what is important.

Blair SMACS puts Stuyvesant to shame

I don't get all the Blair SMACS boosters on this forum ... It's a great program, but you all act like it's God gift to man.

The SAT avg for Blair SMACS is around 1530. This is just an average. They consistently win national awards and have students on math and physics olympiads. Blair is the real deal.

Yes, it's a great program, but you all act like there's nothing equivalent to it in the WMA. That's just not true. Poolesville and TJ are both equivalent on every metric.

It's also great ONLY if your kid is in the SMACS program. The non-SMAC is nothing to really rave about. I think there are many other schools in MCPS that have better scores in multiple metrics than the Blair non-SMAC.

Actually that's false. Non-magnet students have access to many magnet level classes. Also as has been shown here the average SAT at Blair for one of the larger cohorts even excluding magnet students was 1296 and surpassed that of the same group at any W.

I remember that post. It used the demographic data from this PDF
https://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2017/1771102HS%20Princ_SAT%20Partic_Perf%20Class%20of%202017.pdf

Then took the Blair magnet average SAT which was something like 1530 and extrapolated the average score minus the out of boundary magnet students in that cohort. There was something like 40% of the 80 out of boundary magnet students in the original average belonged to the cohort that had 1326. This accounted for a 30 point boost to their average but it can also be argued that the only reason the magnet kids do so well is because it's a great school.

It was brilliant how this shutdown the Blair haters who attribute everything to a few dozen magnet students who are bussed in.

[Anonymous]

So then explain to me why Poolesville is 1 on Niche for MD high schools and 2 on US News for MD, while Blair is 11 on Niche and unranked in US News.

If you disagree with the methodologies for these rankings, provide concrete criticisms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So then explain to me why Poolesville is 1 on Niche for MD high schools and 2 on US News for MD, while Blair is 11 on Niche and unranked in US News.

If you disagree with the methodologies for these rankings, provide concrete criticisms.

Poolesville is not number 1 by virtue of any credible methodology. I'm sorry that your child is stuck there. Wishing isn't going to make it better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So then explain to me why Poolesville is 1 on Niche for MD high schools and 2 on US News for MD, while Blair is 11 on Niche and unranked in US News.

If you disagree with the methodologies for these rankings, provide concrete criticisms.

Poolesville is not number 1 by virtue of any credible methodology. I'm sorry that your child is stuck there. Wishing isn't going to make it better.

Provide concrete reasons why the methodology isn’t credible.

Also, my kid doesn’t go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stuyvescent takes the top performing kids from a district which is an order of magnitude larger than MoCO. It’s apples to turnips

Majority of Stuyvescent students are FARMS. It does well regardless of SES. Blair SMACS are mainly filled with kids who are zones to.....W schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Frankly, I do not give a rat's ass about the ranking. Does my kid have a good shot of getting stellar grades, great SAT and AP scores, learning the material, filling content gaps, having excellent EC activities at the end of 4 years? Is he willing to work hard and not depend on MCPS to spoon feed him? Am I willing to support him? Why would I care what the school rating of any other MCPS school is? Why do I care where Joe Shmoe goes? My student is a rising 9th grader in PHS SMACS program - so should he take it easy because by being in PHS he will automagically succeed?

None of the public and private schools in DMV is of the same caliber as Stuyvesant. We should try and concentrate on what is important.

Blair SMACS puts Stuyvesant to shame

I don't get all the Blair SMACS boosters on this forum ... It's a great program, but you all act like it's God gift to man.

The SAT avg for Blair SMACS is around 1530. This is just an average. They consistently win national awards and have students on math and physics olympiads. Blair is the real deal.

Yes, it's a great program, but you all act like there's nothing equivalent to it in the WMA. That's just not true. Poolesville and TJ are both equivalent on every metric.

It's also great ONLY if your kid is in the SMACS program. The non-SMAC is nothing to really rave about. I think there are many other schools in MCPS that have better scores in multiple metrics than the Blair non-SMAC.

Actually that's false. Non-magnet students have access to many magnet level classes. Also as has been shown here the average SAT at Blair for one of the larger cohorts even excluding magnet students was 1296 and surpassed that of the same group at any W.

Right...everything is accessible to all...and how many non-magnet students will actually take those magnet level class? Lets not delude ourselves. Magnet level classes are hard and non-magnet students hesitate to take those because it will bring down their GPA. Sure, there is Health and PE that the magnet and non-magnet students take...but that is not the same as taking the magnet SMACS classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Frankly, I do not give a rat's ass about the ranking. Does my kid have a good shot of getting stellar grades, great SAT and AP scores, learning the material, filling content gaps, having excellent EC activities at the end of 4 years? Is he willing to work hard and not depend on MCPS to spoon feed him? Am I willing to support him? Why would I care what the school rating of any other MCPS school is? Why do I care where Joe Shmoe goes? My student is a rising 9th grader in PHS SMACS program - so should he take it easy because by being in PHS he will automagically succeed?

None of the public and private schools in DMV is of the same caliber as Stuyvesant. We should try and concentrate on what is important.

Blair SMACS puts Stuyvesant to shame

I don't get all the Blair SMACS boosters on this forum ... It's a great program, but you all act like it's God gift to man.

The SAT avg for Blair SMACS is around 1530. This is just an average. They consistently win national awards and have students on math and physics olympiads. Blair is the real deal.

Yes, it's a great program, but you all act like there's nothing equivalent to it in the WMA. That's just not true. Poolesville and TJ are both equivalent on every metric.

It's also great ONLY if your kid is in the SMACS program. The non-SMAC is nothing to really rave about. I think there are many other schools in MCPS that have better scores in multiple metrics than the Blair non-SMAC.

Actually that's false. Non-magnet students have access to many magnet level classes. Also as has been shown here the average SAT at Blair for one of the larger cohorts even excluding magnet students was 1296 and surpassed that of the same group at any W.

Right...everything is accessible to all...and how many non-magnet students will actually take those magnet level class? Lets not delude ourselves. Magnet level classes are hard and non-magnet students hesitate to take those because it will bring down their GPA. Sure, there is Health and PE that the magnet and non-magnet students take...but that is not the same as taking the magnet SMACS classes.

Exactly. The SMAC classes are very challenging, hence the test in program. It's not meant for the regular student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The SAT avg for Blair SMACS is around 1530. This is just an average. They consistently win national awards and have students on math and physics olympiads. Blair is the real deal.

Yeah! But it is not your kid who is winning Math and Physics Olympiads, is it? Even in SMACS, it is usually a handful of the same students (well, the same handful of Asian-American, Jewish and East European Americans) who are winning most of these competitions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stuyvescent takes the top performing kids from a district which is an order of magnitude larger than MoCO. It’s apples to turnips

Majority of Stuyvescent students are FARMS. It does well regardless of SES. Blair SMACS are mainly filled with kids who are zones to.....W schools.

It’s 43%.

You all would complain if MCPS ran magnets the way NYC does. It’s one test and that’s it. The kids who get above a certain score get in and the rest don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Frankly, I do not give a rat's ass about the ranking. Does my kid have a good shot of getting stellar grades, great SAT and AP scores, learning the material, filling content gaps, having excellent EC activities at the end of 4 years? Is he willing to work hard and not depend on MCPS to spoon feed him? Am I willing to support him? Why would I care what the school rating of any other MCPS school is? Why do I care where Joe Shmoe goes? My student is a rising 9th grader in PHS SMACS program - so should he take it easy because by being in PHS he will automagically succeed?

None of the public and private schools in DMV is of the same caliber as Stuyvesant. We should try and concentrate on what is important.

Blair SMACS puts Stuyvesant to shame

I don't get all the Blair SMACS boosters on this forum ... It's a great program, but you all act like it's God gift to man.

The SAT avg for Blair SMACS is around 1530. This is just an average. They consistently win national awards and have students on math and physics olympiads. Blair is the real deal.

Yes, it's a great program, but you all act like there's nothing equivalent to it in the WMA. That's just not true. Poolesville and TJ are both equivalent on every metric.

It's also great ONLY if your kid is in the SMACS program. The non-SMAC is nothing to really rave about. I think there are many other schools in MCPS that have better scores in multiple metrics than the Blair non-SMAC.

Actually that's false. Non-magnet students have access to many magnet level classes. Also as has been shown here the average SAT at Blair for one of the larger cohorts even excluding magnet students was 1296 and surpassed that of the same group at any W.

I remember that post. It used the demographic data from this PDF
https://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2017/1771102HS%20Princ_SAT%20Partic_Perf%20Class%20of%202017.pdf

Then took the Blair magnet average SAT which was something like 1530 and extrapolated the average score minus the out of boundary magnet students in that cohort. There was something like 40% of the 80 out of boundary magnet students in the original average belonged to the cohort that had 1326. This accounted for a 30 point boost to their average but it can also be argued that the only reason the magnet kids do so well is because it's a great school.

It was brilliant how this shutdown the Blair haters who attribute everything to a few dozen magnet students who are bussed in.

I would be interested in that post. The avg score at Blair was 1142 and if you take out the magnet kids, the avg score is 1053 according to my calculation. Lets say even half the kids are in-bound, then the avg SAT score would be around 1100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stuyvescent takes the top performing kids from a district which is an order of magnitude larger than MoCO. It’s apples to turnips

Majority of Stuyvescent students are FARMS. It does well regardless of SES. Blair SMACS are mainly filled with kids who are zones to.....W schools.

How do you know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stuyvescent takes the top performing kids from a district which is an order of magnitude larger than MoCO. It’s apples to turnips

Majority of Stuyvescent students are FARMS. It does well regardless of SES. Blair SMACS are mainly filled with kids who are zones to.....W schools.

How do you know this?

They used to shoot for 50/50 which is one of the reasons they have TP a 25 seat set aside because the parents used to be mad because there were more OB kids then local. It will be way less now that they are more worried about demographics than talent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stuyvescent takes the top performing kids from a district which is an order of magnitude larger than MoCO. It’s apples to turnips

Majority of Stuyvescent students are FARMS. It does well regardless of SES. Blair SMACS are mainly filled with kids who are zones to.....W schools.

How do you know this?

They used to shoot for 50/50 which is one of the reasons they have TP a 25 seat set aside because the parents used to be mad because there were more OB kids then local. It will be way less now that they are more worried about demographics than talent

In other words, you don't know this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stuyvescent takes the top performing kids from a district which is an order of magnitude larger than MoCO. It’s apples to turnips

Majority of Stuyvescent students are FARMS. It does well regardless of SES. Blair SMACS are mainly filled with kids who are zones to.....W schools.

How do you know this?

They used to shoot for 50/50 which is one of the reasons they have TP a 25 seat set aside because the parents used to be mad because there were more OB kids then local. It will be way less now that they are more worried about demographics than talent

In other words, you don't know this.

They didn’t guarantee extra slots to IB kids because they were over represented


But what ever, you’re happy there and that is all that matters.... to you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Frankly, I do not give a rat's ass about the ranking. Does my kid have a good shot of getting stellar grades, great SAT and AP scores, learning the material, filling content gaps, having excellent EC activities at the end of 4 years? Is he willing to work hard and not depend on MCPS to spoon feed him? Am I willing to support him? Why would I care what the school rating of any other MCPS school is? Why do I care where Joe Shmoe goes? My student is a rising 9th grader in PHS SMACS program - so should he take it easy because by being in PHS he will automagically succeed?

None of the public and private schools in DMV is of the same caliber as Stuyvesant. We should try and concentrate on what is important.

Blair SMACS puts Stuyvesant to shame

I don't get all the Blair SMACS boosters on this forum ... It's a great program, but you all act like it's God gift to man.

The SAT avg for Blair SMACS is around 1530. This is just an average. They consistently win national awards and have students on math and physics olympiads. Blair is the real deal.

Yes, it's a great program, but you all act like there's nothing equivalent to it in the WMA. That's just not true. Poolesville and TJ are both equivalent on every metric.

It's also great ONLY if your kid is in the SMACS program. The non-SMAC is nothing to really rave about. I think there are many other schools in MCPS that have better scores in multiple metrics than the Blair non-SMAC.

Actually that's false. Non-magnet students have access to many magnet level classes. Also as has been shown here the average SAT at Blair for one of the larger cohorts even excluding magnet students was 1296 and surpassed that of the same group at any W.

Right...everything is accessible to all...and how many non-magnet students will actually take those magnet level class? Lets not delude ourselves. Magnet level classes are hard and non-magnet students hesitate to take those because it will bring down their GPA. Sure, there is Health and PE that the magnet and non-magnet students take...but that is not the same as taking the magnet SMACS classes.

There is Health PE English, languages,social studies..half the day actually.