Reassure me about Walter Johnson / explain the DCC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at WJ and BCC. Walter Johnson is academically stronger than BCC, OP (teachers are more rigorous and teach better, which is the important thing!). The housing is more pleasant around downtown Bethesda. So you have to choose what's more important to you

Woodward will open in 2025. Your older kid might be allowed to stay the whole 4 years. In theory, kids within walking distance to their school are not redistricted, but these two schools are so close, who knows. Maybe your best bet is to find a house at the far south-west side of the WJ cluster? But I'm sure Woodward will be a good school, too.

No--its opening has now been delayed to 2026.

The delay is so it can be used as a holding school during the Northwood renovations, correct?

I guess it delays things by a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
BCC is the W schools' middle class cousin, OP. I think people mistakenly assume it's excellent because it has IB (which isn't that great when you're applying to US colleges) and there's "Bethesda" right in the name. The schools offering the most AP courses (which ARE useful for applications to US colleges because they match college classes better), the most academically-oriented student bodies, and the best teachers, are: Walt Whitman, Wooton, Winston Churchill, and Walter Johnson.

The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

That's because BCC has a lot of IB classes. Whereas Whitman, Wootton (double u, double o, double t, o n), Churchill, and WJ don't have any IB classes.

That's the problem! The IB is a load of horseshite. IB math, for example, doesn't reach the depth and challenge of AP Calc BC, not by a long shot. Replacing AP courses with IB is really not an intelligent choice, because college admissions counselors are aware of the differences in content. It's a shame, because otherwise BCC has a lot going for it. And don't talk to me about the Middle Years Programme at Westland MS. The kids spent this year's MYP time (which is a handful of hours a year, tops) reading feel-good stuff about LGBTQ+ gender roles. Yippee.

Please explain how you know that IB math "doesn't reach the depth and challenge of AP Calc BC"?

For what it's worth, IB offers 4 two-year math courses: Mathematics: analysis and approaches SL (standard level), Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL (high level), Mathematics: applications and interpretation SL, Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL

My kid's school (not BCC, not RM) offers 3 of those 4 IB courses: Mathematics: applications and interpretation SL, Mathematics: analysis and approaches SL, Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL.

AP Calc BC is a one-year course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at WJ and BCC. Walter Johnson is academically stronger than BCC, OP (teachers are more rigorous and teach better, which is the important thing!). The housing is more pleasant around downtown Bethesda. So you have to choose what's more important to you

Woodward will open in 2025. Your older kid might be allowed to stay the whole 4 years. In theory, kids within walking distance to their school are not redistricted, but these two schools are so close, who knows. Maybe your best bet is to find a house at the far south-west side of the WJ cluster? But I'm sure Woodward will be a good school, too.

No--its opening has now been delayed to 2026.

The delay is so it can be used as a holding school during the Northwood renovations, correct?

I guess it delays things by a year.

This latest delay is due to capital budget funding constraints and the fact that the construction is happening more slowly than expected.