New question on BCC or WW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are recent not current but I will say we liked the IB program and comparing my kids experience to my friend’s kid’s experience at Whitman I was happy to be at BCC.

Thank you! Was the IB program very hard?

I don’t really know how to answer that. My kid didn’t struggle but it was a fair amount of work and it also requires some organizational skills if you want full diploma because there are some small requirements that need to be fulfilled.

What I liked about it was the extended essay, which is time set aside to write and rewrite a paper, and generally the humanities classes seemed to teach to some depth.

In the end it proved to be good preparation for college, and it also makes for a small program within the school of academic kids which I think has some benefits.

[Anonymous]

My kids graduated from WW in 2025 and 2024. They are both very smart and somewhat ambitious, social and active in various activities. I think they probably got the best public school education one can get around here, and the community is great. All their friends were good kids and the teachers were mostly very good, though operating within difficult constraints. If we had more money and had to redo it I might consider
private school now, but that’s a not a ding on WW more my concerns about the regulation of public schools in general. (For example I really disagree with their COVID closures and the lax rules around technology). The community is international and racially diverse but not socioeconomically diverse.

[Anonymous]

Math everywhere needs an overhaul. Difficult to find competent math teachers.The teachers are expected to teach whatever level math they teach and fill in large gaps in student math skills and learning that's been there since student's elementary school years. Larla should not be in Compact Math in 4th grade. A class full of 30 compact math 4/5 students in 4th grade doesn't help anyone and bogus ES admin have only word salad.

[Anonymous]

Also they got an excellent STEM education but humanities was too formulaic/regimented so that was a turnoff. One of them is now at a SLAC and has had their eyes opened to the possibilities of humanities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's so good about private schools? Does it offer better STEM options than a public would?

None whatsoever.
MCPS runs circles around the area private schools when it comes to STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are seriously considering moving to be inbounds for a different MCPS? Just pay for private.

Private is so much more expensive than moving, especially if you have more than one kid.

We considered moving to be in bounds for WW (we are zoned for BCC) and the change in housing costs was going to be more than sending one kid to private school. Perhaps we could have found a house that was smaller and not as nice as current house, but that seemed like a silly trade. Opted out of mcps and have zero regrets. Friends at BCC say they are happy but then tell me stories about what’s going on and I have to wonder if it’s just a cope because they bought a 2m house and now can’t afford private.

They are just telling you the stories. They could certainly afford catholic at least if they bought a 2 million dollar house. Not everyone wants private though. Some people are fine with the stories bc they know their kid is happy even so. There are plenty of stories in private but people tell them less on here. It directly affects enrollment for a private school.

And lots of people aren’t Catholic and, even if they are, have no interest in a Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - any chance/ rumors circulating that a good new Principal will take over at BCC? How about the new HS opening up soon? Would the boundaries change and thus decrease the number of students at BCC?

I haven’t heard anything about new principal. I don’t think a search has even started yet. I’m guessing after the holidays since Dr. Yates is only supposed to be there one year, I think. No one knows what’ll happen with boundaries, but BCC is not impacted in any of the current options, unless you’re zoned for Bethesda ES, in which case your kid could be reassigned to WW sophomore year without you having to move.

Op here - thanks. My kids is in 8th grade at MS, so would be starting at BCC next year.

What matters for the boundary study is what ES school your address is zoned for. Current 8th graders will switch to a new school in 10th grade if rezoned.

OP here - oh sorry, I did not realize that it was the ES school that matters. Currently, our ES is Sommerset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are recent not current but I will say we liked the IB program and comparing my kids experience to my friend’s kid’s experience at Whitman I was happy to be at BCC.

Thank you! Was the IB program very hard?

I don’t really know how to answer that. My kid didn’t struggle but it was a fair amount of work and it also requires some organizational skills if you want full diploma because there are some small requirements that need to be fulfilled.

What I liked about it was the extended essay, which is time set aside to write and rewrite a paper, and generally the humanities classes seemed to teach to some depth.

In the end it proved to be good preparation for college, and it also makes for a small program within the school of academic kids which I think has some benefits.

OP here - thanks for the feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids graduated from WW in 2025 and 2024. They are both very smart and somewhat ambitious, social and active in various activities. I think they probably got the best public school education one can get around here, and the community is great. All their friends were good kids and the teachers were mostly very good, though operating within difficult constraints. If we had more money and had to redo it I might consider
private school now, but that’s a not a ding on WW more my concerns about the regulation of public schools in general. (For example I really disagree with their COVID closures and the lax rules around technology). The community is international and racially diverse but not socioeconomically diverse.

OP here - thank you, very useful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are seriously considering moving to be inbounds for a different MCPS? Just pay for private.

Private is so much more expensive than moving, especially if you have more than one kid.

We considered moving to be in bounds for WW (we are zoned for BCC) and the change in housing costs was going to be more than sending one kid to private school. Perhaps we could have found a house that was smaller and not as nice as current house, but that seemed like a silly trade. Opted out of mcps and have zero regrets. Friends at BCC say they are happy but then tell me stories about what’s going on and I have to wonder if it’s just a cope because they bought a 2m house and now can’t afford private.

They are just telling you the stories. They could certainly afford catholic at least if they bought a 2 million dollar house. Not everyone wants private though. Some people are fine with the stories bc they know their kid is happy even so. There are plenty of stories in private but people tell them less on here. It directly affects enrollment for a private school.

And lots of people aren’t Catholic and, even if they are, have no interest in a Catholic school.

It's moot anyway, since MCPS has much stronger academics than most Catholic schools. The STEM tracks of MCPS are better than any private school in the DC area. Writing and literature are better in certain top privates. But to most people, it's not worth paying 60K a year (and 75K for some) just to get the additional writing, when most kids can get a solid, well-rounded education in public, and a top-notch STEM track.

The PP touting privates and criticizing parents who complain about public is missing a key psychological component. I live in a part of Bethesda where it's half private, half public school families. The private school families tend not to criticize their schools. The public families, some of whom are far wealthier, are unsparing in their school commentary. Why? Because they can. They don't have skin in the game, just taxes. Whereas private school families are paying through the nose for the privilege, so the bar is MUCH higher to get into a headspace in which they feel they can criticize - they would essentially be re-examining their own very expensive life choices, which is never easy! It doesn't mean that privates are "better". It's just easier to criticize something that's the default offering, versus something you've gone out of your way to choose. I love to criticize aspects of my kids' MCPS schools. But ultimately I know I made the right choice sending them there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are seriously considering moving to be inbounds for a different MCPS? Just pay for private.

Private is so much more expensive than moving, especially if you have more than one kid.

We considered moving to be in bounds for WW (we are zoned for BCC) and the change in housing costs was going to be more than sending one kid to private school. Perhaps we could have found a house that was smaller and not as nice as current house, but that seemed like a silly trade. Opted out of mcps and have zero regrets. Friends at BCC say they are happy but then tell me stories about what’s going on and I have to wonder if it’s just a cope because they bought a 2m house and now can’t afford private.

They are just telling you the stories. They could certainly afford catholic at least if they bought a 2 million dollar house. Not everyone wants private though. Some people are fine with the stories bc they know their kid is happy even so. There are plenty of stories in private but people tell them less on here. It directly affects enrollment for a private school.

And lots of people aren’t Catholic and, even if they are, have no interest in a Catholic school.

It's moot anyway, since MCPS has much stronger academics than most Catholic schools. The STEM tracks of MCPS are better than any private school in the DC area. Writing and literature are better in certain top privates. But to most people, it's not worth paying 60K a year (and 75K for some) just to get the additional writing, when most kids can get a solid, well-rounded education in public, and a top-notch STEM track.

The PP touting privates and criticizing parents who complain about public is missing a key psychological component. I live in a part of Bethesda where it's half private, half public school families. The private school families tend not to criticize their schools. The public families, some of whom are far wealthier, are unsparing in their school commentary. Why? Because they can. They don't have skin in the game, just taxes. Whereas private school families are paying through the nose for the privilege, so the bar is MUCH higher to get into a headspace in which they feel they can criticize - they would essentially be re-examining their own very expensive life choices, which is never easy! It doesn't mean that privates are "better". It's just easier to criticize something that's the default offering, versus something you've gone out of your way to choose. I love to criticize aspects of my kids' MCPS schools. But ultimately I know I made the right choice sending them there.

I’m the Pp who switched to private vs moving for WW. We personally don’t vocalize complaints to public school friends because the type of issues are admittedly minor. When there issues, we bring those to the administration who then addresses them. There is a nimbleness and responsiveness at private school that is impossible in a large public school district. Furthermore, the families we know at area privates are overwhelmingly happy with their school—and if they aren’t, they apply elsewhere.

I’m not here to get into a public vs private argument. I was responding to the PP who’d said it’s easy/less expensive to just buy a house in bounds for whatever school you’d like vs private because that was not our experience.

[Anonymous]

Pp here again—forgot to say: we do have skin in the game re mcps because we have made a choice to leave and pay for private school in addition to our taxes. That means every year we have to recommit to the private school so every year we evaluate whether it makes sense for our kids. Keeping informed about what’s going on at the public school option is therefore very important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math everywhere needs an overhaul. Difficult to find competent math teachers.The teachers are expected to teach whatever level math they teach and fill in large gaps in student math skills and learning that's been there since student's elementary school years. Larla should not be in Compact Math in 4th grade. A class full of 30 compact math 4/5 students in 4th grade doesn't help anyone and bogus ES admin have only word salad.

You could have pulled your kids out of compacted math? if there are 30 kids who need it, they should all get it, not just yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp here again—forgot to say: we do have skin in the game re mcps because we have made a choice to leave and pay for private school in addition to our taxes. That means every year we have to recommit to the private school so every year we evaluate whether it makes sense for our kids. Keeping informed about what’s going on at the public school option is therefore very important.

Why do you keep commenting here when your kids are not in MCPS? You are paying taxes to fund pubic things. Its not you paying double for school. Many people pay taxes for all students who don't have kids in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math everywhere needs an overhaul. Difficult to find competent math teachers.The teachers are expected to teach whatever level math they teach and fill in large gaps in student math skills and learning that's been there since student's elementary school years. Larla should not be in Compact Math in 4th grade. A class full of 30 compact math 4/5 students in 4th grade doesn't help anyone and bogus ES admin have only word salad.

You could have pulled your kids out of compacted math? if there are 30 kids who need it, they should all get it, not just yours.

No. They should not be in that class. The class should be for the remaining nine students who are capable.The 21 should have been placed on-track math. But they don't have a teacher to teach just the nine. So Larla and classmates struggle and their struggles continues into high school math.