Where do you consider MCPS high schools on a scale of good-bad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Right. If you're walkable to Metro AND THERE ARE FACILITIES FOR YOU TO ACTUALLY WALK TO METRO, you live close-in.

What sort of facilities do you need to walk? Sidewalks? Are there really many places that are close enough to walk to metro, but the roads are such that you can't walk? It may not always be the most picturesque walk, but most places I can think of you certainly can walk.

In Maryland? Yes. Especially in Prince George's County, but also on the east side of the Red Line in Montgomery County, from Forest Glen north. Lots of areas in walking *distance* of the Metro station, but you'd never walk there unless you absolutely had to get there and that was the only option.

Oh please. I've lived walking distance from both Wheaton and Glenmont and walked to Metro every day. As did lots of my neighbors.

Right, I walk to Wheaton through a pretty neighborhood. this is ridiculous

Wheatons main drag is hit and run central Georgia Ave.
love the western unions lines on the weekend for all those Central America remittances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love Poolesville HS.

Laid back, low pressure, mostly magnet, academic rigor, great teachers, diverse, not racist, good kids from good educated families, very little issues that happen in other schools, idyllic. The worst news that we heard was that some kids have done vaping! I can live with that.

Of course, since my kids have only gone to PHS GE and SMCS houses, I do not have understanding of how the rest of MCPS high schools are. I am sure all of them are lovely.

Half magnet, non-diverse, and I've been told by multiple people whose kids were home-school kids that there's a lot of resentment of the whole magnet thing by the home-school kids.

You are not a PHS parent and you are getting your information second hand, right? I am a PHS parent, and I am close to a lot of home-school families. I know home-school students who are in all 4 houses and who are thriving. I guess if your child is doing well and meeting their potential then parents are happy and satisfied. Since the home-school kids have access to most of the high level courses and take classes with the magnet kids, they can cherry pick their own pathway. I know of one non-SMCS ISP genius child who is in 9th grade but is working a grade ahead with his 10th grade SMCS peers. I think the flexibility of ISP appeals to a lot of home-school families with students who are excelling in other EC activities and do not want to get baked into a rigid magnet house pathway.

On the other hand, if a home-school kid in 11th grade is struggling academically, or can barely get a D in pre-Algebra when others are doing AP Calc BC in 10th grade, I can understand how the parent can deeply resent being in a school where almost all kids are excelling and performing at extremely high levels. The difference is starker than any other normal high school that has a student body with a mix of academic abilities. It is hard to feel as if you have a community in a magnet school then because your low achieving child is a true minority. It is hard for a parent to say that there own child is deficient in some way, and it becomes an easy narrative that the magnet students are responsible for the state of your own child. It is not a good situation for a parent to be in and I get the heartache and unwillingness to accept the truth. It is human nature to find excuses and blame something external. Most people in Poolesville are proud of the school and appreciate the excellent students that it attracts from upCounty.

Yes, it is a dual-edged sword to have most of the kids come from outside and doing well. Poolesville community has fought for years to get a new school building but because the school does so well it gets bypassed by MCPS, unlike some other low performing schools.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is a dual-edged sword to have most of the kids come from outside and doing well. Poolesville community has fought for years to get a new school building but because the school does so well it gets bypassed by MCPS, unlike some other low performing schools.

This is not at all how decisions regarding physical structures are made. At all. Yes, Poolesville needs a new physical plant, but so do Eastern and Neelsville MS.

There is more need than there is money. That's the whole story. PHS is not being punish for being high performing, and there are plenty of schools waiting for renovations that have much higher needs student populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love Poolesville HS.

Laid back, low pressure, mostly magnet, academic rigor, great teachers, diverse, not racist, good kids from good educated families, very little issues that happen in other schools, idyllic. The worst news that we heard was that some kids have done vaping! I can live with that.

Of course, since my kids have only gone to PHS GE and SMCS houses, I do not have understanding of how the rest of MCPS high schools are. I am sure all of them are lovely.

Half magnet, non-diverse, and I've been told by multiple people whose kids were home-school kids that there's a lot of resentment of the whole magnet thing by the home-school kids.

You are not a PHS parent and you are getting your information second hand, right? I am a PHS parent, and I am close to a lot of home-school families. I know home-school students who are in all 4 houses and who are thriving. I guess if your child is doing well and meeting their potential then parents are happy and satisfied. Since the home-school kids have access to most of the high level courses and take classes with the magnet kids, they can cherry pick their own pathway. I know of one non-SMCS ISP genius child who is in 9th grade but is working a grade ahead with his 10th grade SMCS peers. I think the flexibility of ISP appeals to a lot of home-school families with students who are excelling in other EC activities and do not want to get baked into a rigid magnet house pathway.

On the other hand, if a home-school kid in 11th grade is struggling academically, or can barely get a D in pre-Algebra when others are doing AP Calc BC in 10th grade, I can understand how the parent can deeply resent being in a school where almost all kids are excelling and performing at extremely high levels. The difference is starker than any other normal high school that has a student body with a mix of academic abilities. It is hard to feel as if you have a community in a magnet school then because your low achieving child is a true minority. It is hard for a parent to say that there own child is deficient in some way, and it becomes an easy narrative that the magnet students are responsible for the state of your own child. It is not a good situation for a parent to be in and I get the heartache and unwillingness to accept the truth. It is human nature to find excuses and blame something external. Most people in Poolesville are proud of the school and appreciate the excellent students that it attracts from upCounty.

Yes, it is a dual-edged sword to have most of the kids come from outside and doing well. Poolesville community has fought for years to get a new school building but because the school does so well it gets bypassed by MCPS, unlike some other low performing schools.

There's that DCUM attitude again - anybody who disagrees with me must have a failing student.

Also, I know it's the Poolesville narrative that high school-average standardized test scores are the reason why Poolesville HS hasn't gotten a new building, but the facts don't support it. People in Poolesville ought to go out and look at some of the buildings where the school-average standardized test scores aren't high. In fact, they could have just gone to Germantown until a few years ago; that's not so far. Seneca Valley HS needed a new building for YEARS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a list of schools based on SES. That's it, and has nothing to do with quality of the teachers or programs at the school.

+1 OP why don't you weigh in. What are your criteria for a good school?

NP
Great School:
* Solid curriculum with many subjects and ECs in lower grades, real specialized teachers grade 7 onwards, breadth of classes and clubs grades 9-12
* Well-trained, effective teachers who can customize their subject matter well.
* Differentiation in math, english lit, science, history (base level, honors, remedial), by class room (do not do whole bell curve of abilities in each class of 30-35 kids in MS or HS)
* Community that values education and can demonstrate that: involved, work hard, stay out of trouble, go to class, strong goals (college, trades/careers)
* Logistics easy to get to/from school
* Cut the caps by 2 kids in each ES (from 27 to 25), MS (from 30 to 32), HS (from 35 to 33)

Agree simple averages tell us very little about school quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a list of schools based on SES. That's it, and has nothing to do with quality of the teachers or programs at the school.

+1 OP why don't you weigh in. What are your criteria for a good school?

NP
Great School:
* Solid curriculum with many subjects and ECs in lower grades, real specialized teachers grade 7 onwards, breadth of classes and clubs grades 9-12
* Well-trained, effective teachers who can customize their subject matter well.
* Differentiation in math, english lit, science, history (base level, honors, remedial), by class room (do not do whole bell curve of abilities in each class of 30-35 kids in MS or HS)
* Community that values education and can demonstrate that: involved, work hard, stay out of trouble, go to class, strong goals (college, trades/careers)
* Logistics easy to get to/from school
* Cut the caps by 2 kids in each ES (from 27 to 25), MS (from 30 to 32), HS (from 35 to 33)

Agree simple averages tell us very little about school quality.

It is laughable that some folks mistakenly believe a lack of low-income students equates to better education, Seriously, does having 3 AP English sections equate to better than a school with 2? And how do larger schools with SES diversity but 4 sections of AP English stack up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We purposely put our kids in a diverse, middle of the pack HS to avoid the extreme ends of the spectrum (lots of entitled, rich kids vs lots of troubled, poor kids). We figured a school in the middle of these would make it easy for our kids to find a good group of friends who share the same interests as them and who care about education; without the pressures or the stress of being in either one of these extreme environments.

What does this mean?

What is middle of the pack?

GS rating 7, FARM rate between 20-30%.

How do you feel it’s working out? Genuine curiosity?

We are happy here. Kids have a good number of friends from diverse backgrounds who care about school and while there are plenty of opportunities for advancement/challenge, it's not a pressure cooker either. And most families here are just normal, hard working parents who want the best for their kids. There's no snootiness, or kids who drive fancy cars but we're not in Bethesda or Potomac, so we don't have that type of wealth here. On the other other hand, I'm not going to lie there is a small group of kids (as I'm sure there are at other schools) who cause trouble/fights. Most kids know to just stay away from them and my kids don't even mix with them at all. It's about parenting and what you teach your kids. I've always told my kids since they were little to stay out of trouble, find good friends, and work hard.

what school are you speaking of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a list of schools based on SES. That's it, and has nothing to do with quality of the teachers or programs at the school.

+1 OP why don't you weigh in. What are your criteria for a good school?

NP
Great School:
* Solid curriculum with many subjects and ECs in lower grades, real specialized teachers grade 7 onwards, breadth of classes and clubs grades 9-12
* Well-trained, effective teachers who can customize their subject matter well.
* Differentiation in math, english lit, science, history (base level, honors, remedial), by class room (do not do whole bell curve of abilities in each class of 30-35 kids in MS or HS)
* Community that values education and can demonstrate that: involved, work hard, stay out of trouble, go to class, strong goals (college, trades/careers)
* Logistics easy to get to/from school
* Cut the caps by 2 kids in each ES (from 27 to 25), MS (from 30 to 32), HS (from 35 to 33)

Old post, I know, but couldn't agree more with this.

Agree simple averages tell us very little about school quality.

It is laughable that some folks mistakenly believe a lack of low-income students equates to better education, Seriously, does having 3 AP English sections equate to better than a school with 2? And how do larger schools with SES diversity but 4 sections of AP English stack up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair magnet

RM IB

Whitman
Churchill
Wootten



BCC




Everything else

Not really impressed with these. Seems like you're confusing low farms rate with good. Overall pretty average for the schools SES. Same kid would do just as well at any of the other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a list of schools based on SES. That's it, and has nothing to do with quality of the teachers or programs at the school.

+1 OP why don't you weigh in. What are your criteria for a good school?

NP
Great School:
* Solid curriculum with many subjects and ECs in lower grades, real specialized teachers grade 7 onwards, breadth of classes and clubs grades 9-12
* Well-trained, effective teachers who can customize their subject matter well.
* Differentiation in math, english lit, science, history (base level, honors, remedial), by class room (do not do whole bell curve of abilities in each class of 30-35 kids in MS or HS)
* Community that values education and can demonstrate that: involved, work hard, stay out of trouble, go to class, strong goals (college, trades/careers)
* Logistics easy to get to/from school
* Cut the caps by 2 kids in each ES (from 27 to 25), MS (from 30 to 32), HS (from 35 to 33)

Agree simple averages tell us very little about school quality.

It is laughable that some folks mistakenly believe a lack of low-income students equates to better education, Seriously, does having 3 AP English sections equate to better than a school with 2? And how do larger schools with SES diversity but 4 sections of AP English stack up?

You're right but a lot of people buying this stuff aren't that bright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a list of schools based on SES. That's it, and has nothing to do with quality of the teachers or programs at the school.

+1 OP why don't you weigh in. What are your criteria for a good school?

NP
Great School:
* Solid curriculum with many subjects and ECs in lower grades, real specialized teachers grade 7 onwards, breadth of classes and clubs grades 9-12
* Well-trained, effective teachers who can customize their subject matter well.
* Differentiation in math, english lit, science, history (base level, honors, remedial), by class room (do not do whole bell curve of abilities in each class of 30-35 kids in MS or HS)
* Community that values education and can demonstrate that: involved, work hard, stay out of trouble, go to class, strong goals (college, trades/careers)
* Logistics easy to get to/from school
* Cut the caps by 2 kids in each ES (from 27 to 25), MS (from 30 to 32), HS (from 35 to 33)

Agree simple averages tell us very little about school quality.

There have been posts in the past that tried to account for SES differences and perform an apples to apples comparison.

[Anonymous]

I tend to agree with Niche, with a twist.

Tier 1
Churchill
Poolesville
Whitman
Wootton

Tier 2
BCC
Blair Magnet *
RM
WJ

Tier 3
Clarksburg
Damascus
QO
Sherwood

Tier 4
Blake
Magruder
Northwest
Rockville

Tier 5
All other schools

* = The Magnet is the only reason why Blair is on this list and the new AEI admission policy gutted even that program. Without the magnet it has a poor rep for academic scores, college acceptance, truancy, graduation rates, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a list of schools based on SES. That's it, and has nothing to do with quality of the teachers or programs at the school.

+1 OP why don't you weigh in. What are your criteria for a good school?

NP
Great School:
* Solid curriculum with many subjects and ECs in lower grades, real specialized teachers grade 7 onwards, breadth of classes and clubs grades 9-12
* Well-trained, effective teachers who can customize their subject matter well.
* Differentiation in math, english lit, science, history (base level, honors, remedial), by class room (do not do whole bell curve of abilities in each class of 30-35 kids in MS or HS)
* Community that values education and can demonstrate that: involved, work hard, stay out of trouble, go to class, strong goals (college, trades/careers)
* Logistics easy to get to/from school
* Cut the caps by 2 kids in each ES (from 27 to 25), MS (from 30 to 32), HS (from 35 to 33)

Agree simple averages tell us very little about school quality.

Well, if that's your criteria, I have some good news. Every MCPS HS is great by these standards. Each of them has these things. Like a PP stated earlier the same kid will do the same at any of these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it amusing the level of denial that people seem to be experiencing over this change. People have been leaving the burbs and moving close-in or in the city now for a decade or two. Just because some people still like the burbs doesn't matter. This is a national trend that is why the city's population keeps going up and close-in burbs like SS and Bethesda can't stop building.

No one is denying that building in SS, DC, Bethesda is not happening but you are delusional thinking that there are tons of people leaving the outer burbs of DMV to move to these places. There are tons of building elsewhere in the county too. Bottomline, people are moving into this county every year by the thousands.

City population is up by 50% over the last 20-30 years so people are moving in town and close in. The burbs have been in decline for decades. These are well documented facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tend to agree with Niche, with a twist.

Tier 1
Churchill
Poolesville
Whitman
Wootton

Tier 2
BCC
Blair Magnet *
RM
WJ

All other schools

c.

W's full of racial and drug issues. BCC is has a GS rating of 6 for academics which is terrible for a low FARMS school. The person who wrote this nonsense has been out of touch since the 70s.