BCC principal said "you have choices"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have the data to support this, but I wonder how much of this is due to BCC having the largest (or at least one of the largest) income disparities in MoCo high schools? The school feeds from everything from public housing to the toniest Bethesda neighborhoods - with everything in between. And it is located in a more urban setting than any other high school. It is a great environment, but probably leads to some serious socioeconomic segregation.

Please name the public housing that feeds to B-CC.

http://www.hocmc.org/Properties/Waverly-House.aspx

Waverly House is a seniors retirement complex for low-income old people, so while it may technically feed into B-CC, given that you have to be over 65 to live there, I don't think many of them will attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have the data to support this, but I wonder how much of this is due to BCC having the largest (or at least one of the largest) income disparities in MoCo high schools? The school feeds from everything from public housing to the toniest Bethesda neighborhoods - with everything in between. And it is located in a more urban setting than any other high school. It is a great environment, but probably leads to some serious socioeconomic segregation.

Please name the public housing that feeds to B-CC.

http://www.hocmc.org/Properties/Waverly-House.aspx

Thanks, I have lived within a couple miles of there for all my life and had no idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have the data to support this, but I wonder how much of this is due to BCC having the largest (or at least one of the largest) income disparities in MoCo high schools? The school feeds from everything from public housing to the toniest Bethesda neighborhoods - with everything in between. And it is located in a more urban setting than any other high school. It is a great environment, but probably leads to some serious socioeconomic segregation.

Please name the public housing that feeds to B-CC.

There is Section 8 housing in both Bethesda and Silver Spring. Some is mixed in with new development. You can google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school

I don't think she was referring to private school because for most people $38,000/yr is not an option.

Sorry, have to disagree.
ICYMI, the CC in B-CC stands for Chevy Chase.

Every go to any of the houses south of E-W highway on either side Conn Ave above the circle?

And pretty sure that enough Bethesda households can/do pay for Sidwell, GDS, St. Albans, Landon, Holton Arms, etc. if admitted.
$30+k is indeed an option for a good number of families in the cluster.

And not all schools run $38k.
Good Counsel 18-19
SJCHS 20
Gonzaga 20
AHC
Stone Ridge 29

Lots of Bethesda families at Our Lady of Lourdes, Woods Academy and St Jane de Chantal as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have the data to support this, but I wonder how much of this is due to BCC having the largest (or at least one of the largest) income disparities in MoCo high schools? The school feeds from everything from public housing to the toniest Bethesda neighborhoods - with everything in between. And it is located in a more urban setting than any other high school. It is a great environment, but probably leads to some serious socioeconomic segregation.

Please name the public housing that feeds to B-CC.

There is Section 8 housing in both Bethesda and Silver Spring. Some is mixed in with new development. You can google it.

The old Rosemary Hills apartments on E-W Highway (has a new name now) has plenty of Section 8 tenants. That's in the BCC boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's right.

The median HHI for Bethesda is something like 250K. I could afford private for my 2 kids on that.

We looked for a year in this cluster because we liked the combination of good high school (but not best! important for college placement) urban feel, leafy sidewalks, walkability, etc.

We thought about private school, and for our SN child we thought about homeschooling.

There are a handful of good parochial schools in Bethesda, as well as Sidwell, etc.

You could spend $60/K a year on tuition on $250K gross HHI? please explain.

We do 30K on $150K. And extra $100K in and $30K would be a big gain for us!!

[Anonymous]

OP here: Wow, didn't expect such wide reaching discussions. We are new to MCPS and I was just curious what options we had besides the school we were zoned for. Thanks for the info about the magnets. I looked on the MCPS website and it's a little confusing.

I do think that people not familiar with BCC would be surprised at the economic (and ethnic) diversity. I think people assume it's all rich Bethesda/Chevy Chase neighborhoods, which it isn't. That's why I don't think the principal was referring to private school when she said "choices." She obviously knows the demographic of the school. She was referring to the magnets.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you're new, you don't know the demographics of the school. BCC may have some racial and ethnic diversity, but mean SES is very very high. Of the total school population, only 11 percent are eligible for free lunch. That's higher than Whitman or Churchill, but it's hardly a lot of economic diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I still don't really know what choices she meant. Is there any type of magnet or another out of bounds school that we could pick? We just left private, so for us and many others that is not an option. Moving, because of the large transaction fees, is not really an option, and we like where we live.

Richard Montgomery has an application-only IB program. Some BCC kids applied there and chose to go, some chose not to. A number of BCC kids choose (after application) to go to Takoma Park MS magnet and Eastern MS Magnet every year. Having gone to a DCC middle school enables them to apply to any of the HS programs in the DCC area -- popular choices for BCC students have been Blair's "Communication Arts Program" (CAP) or Blair's Math/Science Magnet program. I know students from the BCC area who have chosen these other magnets and some who have chosen BCC instead of these magnet programs. The total number of BCC kids who have chosen another MCPS school is less than a dozen (out of an incoming freshman class of approx 450). Other students choose to apply to local private schools or boarding schools. Most of the time the final choice is based on highly individual student considerations rather than some strong antipathy for BCC; in other words, these choices are made in the context of knowing that BCC is a pretty strong public high school.

When the principal referred to "choice," at the parent meeting a few nights ago, she definitely also meant that BCC parents make a conscious choice to buy in the BCC neighborhood knowing that BCC is a strong high school, and that that "choice" doesn't come cheap. I don't love this line of thought because it encourages a less welcoming attitude among small minority of BCC parents who believe that people who didn't pay up to live in BCC cluster don't belong there (see the threads on the potential MCPS change in rules which would take away the existing right of Rock Creek Forest Immersion kids from outside the BCC cluster to continue from Westland to BCC.)

PP, re - "The total number of BCC kids who have chosen another MCPS school is less than a dozen (out of an incoming freshman class of approx 450)." How do you know this? Are you basing this on the number of kids who did not continue on to BCC from Westland?
If so, you're not counting the families who opt out of MCPS at any point before or after Kindergarten. I'd venture to say there are more than 12 from BCC cluster who do this. It would be interesting to know the numbers, but it's got to be much higher than 12.

I'm not counting people who opt out of MCPS altogether; my comments only went to kids who choose an MCPS magnet vs. BCC. I think that number is pretty small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school

I don't think she was referring to private school because for most people $38,000/yr is not an option.

In BCC cluster? It is

Don't eye roll. Private is NOT everyone's option. I have friends in Bethesda who can't afford private.

If that was indeed her message, then she's slapping folks who only have BCC as their choice. ignorant comment, especially for a former English teacher who should know the definition of generalization

You are ridiculous.

not at all

You don't know the half of it, idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have the data to support this, but I wonder how much of this is due to BCC having the largest (or at least one of the largest) income disparities in MoCo high schools? The school feeds from everything from public housing to the toniest Bethesda neighborhoods - with everything in between. And it is located in a more urban setting than any other high school. It is a great environment, but probably leads to some serious socioeconomic segregation.

Please name the public housing that feeds to B-CC.

There is Section 8 housing in both Bethesda and Silver Spring. Some is mixed in with new development. You can google it.

There is no such thing as "Section 8 housing". Section 8 is a housing voucher. Any property owner may agree to rent under the voucher program.

[Anonymous]

Only in Bethesda. The first-world problems get more inane with each new McMansion that goes up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only in Bethesda. The first-world problems get more inane with each new McMansion that goes up.

Not sure what you mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have the data to support this, but I wonder how much of this is due to BCC having the largest (or at least one of the largest) income disparities in MoCo high schools? The school feeds from everything from public housing to the toniest Bethesda neighborhoods - with everything in between. And it is located in a more urban setting than any other high school. It is a great environment, but probably leads to some serious socioeconomic segregation.

Please name the public housing that feeds to B-CC.

There is Section 8 housing in both Bethesda and Silver Spring. Some is mixed in with new development. You can google it.

There is no such thing as "Section 8 housing". Section 8 is a housing voucher. Any property owner may agree to rent under the voucher program.

Yes, but the point is there are lots of rentals in BCC area that take Section 8 vouchers - which is for people with incomes 50% or more below the area's median income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have the data to support this, but I wonder how much of this is due to BCC having the largest (or at least one of the largest) income disparities in MoCo high schools? The school feeds from everything from public housing to the toniest Bethesda neighborhoods - with everything in between. And it is located in a more urban setting than any other high school. It is a great environment, but probably leads to some serious socioeconomic segregation.

Please name the public housing that feeds to B-CC.

There is Section 8 housing in both Bethesda and Silver Spring. Some is mixed in with new development. You can google it.

There is no such thing as "Section 8 housing". Section 8 is a housing voucher. Any property owner may agree to rent under the voucher program.

Yes, but the point is there are lots of rentals in BCC area that take Section 8 vouchers - which is for people with incomes 50% or more below the area's median income.

And there are some "low income" housing units in Bethesda and Silver Spring -- low income either because they are low cost or because you actually have to have an income below certain boundaries to qualify for the unit. Sadly, some of these units will be disappearing with the redevelopment of the Purple Line.