Best HS in MoCo

[Anonymous]

If your kid was interested RM IB, I'd just move in bounds. 9th and 10th is just pre-IB, the comprehensive IB program doesn't start until 11th, and then anybody can participate. It has the largest offering of IB courses in the county.

[Anonymous]

The best ranking is the college admission stats that Bethesda Mag posts yearly. Most of the other things are just people jockeying for higher home valuations based on poor statistics.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op, this thread is so typical of MoCo parents. Welcome if you still plan to come to this land of crazies.

Yup. Lord help them if they admit QO, as a school with some diversity, could be as good as their lily white schools.

Quince Orchard HS isn't much less white than the less-white Wealthy White schools. It is less wealthy, though.

2017-2018 data because I still haven't figured out how to get the more recent data (and MCPS still hasn't updated the at-a-glance data):

Whitman: 67% white, less than 5% FARMs
B-CC: 57% white, 11% FARMs
Walter Johnson: 54% white, 8% FARMs
Churchill: 50% white, less than 5% FARMs
Wootton: 44% white, less than 5% FARMs
Quince Orchard: 40% white, 21% FARMs

Then there's also

Poolesville: 51% white, 6% FARMs (without the magnet programs, it would be like John Poole MS: 72% white, 10% FARMs)
Damascus: 56% white, 15% FARMs
Sherwood: 50% white, 15% FARMs

Whitman is like <5% AA or Hispanic. These numbers are misleading.

Right, you need to list the number of AA or Hispanic kids to get a sense of what's really going on, SES-wise. The reason QO has such a higher FARMS rate than those other schools is not because the white population is that different; it's because there are a large number of low-income Hispanic kids.

The difference between Quince Orchard and Northwest is that Quince Orchard has more white kids. That's the reason why QO is "good" and Northwest is "bad" on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair not mentioned here? At all?

Especially with folks talking about a shorter commute to DC?

Blair is more diverse than all of the schools discussed here, and even outside of the Magnet programs, kids can get an excellent education.

-Signed, Blair graduate from upcounty who moved to Downtown SS partly so her kid could go to Blair

Hands down the best high-school in the county in terms of opportunity. Sure, it has more highs and lows than the segregated schools but overall the highs are much higher and the data shows this is true for typical higher SES students. For example, the average white student at Blair has a much higher SAT average than white students at any W. The data has been posted here numerous times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best ranking is the college admission stats that Bethesda Mag posts yearly. Most of the other things are just people jockeying for higher home valuations based on poor statistics.

You realize a lot of high schools aren't included in that, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid was interested RM IB, I'd just move in bounds. 9th and 10th is just pre-IB, the comprehensive IB program doesn't start until 11th, and then anybody can participate. It has the largest offering of IB courses in the county.

+1 makes the most sense. RM cluster is super diverse, and there are homes within a wide price range, and lots of SFH and TH.

Your DC can also take classes at Montgomery College which is very close to RMHS, too. I have a 9th grader there now. DC seems to like it. It is quite a big school, but there are all kinds of kids there, from nerds to athletes, and theater geeks. They have an open campus lunch for an hour, and many of the clubs meet during lunch time which leaves time for other activities after school. My DC loves the open lunch as there are so many places close by to grab a quick bite with friends. The inside of the school is pretty neat too. "Main St" in the main hallway is pretty cool. Outside of the building looks like a prison, though, with those little windows. But, inside, they did a really good job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, this thread is so typical of MoCo parents. Welcome if you still plan to come to this land of crazies.

Yup. Lord help them if they admit QO, as a school with some diversity, could be as good as their lily white schools.

Quince Orchard HS isn't much less white than the less-white Wealthy White schools. It is less wealthy, though.

2017-2018 data because I still haven't figured out how to get the more recent data (and MCPS still hasn't updated the at-a-glance data):

Whitman: 67% white, less than 5% FARMs
B-CC: 57% white, 11% FARMs
Walter Johnson: 54% white, 8% FARMs
Churchill: 50% white, less than 5% FARMs
Wootton: 44% white, less than 5% FARMs
Quince Orchard: 40% white, 21% FARMs

Then there's also

Poolesville: 51% white, 6% FARMs (without the magnet programs, it would be like John Poole MS: 72% white, 10% FARMs)
Damascus: 56% white, 15% FARMs
Sherwood: 50% white, 15% FARMs

Whitman is like <5% AA or Hispanic. These numbers are misleading.

Who cares.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Look into Einstein. It's been on a very strong upward trajectory while the other schools have been losing ground

Please don't believe this poster. Einstein was one of the deeply problematic school in previous years. Just because it's getting slightly better doesn't mean that it's ***anywhere close*** to the excellent high schools discussed on this thread.

To clarify: the "deeply problematic" part of Einstein HS, for this PP, is that the student population includes a lot of kids who are Latino.

Yep. Same reason lots of posters on this forum talk about how QOHS is "mediocre." They mean it has 20% FARMS kids, as opposed to Whitman, Wootton, and Churchill, which have 5% or less.

And similar to the reason lots of posters on this forum say that Quince Orchard High School is better than Northwest High School. They mean that Quince Orchard has 40% white kids, as opposed to Northwest, which has 28%.

nw and QO literally perform the same on paper

And QO and Churchill are tied on USNWR.

College acceptances at the two schools are not the same.

If you are moving here for the schools W schools or Richard Montgomery. It's not that the other schools are bad it's that you get one chance to educate your children. These are better. They all have hyper competitive parents socially and academically.

OP do your own research on this forum you are going to get biased opinions.

The hyper-competitive parenting is not a good thing. Have you heard the term “hot house flowers?” It refers to the kids who melt down in college after getting out of their pressure cooker homes. Cutting is rampant at some of these high pressure schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, this thread is so typical of MoCo parents. Welcome if you still plan to come to this land of crazies.

Yup. Lord help them if they admit QO, as a school with some diversity, could be as good as their lily white schools.

Quince Orchard HS isn't much less white than the less-white Wealthy White schools. It is less wealthy, though.

2017-2018 data because I still haven't figured out how to get the more recent data (and MCPS still hasn't updated the at-a-glance data):

Whitman: 67% white, less than 5% FARMs
B-CC: 57% white, 11% FARMs
Walter Johnson: 54% white, 8% FARMs
Churchill: 50% white, less than 5% FARMs
Wootton: 44% white, less than 5% FARMs
Quince Orchard: 40% white, 21% FARMs

Then there's also

Poolesville: 51% white, 6% FARMs (without the magnet programs, it would be like John Poole MS: 72% white, 10% FARMs)
Damascus: 56% white, 15% FARMs
Sherwood: 50% white, 15% FARMs

Why post if all if this has changed drastically within two years? Damascus is about 49% white now & 20% FARMS.

[Anonymous]

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Whitman is the best academically but I prefer Walter Johnson which is nearly as good, offers courses that are more in line with what my kids wish to study, and is a little more diverse. BCC is on par with Walter Johnson, but less AP classes because of their IB program, so not what we want.

You really need to look at the course and club offerings, OP. The 3 I mentioned here are the best high schools in the county but have different vibes and classes.

Who would choose a school that is not quite as good for more diversity? What does that fractionally more diverse environment award your kid in practical terms, for attending it? Well, absolutely nothing.

Defining "good school" as "school with a high school-average scores on standardized tests" is so weird, but less weird than defining "good school" as "school attended by very few kids from low-income families", I guess.

Re-read this. You say "defining a good school" and the original post you refer to says "Whitman is the best academically" - that's not just standardized scores, its what is on offer, its the academic co-hort (the good brains of the kids in the class with your kid) and other factors. You are limited in your understanding of what "best academically" means, probably because you've not had the best, academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, this thread is so typical of MoCo parents. Welcome if you still plan to come to this land of crazies.

Yup. Lord help them if they admit QO, as a school with some diversity, could be as good as their lily white schools.

The W schools are not "lily white". They are upper middle class, economically not as diverse as QO. They are diverse, just not white and African American only which is what you are insinuating.

QO has lots of sports participation. It does not have as many students going to Ivy league colleges as the W schools or Richard Montgomery.

Can it be a great education? Yes, of course.

Actually you're wrong. The Pyle-Whitman schools are open to the children's home in Bethesda, where the kids are not white and they are not wealthy. Mostly they come from troubled families in Baltimore and are here to benefit from a break to that environment and the best teaching that is on offer in a public school setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Whitman is the best academically but I prefer Walter Johnson which is nearly as good, offers courses that are more in line with what my kids wish to study, and is a little more diverse. BCC is on par with Walter Johnson, but less AP classes because of their IB program, so not what we want.

You really need to look at the course and club offerings, OP. The 3 I mentioned here are the best high schools in the county but have different vibes and classes.

Who would choose a school that is not quite as good for more diversity? What does that fractionally more diverse environment award your kid in practical terms, for attending it? Well, absolutely nothing.

Defining "good school" as "school with a high school-average scores on standardized tests" is so weird, but less weird than defining "good school" as "school attended by very few kids from low-income families", I guess.

Re-read this. You say "defining a good school" and the original post you refer to says "Whitman is the best academically" - that's not just standardized scores, its what is on offer, its the academic co-hort (the good brains of the kids in the class with your kid) and other factors. You are limited in your understanding of what "best academically" means, probably because you've not had the best, academically.

Assuming that kids of affluent parents have good brains and kids of poor parents have bad brains is also pretty weird. But common on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Whitman is the best academically but I prefer Walter Johnson which is nearly as good, offers courses that are more in line with what my kids wish to study, and is a little more diverse. BCC is on par with Walter Johnson, but less AP classes because of their IB program, so not what we want.

You really need to look at the course and club offerings, OP. The 3 I mentioned here are the best high schools in the county but have different vibes and classes.

Who would choose a school that is not quite as good for more diversity? What does that fractionally more diverse environment award your kid in practical terms, for attending it? Well, absolutely nothing.

Defining "good school" as "school with a high school-average scores on standardized tests" is so weird, but less weird than defining "good school" as "school attended by very few kids from low-income families", I guess.

Re-read this. You say "defining a good school" and the original post you refer to says "Whitman is the best academically" - that's not just standardized scores, its what is on offer, its the academic co-hort (the good brains of the kids in the class with your kid) and other factors. You are limited in your understanding of what "best academically" means, probably because you've not had the best, academically.

Assuming that kids of affluent parents have good brains and kids of poor parents have bad brains is also pretty weird. But common on DCUM.

Well not every kid there is from an affluent family. See the post above about the children's home intakes.
But a good brain can get you from poverty into an affluent career and then you can have kids who similarly have your good brain and you go to school and then get an affluent career and so on.

Its not because the kids are RICH that they have good brains, its because their parents have good brains to start with.

Unlike you, clearly.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Whitman hands down. Sorry folks, not wanting to cause a riot but you know its true.

Best options - look at the academics offered, in the sciences there's the possibility of taking a bio-medicine track

in the languages they have the most options in the county

and the best outcomes in terms of grads going onto top colleges (there is a list printed every year and its usually linked by someone in the colleges thread).

That's because all of their families are wealthy. Don't mistake demographics for academic quality. It's a public high school with large class sizes and a lot of wealthy kids.

don't try and divorce outcomes from results. Better parents, better schools, better bank accounts what ever. The kids simply have better results, you are rationalizing trying feel better about your outcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whitman hands down. Sorry folks, not wanting to cause a riot but you know its true.

Best options - look at the academics offered, in the sciences there's the possibility of taking a bio-medicine track

in the languages they have the most options in the county

and the best outcomes in terms of grads going onto top colleges (there is a list printed every year and its usually linked by someone in the colleges thread).

That's because all of their families are wealthy. Don't mistake demographics for academic quality. It's a public high school with large class sizes and a lot of wealthy kids.

don't try and divorce outcomes from results. Better parents, better schools, better bank accounts what ever. The kids simply have better results, you are rationalizing trying feel better about your outcome.

Nope. I don't need to rationalize anything. I know my advantages.