BCC vs. W. Whitman and W. Churchill

[Anonymous]

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/maryland/rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP go for the best schools in the best district - Pyle and Whitman.

OP here - thanks; I might do that, not only because of the schools, but also because of the commute and I know and like the area.

[Anonymous]

I went to Whitman i purposely didn't put my kids there-they go to another one of those schools, if i had to do it all again I would go private. MCPS is dying compared to what it once was.

Sad to say but this county is not what it once was and never will be again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Whitman i purposely didn't put my kids there-they go to another one of those schools, if i had to do it all again I would go private. MCPS is dying compared to what it once was.

Sad to say but this county is not what it once was and never will be again.

MCPS was never that great. People keep acting like it was but it was always a big factory.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for the feedback. How is the infrastructure at BCC? Do they have as much open space, green areas, sports opportunities as the other three schools mentioned? I am a single Mom of two, with only my income, so private is out of the question. Thus I also have a budget for purchasing real estate, so am trying to figure out the best option for us. Moving further out is not in my plan since I work downtown, thought I believe we will be working more from home.

I wouldn't describe BCC as having "open space." But there still all the typical HS sports opportunities. They've had to be creative with the land available, so they put the tennis courts above the parking structure, for example.

BCC just got an expansion. With Woodward siphoning off students from the area between it and BCC there is lots of room for expanding the boundaries east to help with DCC overcrowding too!

OP, How old are kids now? Woodward isn’t scheduled to open (and reduce crowding at WJ or elsewhere) until 2025, when current 7th graders are seniors.

Off the top of my head, BCC has the smallest number of students of these schools, WJ and Churchill, the most. The schools all have strong athletics and with large student populations, getting on some teams can be difficult, particularly at the biggest schools.

OP here - 3rd grade

All of the elementaries are more or less the same. Some are a little better for one thing or another. Somerset is K-5 and a bit closer to Friendship Heights metro, walkable from S. Somerset. CCES has the gifted program, BES seems to be the most committed to meeting special needs. NCC is also fine, but a bit further away on both sides of Beltway, but will have new purple line stuff.

Middle schools are also fine. Westland used to be large and a bit toxic with the bored white privilege of many students, but maybe things are better now that there is a second middle school (Silver Creek) which split up the kids who were all formerly at Westland. FWIW, we sent our kids to the middle school magnets, which are superb, but would have done so even from other clusters like Whitman, WJ or Churchill.

As a single parent (and depending on commute), I would also consider Takoma Park and NW DC. The upper NW elementaries are all good as is Deal and Wilson. If, however, you have special needs (an IEP or a kid who is really gifted), then DC doesn't really have the services MCPS has (although DC is getting better at special education).

Personally, I would never send my kids to Whitman -- too white, too wealthy and too much driving. But, that is largely a personal choice. YMMV.

Op, I am also a single mom w/ 2 kids who chose BCc cluster. We live walking distance to metro in an older smaller house. As a single parent with 1 car it’s been very helpful to have my kids be able to get around independently without me driving all the time. IN ES, CCES has a GT center and ChCh/Bethesda is close to the middle school magnets that we took advantage of.

If your kids are in 2nd grade or younger, consider that some areas in Bethesda and Chevy Chase your child will be in a K-2, 3-5 pairing. Many like the idea of all younger kids at RHPS but it does create extra logistics.

There are many other threads on BCC. Personally, I choose it because it was academically just as good as Whitman, Churchill, wj, etc. but it is slightly more diverse racially and socio-economically.

Don’t listen to the troll above who says BCC will be rezoned to include parts of the DCC. That will not happen and is a racist dog-whistle.

OP here - thank you. Could you tell me how the ES/middle schools were? Were you happy with them? My kids are in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Whitman i purposely didn't put my kids there-they go to another one of those schools, if i had to do it all again I would go private. MCPS is dying compared to what it once was.

Sad to say but this county is not what it once was and never will be again.

MCPS was never that great. People keep acting like it was but it was always a big factory.

Actually MCPS is better now and more diverse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP go for the best schools in the best district - Pyle and Whitman.

OP here - thanks; I might do that, not only because of the schools, but also because of the commute and I know and like the area.

Those are good reasons.

"Because the average standardized test scores at the school are high" is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Whitman i purposely didn't put my kids there-they go to another one of those schools, if i had to do it all again I would go private. MCPS is dying compared to what it once was.

Sad to say but this county is not what it once was and never will be again.

That's true for you, me, and everybody. Things change. Montgomery County in 2021 is not Montgomery County in 1975, and Montgomery County in 2065 will not be Montgomery County in 2021.

If you wish it were still, or again, 1975 in Montgomery County, well, everybody is entitled to an opinion.

[Anonymous]

Does it really make a difference which hs has more green space? The students are in class all day and then go to clubs or activities or leave. No one just hangs around on the green space. All 3 high schools have the same sports and sufficient fields for them. Op, I agree with pp who said as a single parent, I’d prioritize metro access since when your kids are older it will give you some flexibility to get them to and from their activities. My kids are at Whitman but I wish we had bought in BCC for that reason.

[Anonymous]

Currently looking for houses within these boundaries. Looks like the housing stock reflects the rankings as WW and WC houses are priced higher than BCC. Not sure the price gap measures up. Also, how important is proximity to metro, would bus/purple line/marc train help? Used to live in the DMV and moving back to the area with children in fourth and first grade I see IB (a program we are interested in) is also offered at Richard Montgomery. Is IB test in at BCC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it really make a difference which hs has more green space? The students are in class all day and then go to clubs or activities or leave. No one just hangs around on the green space. All 3 high schools have the same sports and sufficient fields for them. Op, I agree with pp who said as a single parent, I’d prioritize metro access since when your kids are older it will give you some flexibility to get them to and from their activities. My kids are at Whitman but I wish we had bought in BCC for that reason.

OP here; thanks, but what about the MS/ Westland? Someone just commented how bad it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Currently looking for houses within these boundaries. Looks like the housing stock reflects the rankings as WW and WC houses are priced higher than BCC. Not sure the price gap measures up. Also, how important is proximity to metro, would bus/purple line/marc train help? Used to live in the DMV and moving back to the area with children in fourth and first grade I see IB (a program we are interested in) is also offered at Richard Montgomery. Is IB test in at BCC?

It is not test in at BCC and has various options (full diploma or not). If you are outside or RM you apply-in for the IB (1000 apps for 100 spots) or you can pick it up if already enrolled there for HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP go for the best schools in the best district - Pyle and Whitman.

OP here - thanks; I might do that, not only because of the schools, but also because of the commute and I know and like the area.

Those are good reasons.

"Because the average standardized test scores at the school are high" is not.

How on this planet can this not be a good reason to choose a school (amongst other reasons)? Who in their right mind is going to pick a school with terrible scores over a school with high scores? The PC has filtered down into a monumental swamp of BS with some of you people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP go for the best schools in the best district - Pyle and Whitman.

OP here - thanks; I might do that, not only because of the schools, but also because of the commute and I know and like the area.

Those are good reasons.

"Because the average standardized test scores at the school are high" is not.

How on this planet can this not be a good reason to choose a school (amongst other reasons)? Who in their right mind is going to pick a school with terrible scores over a school with high scores? The PC has filtered down into a monumental swamp of BS with some of you people.

Please explain what difference this makes to a given child and their education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Currently looking for houses within these boundaries. Looks like the housing stock reflects the rankings as WW and WC houses are priced higher than BCC. Not sure the price gap measures up. Also, how important is proximity to metro, would bus/purple line/marc train help? Used to live in the DMV and moving back to the area with children in fourth and first grade I see IB (a program we are interested in) is also offered at Richard Montgomery. Is IB test in at BCC?

I can’t say for you how important proximity to metro is for you butt for us it was a deal breaker. We have a (relatively) small house on a small lot a 5 minute walk from downtown Bethesda/metro and (pre-covid) we loved not having to use a car at all, except maybe for groceries. Walk to library, farmers market, theater (both kid and adult). Metro commute was faster than driving during rush hour (and cheaper than paying for parking). Teens walk and use the metro (to go downtown) and the bus (to go to the mall).

Bus service is significantly less attractive to me for a regular commute, and I would not want a bus to metro commute. The purple line will come some day inshallah but I wouldn’t plan my life around it.

Have been happy with the IB program at BCC— it’s basically designed so everyone participates for grades 9-10 and then you can opt in the diploma program beginning in 11 or just take a mix of IB and AP classes. Think probably around 15-20% of the class opts for the diploma program.