MacArthur High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is the teacher and what subject?

Anonymous wrote:One of Hardy's strongest teachers is headed to MHS this August. Huge loss for Hardy but speaks volumes to me about the energy and potential of MHS. If he's onboard it's worth looking at. Our family will be watching closely and really hope it's a viable option For our current Hardy 7th grader.

Mr. Grover according to the MacArthur Twitter feed. He's a total pro.

[Anonymous]

The hires McCray is making are stellar. He knows whom to poach, and he's doing it.

Even DCPS internal is floored. It is true: other principals don't like it when McCray visits their school.

[Anonymous]

Well let's see how long these hires are retained.

Anonymous wrote:The hires McCray is making are stellar. He knows whom to poach, and he's doing it.

Even DCPS internal is floored. It is true: other principals don't like it when McCray visits their school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of Hardy's strongest teachers is headed to MHS this August. Huge loss for Hardy but speaks volumes to me about the energy and potential of MHS. If he's onboard it's worth looking at. Our family will be watching closely and really hope it's a viable option For our current Hardy 7th grader.

But how will you know that by the time you either need to apply out to privates or do the lottery? If your child is in 7th grade, you’d need to apply to privates by early January and accept a spot by mid March. 6 months into a new school doesn’t seem long enough to know if it’s viable.

dp: A current 7th grader will have the option to enroll in JR.

Also, 6 months isn't long enough for test scores, etc. But it's long enough to talk to people and hear what the students think.

My current Hardy 7th grader will have a choice between JR and MacArthur (last class at Hardy that will have that choice).

Ah, I’d forgotten that since mine is in 6th and it doesn’t apply. Which I’m salty about as I thought giving all current students the option should have been the clear choice given the lack of notice of the change until it was too late to explore other middle school options.

[Anonymous]

Many of the new teachers are being announced here: https://twitter.com/MacArthur_DCPS

Most are DCPS veterans and the ones I recognize are known for being very good. Now new schools are going to have growing issues, but I'm honestly surprised that DCPS is letting McCray get whoever he wants.

Now I have no clue if Macarthur will work out (we're in a feeder), but it is hard not to be cautiously optimistic. We moved to our current home thinking we'd move home to the BCC area in 6th or 9th if DCPS couldn't get their stuff in order. Hope macarthur succeeds so we wont move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the new teachers are being announced here: https://twitter.com/MacArthur_DCPS

Most are DCPS veterans and the ones I recognize are known for being very good. Now new schools are going to have growing issues, but I'm honestly surprised that DCPS is letting McCray get whoever he wants.

Now I have no clue if Macarthur will work out (we're in a feeder), but it is hard not to be cautiously optimistic. We moved to our current home thinking we'd move home to the BCC area in 6th or 9th if DCPS couldn't get their stuff in order. Hope macarthur succeeds so we wont move.

Considering how highly regarded BCC is, you would actually consider MHS as comparison?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the new teachers are being announced here: https://twitter.com/MacArthur_DCPS

Most are DCPS veterans and the ones I recognize are known for being very good. Now new schools are going to have growing issues, but I'm honestly surprised that DCPS is letting McCray get whoever he wants.

Now I have no clue if Macarthur will work out (we're in a feeder), but it is hard not to be cautiously optimistic. We moved to our current home thinking we'd move home to the BCC area in 6th or 9th if DCPS couldn't get their stuff in order. Hope macarthur succeeds so we wont move.

Considering how highly regarded BCC is, you would actually consider MHS as comparison?

BCC is constantly compared to JR on this forum, so why would it be strange to compare it to MHS?
Also can you please share in what way is BCC highly regarded? My friends with kids in that school are complaining non-stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the teacher and what subject?

Anonymous wrote:One of Hardy's strongest teachers is headed to MHS this August. Huge loss for Hardy but speaks volumes to me about the energy and potential of MHS. If he's onboard it's worth looking at. Our family will be watching closely and really hope it's a viable option For our current Hardy 7th grader.

Mr. Grover according to the MacArthur Twitter feed. He's a total pro.

My son had him for history this year at Hardy. He's amazing. Big loss for Hardy but I'm happy for him and for MHS.

[Anonymous]

You can’t compare. Kids always complain about their schools in someway or another. The BCC is one of the most stellar schools with great diversity in the entire region. It rivals top privates. I say this as a JR parent unfortunately… who made the decision to stay at Jackson Reed. We were very close to moving to Bethesda but ended up staying with our very good rental because it was hard to find a new spot. All the W schools do really well. I think they are a step above DC PS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the new teachers are being announced here: https://twitter.com/MacArthur_DCPS

Most are DCPS veterans and the ones I recognize are known for being very good. Now new schools are going to have growing issues, but I'm honestly surprised that DCPS is letting McCray get whoever he wants.

Now I have no clue if Macarthur will work out (we're in a feeder), but it is hard not to be cautiously optimistic. We moved to our current home thinking we'd move home to the BCC area in 6th or 9th if DCPS couldn't get their stuff in order. Hope macarthur succeeds so we wont move.

Considering how highly regarded BCC is, you would actually consider MHS as comparison?

BCC is constantly compared to JR on this forum, so why would it be strange to compare it to MHS?
Also can you please share in what way is BCC highly regarded? My friends with kids in that school are complaining non-stop.

There is no perfect school but would believe BCC is above JR just on the data points of students testing results alone. I know most people don’t believe in national rankings but BCC is in the top 500 of all HS nationwide when I last checked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the new teachers are being announced here: https://twitter.com/MacArthur_DCPS

Most are DCPS veterans and the ones I recognize are known for being very good. Now new schools are going to have growing issues, but I'm honestly surprised that DCPS is letting McCray get whoever he wants.

Now I have no clue if Macarthur will work out (we're in a feeder), but it is hard not to be cautiously optimistic. We moved to our current home thinking we'd move home to the BCC area in 6th or 9th if DCPS couldn't get their stuff in order. Hope macarthur succeeds so we wont move.

Considering how highly regarded BCC is, you would actually consider MHS as comparison?

BCC is constantly compared to JR on this forum, so why would it be strange to compare it to MHS?
Also can you please share in what way is BCC highly regarded? My friends with kids in that school are complaining non-stop.

There is no perfect school but would believe BCC is above JR just on the data points of students testing results alone. I know most people don’t believe in national rankings but BCC is in the top 500 of all HS nationwide when I last checked.

BCC is #491 on this list https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search

Banneker (DCPS) is #96

I have so many questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the new teachers are being announced here: https://twitter.com/MacArthur_DCPS

Most are DCPS veterans and the ones I recognize are known for being very good. Now new schools are going to have growing issues, but I'm honestly surprised that DCPS is letting McCray get whoever he wants.

Now I have no clue if Macarthur will work out (we're in a feeder), but it is hard not to be cautiously optimistic. We moved to our current home thinking we'd move home to the BCC area in 6th or 9th if DCPS couldn't get their stuff in order. Hope macarthur succeeds so we wont move.

Considering how highly regarded BCC is, you would actually consider MHS as comparison?

BCC is constantly compared to JR on this forum, so why would it be strange to compare it to MHS?
Also can you please share in what way is BCC highly regarded? My friends with kids in that school are complaining non-stop.

There is no perfect school but would believe BCC is above JR just on the data points of students testing results alone. I know most people don’t believe in national rankings but BCC is in the top 500 of all HS nationwide when I last checked.

BCC is #491 on this list https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search

Banneker (DCPS) is #96

I have so many questions.

RTI implemented the U.S. News comprehensive rankings methodology, which reflects how well high schools serve all of their students, not just those who are planning to go to college. According to the U.S. News Best High Schools methodology, schools were rated on the following six measures, and the weights used for each indicator are in parentheses.

College readiness (30% of the ranking): The percentage of 12th graders from the class of 2019-2020 who took at least one AP or IB exam by the end of their senior year and the percentage of 12th graders who earned a qualifying score on at least one AP or IB exam in high school. Earning a qualifying score is weighted three times more than taking.

College curriculum breadth (10%): The percentage of 12th graders from the class of 2019-2020 who took a wide variety of AP and IB courses across the multiple disciplines and the percentage of 12th graders who earned a qualifying score on them. Earning a qualifying score is weighted three times more than taking.

State assessment proficiency (20%): Measures how well students scored on state assessments that measure proficiency in reading, science and mathematics. Passing these assessments can be required for graduation. Examples of assessments include Smarter Balanced in California and the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.

State assessment performance (20%): The difference between how students performed on state assessments and what U.S. News predicted based on a school's student body. U.S. News' modeling across all 50 states and the District of Columbia indicates that the percentage of students from historically underserved subgroups – defined as Black students, Hispanic students, and students who are eligible for free and reduced price lunch – are highly predictive of a school's reading and math scores.

Underserved student performance (10%): How well the student population receiving subsidized school lunch and Black and Hispanic populations perform on state assessments relative to statewide performance among students not in those subgroups.

Graduation rate (10%): For the 2022 rankings, the graduation rate corresponds to the 2020 graduation cohort who would have entered ninth grade in the 2016-2017 school year. High school graduation rates were collected directly from each state along with the math, reading and science assessment data.

[Anonymous]

Re the US New high school rankings, the two categories about underserved students sound really similar, and collectively skew in rankings in my opinion. I don't think I understand how they are different. The publication ranks Banneker higher than SWW, but SWW has a higher graduation rate, more kids taking and passing APs, more breadth to the average AP load, higher SAT/ACT scores. Not to mention (although this is subjective) better college placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re the US New high school rankings, the two categories about underserved students sound really similar, and collectively skew in rankings in my opinion. I don't think I understand how they are different. The publication ranks Banneker higher than SWW, but SWW has a higher graduation rate, more kids taking and passing APs, more breadth to the average AP load, higher SAT/ACT scores. Not to mention (although this is subjective) better college placement.

With the reasoning above (which I agree with), the fact that BCC squeezed into top 500 doesn’t matter much to me to trust that it’s oh so awesome comparing to JR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re the US New high school rankings, the two categories about underserved students sound really similar, and collectively skew in rankings in my opinion. I don't think I understand how they are different. The publication ranks Banneker higher than SWW, but SWW has a higher graduation rate, more kids taking and passing APs, more breadth to the average AP load, higher SAT/ACT scores. Not to mention (although this is subjective) better college placement.

With the reasoning above (which I agree with), the fact that BCC squeezed into top 500 doesn’t matter much to me to trust that it’s oh so awesome comparing to JR.

What data do you look at when comparing schools?