McKinley Tech - a great school

[Anonymous]

For 2024-2025, here's the audited McKinley Tech enrollment data:McKinley Technology High School American Indian or Alaska Native 1 0.11%
McKinley Technology High School Asian 3 0.41%
McKinley Technology High School Black or African American 583 80.60%
McKinley Technology High School Hispanic/Latino of any race 91 12.58%
McKinley Technology High School Two or More Races 11 1.50%
McKinley Technology High School White 34 4.70%
McKinley Technology High School Total Enrolled 723

[Anonymous]

Also, I had the 2023/2024 number wrong, but in that year the number of white students was 24 out of 704 students. So, the percentage was 3.4 percent.

So, between the two school years, the number of white students went from 24 to 34. It follows that the freshman class was significantly more than 4.7% white last year, and probably the percentage of white students is even higher this year, as that's the trajectory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think McKinley Tech is a great school and I wish that my kid had been more interested in it. He was turned off by the tech focus.

On test scores, it's pretty easy to create a proxy for those "higher math kids who don't take the CAPE."

A total of 375 kids took an ELA test. 280 were proficient. Assume that is the N for all 9th/10th graders. (For the record, this is a HUGE proficiency increase since last year, like 20%.)

A total of 300 kids took Algebra 1 or Geometry. 80 were proficient on those tests. So the number of "missing" kids is 75. If we assume all of those kids are the math high-fliers, the top number of 9th/10th graders proficient in math (per CAPE) is 155 (41%).

I actually think that the number of kids testing proficient is was more important than the overall rate of proficiency. What the data shows me is that there are likely at least 50 kids per grade who are on grade level in math and ELA. I think that is solid.

But the floor should be grade level and I would argue higher for a selective school. That is not very impressive.

Also, it is easy to see the math if we were told what is the highest track. In most DCPS middle schools not in ward 3, the highest level leads to Calculus in 12th. So, since no McKinley families are forthcoming about this, my assumption is that the highest track is AP calculus in 12th.

Also, why is there no Algebra 11 data when PARCC does test for it correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the earliest grade that you can take AP Cal? What are their AP Cal and AP science scores?

What about their SAT score averages?

I don't know about AP Calculus and when you can take it. You would probably need to call the school and ask for that particular information.

In terms of granular AP data, I don't know where to find it, but the overall AP summary for DCPS for 2023-2024 is here:
https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets

Their AP scores are comparable to Banneker and Ellington. They have a very high AP participation rate as AP tests are required for AP classes, which I don't think it the case everywhere.

DCPS SAT scores can be found here:
https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat

And, again, McKinley Tech's results are quite comparable to DESA and Jackson Reed, which parents on DCUM consider to be viable options.

Only 50% kids are getting 3 and up in AP exams.

SAT average is only 998 with only 494 in math??

No, there not many advance math kids from stats above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think McKinley Tech is a great school and I wish that my kid had been more interested in it. He was turned off by the tech focus.

On test scores, it's pretty easy to create a proxy for those "higher math kids who don't take the CAPE."

A total of 375 kids took an ELA test. 280 were proficient. Assume that is the N for all 9th/10th graders. (For the record, this is a HUGE proficiency increase since last year, like 20%.)

A total of 300 kids took Algebra 1 or Geometry. 80 were proficient on those tests. So the number of "missing" kids is 75. If we assume all of those kids are the math high-fliers, the top number of 9th/10th graders proficient in math (per CAPE) is 155 (41%).

I actually think that the number of kids testing proficient is was more important than the overall rate of proficiency. What the data shows me is that there are likely at least 50 kids per grade who are on grade level in math and ELA. I think that is solid.

But the floor should be grade level and I would argue higher for a selective school. That is not very impressive.

Also, it is easy to see the math if we were told what is the highest track. In most DCPS middle schools not in ward 3, the highest level leads to Calculus in 12th. So, since no McKinley families are forthcoming about this, my assumption is that the highest track is AP calculus in 12th.

Also, why is there no Algebra 11 data when PARCC does test for it correct?

From the Data Notes tab of the CAPE data:

"The required high school assessments are Algebra I, Geometry, English I and English II. For students who take Geometry prior to high school, the required high school mathematics assessment is Algebra II."

There are only 12 high schools with Algebra II data, and only 3 of those schools had at least 10 students taking the test (JR, Walls, Latin).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think McKinley Tech is a great school and I wish that my kid had been more interested in it. He was turned off by the tech focus.

On test scores, it's pretty easy to create a proxy for those "higher math kids who don't take the CAPE."

A total of 375 kids took an ELA test. 280 were proficient. Assume that is the N for all 9th/10th graders. (For the record, this is a HUGE proficiency increase since last year, like 20%.)

A total of 300 kids took Algebra 1 or Geometry. 80 were proficient on those tests. So the number of "missing" kids is 75. If we assume all of those kids are the math high-fliers, the top number of 9th/10th graders proficient in math (per CAPE) is 155 (41%).

I actually think that the number of kids testing proficient is was more important than the overall rate of proficiency. What the data shows me is that there are likely at least 50 kids per grade who are on grade level in math and ELA. I think that is solid.

But the floor should be grade level and I would argue higher for a selective school. That is not very impressive.

Also, it is easy to see the math if we were told what is the highest track. In most DCPS middle schools not in ward 3, the highest level leads to Calculus in 12th. So, since no McKinley families are forthcoming about this, my assumption is that the highest track is AP calculus in 12th.

Also, why is there no Algebra 11 data when PARCC does test for it correct?

From the Data Notes tab of the CAPE data:

"The required high school assessments are Algebra I, Geometry, English I and English II. For students who take Geometry prior to high school, the required high school mathematics assessment is Algebra II."

There are only 12 high schools with Algebra II data, and only 3 of those schools had at least 10 students taking the test (JR, Walls, Latin).

Oh, good catch. So I would expect more Algebra II takers in the coming years as more middle schools are offering Geometry (for example ITDS for the first time this year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we start incorporating the FACTS into this conversation?

1)McKinley Tech was 4.7% white in 2024-2025.
It was also 4.7% white in 2023-2024

That's more than 50% higher than 3%, so please stop repeating that false number.

2) There are UMC students who attend that school.
Few UMC WHITE students attend, but quite a few UMC black students do.

In DC shorthand, we know that generally, white students in DC are UMC but that does not mean that no black students are UMC. Stop equating the two.

I know that because, well, McKinley Tech is 38.1% economy disadvantaged. That means the majority of students do not fall into that category. Some, in fact at least 20% I would guess, are at least UMC (you've got to include the 4.7% of white students plus a decent share of the others). If UMC wasn't so predominantly black, you wouldn't assume this. So don't, because it's not true.

3) McKinley Tech's stats are already similar to both Duke Ellington and Banneker's.

It's fine with me if you don't want to send your kid there for whatever reason: location, demographics, academic offering. Just don't act like it's because it's an inherently inferior school when it's really because you don't want your kid to be ia school where they are one of the 5% of white students.

Also, McKinley Tech's CAPE scores (which won't be reflected on the MySchool DC page went up 22% in English last year. So, even if CAPE scores are your main objection, you should keep in mind that they are a moving target and headed in the right direction.

My kid is of East Asian ancestry, like me. Impossible, right? Ridiculous conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we start incorporating the FACTS into this conversation?

1)McKinley Tech was 4.7% white in 2024-2025.
It was also 4.7% white in 2023-2024

That's more than 50% higher than 3%, so please stop repeating that false number.

2) There are UMC students who attend that school.
Few UMC WHITE students attend, but quite a few UMC black students do.

In DC shorthand, we know that generally, white students in DC are UMC but that does not mean that no black students are UMC. Stop equating the two.

I know that because, well, McKinley Tech is 38.1% economy disadvantaged. That means the majority of students do not fall into that category. Some, in fact at least 20% I would guess, are at least UMC (you've got to include the 4.7% of white students plus a decent share of the others). If UMC wasn't so predominantly black, you wouldn't assume this. So don't, because it's not true.

3) McKinley Tech's stats are already similar to both Duke Ellington and Banneker's.

It's fine with me if you don't want to send your kid there for whatever reason: location, demographics, academic offering. Just don't act like it's because it's an inherently inferior school when it's really because you don't want your kid to be ia school where they are one of the 5% of white students.

Also, McKinley Tech's CAPE scores (which won't be reflected on the MySchool DC page went up 22% in English last year. So, even if CAPE scores are your main objection, you should keep in mind that they are a moving target and headed in the right direction.

My kid is of East Asian ancestry, like me. Impossible, right? Ridiculous conversation.

Not sure what your point is. Lots of schools have no white kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense. My son isn’t hardcore STEM either so I was a bit concerned it wouldn’t be a good fit. But there still are all the social sciences/literature etc classes. So in case people are concerned with that, there seems to be a good balance or at least more options outside of STEM than I thought.

It really is a great option. It was/is a very popular destination for Stuart-Hobson students. I worked with the principal at another school.

[Anonymous]

Original Poster here again: this convo has diverted, as always on this forum, into some strange spitting match about scores. My son is happy, loves his teachers, the syllabi are all reasonably challenging and quite interesting (IMHO), and there are plenty of academic options for all levels. He also reports fewer disruptive behaviors than his experience in other DCPS or charter schools he attended. The students seem respectful and attentive and I understand (from other parents) there are fewer issues with drugs, vaping etc than other high schools. It’s also smaller than other high schools in the DMV. What’s not to like? Perfect and a guarantee for Harvard? Nope. But I don’t care about that. So if others are looking for a solid option, consider McKinley the same way maybe DCI or others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the earliest grade that you can take AP Cal? What are their AP Cal and AP science scores?

What about their SAT score averages?

I don't know about AP Calculus and when you can take it. You would probably need to call the school and ask for that particular information.

In terms of granular AP data, I don't know where to find it, but the overall AP summary for DCPS for 2023-2024 is here:
https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets

Their AP scores are comparable to Banneker and Ellington. They have a very high AP participation rate as AP tests are required for AP classes, which I don't think it the case everywhere.

DCPS SAT scores can be found here:
https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat

And, again, McKinley Tech's results are quite comparable to DESA and Jackson Reed, which parents on DCUM consider to be viable options.

Only 50% kids are getting 3 and up in AP exams.

SAT average is only 998 with only 494 in math??

No, there not many advance math kids from stats above.

998 is A B Y S M A L

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Original Poster here again: this convo has diverted, as always on this forum, into some strange spitting match about scores. My son is happy, loves his teachers, the syllabi are all reasonably challenging and quite interesting (IMHO), and there are plenty of academic options for all levels. He also reports fewer disruptive behaviors than his experience in other DCPS or charter schools he attended. The students seem respectful and attentive and I understand (from other parents) there are fewer issues with drugs, vaping etc than other high schools. It’s also smaller than other high schools in the DMV. What’s not to like? Perfect and a guarantee for Harvard? Nope. But I don’t care about that. So if others are looking for a solid option, consider McKinley the same way maybe DCI or others.

Is the default track Calc AB in 12th grade? Is BC offered?

Just curious as I can’t find the information and others do want to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

I can’t imagine why PP thinks anyone cares if they or their friends are convinced. Real “main character syndrome” energy in that post.

PP - you do you. I - and, I think, lots of others on this thread - could not possibly care less what you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

Original poster here. I had not wanted to get into this but feel I need to address this. As a UMC white mom myself, i was struck that my white friends had almost no info/personal insights on the school while all my AA friends highly recommended it, and rightly so. The only thing I can think, sadly, is the a) frankly bigoted and sadly engrained assumption/fear of being singled out as the “only white kid” has kept white people away and the racist view that majority black schools in NE aren’t safe/good and b) so many kids want to only go to schools with their friends and there is a clustering effect around the same public and charter schools. I’m sorry to be that blunt but otherwise I struggle to understand a rationale that makes sense. Certainly it’s a STEM school and that doesn’t attract all kids. But I struggle to see that as the key reason for the demographic composition.

Overall I just think the school (and the kids that attend) deserve recognition and I had wanted to just flag it for parents who struggled as I did to get sufficient information on it in this forum.

This +100. And it’s true of many other schools in DC. Schools get stuck in a chicken or egg scenario of there aren’t enough white kids, so white parents wont send their kids there, so then there’s never “enough” white kids for those families to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, they’re adding hours to their commute or paying private school tuition when they likely would have had a good experience at that school—as well as gaining the benefits of a stronger local school community and having your kid exposed to a broader range of people. As a UMC white mom of a child at another predominantly Black school, the amount of conversations I have with white parents who say “we wish we could go there, it’s just not there yet” is tiresome.

How much is this about race and how much is it about class?

I want to send my child to schools that have a cohort (at least 25%) of students working at or above grade level in both ELA and math. This almost universally does not happen at schools that are majority at-risk.

McKinley Tech is 38.1% economy disadvantaged, which is not the same thing as at-risk technically, but same basic idea. It's not a Title I.

The CAPE scores for ELA show a large majority of students on or above grade level. The math scores aren't as good, but they do have a lot of kids scoring a 3 so near grade level, and you have to remember that the best math students don't take the math CAPE because they took Algebra I and Geometry in middle school. Weirdly the Algebra II CAPE isn't shown, that's strange.

McKinley Tech is a Title 1 school.

The only DCPS high schools that are not Title 1 are Banneker, Ellington, Jackson-Reed and SWW.

https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/List%20of%20Public%20Schools%20SY25-26%20UPDATED%2008.12.25.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

Original poster here. I had not wanted to get into this but feel I need to address this. As a UMC white mom myself, i was struck that my white friends had almost no info/personal insights on the school while all my AA friends highly recommended it, and rightly so. The only thing I can think, sadly, is the a) frankly bigoted and sadly engrained assumption/fear of being singled out as the “only white kid” has kept white people away and the racist view that majority black schools in NE aren’t safe/good and b) so many kids want to only go to schools with their friends and there is a clustering effect around the same public and charter schools. I’m sorry to be that blunt but otherwise I struggle to understand a rationale that makes sense. Certainly it’s a STEM school and that doesn’t attract all kids. But I struggle to see that as the key reason for the demographic composition.

Overall I just think the school (and the kids that attend) deserve recognition and I had wanted to just flag it for parents who struggled as I did to get sufficient information on it in this forum.

This +100. And it’s true of many other schools in DC. Schools get stuck in a chicken or egg scenario of there aren’t enough white kids, so white parents wont send their kids there, so then there’s never “enough” white kids for those families to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, they’re adding hours to their commute or paying private school tuition when they likely would have had a good experience at that school—as well as gaining the benefits of a stronger local school community and having your kid exposed to a broader range of people. As a UMC white mom of a child at another predominantly Black school, the amount of conversations I have with white parents who say “we wish we could go there, it’s just not there yet” is tiresome.

How much is this about race and how much is it about class?

I want to send my child to schools that have a cohort (at least 25%) of students working at or above grade level in both ELA and math. This almost universally does not happen at schools that are majority at-risk.

McKinley Tech is 38.1% economy disadvantaged, which is not the same thing as at-risk technically, but same basic idea. It's not a Title I.

The CAPE scores for ELA show a large majority of students on or above grade level. The math scores aren't as good, but they do have a lot of kids scoring a 3 so near grade level, and you have to remember that the best math students don't take the math CAPE because they took Algebra I and Geometry in middle school. Weirdly the Algebra II CAPE isn't shown, that's strange.

McKinley Tech is a Title 1 school.

The only DCPS high schools that are not Title 1 are Banneker, Ellington, Jackson-Reed and SWW.

https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/List%20of%20Public%20Schools%20SY25-26%20UPDATED%2008.12.25.pdf

Oops you're right, my bad.