Bethesda vs Kensington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one more question. I saw people mentioned Magnet schools. Are those charter schools or some form of it? Is there an entrance exam or lottery of some sort to enter those schools?

Magnet schools are part of MCPS. They are test-in programs that students typically enter in 4th, 6th, and/or 8th grades, instead of going to their home school:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you look at something like SATs as opposed to raw averages, it quickly becomes clear the Great Schools narrative is just propaganda used to sew fear and prop up real estate prices. When people realize a college-bound student will end up with a strong education at any of these schools, there's no reason to overpay for a place in Potomac.

Unless you want the very best schools. I do; do you?

I don’t believe that the schools in Potomac are the “very best” because I don’t think high test scores tell us anything about a school other than that it’s students test high.

If you wanted the best schools you'd put your child in St Albans, Sidwell Friends or Holton Arms, not a public school.

There are levels to this class-based pettiness. You're on an upper-middle rung being snarky to someone else that is stuck in the middle just like you. Get some self awareness, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you look at something like SATs as opposed to raw averages, it quickly becomes clear the Great Schools narrative is just propaganda used to sew fear and prop up real estate prices. When people realize a college-bound student will end up with a strong education at any of these schools, there's no reason to overpay for a place in Potomac.

Unless you want the very best schools. I do; do you?

I don’t believe that the schools in Potomac are the “very best” because I don’t think high test scores tell us anything about a school other than that it’s students test high.

If you wanted the best schools you'd put your child in St Albans, Sidwell Friends or Holton Arms, not a public school.

There are levels to this class-based pettiness. You're on an upper-middle rung being snarky to someone else that is stuck in the middle just like you. Get some self awareness, please.

Nope, the W schools are better than the private schools you named.

[Anonymous]

My kids attended Einstein and ended up at NYU and Carnegie Mellon. it was a school where yes, going to college was completely normal.

[Anonymous]

I posted earlier, but just wanted to stress 2 points:

1) The school issue matters for house value; like it or not, there are enough people who will pay significantly more for certain school pyramids. You don't want to pay that premium only to lose it in just a few years. That to me is the biggest downside to Kensington (and yes, also to those Bethesda neighborhoods zoned for WJ.)

2) The MCPS curriculum is the same everywhere, but different school pyramids come with different advantages and disadvantages. We're in the BCC zone - that meant insanely big elementary and middle schools (pre-Silver Creek.) But now that I've got a kid in HS, I get it; the school has amazing resources, some of them a direct result of the high SES parent population. My kid isn't an overachiever, so I'm glad that at this point in his education he's in an environment with a lot of opportunities and high expectations.

By contrast I know people in other MCPS clusters with significantly lower SES: their kids have had great experiences with smaller schools and smaller class sizes. Their HS is ranked significantly lower and probably have fewer 'extras' as compared to BCC. Will their kids be worse off in life or in college admissions? I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids attended Einstein and ended up at NYU and Carnegie Mellon. it was a school where yes, going to college was completely normal.

The truth is any kid can get a great education at any of these schools if they're so inclined. What most of these clowns are arguing about boils down to how some demographic differences impact a school's average which they confuse with quality and opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids attended Einstein and ended up at NYU and Carnegie Mellon. it was a school where yes, going to college was completely normal.

The truth is any kid can get a great education at any of these schools if they're so inclined. What most of these clowns are arguing about boils down to how some demographic differences impact a school's average which they confuse with quality and opportunity.

The other factor is fear. Fear of slipping out of the middle class, and fear that their child isn't the type of teen to take advantage of opportunities and get a great education in any environment.

If you've hand curated every opportunity and moment in your child's life, from that first Haba block set right up through making sure they are in the "best" public school zone, how do you know whether they are a go-getter? What if they aren't? What if they NEED to be surrounded solely by kids just like them, or else they will find the "wrong" peer group?

On the other hand, if you trust your child and have been giving them age appropriate freedoms all along, you know that you can trust them to advocate for themselves, find good friends, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids attended Einstein and ended up at NYU and Carnegie Mellon. it was a school where yes, going to college was completely normal.

The truth is any kid can get a great education at any of these schools if they're so inclined. What most of these clowns are arguing about boils down to how some demographic differences impact a school's average which they confuse with quality and opportunity.

The other factor is fear. Fear of slipping out of the middle class, and fear that their child isn't the type of teen to take advantage of opportunities and get a great education in any environment.

If you've hand curated every opportunity and moment in your child's life, from that first Haba block set right up through making sure they are in the "best" public school zone, how do you know whether they are a go-getter? What if they aren't? What if they NEED to be surrounded solely by kids just like them, or else they will find the "wrong" peer group?

On the other hand, if you trust your child and have been giving them age appropriate freedoms all along, you know that you can trust them to advocate for themselves, find good friends, etc.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you look at something like SATs as opposed to raw averages, it quickly becomes clear the Great Schools narrative is just propaganda used to sew fear and prop up real estate prices. When people realize a college-bound student will end up with a strong education at any of these schools, there's no reason to overpay for a place in Potomac.

Unless you want the very best schools. I do; do you?

I don’t believe that the schools in Potomac are the “very best” because I don’t think high test scores tell us anything about a school other than that its students test high.

If you wanted the best schools you'd put your child in St Albans, Sidwell Friends or Holton Arms, not a public school.

There are levels to this class-based pettiness. You're on an upper-middle rung being snarky to someone else that is stuck in the middle just like you. Get some self awareness, please.

Nope, the W schools are better than the private schools you named.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids attended Einstein and ended up at NYU and Carnegie Mellon. it was a school where yes, going to college was completely normal.

The truth is any kid can get a great education at any of these schools if they're so inclined. What most of these clowns are arguing about boils down to how some demographic differences impact a school's average which they confuse with quality and opportunity.

That’s fantastic! I did not realize that Einstein was so successful in college placement. You don’t hear very much about it I suppose the publicity around the annual Bethesda Magazine college destinations issue tends to dominate and we might not be aware of the track record of other local schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids attended Einstein and ended up at NYU and Carnegie Mellon. it was a school where yes, going to college was completely normal.

The truth is any kid can get a great education at any of these schools if they're so inclined. What most of these clowns are arguing about boils down to how some demographic differences impact a school's average which they confuse with quality and opportunity.

Which is why it might make sense to identify the schools that have large numbers of college ready FARMs students who are doing well in AP exams and SAT exams. For me this indicates the school and its teachers are doing well by all its students. Clarksburg, Blair, RM, Northwest, Paint Branch and a couple of others seem to be doing quite well by this important metric

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids attended Einstein and ended up at NYU and Carnegie Mellon. it was a school where yes, going to college was completely normal.

The truth is any kid can get a great education at any of these schools if they're so inclined. What most of these clowns are arguing about boils down to how some demographic differences impact a school's average which they confuse with quality and opportunity.

That’s fantastic! I did not realize that Einstein was so successful in college placement. You don’t hear very much about it I suppose the publicity around the annual Bethesda Magazine college destinations issue tends to dominate and we might not be aware of the track record of other local schools

I'm the PP with the recent med school grad and the DC at a NESCAC, both of whom went to Einstein. The Einstein community bears no resemblance to what DCUM depicts. None whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

For a school the DCUM claims is not "college ready," Einstein sure puts on a huge, yearly (19th annual!) college fair...

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/einsteinhs/templates/default.aspx?id=537194

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you look at something like SATs as opposed to raw averages, it quickly becomes clear the Great Schools narrative is just propaganda used to sew fear and prop up real estate prices. When people realize a college-bound student will end up with a strong education at any of these schools, there's no reason to overpay for a place in Potomac.

Unless you want the very best schools. I do; do you?

I don’t believe that the schools in Potomac are the “very best” because I don’t think high test scores tell us anything about a school other than that it’s students test high.

If you wanted the best schools you'd put your child in St Albans, Sidwell Friends or Holton Arms, not a public school.

There are levels to this class-based pettiness. You're on an upper-middle rung being snarky to someone else that is stuck in the middle just like you. Get some self awareness, please.

Child please, these named schools are not better than the Ws, BCC and a few others. But MCPS magnets absolutely crush these privates and it's not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you look at something like SATs as opposed to raw averages, it quickly becomes clear the Great Schools narrative is just propaganda used to sew fear and prop up real estate prices. When people realize a college-bound student will end up with a strong education at any of these schools, there's no reason to overpay for a place in Potomac.

Unless you want the very best schools. I do; do you?

I don’t believe that the schools in Potomac are the “very best” because I don’t think high test scores tell us anything about a school other than that it’s students test high.

If you wanted the best schools you'd put your child in St Albans, Sidwell Friends or Holton Arms, not a public school.

There are levels to this class-based pettiness. You're on an upper-middle rung being snarky to someone else that is stuck in the middle just like you. Get some self awareness, please.

Child please, these named schools are not better than the Ws, BCC and a few others. But MCPS magnets absolutely crush these privates and it's not even close.

There was a recent thread here discussing an article that held that privates were no better than public and their success was a function of higher SES segregation. The point was these same kids would also have done just as well anywhere.