What are your thoughts on Blair NON-Magnet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went to the open house last night. I think Blair the best choice in the DCC.

That is like the date with the least amount of HIV

The people who are choosing Blair are in the DCC.

One of my children is at Blair (in a program) and we think that the entire school is well run and the teachers are strong both inside and outside the program. I do not think that highly of the DCC middle schools that we have experience with (obviously we don’t have experience with all of them) but Blair is a solid school. I find it hard to believe my child would be any better off at a different MCPS school.

Same.

[Anonymous]

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

As noted above, the statistic for even the "best" MCPS schools is about 50%. That alone should make you wonder whether there's something funky with the metric. I don't know what it is - maybe kids aren't taking enough language courses? Maybe something in the MCPS curriculum doesn't count toward the University of Maryland entrance requirements, but I really don't think that half of the kids at BCC fail to be college ready, so there must be something else at play.

Others have noted that "magnet" kids are often kids for whom Blair is also their home school, and many of the magnet kids are DCC kids. So counting them as totally separate from the broader school community is a flawed approach.

[Anonymous]

Former Whitman student here, my DC are in the Blair magnet program. The last one is doing the "regular" program at Blair. IMHO Blair is a really great school. I am glad to have my children be the second generation of MCPS students. My Whitman connections have served me well in my career in the DMV area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not good. I may offend some folks but it's a ghetto school.

I'm probably on your side on many things because I too don't mind offending folks. But, I don't think you have any first hand knowledge of Blair. "Ghetto" creates an image of run down uncared-for facilities with no chance of success. Not true at all. I have two there - one Magnet one Not. Blair is so big that it has different communities within the same school. Many, many kids self segregate and as a freshman they learn to stay away from certain areas of the school. My non-magnet child is taking all honors classes so, in general, there aren't many disruptions. Depending on the choice, electives offer more socioeconomic diversity which I'm all for. Neither of my kids have any interest in going to the lunchroom or even to the 1st floor during lunch. During lunch, they hang out with their wonderful friends (of all colors mind you) on the 3rd floor or use the lunch our to meet with their teachers.

The bottom line is that if you live in the DCC, Blair should absolutely be your child's first choice. Unfortunately, because most people in the DCC already know this, it's difficult to get into Blair if it's not your home school.

What happens / what's wrong with the first floor or lunch room? Is that where the black kids hang out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

Like others have said, there's something funky about that statistic. You can look on mdreportcard and see that 75.40% of Blair graduates enrolled in college within 12 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

Like others have said, there's something funky about that statistic. You can look on mdreportcard and see that 75.40% of Blair graduates enrolled in college within 12 months.

Most of those are most likely open access community college . Also think about it 75% of graduates, the 31% counts all the kids who don't graduate so it is a little apples to oranges

[Anonymous]

Just to add there are more than 700 magnet and CAP kids so the number of non-magnet is smaller so the actual percentage is closer to 10% of the non-special program kids qualifying for MD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

Like others have said, there's something funky about that statistic. You can look on mdreportcard and see that 75.40% of Blair graduates enrolled in college within 12 months.

Most of those are most likely open access community college . Also think about it 75% of graduates, the 31% counts all the kids who don't graduate so it is a little apples to oranges

[Anonymous]

OK..those of us who enjoy having successful non-magnet kids at Blair will continue to do so. The rest of you can try to figure how bad of a school it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

Like others have said, there's something funky about that statistic. You can look on mdreportcard and see that 75.40% of Blair graduates enrolled in college within 12 months.

Exactly, until we understand why 42% of Whitman students aren't qualified for the MD University system, we can't pick apart why 69% of Blair students aren't. And while it's plausible that Blair CAP and Magnet students aren't in this category, that's not automatic--find me a Whitman parent would guess correctly that only 6/10 of their kid's classmates hit the MD benchmark.

One piece of the MD benchmark is having a cumulative GPA of C or better--from the UMD website that's defined as a 2.5. If you look at a Whitman class profile, 19% of graduating students have an unweighted GPA bellow 2.5. If you look at a Blair profile, 21% of graduates have an unweighted GPA bellow 2.5. If you look at a magnet profile
*none* have a GPA bellow 2.5. There isn't information on CAP. But if the assumption is all the low GPA students are in the regular population (which accounts for 77% of the school population), that means only 56% of the regular population has a GPA above 2.5 at graduation. (And yes this is grabbing data from different sources, and making assumptions, but it's a start.)

So that is significant. 81% of Whitman students meet the GPA benchmark, and only 56% of regular Blair students do.

But, only 47% of Blair students have never been on FARMS, while somewhere over 95% (too high to report) of Whitman students are non-FARMS. Magnet/CAP is also likely 95% or higher non-FARMS. So, playing the same game, only 24.3% of the regular Blair population is non-FARMS.

So then the question people are interested in, how do FARMS and low-GPA students overlap in the *regular* Blair population? (And the real axe to grind would be if non-FARMS students have significantly worse outcomes at Blair than at Whitman.) We know at Whitman 19% of non-FARMS students have low GPA. Is the percent higher or lower at Blair? We can't tell. But the PP, has been playing with a suspect statistic and trying to prove it can't be the same--it has to be much worse. Looking at the GPA benchmark, there's no way to make that argument. If it is the same, there's no inconsistency to be seen.

Suppose it is the same: 19% of regular-population, non-FARMS Blair students have low GPA, just like 19% of (entirely) non-FARMS Whitman students do. That's 19% of 579 students: 110 students. Overall at Blair 21% of 3083 students have low GPA: 647 students. This means 537 FARMS student have low GPA. So given there are 1804 FARMS students, (537/1804) 30% have low GPA. And remember this was with the assumption that no one in Magnet/CAP has low GPA. There's no way to know that this is the breakdown, but there's nothing implausible about the calculation that results. The GPA benchmark doesn't raise any alarms.

Finally, it can't be ignored that magnet/CAP are part of Blair, and students do interact. So overall 30% of FARMS students have low GPA, but once the magnet is included, only (110/(3083-1804)) 8.5% of non-FARMS students have low GPA. Compare that to Whitman, where 19% students have low GPA without the excuse of hardship. I won't kid myself that being around magnet students makes my student higher achieving, just like being around FARMS students doesn't rub off. But context matters, and if my kid is a suburbanite with a 20% fail rate expected, may as well dilute that behavior with examples of overachieving Magnet kids and FARMS students fighting long odds. If anything, I'm more concerned about a school where everyone's on easy street, yet one in five can't be bothered to work. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

Like others have said, there's something funky about that statistic. You can look on mdreportcard and see that 75.40% of Blair graduates enrolled in college within 12 months.

Most of those are most likely open access community college . Also think about it 75% of graduates, the 31% counts all the kids who don't graduate so it is a little apples to oranges

Montgomery college is absolutely the number one destination for Blair graduates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

Like others have said, there's something funky about that statistic. You can look on mdreportcard and see that 75.40% of Blair graduates enrolled in college within 12 months.

Most of those are most likely open access community college . Also think about it 75% of graduates, the 31% counts all the kids who don't graduate so it is a little apples to oranges

Montgomery college is absolutely the number one destination for Blair graduates

And????
But Blair sends more students to the Ivies than any W school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I don't know what the deal with the UMd admissions requirements is, but I also really don't think it is as dire as PP says it is, based on how students at other MCPS high schools do on the same metric.

So, for BCC that number is 47%

For Blair it is 31%

For WJ it is 50%

For Whitman it is 58%.

Are folks prepared to argue that more than half of the kids who graduate from BCC are not college-ready?

Amost certainly not. Which means this metric is flawed. There is absolutely room for Blair (and every other MCPS HS) to do better by its most vulnerable kids, but we need to move off that particular metric because it clearly doesn't mean what folks want it to mean.

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..


Think for a min that 31% for Blair is about 1000 kids
700 or so kids are magnet or cap mostly from OOB, most of those are part of the 31%
That leaves 300 or so kids out of the remaining 2500 students which means 12% of the general population leave qualified for an decent State school

That is Kennedy/ Einstein level performance. Mediocre at best

While the dig at the end is petty, the break out of kids is startling and concerning for the non-magnet kids. Any parents care to address those? Overblown ?

Remember CAP and SMAC include lots of DCC kids. You are skimming off many of the top performers..

Sure lots of DCC kids in CAP and SMAC but that still leaves 12% of the 2500 non-magnet qualified for UMD. That is 88% of the normal kids not making the cut. Using your same argument the top performers are also taken out of the Whitman’s that still manage 58%.

Feel free to counter the school is still good but it is the kids that struggle and couldn’t be helped . I am not sure how one can reconcile that a fridge full of old food doesn’t stink even if 12% doesn’t

Like others have said, there's something funky about that statistic. You can look on mdreportcard and see that 75.40% of Blair graduates enrolled in college within 12 months.

Exactly, until we understand why 42% of Whitman students aren't qualified for the MD University system, we can't pick apart why 69% of Blair students aren't. And while it's plausible that Blair CAP and Magnet students aren't in this category, that's not automatic--find me a Whitman parent would guess correctly that only 6/10 of their kid's classmates hit the MD benchmark.

One piece of the MD benchmark is having a cumulative GPA of C or better--from the UMD website that's defined as a 2.5. If you look at a Whitman class profile, 19% of graduating students have an unweighted GPA bellow 2.5. If you look at a Blair profile, 21% of graduates have an unweighted GPA bellow 2.5. If you look at a magnet profile
*none* have a GPA bellow 2.5. There isn't information on CAP. But if the assumption is all the low GPA students are in the regular population (which accounts for 77% of the school population), that means only 56% of the regular population has a GPA above 2.5 at graduation. (And yes this is grabbing data from different sources, and making assumptions, but it's a start.)

So that is significant. 81% of Whitman students meet the GPA benchmark, and only 56% of regular Blair students do.

But, only 47% of Blair students have never been on FARMS, while somewhere over 95% (too high to report) of Whitman students are non-FARMS. Magnet/CAP is also likely 95% or higher non-FARMS. So, playing the same game, only 24.3% of the regular Blair population is non-FARMS.

So then the question people are interested in, how do FARMS and low-GPA students overlap in the *regular* Blair population? (And the real axe to grind would be if non-FARMS students have significantly worse outcomes at Blair than at Whitman.) We know at Whitman 19% of non-FARMS students have low GPA. Is the percent higher or lower at Blair? We can't tell. But the PP, has been playing with a suspect statistic and trying to prove it can't be the same--it has to be much worse. Looking at the GPA benchmark, there's no way to make that argument. If it is the same, there's no inconsistency to be seen.

Suppose it is the same: 19% of regular-population, non-FARMS Blair students have low GPA, just like 19% of (entirely) non-FARMS Whitman students do. That's 19% of 579 students: 110 students. Overall at Blair 21% of 3083 students have low GPA: 647 students. This means 537 FARMS student have low GPA. So given there are 1804 FARMS students, (537/1804) 30% have low GPA. And remember this was with the assumption that no one in Magnet/CAP has low GPA. There's no way to know that this is the breakdown, but there's nothing implausible about the calculation that results. The GPA benchmark doesn't raise any alarms.

Finally, it can't be ignored that magnet/CAP are part of Blair, and students do interact. So overall 30% of FARMS students have low GPA, but once the magnet is included, only (110/(3083-1804)) 8.5% of non-FARMS students have low GPA. Compare that to Whitman, where 19% students have low GPA without the excuse of hardship. I won't kid myself that being around magnet students makes my student higher achieving, just like being around FARMS students doesn't rub off. But context matters, and if my kid is a suburbanite with a 20% fail rate expected, may as well dilute that behavior with examples of overachieving Magnet kids and FARMS students fighting long odds. If anything, I'm more concerned about a school where everyone's on easy street, yet one in five can't be bothered to work. YMMV.

+1 Using the OP's argument that Blair is a bad school should definitely extend to Whitman. How good is a minimal FARM/ESOL school that 42% can't meet the UMD requirements?! What the OP really means is that Blair is a "bad" school because of the majority population it serves, not the quality of teachers, resources, instruction, etc. In reality, Blair has great teachers, resources and class offerings for any kid that wants to succeed--that is my definition of a good school.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised that no one has commented on the real differences between being in a low vs high performing school. Its grading.

It is incredibly difficult for ANY teacher to not be influenced by the psychological bell curve when applying a grading rubric. You don't want to give every single kid an A and you also don't want a situation where none or get kids ever get an A. You will either consciously or subconsciously adjust your expectations against the rubric to match the population. If you applied the standard used in the non-Magnet at Blair with Whitman every single kid going through you class at Whitman would get straight As. If you applied the standard used in Whitman with Blair non-magnet every single kid in your class would either fail or be getting low Bs at best.

This is how the peer group self re-enforces high performance. The academic quality of the peer group influences not just group projects and discussions but it strongly influences the teacher's application of the grading rubric. This happens as early as elementary school so the students coming up with a strong peer group are being held to much higher standards even though the curriculum is the same. In any curriculum for any assignment that isn't a basic multiple choice scanned form, a grading rubric with qualitative assessments is involved.