Tell me about Whitman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Isn't this one of the segregated schools?

Nice effort at a troll wedge!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whitman publishes senior college destinations in the school paper (The Black & White) each spring for anyone who is curious. Always lots of kids going to great schools all over the country and lots of kids going to community college, which I’m assuming never happens at the top local privates.

When you say a lot go to CC what kind of numbers are you talking? I see that list every year and while a huge number go to UMDCP I only ever see less than 3 or less than 5 going to CC.

It has been a while since I checked, but around 15. It’s self reported, and I’m sure not all of the kids opt to report.

In 2021 only 340 students reported but they graduated about 520. Kids going to CC or not continuing would be less likely to report for obvious reasons.

yes, this has been my assumption too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Isn't this one of the segregated schools?

Do you mean Takoma Park elementary and Middle schools? If so, then yes. We should all call on the MCPS board of education to desegregate those schools and start busing with the school's in very nearby Langley Park. It's the progressive thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Status, needs, class, vanity and there are fools born every day.

These fools likely have a higher net worth than you. The parents on average have a much higher net worth than the average Whitman parent...no comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Whitman is better than any private school in the area

Then why do so many families in the Whitman sending area send their kids to private schools at significant expense?

Are these people dumb?

In our Potomac neighborhood we see Landon, Prep, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Albans, Holton, etc. jackets and sweatshirts in abundance. And some Whitman ones, too.

Status, needs, class, vanity and there are fools born every day.

So these scores of well-educated, well-off families are status seeking, vain or stupid or some combination of these things.

They are plunking down over $120,000 per kid so they don’t have to go to Whitman for free.


Totally agree with you.

Many on this board are insecure that they can't afford or won't pay for privates for their kids. Read up on MCPS board of education how incompetent they are. How they are happy to let Bethesda, Potomac and Chevy Chase burn in the name of equity.

These seem like pretty smart people to me. They couldn’t believe that these private schools are better environment, could they?

The kids from Potomac and Bethesda neighborhoods that are zoned to Whitman make up a large chunk of the students at these private schools.

We aren’t talking about just a handful. It’s been pointed out that if the athletes from these neighborhoods went to Whitman instead of Prep, Landon, Gonzaga, Bullis, St Johns, etc., Whitman would be a MoCo powerhouse.

I think this is called “voting with your feet”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming my DS will not get into any privates just because it’s almost impossible right now, we are turning to our inbounds HS, Whitman. I hear only great things. My DS is a very good student with some LD, great athlete who will no doubt make the team of his sport and may even play varsity freshman year. He’s super quiet. How will he do at Whitman? He’s never been in such a huge school. His current school is tiny. But he’s looking forward to HS.

Isn't this one of the segregated schools?

Do you mean Takoma Park elementary and Middle schools? If so, then yes. We should all call on the MCPS board of education to desegregate those schools and start busing with the school's in very nearby Langley Park. It's the progressive thing to do.

NP but you are so obsessed with this. The areas of Takoma Park that border Langley already feed into TP schools, but you'd like them to annex part of another county to prove some point? Cool, next have BCC serve Friendship Heights and Blair can also serve Shepherd Park and Poolesville can serve Leesburg. Why not?

[Anonymous]

I read through 7 pages to find follow-up from PP ranking MD public school systems from what? schooldigger.com? explaining what makes the collected 14 total Worcester County public schools, that serve a county of 50,000 people, almost as "good" as MCPS. Could it be that school rankings are BS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No snark. I’m genuinely curious. Have experience with Anselms and it’s rated 2nd best boys school after Albans in DC and has stellar reputation. Anselms has been profoundly disappointing and am curious how great Albans or any of the other top schools are. They would have to be monumental leaps and bounds better because I certainly did not see that at Anselms as I expected with its ranking, reputation, and when I toured. I can’t wrap my head around how it’s up there and if it’s closely comparable or in line academically with the other top private schools. If so, then I have to say the public schools cannot be that far off from privates. The years at Anselms have made me very, very skeptical of privates and doubtful when people say they are better.
I feel like I was fooled. What am I missing? Any insight?

Not a school I ever considered for my alternative to Whitman. So I don't really know anything about Anselms, except that I never considered it. My boys went to GDS and SAS (boarding-delaware). St Andrews-Delaware is far superior for my kid (who went to whitman for 9th)
Whitman was too big for me, also skating on a reputation from 30 years ago, sports coaches are felons (at least one), counselors are overworked and will likely never know your kid, I hate the AP curriculum, classes are mostly too big, grades are inflated, let's not even talk about the fact that the kids were out of school for more than a year during the pandemic.


And I moved specifically to Whitman cluster in 1998--boy, was I uninformed. I started doing mega-research on all these schools once my eldest was in public kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Some of these stats are Totally inaccurate. you have to adjust them for the number of kids in the graduating class. Total kids accepted is one thing for a school for 450 kids in a graduating class and totally different for a school with 90. To just come in even, the 450 student class has to have 5 times as many kids accepted as the school with 90.

[Anonymous]

I am always struck by how the only negative things I hear about whitman are on this site. Literally everyone I talk to irl about the school has very positive things to say. With the one exception being that the school can be quite challenging. And I've talked to many parents and current students.

I'm not trying to stir things up here, I just really don't get it.
Either people are not being honest when we talk, or if there are just a few posters here who for some reason really don't like whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am always struck by how the only negative things I hear about whitman are on this site. Literally everyone I talk to irl about the school has very positive things to say. With the one exception being that the school can be quite challenging. And I've talked to many parents and current students.

I'm not trying to stir things up here, I just really don't get it.
Either people are not being honest when we talk, or if there are just a few posters here who for some reason really don't like whitman.

I think this is a matter of perspective. The site tends to focus on community news which most people find offensive, but I'm guessing that's not a deal-breaker for the people your talking to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am always struck by how the only negative things I hear about whitman are on this site. Literally everyone I talk to irl about the school has very positive things to say. With the one exception being that the school can be quite challenging. And I've talked to many parents and current students.

I'm not trying to stir things up here, I just really don't get it.
Either people are not being honest when we talk, or if there are just a few posters here who for some reason really don't like whitman.

Most people on here bashing Whitman have no actual experience with the school. They just like to bash it because, in their minds, it is a bunch of entitled rich Bethesda kids who are racist. While there might be some who are entitled and some who are racist, that by no means is representative of the school as a whole. Every school has some of this, but people like to attach Whitman more than others. Perhaps out of jealousy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am always struck by how the only negative things I hear about whitman are on this site. Literally everyone I talk to irl about the school has very positive things to say. With the one exception being that the school can be quite challenging. And I've talked to many parents and current students.

I'm not trying to stir things up here, I just really don't get it.
Either people are not being honest when we talk, or if there are just a few posters here who for some reason really don't like whitman.

Well your post told me more about you and the kind of people you talk to if the only negative things you hear about Whitman are from this site.
It is well known that there are a lot of issues at Whitman. Take this for example
https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-magazine/january-february-2021/the-reckoning/

[Anonymous]

I currently have a student at Whitman and I have great concern regarding drug dealing and usage by the students. It is also my opinion that there is a lack of consequences. There are students who identify as gang members, sell drugs, carry weapons and post all of this on Instagram. A teacher at Whitman commented that little could be done by the school to address this drug issue and that since the pandemic, there has been a spike in freshman drug activity and a blatant disregard about potential consequences.

[Anonymous]

The school can not police this. BCC or WwHS have drug dealers….have younger kids selling too… beginning in moddle school. WWHS has a drug prevention curriculum- this week they brought in speakers and held forums school-wide. Educators after-all educate. However this is not for schools to manage alone. Parents are not fully to blame either. The pandemic closures have challenged everything. What is, is. Not blaming- realizing there needs to be a dramatic shift- What can be done? When fifteen and sixteen year olds w thousands of followers on Instagram brag with new sporty clothes, have smoke coming out of their mouths flash gang signs and post invites to buy drugs. What can be done?