What are W schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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These are fairly objection quantitative and qualitative ways to judge a school. Besides special magnet or arts programs embedded in a host school. It is not difficult to see why MoCo planners put special programs in far off schools in order to bolster real estate there and test scores at the school.

Our neighborhood has lots of african americans, but they all go to DC private schools and do very well. They don't trust MCPS.

They're not far off schools for those of us who live near them.

Right. But for these people, the center of the world is the District/Potomac/Bethesda. Everything is determined in relation to those places.

And this is why I didn't want my kids to go to schools in those areas. Too many self-absorbed, righteous, and snobby people. I didn't want my kids to be influenced or surrounded by those types of people.

And yet here you are posting on a thread about "W schools," which suggests that you have more than a passing interest in how those schools are perceived and characterized. How big is that chip on your shoulder?

No chip here. Just responding to folks like the PP who spreads misinformation about "far off schools" and the pervasive but incorrect assumption that special programs must be placed in those schools to bolster their test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There's nothing wrong with them. The point is people are acting like the schools are better, when in reality they're just full of kids who can afford to pay for additional help. These other schools, by corollary, aren't worse just because their test scores are lower.

LOL. Truth isn’t true?

Schools don't have test scores. Students in schools have test scores. If the students in School A have higher test scores than the students in School B because the parents of the students in School A can afford to pay for additional tutoring, does that mean that School A is a better school? The teachers in School A are better, the administrators in School A are better, the facilities in School A are better...?

+1

Test scores are correlated with SES. I'm a lawyer, DH is a professor, and our Einstein grads have done just fine. We knew they would, because the deck has been stacked in their favor no matter where they went to school.

[Anonymous]

The point is that MC/UMC kids tend to do relatively well, regardless of where they are.

Take Watkins Mill, for example. The school's overall GS score is 4, but White and Asian kids' test scores are a 7. Yes, lower than the 9s and 10s you see at the W schools (and QO), but much higher than the Hispanic and Black kids at Watkins Mill, whose scores are a 2.

Point being, black and hispanic kids (for reasons that are out of their control and which require a much broader discussion) tend to score lower than white and Asian kids. When you're looking at schools in the same district (so implementing the same curriculum) this means that the metrics normally used to determine a school's quality really become a proxy for the school's demographic, making it ridiculous for W parents to say W schools are objectively better.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to Einstein, OP! Believe what you see with your own eyes, not what anonymous internet posters tell you about your school, its students, its parents.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to Einstein, OP! Believe what you see with your own eyes, not what anonymous internet posters tell you about your school, its students, its parents.

[Anonymous]

What excatly are W schools? I moved here from Delaware 2 years ago and just love this school system. My daughter is in 8th grade and picked Einstein for dance and IB! However, I'm hearing so much about W schools but don't know excatly what they are I even try to search it up. Are they magnets? Or private schools?

OP- agree with others that say don'r worry about it. Especially if your DD is happy and has friends now who are going to Einstein. We also moved when the kids were just starting middle school and that is such a hard age to move! The last thing you would want to do would be to move her again in the beginning of high school.

We're in a W school. I don't know that the teachers are any better, The overwhelming majority of kids are smarter and more motivated than average kids. This creates a situation where the teachers expect more, projects and class discussions can be richer, and there are more sections of advanced courses offered. There is very little crime in the areas around the W schools. They are very diverse from a religion, nationality, and ethnicity standpoint but very homogenous in parental education levels and have lower poverty or transient populations. Since they all have rankings that put them at the top the areas attract very smart, highly educated parents. They watch their kids and if the kid is struggling or the curriculum looks goofy then they will supplement. I have not seen many tutors and think this is one of those things people outside the area like to imagine but I do think its true that if a kid is struggling at all they are quickly flagged and the parents get help. The school admins aren't dealing with issues of how to keep kids from dropping out or high percentages of kids failing etc. They can focus on the high performers since that's the makeup of the school. The high scores are a factor of all these points.

The above facts don't mean that other schools offer a terrible education, aren't good or don't have any value. I think some of the special programs in the DCC schools are a great option to help kids find a place and area to explore something they are passionate about during high school. If your daughter is in a program that aligns with her true passion then that is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are public schools in Montgomery County.

Walt Whitman
Winston Churchill
Thomas Wootten
Walter Johnson

Notice they all have a W in their name. They are on the West side of the county and tend to have less economic (and therefore racial) diversity than the other schools in the county.

Add BCC to it, even though there is no W in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are public schools in Montgomery County.

Walt Whitman
Winston Churchill
Thomas Wootten
Walter Johnson

Notice they all have a W in their name. They are on the West side of the county and tend to have less economic (and therefore racial) diversity than the other schools in the county.

Add BCC to it, even though there is no W in it.

Apparently, the other problem is that it isn't White enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What excatly are W schools? I moved here from Delaware 2 years ago and just love this school system. My daughter is in 8th grade and picked Einstein for dance and IB! However, I'm hearing so much about W schools but don't know excatly what they are I even try to search it up. Are they magnets? Or private schools?

OP- agree with others that say don'r worry about it. Especially if your DD is happy and has friends now who are going to Einstein. We also moved when the kids were just starting middle school and that is such a hard age to move! The last thing you would want to do would be to move her again in the beginning of high school.

We're in a W school. I don't know that the teachers are any better, The overwhelming majority of kids are smarter and more motivated than average kids. This creates a situation where the teachers expect more, projects and class discussions can be richer, and there are more sections of advanced courses offered. There is very little crime in the areas around the W schools. They are very diverse from a religion, nationality, and ethnicity standpoint but very homogenous in parental education levels and have lower poverty or transient populations. Since they all have rankings that put them at the top the areas attract very smart, highly educated parents. They watch their kids and if the kid is struggling or the curriculum looks goofy then they will supplement. I have not seen many tutors and think this is one of those things people outside the area like to imagine but I do think its true that if a kid is struggling at all they are quickly flagged and the parents get help. The school admins aren't dealing with issues of how to keep kids from dropping out or high percentages of kids failing etc. They can focus on the high performers since that's the makeup of the school. The high scores are a factor of all these points.

The above facts don't mean that other schools offer a terrible education, aren't good or don't have any value. I think some of the special programs in the DCC schools are a great option to help kids find a place and area to explore something they are passionate about during high school. If your daughter is in a program that aligns with her true passion then that is great.

I want to agree with the phrase in bold. I keep seeing references to tutors for W students or prepping for magnet students and it just isn't the case that many or most UMC students have these kinds of resources. Having educated parents is probably the biggest advantage any kid in any school has and there are more college educated parents in the more affluent parts of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:
LOL I'm a W parent and no one here looks down on QO, just too far out for DH and I to want to live there. If you don't mind the longer commute to DC then its fine. QO is like a border-line W, the people on here referring badly to non-Ws are talking about Gaithersburg, Watkins Mill, Seneca Valley, Northwest, Wheaton, etc. not QO or Poolesville.

Lol, only in DCUM is Northwest a bad school. I don't know who started this ridiculous rumor on here but here are the facts: GS rated 7 (higher than RM or Blair), 95% graduation rate, 91% for FARM kids (one of the highest grad rates in the county, if not the highest for both farm and non- farm). Stats are pretty much the same as QO with the exception that QO has more white kids (45% vs 29%) and slighly lower FARM rates at 23% vs 28%. This is honestly a blatant example of how here we consider white = better.

Northwest (bad! gangs!) vs. Quince Orchard (good! school spirit!) is really the proof that on DCUM, the higher the white population, the "better" the school. Really the ONLY meaningful difference between Northwest and Quince Orchard is that Quince Orchard has a higher percentage of white kids.

Well no. There have been a lot of incidents at Northwest, and no one choosing Northwest as their first choice for a school(no one wants to live in germantown but its all they can afford). QO is pretty well-regarded, but not the same level as WJ or Churchill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

These are fairly objection quantitative and qualitative ways to judge a school. Besides special magnet or arts programs embedded in a host school. It is not difficult to see why MoCo planners put special programs in far off schools in order to bolster real estate there and test scores at the school.

Our neighborhood has lots of african americans, but they all go to DC private schools and do very well. They don't trust MCPS.

They're not far off schools for those of us who live near them.

Right. But for these people, the center of the world is the District/Potomac/Bethesda. Everything is determined in relation to those places.

And this is why I didn't want my kids to go to schools in those areas. Too many self-absorbed, righteous, and snobby people. I didn't want my kids to be influenced or surrounded by those types of people.

And yet here you are posting on a thread about "W schools," which suggests that you have more than a passing interest in how those schools are perceived and characterized. How big is that chip on your shoulder?

No chip here. Just responding to folks like the PP who spreads misinformation about "far off schools" and the pervasive but incorrect assumption that special programs must be placed in those schools to bolster their test scores.

Clearly the magnets at Poolesville, RM and Blair bolster the test scores at those schools. Whether they "had to be placed" in those schools is a different question.

[Anonymous]

Clearly the magnets at Poolesville, RM and Blair bolster the test scores at those schools. Whether they "had to be placed" in those schools is a different question.

This was clearly the intent when the schools were placed there. Its hard to believe but RM was under enrolled in 2000. The magnet and moving Richie Park into the cluster was done to stabilize enrollment. Poolesville also had an enrollment/size problem. Blair had very low test scores and white flight. All three areas have stabilized now. RM and Blair are over capacity and growing each year now.

One thing to consider though is that a school doesn't "own" a magnet. As the in-bound areas around the magnet grow, there is pressure to move the magnets to address other clusters experiencing lower enrollment or white flight. Schools can't just get bigger and function at sizes much bigger than what is already happening so it will happen sooner or later. Sooner for some, I expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

These are fairly objection quantitative and qualitative ways to judge a school. Besides special magnet or arts programs embedded in a host school. It is not difficult to see why MoCo planners put special programs in far off schools in order to bolster real estate there and test scores at the school.

Our neighborhood has lots of african americans, but they all go to DC private schools and do very well. They don't trust MCPS.

They're not far off schools for those of us who live near them.

Right. But for these people, the center of the world is the District/Potomac/Bethesda. Everything is determined in relation to those places.

And this is why I didn't want my kids to go to schools in those areas. Too many self-absorbed, righteous, and snobby people. I didn't want my kids to be influenced or surrounded by those types of people.

And yet here you are posting on a thread about "W schools," which suggests that you have more than a passing interest in how those schools are perceived and characterized. How big is that chip on your shoulder?

No chip here. Just responding to folks like the PP who spreads misinformation about "far off schools" and the pervasive but incorrect assumption that special programs must be placed in those schools to bolster their test scores.

Clearly the magnets at Poolesville, RM and Blair bolster the test scores at those schools. Whether they "had to be placed" in those schools is a different question.

There was a post here a few weeks back that crunched the actual numbers for this. The results weren't that significant. For example, at Blair there are 100 juniors in the magnet of which 80 are from out of boundary and around 40% of those students are white. This boosted the SAT average from 1296 to 1326 within that cohort. Point being even without the magnet kids that cohort still outperforms any W.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are public schools in Montgomery County.

Walt Whitman
Winston Churchill
Thomas Wootten
Walter Johnson

Notice they all have a W in their name. They are on the West side of the county and tend to have less economic (and therefore racial) diversity than the other schools in the county.

Add BCC to it, even though there is no W in it.

Totally B-CC is a GS7 for academics which blows away Whitman which is just a 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What excatly are W schools? I moved here from Delaware 2 years ago and just love this school system. My daughter is in 8th grade and picked Einstein for dance and IB! However, I'm hearing so much about W schools but don't know excatly what they are I even try to search it up. Are they magnets? Or private schools?

Your daughter is gonna LOVE Einstein they have a strong dance program. Actually Einstein dance team competed against Walt Whitman (W school) dance team and beat them according to their newspaper so your daughter will get strong dance training at Einstein.