Reply to DCPS Selective HSs: What to know.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And the typical hs in the suburbs does not offer linear algebra.  [/quote][/quote]

Actually a lot of the suburban high schools do offer linear algebra now as a dual-enrollment class. [/quote]

A number of good high schools offer linear algebra at the school.  They have enough kids to take it.

My friends son is at Langley and it offers 3 courses past Calculus of which LA is one of them.[/quote]

Blair offers 3 past Calculus - LA, multivariable calculus and differential equation, and even complex analysis.

If you look at magnet schools in MD, all offer classes past Calculus.  Many standard high schools offer at least 1 class past calculus.[/quote]

Why do we care?  We live in DC, and the few kids who need access to those classes can get it.  And if a kid can take a full slate of solid classes, but can't take Differential Equations until they're at MIT, oh well?  It's not going to wreck their career as a math professor. It just means they will have learned some more history or public speaking or something else worthwhile before they take Diff Eq.[/quote]

Are you for real??  Get out of your bubble of excuses and low expectations.  Walls is supposed to be our “magnet” school and they can’t even offer classes that other standard high schools offer for STEM students.

And you wonder why families with STEM kids don’t stay in DCPS.

BTW, any kid applying to a competitive college in STEM field will be at a huge disadvantage because the majority of kids will have taken these courses.

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Come on. Most of the kids I see in CS took AB and no more, and my school is top 30 (and this is my second t30). The honest truth is if you get in a top school, you should retake those classes anyway. They’re taught completely differently (proof based). [/quote]

You come on.  Because I can tell you that any kid going to MIT, like the PP said above, or any competitive school in math, engineering have taken classes past Calculus in high school.  Calculus is the floor not the ceiling.

Sure they may have to take linear algebra again in college but you can bet that the kid who already took LA in high school is going to kill it and do well not only in the class but also in other STEM classes that uses math.   Ask me how I know.  While the kid that just took Cal is going to be at the bottom of the barrel in the class and at a big disadvantage.

The denial from Walls parents how weak the math offerings is just astounding.   Don’t make excuses, demand better.

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I don't understand what the end goal is with such a miserable approach to academics. You absolutely do not need to do this to have a successful, fulfilling career in STEM.[/quote]

Regrettably yes you do need to take all the sciences (bio, chem, and physics) plus the hardest math your school offers.  I think you could maybe do this via dual enrollment, but it would mean taking time away from extracurriculars or sports which would also make students stand out  if the school somehow factored in the difficulty of courses maybe they’d be more students pushing for better course offerings. [/quote]

From a pure, instrumental “getting into college” standpoint, it’s to students’ benefit that Walls has limited Math offerings. In a world where the only thing that matters to a college is whether you took the most advanced offering, if a school is incentivized to get kids in the best schools possible… there’s a perverse incentive to keep the ceiling on classes as low as possible. I doubt Walls has worked through the logic here, but still.

From a lifelong love of learning standpoint, that kind of advanced math is a pretty impoverished experience in high school. Very few of the kids who take it have the maturity to really handle the material, and we do have programs for those once every decade kids (eg Lurie). I do agree that it will be easier in college if they saw the material in high school.[/quote]

That advanced math is an impoverished experience in high school? Not sure I understand that. Some people love math. [/quote]

I love math and I would have hated taking the same course in high school and then again in college. Sounds like a race to nowhere.[/quote]

So you would rather struggle not ever seeing the material while the other kids have it easy due to having some exposure……

It’s not a race to nowhere when you have a kid who loves math and wants and can do the math.

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dp  - If the student is talented at math, they are going to do well in college even if they haven't pre-taken the class.  Here's a question:  how many high schools can actually teach high-level math well?  [/quote]

[b]Well I know a kid in DMV [/b]who took a few post Calculus courses at his high school including Linear Algebra.

Freshman engineering major at a very well known school and getting all A’s including an A in Linear Algebra.  It absolutely helped him to do well in his college math class and STEM classes with all the advance math he took.[/quote]

This is the basis for your views?  Huh.

Look, Walls should have more advanced science and math offerings.

AND Walls is a solid high school education for a smart, motivated STEM kid.

Both these things can be true.

A high school student doesn't need to pre-take tons of college courses to succeed in college.

Meanwhile, there are not meaningfully better options for a comprehensive high school education for a STEM kid in DC -- public, charter, or private.   Possibly J-R, but it has some real off-setting downsides.

[/quote]

Nope.  There are better and stronger programs and better options for kids in DC and that is DCI and Basis.

DCPS will just continue to bleed the best STEM students and the families here in denial about the lack of strong STEM programming at the middle and high school are just in denial.

Until we can acknowledge the weaknesses in the system, charters will just continue to gain more traction and DCPS will continue to lose its best students.[/quote]

DCI and Basis may have stronger STEM offerings.  That alone doesn't make them a stronger choice for high school, even for a STEM kid.[/quote]

Well at least PP above acknowledges the weaker STEM offerings.

But tell us what you think exactly then makes for a stronger choice high school for STEM kid……..[/quote]

Because broad education -- you know, like thinking and writing -- matters for all students.  This is high school; not graduate school nor trade school.[/quote]

I hire and mentor early career employees in a STEM field. I have no idea what math classes they took in high school. If they don't have strong critical thinking skills and resourcefulness, they will not be successful at the job. Much harder to teach than new math/stats/code concepts.[/quote]

Respectfully, this is not what people are concerned about. You are discussing early career employees in stem fields meaning they likely went to college or are in college already. We all know the old adage, to be a competitive candidate for top schools, take the hardest classes. But to be completely transparent, students will not be appealing candidates without taking a certain set of classes in high school. I am not the poster insisting on diff eq in high school.  However, if your child wants to be pre med, chemistry is crucial. There is no chemistry offered at walls.  Ap bio is only offered some years. Ap Calc is pretty weak and would leave my child without a math class at some point. I also think that walls doesn’t have good stem based extracurriculars.  Listen we looked at walls critically and after consulting with college counselors were straight up told that we would have to do some serious supplementing or dual enrollment to get my kid to look like an attractive candidate for the colleges they aspire to attend. And no, I’m not talking about the Ivy League. If you just wants to study engineering, you really need to take at least calc bc just to be considered.

I can’t speak for other posters but for myself and my kids, I really feel like dcps once again has let us down. There is no quality application school in dc with the right curriculum for students interested in STEM careers. I am really angry about that. And I’m honestly saddened that (some) people on this thread think that’s okay. Yes I see that you can go to charters and get a good strong stem education (DCI and Basis) but it’s nearly impossible to get in to those schools.

McKinley tech needs to be stronger and[b] I wish I had a straight answer for why Banneker isn’t as desirable as Walls. [/b][/quote]

Why wasn't it desirable for you?
[/quote]

It is deeply desirable for me and my kid. But it seems to be not as well regarded and in curious as to why. I think location is the biggest factor. [/quote]

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