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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]We thought the physical plant at McKinley was great, especially the engineering lab.  The teachers also seemed dedicated and accomplished.

Unfortunately, for us, we were hoping the school was akin to Blair Magnet or TJ, but it is absolutely not anywhere close.  We wish DCPS would transform McKinley into a DC TJ, but that doesn't seem like it will ever happen.

The commute was too much for us as well...if it was located where Walls is located (or anywhere in central DC) then the calculation would have been different[/quote]

There just aren't that many educated/education-pushing households with high school aged kids in DC compared to the TJ or Blair catchment areas.[/quote]

Banneker is the DC TJ[/quote]

This may be the most delusional thing I've read on this very bizarre board! Banneker is great at what it does . But it's not in the same galaxy as TJ. 
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+100. Get real, people. There is not a TJ equivalent in DC. Full stop. [/quote]

There isn't. However, does there really need to be?[/quote]

There are students who could use a top-tier science high school. My DC is one of them.[/quote]

So move and get your DC into a magnet. Then you’ll be on the MoCo or AAP board obsessing over how your “cogat 262” kid did not get admitted or whatever. It ain’t pretty over there.

[b]Walls or Banneker can provide plenty of challenges for a kid who actually is bright and science-focused. [/b](McKinley I think the jury is still out.) DC doesn’t need another selective HS - it needs better MS and ES instruction. [/quote]

Thoughtful suggestion, but we can't move out of DC.

And no, Walls and Banneker do not have sufficient advanced science offerings. J-R is more promising, but then again, it is a neighborhood high school and not the one we are zoned for.

There is no reason that a city the size of DC shouldn't have programs suitable for strong STEM students.  McKinley is the right idea, but it isn't high-level enough for top students.
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Since when do HS students have to have “advanced science offerings” to be able to handle science courses in college? SWW has 4 AP science classes and 3 AP math classes. It also has AP seminar and AP research that can be a platform for a STEM project.

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Does Walls offer those courses consistently? The website says they have to have at least 15 students to offer the course.

And a science-loving student would have no trouble handling college science offerings. But they have little chance of getting in top science colleges (like MIT or CalTech) if they have had no chance to show that they are at all competitive with students from the many, many high schools around the country with strong STEM offerings.[/quote]

I don't understand why anyone is conflating college acceptances with a student's interests.  There are Walls kids getting into MIT because Math is really most important and you are also generally judged more against other Walls kids and taking the most rigorous classes offered by the school vs. kids from TJ.  However, there are definitely Walls kids that are more interested in STEM and wish it offered more or they had an "acceptable" option at another school.

On the flip side...there are many threads on DCUM from Walls parents complaining about the lack of sports facilities (and facilities in general).  They complain even though there is literally nothing that DCPS can or will do about that...and it is head-scratching why they go to Walls when they know full well none of this will change.

I gather it is now acceptable to respond:  (i) you don't need good sports to do well academically in college, and (ii) go move to MoCo or VA to a school with great sports facilities.[/quote]

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