Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends which W school? WJ and Whitman are not losing students. They’re the best MCPS has to offer. BCC is the Achilles’s heel of the Bethesda high schools - way fewer APs, the IB is not that popular or extended, and teacher quality is not as good as the other two.

We specifically picked Takoma Park because of the unparalleled access to STEM education and still feel it was the best choice for our kids.

1) Both kids went through the TPES stem Magnet w/ accelerated math
2) Then they attended the local CES @PBES
3) Both then were selected the TPMS MS magnet because of the inboundary seats
4) One kid was in the Blair STEM magnet, but the other who wasn't selected still managed to take 8/16 magnet classes while @Blair and manged to replace the other 8 with comparable APs

Seems like an excellent strategy if you know your kids are into STEM and you have a good idea of their abilities early on. We moved inbounds for Bethesda ES for work commute reasons but also because our oldest has SN and it's the best MCPS school for that. Then he got into a special program in the Walter Johnson cluster just north of us, which was great. However now we're stuck with BCC for our other kids. Not entirely happy about that.

BCC has good options like the IB and even if they're more STEM oriented you could easily come up with a curriculum that covers the same bases as the magnets like analysis of algorithms, analysis 2 etc etc

From my perspective, a kid who prioritizes academics can get a fine education from any of these schools. The main thing the DCC schools offer is specialization for kids with specific interests like engineering.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends which W school? WJ and Whitman are not losing students. They’re the best MCPS has to offer. BCC is the Achilles’s heel of the Bethesda high schools - way fewer APs, the IB is not that popular or extended, and teacher quality is not as good as the other two.

We specifically picked Takoma Park because of the unparalleled access to STEM education and still feel it was the best choice for our kids.

1) Both kids went through the TPES stem Magnet w/ accelerated math
2) Then they attended the local CES @PBES
3) Both then were selected the TPMS MS magnet because of the inboundary seats
4) One kid was in the Blair STEM magnet, but the other who wasn't selected still managed to take 8/16 magnet classes while @Blair and manged to replace the other 8 with comparable APs

Seems like an excellent strategy if you know your kids are into STEM and you have a good idea of their abilities early on. We moved inbounds for Bethesda ES for work commute reasons but also because our oldest has SN and it's the best MCPS school for that. Then he got into a special program in the Walter Johnson cluster just north of us, which was great. However now we're stuck with BCC for our other kids. Not entirely happy about that.

BCC has good options like the IB and even if they're more STEM oriented you could easily come up with a curriculum that covers the same bases as the magnets like analysis of algorithms, analysis 2 etc etc

Anonymous wrote:Depends on kid’s interests. I taught at Parkland MMS and every year had kids choose Wheaton over their home W school because of PLTW. I think most DCC schools have a wider variety of electives (because of signature programs) than the Ws, which is more appealing for some.

They are talking about non-magnet programs. PLTW is very competitive to enter and a criteria-based magnet program.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for the reply. Now I see the points.

It sounds like there will be some but not quite family take this opportunity, how well are the students blend in then? - with neither home school friends nor magnet group.

I think this rarely happens OP unless they have a very specialized needs/interests for something like the academy (pre-professional) programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends which W school? WJ and Whitman are not losing students. They’re the best MCPS has to offer. BCC is the Achilles’s heel of the Bethesda high schools - way fewer APs, the IB is not that popular or extended, and teacher quality is not as good as the other two.

We specifically picked Takoma Park because of the unparalleled access to STEM education and still feel it was the best choice for our kids.

1) Both kids went through the TPES stem Magnet w/ accelerated math
2) Then they attended the local CES @PBES
3) Both then were selected the TPMS MS magnet because of the inboundary seats
4) One kid was in the Blair STEM magnet, but the other who wasn't selected still managed to take 8/16 magnet classes while @Blair and manged to replace the other 8 with comparable APs

Seems like an excellent strategy if you know your kids are into STEM and you have a good idea of their abilities early on. We moved inbounds for Bethesda ES for work commute reasons but also because our oldest has SN and it's the best MCPS school for that. Then he got into a special program in the Walter Johnson cluster just north of us, which was great. However now we're stuck with BCC for our other kids. Not entirely happy about that.

Anonymous wrote:Depends which W school? WJ and Whitman are not losing students. They’re the best MCPS has to offer. BCC is the Achilles’s heel of the Bethesda high schools - way fewer APs, the IB is not that popular or extended, and teacher quality is not as good as the other two.

We specifically picked Takoma Park because of the unparalleled access to STEM education and still feel it was the best choice for our kids.

1) Both kids went through the TPES stem Magnet w/ accelerated math
2) Then they attended the local CES @PBES
3) Both then were selected the TPMS MS magnet because of the inboundary seats
4) One kid was in the Blair STEM magnet, but the other who wasn't selected still managed to take 8/16 magnet classes while @Blair and manged to replace the other 8 with comparable APs

Einstein also has an IB program, and is one of the smaller high schools so much easier to navigate.

Depends which W school? WJ and Whitman are not losing students. They’re the best MCPS has to offer. BCC is the Achilles’s heel of the Bethesda high schools - way fewer APs, the IB is not that popular or extended, and teacher quality is not as good as the other two.

Thank you all for the reply. Now I see the points.

It sounds like there will be some but not quite family take this opportunity, how well are the students blend in then? - with neither home school friends nor magnet group.

STEM kids might choose Blair because even if not in the Magnet, they have the opportunity to take Blair Magnet electives in 11th/12th and access to the related clubs and activities the whole time.

Arts kids might choose Einstein.

Some kids might choose Kennedy for IB, but that's a stretch since it's so far away and nothing super different than BCC or honors at a W.

Northwood has early college via MC, which is attractive for cost savings, but again, unlikely for Bethesda kids.

Wheaton has academies that are interesting and has the two selective biomed and engineering magnets.

So yeah, while most families will go with the known good school, there are reasons.

Depends on kid’s interests. I taught at Parkland MMS and every year had kids choose Wheaton over their home W school because of PLTW. I think most DCC schools have a wider variety of electives (because of signature programs) than the Ws, which is more appealing for some.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of opportunities at DCC Schools you may not have elsewhere (e.g., sports, leadership, specialty classes). Biomed/engineering at Wheaton even non-magnet is very strong. Blair upper level math (non-magnet can take magnet classes junior/ senior year) is fantastic, great teachers. I’m sure there are other reasons specific to each school.

There are a many valid reasons to choose a DCC high school over any base schooll because of the special programs mainly. Even simply attending Blair opens up many magnet courses to all students in 11th not available elsewhere.

Lots of opportunities at DCC Schools you may not have elsewhere (e.g., sports, leadership, specialty classes). Biomed/engineering at Wheaton even non-magnet is very strong. Blair upper level math (non-magnet can take magnet classes junior/ senior year) is fantastic, great teachers. I’m sure there are other reasons specific to each school.

My kids are in a DCC high school and while I don’t think they’re bad, I wouldn’t pass up a W school to be in a DCC high school.

DC is in magnet middle school in down county area, therefore has the option to choose DCC high school over W. I just wonder, in what circumstances people would choose non-magnet DCC high school over strong home high school?