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

Anonymous wrote:So this is really specific, but my kid is at a non-WOTP DCPS middle and is literally just "tired of explaining the class material to [their] friends."

Is McKinley a school where the vast majority are actually getting the material, in a timely way, or is my kid going to be stuck deputized to do this still?

A lot of kids are coming in below grade level. They work hard and make a lot of progress. But the SAT and AP scores show that few are accelerated/college prep in a real sense even by the end. For instance, last year only about 11% of students got at least a 3 on at least one AP class, and that's a function of low scores, not that students aren't taking AP tests. And this was not substantially different pre-COVID.

If your kid is already in Algebra and getting it in a meaningful way, for instance, they will find a huge peer group at SWW, a peer group at Banneker, and not really one at McKinley.

If you can make it to an open house (I think there is at least one more coming up), you definitely should. It felt like a really good way to get a sense of the school and if it would be an OK/good fit.

Are McKinley classes taught on a 4x4 semester schedule, or are core courses taught year round?

Anonymous wrote:So this is really specific, but my kid is at a non-WOTP DCPS middle and is literally just "tired of explaining the class material to [their] friends."

Is McKinley a school where the vast majority are actually getting the material, in a timely way, or is my kid going to be stuck deputized to do this still?

I think your DS is probably a better fit for Banneker.

My DS just goofs off on his device, so at least yours is doing something academic!

Anonymous wrote:So this is really specific, but my kid is at a non-WOTP DCPS middle and is literally just "tired of explaining the class material to [their] friends."

Is McKinley a school where the vast majority are actually getting the material, in a timely way, or is my kid going to be stuck deputized to do this still?

Well, I suppose it would depend on what classes your kid chooses to take, and who's in them. As well as the clarity of the teaching.

Might I suggest if your child is tired of it, to say no to the friends.

So this is really specific, but my kid is at a non-WOTP DCPS middle and is literally just "tired of explaining the class material to [their] friends."

Is McKinley a school where the vast majority are actually getting the material, in a timely way, or is my kid going to be stuck deputized to do this still?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who sent both kids ther and he says it was great. That was a few years ago. But I think it's a very strong school and I will happily apply my DD if her math and science interest level is up to it.

One thing is you don’t need to be a math or science superstar. Just need enough interest in biotech, computer science, engineering or digital media to take a 4 class sequence in 10-12th grade.

Where can I find the digital media course info? I have a creative humanities guy but I don’t think Duke Ellington is right for him (unless they have a stand-up comedy track?) so I was thinking McKinley.

Dave Chappelle is a DESA alum. What track did he do?

omg I didn’t even think of that!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who sent both kids ther and he says it was great. That was a few years ago. But I think it's a very strong school and I will happily apply my DD if her math and science interest level is up to it.

One thing is you don’t need to be a math or science superstar. Just need enough interest in biotech, computer science, engineering or digital media to take a 4 class sequence in 10-12th grade.

Where can I find the digital media course info? I have a creative humanities guy but I don’t think Duke Ellington is right for him (unless they have a stand-up comedy track?) so I was thinking McKinley.

“ Digital Media: The Digital Media pathway gives students the skills to design and develop digital content (photos, video, animation, websites, etc.) that has been encoded to communicate digitally across a variety of mediums. Courses in this pathway include:

• Introduction to Digital Media
• Digital Media
• Web Design

• 3-D Modeling & Animation
• Digital Portfolio”

From website

Students do need to do 2 AP’s but they don’t need to be math/science ones and there is a full set of English, history, AP art as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who sent both kids ther and he says it was great. That was a few years ago. But I think it's a very strong school and I will happily apply my DD if her math and science interest level is up to it.

One thing is you don’t need to be a math or science superstar. Just need enough interest in biotech, computer science, engineering or digital media to take a 4 class sequence in 10-12th grade.

Where can I find the digital media course info? I have a creative humanities guy but I don’t think Duke Ellington is right for him (unless they have a stand-up comedy track?) so I was thinking McKinley.

“ Digital Media: The Digital Media pathway gives students the skills to design and develop digital content (photos, video, animation, websites, etc.) that has been encoded to communicate digitally across a variety of mediums. Courses in this pathway include:

• Introduction to Digital Media
• Digital Media
• Web Design

• 3-D Modeling & Animation
• Digital Portfolio”

From website

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who sent both kids ther and he says it was great. That was a few years ago. But I think it's a very strong school and I will happily apply my DD if her math and science interest level is up to it.

One thing is you don’t need to be a math or science superstar. Just need enough interest in biotech, computer science, engineering or digital media to take a 4 class sequence in 10-12th grade.

Where can I find the digital media course info? I have a creative humanities guy but I don’t think Duke Ellington is right for him (unless they have a stand-up comedy track?) so I was thinking McKinley.

Dave Chappelle is a DESA alum. What track did he do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who sent both kids ther and he says it was great. That was a few years ago. But I think it's a very strong school and I will happily apply my DD if her math and science interest level is up to it.

One thing is you don’t need to be a math or science superstar. Just need enough interest in biotech, computer science, engineering or digital media to take a 4 class sequence in 10-12th grade.

Where can I find the digital media course info? I have a creative humanities guy but I don’t think Duke Ellington is right for him (unless they have a stand-up comedy track?) so I was thinking McKinley.

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who sent both kids ther and he says it was great. That was a few years ago. But I think it's a very strong school and I will happily apply my DD if her math and science interest level is up to it.

One thing is you don’t need to be a math or science superstar. Just need enough interest in biotech, computer science, engineering or digital media to take a 4 class sequence in 10-12th grade.

I have a friend who sent both kids ther and he says it was great. That was a few years ago. But I think it's a very strong school and I will happily apply my DD if her math and science interest level is up to it.

For the families who have kids who attend McKinley, what has your experience been like?