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Anonymous wrote:Don’t know much about the school but I don’t see how you can seriously consider it a tech or STEM school when only 4% of the kids are on or above grade level in math.

Those numbers are terrible.

It's 22%.

Not sure where you are getting your info but it’s 4% here.

https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/1/school/435/report

Probably I'm not getting it from a link to McKinley middle school.

Here is a proper link, showing 22 percent getting 4 in math, 0 5s.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/McKinley+Technology+High+School

Also please remember that the strongest students also don’t take math CAPE both years in HS. So it is 22% plus the (small but not zero) number of students who have already taken both algebra 1 and geometry.

Unlike BASIS that has all HS students take CAPE regardless of their math placement (so you will have students in precalc taking an easier math CAPE) at McKinley 9th graders in Algebra II and 10th graders in Algebra II or precalc just don’t take math cape and don’t contribute to the %.

This topic and clarification comes around on threads every few months like clockwork - I really wish DCPS did a better job of explaining this/positing it somewhere because it does skew the test results in high school, for math specifically. Math is the only subject in DCPS that kids are allowed to take ahead of schedule, and the kids who jump ahead of schedule are the kids who would do better on the test.

The best information would be either how many kids took it ahead of schedule or how many kids opted out.

I posted numbers on a thread last year. It wasn't a lot of kids. If you just use the 9th grade test scores, instead of 9th and 10th, it's not an issue at all outside of SWW.

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Anonymous wrote:Don’t know much about the school but I don’t see how you can seriously consider it a tech or STEM school when only 4% of the kids are on or above grade level in math.

Those numbers are terrible.

It's 22%.

Not sure where you are getting your info but it’s 4% here.

https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/1/school/435/report

Probably I'm not getting it from a link to McKinley middle school.

Here is a proper link, showing 22 percent getting 4 in math, 0 5s.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/McKinley+Technology+High+School

Also please remember that the strongest students also don’t take math CAPE both years in HS. So it is 22% plus the (small but not zero) number of students who have already taken both algebra 1 and geometry.

Unlike BASIS that has all HS students take CAPE regardless of their math placement (so you will have students in precalc taking an easier math CAPE) at McKinley 9th graders in Algebra II and 10th graders in Algebra II or precalc just don’t take math cape and don’t contribute to the %.

This topic and clarification comes around on threads every few months like clockwork - I really wish DCPS did a better job of explaining this/positing it somewhere because it does skew the test results in high school, for math specifically. Math is the only subject in DCPS that kids are allowed to take ahead of schedule, and the kids who jump ahead of schedule are the kids who would do better on the test.

The best information would be either how many kids took it ahead of schedule or how many kids opted out.

Kickass track and cross country athletes.

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AP pass rates are very low. Our kid passed their tests, but there wasn't a ton of strong peer engagement in these advanced classes. The school makes all students take at least two AP classes to graduate, so my kid was often in AP classes with kids who really didn't want to be there.

Ive noticed this as well but have found that the classes are still taught to the level that the motivated kids can earn 4’s and 5’s even if most of their peers do not. It is not the case like at some of the non-application schools that the course doesn’t cover the full AP level content.

Based on my current experience in a T1 school my guess is that there are a lot of really talented and dedicated teachers who are both really committed to helping the kids who start out with fewer advantages but are more than happy to support the kids who are academically advanced. I have a (white) kid who falls into both categories due to SN and have been nothing less than blown away at how attentive and supportive most of the teachers are. (Not all of course.) I think there is a false perception that white privileged kids get sidelined and don’t “have their needs met” but I don’t see it. By and large the teachers care a lot about each individual student and their needs. I’m not sure we will go for McKinley but I’d have zero hesitation about it.

1000 kids in the entire city, not the school. And that should be aptitude AND interest.

My son is a student at McKinley Tech. He really likes it and has discovered a passion for Computer Science there.

Most of his teachers have been good. There are one or two who are not his favorite, but I think that's just personal preference. They seem to be decent teachers from what I can see.

It's a challenging school, academically, for sure. Your child will be required to do a decent amount of homework and the A's are not easy A's.

AP pass rates are very low. Our kid passed their tests, but there wasn't a ton of strong peer engagement in these advanced classes. The school makes all students take at least two AP classes to graduate, so my kid was often in AP classes with kids who really didn't want to be there.

Ive noticed this as well but have found that the classes are still taught to the level that the motivated kids can earn 4’s and 5’s even if most of their peers do not. It is not the case like at some of the non-application schools that the course doesn’t cover the full AP level content.

There's a lot of data available. What you see is that it's mostly low-income kids who are zoned for really bad high schools. The test scores are significantly higher than for the schools they're avoiding, but there's not a big cohort of students who are able to do college-level or college prep work. You can see that in the CAPE scores, SATs, and AP exams.

Some of the STEM opportunities are special. And there have been posters here before who've written about how they make a real attempt to provide options for the occasional student who comes in very accelerated in math. They've also been very positive about the teachers and students.

It's just a matter of what your kid needs and what their other choices are. It's certainly not a bad school.

It's fine. Oldest recently graduated from McKinley.

Pros:
- They collect phones. This isn't the case everywhere, and not having phones as a distraction in the classroom helped our kid succeed.
- If your kid is truly a "STEM kid", they will get to do things at a level that they can't elsewhere in DC. Another poster already commented on the robotics team. There are great internship opportunities too.
- Safe. Fewer fights than our DCPS middle school, but that makes sense (application schools would have far fewer fights, I'd imagine. I doubt data like this is public.)

Cons:
- Not impressed with college counseling.
- AP pass rates are very low. Our kid passed their tests, but there wasn't a ton of strong peer engagement in these advanced classes. The school makes all students take at least two AP classes to graduate, so my kid was often in AP classes with kids who really didn't want to be there.

All students have to complete a 5-6 course sequence within their STEM choice in 10-12 grade but there are very strong non-stem teachers as well. There are multiple English and history AP’s and passionate art, music and theater teachers. I wouldn’t read much into the website.

The Instagram (@mckinleytech) is active. Many clubs and teachers have Instagram accounts too.

My son was accepted for 9th grade and we are thrilled. He is very interested in engineering and loved seeing the student projects. They also have academies in biotechnology and computer science, lots of AP courses, plus an array of sports and clubs. Their electric vehicle team came in 6th in a recent international competition in Dubai.

I've known several happy families with recent graduates, and a friend whose kid is currently at Walls has regrets and says they wish they had gone with McKinley instead.

See if you can take a tour, they may have a post-lottery open house or some other way to visit the school and/or find parents that you can talk to. (If you have a school forum for your kid's current school, post on there and see if you can talk to a parent with an older sibling at McKinley.)

We went to an open house in 8th grade and my kid decided not to apply. I can give you an impression I got of the school, but that's not going to be super helpful.

We haven't used McKinley Tech, but did include it on DDs lottery. Based on conversations we had with others whose kids have gone there we would have used it (sorry, I don't know the answers to your specific questions). For most, it's not a preference above Walls or Banneker and you'll probably get better advice here if you list your alternatives. For us, deciding between McKinley and JR would be very different than McKinley vs Dunbar. Good luck.

My son was provided a place at McKinley for 9th grade but I don't actually know much about the school. I know its STEM but would love any impressions from parents with experience in the school. The website is really old and seems very out of date (a bit concerning for a tech oriented school!) and I don't get much information from it. I'm curious not just about the classes (including the non-STEM ones) but also generally whether teachers take time to get to know their students, is there a bullying problem, what types of after school activities exist, etc. Are your kids happy there and feel its a nice learning environment?

If anyone could share insights on the school, I would be very grateful.

Thank you!