Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an acquaintance who sent her kid through Wilson in the past 7-8 years. The kid went to a great college (top rated SLAC) but the mom told me he was "not at all prepared" compared to the other kids. That was sobering! It particularly worries me that Wilson had a big fat zero in national merit semifinalists. (Don't want to start a discussion about the supposedly high cut off - I'd expect the top public school in DC to have at least a couple strivers who get National Merit.) So, serious concerns about Wilson and I'm considering saving up money to send my child to private for HS. We likely can't afford private all the way through, so I'm thinking about investing where it may be more important. Hopefully with good instruction, my kid could make up any weaknesses he has due to poor math and English instruction in DCPS if he gets into a better school by middle or high school.

Banneker and Walls are also intriguing options that we might consider when the time comes. And obviously, Wilson could improve by then too. Would consider Latin and Basis for charters.

Wilson is a school where students get out of it what they put in. If you are looking for an environment where every kid is striving to be at the top, then Wilson is not for you. As far as nat'l merit semifinalists go Wilson didn't have one this year - last year they had two.

I'm not expecting every kid at Wilson to strive to be at the top. However, National Merit is essentially just an intelligence test, IMO, since all it is is the PSAT. There should be at least 3-4 every year at Wilson.

My sister was a NM semifinalist and we attended a pretty awful public high school in a small, poor city. It didn't compare favorably to Wilson at all. Since there are so few semifinalists each year, I don't think you can judge Wilson's quality based on their one-year zero. And we aren't zoned for Wilson, so I truly have no dog in this fight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go by my neighbors' kids, who attended the same schools, and they all did great in college, grad school, and have careers that they love.

When say they all did great in college what does that mean? Meaning, high GPA's, honors, leadership roles in extra curricular activities? What types of colleges did they attend? Ivy? Top 20, HBCU's, top state schools, etc.?

One example: got into one top 5 and two top 20 engineering schools, chose one and graduated with honors. Absolutely felt prepared for college, but obviously was a really bright go-getter. This was within the last 8 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an acquaintance who sent her kid through Wilson in the past 7-8 years. The kid went to a great college (top rated SLAC) but the mom told me he was "not at all prepared" compared to the other kids. That was sobering! It particularly worries me that Wilson had a big fat zero in national merit semifinalists. (Don't want to start a discussion about the supposedly high cut off - I'd expect the top public school in DC to have at least a couple strivers who get National Merit.) So, serious concerns about Wilson and I'm considering saving up money to send my child to private for HS. We likely can't afford private all the way through, so I'm thinking about investing where it may be more important. Hopefully with good instruction, my kid could make up any weaknesses he has due to poor math and English instruction in DCPS if he gets into a better school by middle or high school.

Banneker and Walls are also intriguing options that we might consider when the time comes. And obviously, Wilson could improve by then too. Would consider Latin and Basis for charters.

Wilson is a school where students get out of it what they put in. If you are looking for an environment where every kid is striving to be at the top, then Wilson is not for you. As far as nat'l merit semifinalists go Wilson didn't have one this year - last year they had two.

I'm not expecting every kid at Wilson to strive to be at the top. However, National Merit is essentially just an intelligence test, IMO, since all it is is the PSAT. There should be at least 3-4 every year at Wilson.

Anonymous wrote:I have an acquaintance who sent her kid through Wilson in the past 7-8 years. The kid went to a great college (top rated SLAC) but the mom told me he was "not at all prepared" compared to the other kids. That was sobering! It particularly worries me that Wilson had a big fat zero in national merit semifinalists. (Don't want to start a discussion about the supposedly high cut off - I'd expect the top public school in DC to have at least a couple strivers who get National Merit.) So, serious concerns about Wilson and I'm considering saving up money to send my child to private for HS. We likely can't afford private all the way through, so I'm thinking about investing where it may be more important. Hopefully with good instruction, my kid could make up any weaknesses he has due to poor math and English instruction in DCPS if he gets into a better school by middle or high school.

Banneker and Walls are also intriguing options that we might consider when the time comes. And obviously, Wilson could improve by then too. Would consider Latin and Basis for charters.

Wilson is a school where students get out of it what they put in. If you are looking for an environment where every kid is striving to be at the top, then Wilson is not for you. As far as nat'l merit semifinalists go Wilson didn't have one this year - last year they had two.

I have a friend who graduated from Wilson back in the 80s and arrived at her SLAC having never had to write a 5 to 10 page research paper. She had also never sat for a 2 hour comprehensive exam in any subject.

What are the typical coursework writing and exam requirements currently for the honors classes at Wilson?

I have an acquaintance who sent her kid through Wilson in the past 7-8 years. The kid went to a great college (top rated SLAC) but the mom told me he was "not at all prepared" compared to the other kids. That was sobering! It particularly worries me that Wilson had a big fat zero in national merit semifinalists. (Don't want to start a discussion about the supposedly high cut off - I'd expect the top public school in DC to have at least a couple strivers who get National Merit.) So, serious concerns about Wilson and I'm considering saving up money to send my child to private for HS. We likely can't afford private all the way through, so I'm thinking about investing where it may be more important. Hopefully with good instruction, my kid could make up any weaknesses he has due to poor math and English instruction in DCPS if he gets into a better school by middle or high school.

Banneker and Walls are also intriguing options that we might consider when the time comes. And obviously, Wilson could improve by then too. Would consider Latin and Basis for charters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go by my neighbors' kids, who attended the same schools, and they all did great in college, grad school, and have careers that they love.

When say they all did great in college what does that mean? Meaning, high GPA's, honors, leadership roles in extra curricular activities? What types of colleges did they attend? Ivy? Top 20, HBCU's, top state schools, etc.?

NP here, but my neighbors kids graduated from Wilson and are at Wesleyan and Columbia.

Anonymous wrote:I go by my neighbors' kids, who attended the same schools, and they all did great in college, grad school, and have careers that they love.

When say they all did great in college what does that mean? Meaning, high GPA's, honors, leadership roles in extra curricular activities? What types of colleges did they attend? Ivy? Top 20, HBCU's, top state schools, etc.?

I go by my neighbors' kids, who attended the same schools, and they all did great in college, grad school, and have careers that they love.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does any public school system do this?

OP here: I don't know. However, it seems to me when people say a particular public school is good it should be linked to college readiness and not test scores that don't actually reflect intellect but rote academic memorization. In trying to decide between private and public I was just wondering if we could rely on the public to prepare our DC for college. We are confident the private schools in the area do.

PARCC isn't rote memorization. You can get college acceptances, SAT scores and rates of IB diplomas / AP tests passed. But that's pretty much it.

Anonymous wrote:Does any public school system do this?

OP here: I don't know. However, it seems to me when people say a particular public school is good it should be linked to college readiness and not test scores that don't actually reflect intellect but rote academic memorization. In trying to decide between private and public I was just wondering if we could rely on the public to prepare our DC for college. We are confident the private schools in the area do.

Does any public school system do this?

A few charters - KIPP comes to mind - have begun to track what happens to its graduates. But generally no -- not something that they have funds to do.

Anonymous wrote:Is there is any data on college readiness out of the DCPS and/or the charter schools who are testing well? By college readiness I don't mean getting into college, but actually being prepared to handle college level work and do well academically.

That's what PARCC is supposed to be about

Is there is any data on college readiness out of the DCPS and/or the charter schools who are testing well? By college readiness I don't mean getting into college, but actually being prepared to handle college level work and do well academically.