Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

+1

Children of affluent educated people perform well and that's why the perception is that the W schools are the "best." OP, the fact is that your children will do as well at Richard Montgomery or Quince Orchard (or Blair or Einstein) as they would at Whitman or Wooton.

This is only partially true. When the majority of the student body performs at a lower level the teachers and administrators supports and expectations follow. The same is true when the majority of the student body is higher achieving. The PTA matters, too. I can not enumerate the extras provided by a strong PTA. Our W provides college prep seminars for both parents and students on a regular basis. Paid college advisors are clamoring to hold free sessions at our school because they understand that enough of our parents will follow up with paid services. You will not get that in the poorly perfor.ing schools. Furthermore, our strong parental presence keeps pressure on administrators to retain teachers who go above and beyond in the classroom.

Those who would have you believe it is as simple as what happens at home must be unaware of what they are missing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

+1

Children of affluent educated people perform well and that's why the perception is that the W schools are the "best." OP, the fact is that your children will do as well at Richard Montgomery or Quince Orchard (or Blair or Einstein) as they would at Whitman or Wooton.

Anonymous wrote:First of all, I understand that this is probably a hot button topic, but I need a bit of insight here.

My wife, my self, and our three year old daughter are planning on moving to Montgomery County sometime in 2025. We currently live on the west coast. She grew up going to MCPS and her parents still live in the area (which is why we're moving back). I lived in DC for a few years in the early 2010's, so I'm familiar with the area as a whole, but not as intimately familiar with the suburbs as my wife and her family are.

From my understanding, the "W" schools in MCPS are very high performing, and we'd love to move to an area zoned for a W school, but, they're pretty expensive and at the top of our price range. There are other houses outside the W schools that are more affordable, but when I brought up the idea of moving to one of these neighborhoods, my wife and IL's acted like it would be like sending our daughter to go to a school in a third world country. Is the gap between the W and non-W schools really that big? FWIW, the non-W schools we'd be looking at are Quince Orchard and Richard Montgomery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

The bolded.

Moreover, there's substantial research showing that attending what are called "high-achieving schools" is a specific risk factor for adverse outcomes in adolescent mental health, so much so that it's one of the top four factors (the others are poverty, trauma, and discrimination). Now, pretty much all the high schools within MCPS would meet the research definition of a "high-achieving school," but there are differences between the culture of various schools that make some (the Ws) more "high-achieving" than others. One study here, in case you're interested: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-65949-001

I'm a W graduate and we're in-bounds for the DCC. You literally could not pay me to send my kids to a W school at this point. I know what the non-W schools are like and I prefer those for my kids.

I completely agree that there are many, many outstanding schools in all of MCPS. I do want to jump in to say that WJ has been wonderful for my kid. You can avoid the pressure stuff by instilling and reinforcing your own family values. Just like there are smart kids everywhere in MCPS, there is a range of experiences at WJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

+1

Children of affluent educated people perform well and that's why the perception is that the W schools are the "best." OP, the fact is that your children will do as well at Richard Montgomery or Quince Orchard (or Blair or Einstein) as they would at Whitman or Wooton.

Cohort matters. Teachers set the stage, but students bring a school to life. Teachers can't remove bad influences from the classroom.

There are "bad influences" at the W schools too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

+1

Children of affluent educated people perform well and that's why the perception is that the W schools are the "best." OP, the fact is that your children will do as well at Richard Montgomery or Quince Orchard (or Blair or Einstein) as they would at Whitman or Wooton.

Cohort matters. Teachers set the stage, but students bring a school to life. Teachers can't remove bad influences from the classroom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

The bolded.

Moreover, there's substantial research showing that attending what are called "high-achieving schools" is a specific risk factor for adverse outcomes in adolescent mental health, so much so that it's one of the top four factors (the others are poverty, trauma, and discrimination). Now, pretty much all the high schools within MCPS would meet the research definition of a "high-achieving school," but there are differences between the culture of various schools that make some (the Ws) more "high-achieving" than others. One study here, in case you're interested: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-65949-001

I'm a W graduate and we're in-bounds for the DCC. You literally could not pay me to send my kids to a W school at this point. I know what the non-W schools are like and I prefer those for my kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

+1

Children of affluent educated people perform well and that's why the perception is that the W schools are the "best." OP, the fact is that your children will do as well at Richard Montgomery or Quince Orchard (or Blair or Einstein) as they would at Whitman or Wooton.

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

Anonymous wrote:Good morning OP. The answer to your question is NO. There are plenty of wonderful schools and communities outside of the W’s. There are plenty of engaged families whose kid are thriving and going on to be successful who go to schools outside of the W’s. There are plenty of highly capable teachers outside of the W’s.

The zones outside the W’s are more diverse both racially and socioeconomically. That’s it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of nonW kid here and it's been great. I almost laughed at your message - no offense meant, but I just can't get over that people think the non W schools are so scary. Just strikes me as a really dated way of thinking. If I'm being 100 percent honest, I'd be nervous to send my kid to a W school (I know people won't believe me, but it's true). My kids' friends at nonW school are super down to earth, and I think a lot more so, on average, than a typical W school kid. Also minor plusses of nonW are that college admissions and making sports teams will generally be more competitive at W schools than nonW.

Your writing style tells us all we need to know about your expectations regarding academic excellence.