Churchill doesn't seem to have a rating listed at all now. Isn't it odd that ES and MS ratings seem to have held strong in comparison to the HS ones?

The students at Whitman did blow off the PARC test and choose to not try at all. My DC goes there and said that the general atmosphere was kids bubbling in random answers, writing random essays and listening to music during the test. But this is not only the students fault! The teachers actively encouraged them to not take it seriously! My child's English teacher told them it doesn't matter and they don't have to really try because they don't have to actually pass. The teacher was laughing about how the school board used the word "sit" as in they only need to "sit" through the tests, not pass them. Other teachers made similar comments and basically implied that students should not try their hardest. Say what you will about what that says about the school but don't put the whole blame on the students. Regardless, this year the atmosphere was very different because the tests actually counted. Whitman's scores will probably go way up as will their Great Schools rating.

If you look at schooldigger, you'll see that in 2016, less than 50% of the school population showed proficiency at 10th or 12th grade levels. On the PARCC ELA for 10th grade, only 20.5% score proficiency. The school rated 122nd of 163 schools in the state.

And based on 2016 scores, MoCo is ranked 9th in the state of MD of 24 school districts.

This is why it rates a 4 on GreatSchools. Whether you choose to use test scores as a measure or not is immaterial. Based on test scores, Whitman has earned it's weak rating. If you use other factors (such as niche.com) it will still rate high.

Anonymous wrote:Of course it won't mean anything for real estate prices, because Whitman remains overwhelmingly white. But it does go to show what folks truly mean when they say, "It isn't the diversity of other schools that concerns me, it's the test scores."

So we should't all rush to buy property right away in Olney and Blake High School neighborhoods? I was looking at a great house that feeds into Magruder, but didn't think it would sell well bcs of the school and it was a steep price, so I gave up on it.

I hope you are not getting all your information about schools from greatschools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Great Schools has a bunch of new data. Here's an interesting one. Less than 4% of Whitman's kids are Black, but Black students are 10x as likely to be suspended than their white peers at Whitman.

WOW. That's horrific.

There were disparities at all the schools I looked at, but Whitman's were the most egregious. Walter Johnson has barely any disparity.

I don't have a dog in that particular fight, but it is interesting to look at WJ vs. Whitman vs. B-CC vs. other schools in terms of outcomes for low income kids.

The new GS system gives each school a score for the school at large, and one for the low income kids. So, WJ gets an 8 in general and a 6 for low income. B-CC gets a 7 in general but a 3 for low-income kids. WJ gets an 8 in general and a 6 for low-income kids. Sherwood is 8/6 and Blair is 6/3.

It's clear to me which school I would choose if we were picking a HS.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Great Schools has a bunch of new data. Here's an interesting one. Less than 4% of Whitman's kids are Black, but Black students are 10x as likely to be suspended than their white peers at Whitman.

WOW. That's horrific.

Wow. Great Schools has a bunch of new data. Here's an interesting one. Less than 4% of Whitman's kids are Black, but Black students are 10x as likely to be suspended than their white peers at Whitman.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, Whitman is a 4, Churchill is a 6 - must be the end of the W School dynasty.

The other interesting thing is that Black and Latinx kids do better at Sherwood and similar schools than at Whitman. A Black student is slightly more likely to graduate if they attend Sherwood or Blair than Whitman. For low income kids, the discrepancy is bigger. Low income kids are substantially less likely to graduate from Whitman than from the other two schools.

Of course it won't mean anything for real estate prices, because Whitman remains overwhelmingly white. But it does go to show what folks truly mean when they say, "It isn't the diversity of other schools that concerns me, it's the test scores."

Wow, Whitman is a 4, Churchill is a 6 - must be the end of the W School dynasty.

PP, nope, I'm wrong. That was the outdated Redfin grab of the Great Schools score.

It does have a 4 http://www.greatschools.org/maryland/bethesda/970-Walt-Whitman-High-School/

There goes the neighborhood.

I went to Greatschools.org. Whitman has an 8 rating.

https://www.redfin.com/school/119943/MD/Bethesda/Walt-Whitman-High-School

Am I seeing something wrong? It says that Sheerwood /Sheerweed as some pps said school that they will never send their kids to is rated 8/10 and Magruder is 6/10 on greatschools. How can that be? According to many on Dcum sending kids there is equal to child endangering.

Anonymous wrote:They are going to have to change the name of the school to something without W's

Alt Hitman.