Einstein isn't as affluent as BCC, but there's a strong college-bound track where many kids do incredibly well especially when you look past simple averages and dig deeper. Also, I suspect real estate in that area will do well with Woodward being a couple years out.

Anonymous wrote:We bought in Kensington specifically for the IB program at Einstein. All 3 kids now done, one in grad school, 2 still in college. We were going to move after the kids finished HS, bit we love it here so we are going to stay.

Up here. We hadn't considered the Einstein cluster. What do you love about the area and school?

Anonymous wrote:This is for the OP: Both are great high schools. People on this forum obsess about real AND perceived differences in schools within Montgomery County, and, yes, there can be some pretty stark differences depending on the schools you decide to compare within the county. But having grown up in this area, and still in this area, I believe that when it comes to these schools in the Bethesda/Potomac area, people forget how similar they are. But if you are looking at Kensington, try to learn as much as possibly about boundary changes, keeping in mind that nobody can predict the future.

There can be differences in demographics which impact averages, and there can be differences socially involving affluence and class; however, at any of these schools, the same classes, teachers, and curriculum are more or less available. At any of these schools of 2000 or more students your child can find a peer group that works for them. Seriously, some of the people on this board need to get a life.

Anonymous wrote:This is for the OP: Both are great high schools. People on this forum obsess about real AND perceived differences in schools within Montgomery County, and, yes, there can be some pretty stark differences depending on the schools you decide to compare within the county. But having grown up in this area, and still in this area, I believe that when it comes to these schools in the Bethesda/Potomac area, people forget how similar they are. But if you are looking at Kensington, try to learn as much as possibly about boundary changes, keeping in mind that nobody can predict the future.

This is spot on (including about the boundary changes). We moved to the BCC area because the WJ commute would have been markedly worse. But if the reverse had been true, we wouldn't have given it a second thought.

We bought in Kensington specifically for the IB program at Einstein. All 3 kids now done, one in grad school, 2 still in college. We were going to move after the kids finished HS, bit we love it here so we are going to stay.

Why are people arguing which is the 2nd or 3rd best high school in Bethesda?

This is for the OP: Both are great high schools. People on this forum obsess about real AND perceived differences in schools within Montgomery County, and, yes, there can be some pretty stark differences depending on the schools you decide to compare within the county. But having grown up in this area, and still in this area, I believe that when it comes to these schools in the Bethesda/Potomac area, people forget how similar they are. But if you are looking at Kensington, try to learn as much as possibly about boundary changes, keeping in mind that nobody can predict the future.

B-CC Notable Alumni

Notable alumni
Main page: Category:Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Government and politics
Andy Billig, Washington state senator from the 3rd District
David Boren, U.S. Senator and Governor of Oklahoma; President of University of Oklahoma
Chet Culver, Governor of Iowa, 2007-2011
Daniel Dominguez, federal judge
William Frick, member of the Maryland House of Delegates
L. Craig Johnstone, U.S. Ambassador to Algeria, and Deputy-High Commissioner for Refugees
Peter Jo Messitte, federal judge
Peter Navarro, Director of National Trade Council[17]
Bryan Pagliano, former IT specialist with the State Department during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State who set up Clinton’s private email server
Neal Potter, county executive of Montgomery County, 1990–1994
Ruy Teixeira, political scientist
Roger W. Titus, federal judge
Business
Jose Ferreira, CEO of Knewton
Philip J. Kaplan (aka Pud), internet personality
Frank Radice, media businessman, former President of National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Jonathan I. Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems
Academia
Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt Letelier, Chilean historian
David Stuart, Mayanist scholar, youngest recipient of MacArthur Fellowship "genius grant"
Sports
Mitchell Bobrow, karate fighter, 1969 All American Karate Grand Champion Madison Square Garden
Moise Fokou, football player, linebacker for NFL's Tennessee Titans
Frank Funk, MLB player (Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Braves)
Bill Guckeyson, 1937 NFL Draft; killed as a fighter pilot in World War II; namesake of the school's athletic field[18]
Collin Martin, Major League Soccer midfielder for D.C. United
Elliana Pogrebinsky, figure skater
Joe Urso, arena football player (Baltimore Blackbirds, Chesapeake Tide, Maryland Maniacs)
Ethan White, Major League Soccer defender for D.C. United
Arts and media
Martin Blank, playwright, screenwriter, and producer
Rita Braver, TV broadcaster, CBS News correspondent
Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring
Gaelan Connell, star of the movie Bandslam
Tommy Davidson, comedian, cast member of TV series In Living Color
Andy Duncan, founding member of band OK GO
Neal Fredericks, cinematographer, notably for The Blair Witch Project
Robert Gordon, rockabilly singer
Joe Haldeman, science-fiction writer, author of The Forever War[citation needed]
John Harwood, Chief White House Correspondent for CNBC
Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend and Unbroken
Si Kahn, singer and songwriter
Daniel Kessler, guitarist and founder of the band Interpol
Austin H. Kiplinger, journalist and philanthropist
Charles Lane, columnist for the Washington Post; former editor of The New Republic magazine
Kati Marton, journalist
Robert Mercurio, bassist and founder of the band Galactic
Andy Pollin, radio personality, sports talk station WTEM
Jeff Raines, guitarist and founder of the band Galactic
Peter Rosenberg, radio and TV personality, Hot 97
Andy Serwer, journalist and former managing editor of Fortune magazine
David Simon, creator and executive producer of HBO series The Wire
Becky Stark, actress and lead singer of Lavender Diamond
Daniel Stern, actor, appeared in two Home Alone movies
Laurie Strongin, author of Saving Henry: A Mother's Journey
David Tate, former CEO of Rantel Research, Inc.; current Director of Analytical Associates of Bethesda
Carol Stuart Watson, illustrator and publisher
Mark Wenner, singer and harmonica player for blues band The Nighthawks[19]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I'd go with Einstein. It gets a bad rap here but as far as I've seen the kids there are much less pretentious and it's easier for kids to just relax and be themselves. My DC goes to BCC. He went to a top private for middle school and finds the work at BCC laughably easy. Although he has a friend group and is not struggling socially, he frequently reports that the kids there are "two faced," "snobby," "fake," "champ," and that TONS of kids use the open campus policy to leave and smoke weed.

Ding, ding.

If you're rich (HHI of over $500k) I'd go to BCC. Other than that I would not want my child to feel "DCUM poor" and try to overcompensate because of it. WJ is racially mixed and solidly MC to UMC, Einstein is racially mixed and solidly LMC to MC. Class matters a lot more than race around this area, imo, and an upper class black and or mixed-race kid is generally going to be accepted by upper class white kids faster than a lower middle class or working class black / mixed-race / white kid would be accepted by the same group. The reason being that there is little stigma associated with being a classist / elitist. There is no way I am putting my MC child with a bunch of rich kids wearing Canada Goose parkas and $300+ Yeezys.

Personally, I'd go with Einstein. It gets a bad rap here but as far as I've seen the kids there are much less pretentious and it's easier for kids to just relax and be themselves. My DC goes to BCC. He went to a top private for middle school and finds the work at BCC laughably easy. Although he has a friend group and is not struggling socially, he frequently reports that the kids there are "two faced," "snobby," "fake," "champ," and that TONS of kids use the open campus policy to leave and smoke weed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll correct one point: Kensington is actually divided between three clusters: WJ, BCC, and Einstein. I’d have to look at the numbers but Einstein may actually encompass the largest number of kids who live in Kensington, as it is actually located there. There are many presumptions of race and social class in saying “Kensington is divided into two high schools” and not include Einstein. That said, you will probably get detailed advice here on BCC vs WJ.

+1

Thank you for this.

A lot of Kensington zoned for Einstein on the western side will likely also end up at Woodward in a couple years because of the overcrowding there too.

This is probably the best investment since it will likely boost property values, and for what it's worth I think Einstein is a fine school too.

Anonymous wrote:I’ll correct one point: Kensington is actually divided between three clusters: WJ, BCC, and Einstein. I’d have to look at the numbers but Einstein may actually encompass the largest number of kids who live in Kensington, as it is actually located there. There are many presumptions of race and social class in saying “Kensington is divided into two high schools” and not include Einstein. That said, you will probably get detailed advice here on BCC vs WJ.

+1

Thank you for this.

Three of my kids went through BCC and they-who were such different personalities and interests-all had really good experiences there and are adults I’m very proud of. Two did rowing at the school, one was IB, others did AP/Honors.
Two went to Ivies, one a school that was top in her specialized field of study (good outcomes on paper) but what I treasure too is that their friends were always great kids. Oh trouble here and there but all interesting and interested.
Access to metro was a plus for us/them.

We moved out of WJ neighborhood before elementary as I liked the RMH/NCC schools more. Ours went to Westland but would be at new MS (Silvercreek) now

These schools are comparable. Anyone who says one is better than the other is talking about averages which are mostly meaningless in terms of real-world outcomes. WJ is fairly overcrowded these days and will be so until Woodward comes online in roughly 5 years. BCC has the IB as someone mentioned which is also great for some kids. The boundaries around the edges of these schools will probably change a bit in the coming years to address overcrowding and the addition of Woodward to this area. These are all fine schools. It honestly makes so little difference that you should buy in whichever area you'd enjoy living the most.

This might be a minor consideration but BCC is walkable to Metro. Depending on what kind activities/jobs they have, that might help with kids being able to get themselves around on their own in high school.