Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My prediction: The list of the best schools in the city, at every level, will be increasingly dominated by charters.

Only for middle school.

DCPS is by far the leader for elementary. High School is split.

No for elementary EOTP. It’s the immersion charters. Families that don’t get in then settle for DCPS.

Nope. Definitely not true on Capitol Hill.

OK, CH may be the exception but it is a very, very small part of EOTP.

Some CH families do choose immersion over DCPS but not majority.

No, it's actually you who are focusing on one specific slice of EOTP. Other parts -- CH included -- have different stories, but few of them are immersion charter-focused. Shepherd, Ross, Reed, Bancroft, Maury, Brent, Ludlow-Taylor, Chisholm, Payne, Watkins and Van Ness are all schools where DCPSes are the preferred destinations (either the IB itself or a nearby one). EOTR few kids are in immersion and the ones that are are mostly in/hoping for Chisholm.

Folks in Brookland, Eckington, Brentwood, Edgewood are heading to immersion (and other, e.g., Lee) charters because they're the closest good options. The charters that folks EOTR attend are not immersion, but they choose them for the same reason. For anyone close enough to Capitol Hill or WOTP, those DCPSes are typically the closest good options and so the first choice. As CH has gentrified, there are now many more CH ESes on the list and so more good spots for OOBers; same thing with the DCPS ESes along the North Cap corridor.

As a general matter, I think most people think -- and the test scores certainly bear out -- that DPCSes are the best-performing ESes.

Yeah agree. I know US News is somehow debatable, but all 10 of the top elementary schools are DCPS, with 6 WOTP and 4 EOTP (Ross, Shepherd, Maury, Brent).

And if anyone looked at that "who is beating 3rd grade expectations" chart, charter schools like Yu Ying and LAMB that have very low poverty rates have startling low 3rd grade reading scores -- they are underperforming relative to demographics.


Middle school is a different story, because DCPS really doesn't seem to have that figured out, curricularly.

But they come back in high school, with many DCPS schools offering sufficient challenge (Walls, Banneker, JR, MacArthur and McKinley Tech)

Ok, well kids at those immersion schools are learning everything via a second language. When the teacher is teaching them about ecosystems or conjunctions or Native American history or whatever, the teacher is not doing it in English.

Former LAMB employee. The kids don't speak Spanish. Almost none of them. Teachers may speak in Spanish but everyone responds in English. Try talking to one of these students in Spanish for longer than 2 seconds and they'll look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My prediction: The list of the best schools in the city, at every level, will be increasingly dominated by charters.

Only for middle school.

DCPS is by far the leader for elementary. High School is split.

No for elementary EOTP. It’s the immersion charters. Families that don’t get in then settle for DCPS.

Nope. Definitely not true on Capitol Hill.

OK, CH may be the exception but it is a very, very small part of EOTP.

Some CH families do choose immersion over DCPS but not majority.

No, it's actually you who are focusing on one specific slice of EOTP. Other parts -- CH included -- have different stories, but few of them are immersion charter-focused. Shepherd, Ross, Reed, Bancroft, Maury, Brent, Ludlow-Taylor, Chisholm, Payne, Watkins and Van Ness are all schools where DCPSes are the preferred destinations (either the IB itself or a nearby one). EOTR few kids are in immersion and the ones that are are mostly in/hoping for Chisholm.

Folks in Brookland, Eckington, Brentwood, Edgewood are heading to immersion (and other, e.g., Lee) charters because they're the closest good options. The charters that folks EOTR attend are not immersion, but they choose them for the same reason. For anyone close enough to Capitol Hill or WOTP, those DCPSes are typically the closest good options and so the first choice. As CH has gentrified, there are now many more CH ESes on the list and so more good spots for OOBers; same thing with the DCPS ESes along the North Cap corridor.

As a general matter, I think most people think -- and the test scores certainly bear out -- that DPCSes are the best-performing ESes.

Yeah agree. I know US News is somehow debatable, but all 10 of the top elementary schools are DCPS, with 6 WOTP and 4 EOTP (Ross, Shepherd, Maury, Brent).

And if anyone looked at that "who is beating 3rd grade expectations" chart, charter schools like Yu Ying and LAMB that have very low poverty rates have startling low 3rd grade reading scores -- they are underperforming relative to demographics.


Middle school is a different story, because DCPS really doesn't seem to have that figured out, curricularly.

But they come back in high school, with many DCPS schools offering sufficient challenge (Walls, Banneker, JR, MacArthur and McKinley Tech)

Ok, well kids at those immersion schools are learning everything via a second language. When the teacher is teaching them about ecosystems or conjunctions or Native American history or whatever, the teacher is not doing it in English.

Former LAMB employee. The kids don't speak Spanish. Almost none of them. Teachers may speak in Spanish but everyone responds in English. Try talking to one of these students in Spanish for longer than 2 seconds and they'll look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears.

Pro-tip: If you're going to lie about a school, it should at least be a little bit believable. This is like claiming kids at BASIS don't know how to add or subtract.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My prediction: The list of the best schools in the city, at every level, will be increasingly dominated by charters.

Only for middle school.

DCPS is by far the leader for elementary. High School is split.

No for elementary EOTP. It’s the immersion charters. Families that don’t get in then settle for DCPS.

Nope. Definitely not true on Capitol Hill.

OK, CH may be the exception but it is a very, very small part of EOTP.

Some CH families do choose immersion over DCPS but not majority.

No, it's actually you who are focusing on one specific slice of EOTP. Other parts -- CH included -- have different stories, but few of them are immersion charter-focused. Shepherd, Ross, Reed, Bancroft, Maury, Brent, Ludlow-Taylor, Chisholm, Payne, Watkins and Van Ness are all schools where DCPSes are the preferred destinations (either the IB itself or a nearby one). EOTR few kids are in immersion and the ones that are are mostly in/hoping for Chisholm.

Folks in Brookland, Eckington, Brentwood, Edgewood are heading to immersion (and other, e.g., Lee) charters because they're the closest good options. The charters that folks EOTR attend are not immersion, but they choose them for the same reason. For anyone close enough to Capitol Hill or WOTP, those DCPSes are typically the closest good options and so the first choice. As CH has gentrified, there are now many more CH ESes on the list and so more good spots for OOBers; same thing with the DCPS ESes along the North Cap corridor.

As a general matter, I think most people think -- and the test scores certainly bear out -- that DPCSes are the best-performing ESes.

Yeah agree. I know US News is somehow debatable, but all 10 of the top elementary schools are DCPS, with 6 WOTP and 4 EOTP (Ross, Shepherd, Maury, Brent).

And if anyone looked at that "who is beating 3rd grade expectations" chart, charter schools like Yu Ying and LAMB that have very low poverty rates have startling low 3rd grade reading scores -- they are underperforming relative to demographics.


Middle school is a different story, because DCPS really doesn't seem to have that figured out, curricularly.

But they come back in high school, with many DCPS schools offering sufficient challenge (Walls, Banneker, JR, MacArthur and McKinley Tech)

Ok, well kids at those immersion schools are learning everything via a second language. When the teacher is teaching them about ecosystems or conjunctions or Native American history or whatever, the teacher is not doing it in English.

Former LAMB employee. The kids don't speak Spanish. Almost none of them. Teachers may speak in Spanish but everyone responds in English. Try talking to one of these students in Spanish for longer than 2 seconds and they'll look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My prediction: The list of the best schools in the city, at every level, will be increasingly dominated by charters.

Only for middle school.

DCPS is by far the leader for elementary. High School is split.

No for elementary EOTP. It’s the immersion charters. Families that don’t get in then settle for DCPS.

Nope. Definitely not true on Capitol Hill.

OK, CH may be the exception but it is a very, very small part of EOTP.

Some CH families do choose immersion over DCPS but not majority.

No, it's actually you who are focusing on one specific slice of EOTP. Other parts -- CH included -- have different stories, but few of them are immersion charter-focused. Shepherd, Ross, Reed, Bancroft, Maury, Brent, Ludlow-Taylor, Chisholm, Payne, Watkins and Van Ness are all schools where DCPSes are the preferred destinations (either the IB itself or a nearby one). EOTR few kids are in immersion and the ones that are are mostly in/hoping for Chisholm.

Folks in Brookland, Eckington, Brentwood, Edgewood are heading to immersion (and other, e.g., Lee) charters because they're the closest good options. The charters that folks EOTR attend are not immersion, but they choose them for the same reason. For anyone close enough to Capitol Hill or WOTP, those DCPSes are typically the closest good options and so the first choice. As CH has gentrified, there are now many more CH ESes on the list and so more good spots for OOBers; same thing with the DCPS ESes along the North Cap corridor.

As a general matter, I think most people think -- and the test scores certainly bear out -- that DPCSes are the best-performing ESes.

Yeah agree. I know US News is somehow debatable, but all 10 of the top elementary schools are DCPS, with 6 WOTP and 4 EOTP (Ross, Shepherd, Maury, Brent).

And if anyone looked at that "who is beating 3rd grade expectations" chart, charter schools like Yu Ying and LAMB that have very low poverty rates have startling low 3rd grade reading scores -- they are underperforming relative to demographics.


Middle school is a different story, because DCPS really doesn't seem to have that figured out, curricularly.

But they come back in high school, with many DCPS schools offering sufficient challenge (Walls, Banneker, JR, MacArthur and McKinley Tech)

Ok, well kids at those immersion schools are learning everything via a second language. When the teacher is teaching them about ecosystems or conjunctions or Native American history or whatever, the teacher is not doing it in English.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the OP of this thread pointed out, times are changing.

Here are the 9th-to-10th grade retention rates for Banneker over the past decade or so, based on OSSE data. (https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment)

* Class of 2016, 88/108, 81%
* Class of 2017, 114/142, 80%
* Class of 2018, 128/167, 77%
* Class of 2019, 133/155, 86%
* Class of 2020, 115/135, 85%
* Class of 2021, 125/142, 88%
* Class of 2022, 135/151, 89%
* Class of 2023, 157/187, 89%
* Class of 2024, 139/161, 86%
* Class of 2025, 135/145, 93%
* Class of 2026, 162/168, 96%
* Class of 2027, 232/245, 95%
* Class of 2028, 179/188, 95%

Note the gradual rise from the Classes of 2016-18, when only 4 out of every 5 students returned for sophomore year, to the Classes of 21-23, when nearly 9 in 10 returned, and then the final jump to the current period, when we have 19 out of 20 returning. Old timers who remember “counseling out” as a major feature at Banneker aren’t lying, but they are out of date. Current families aren’t noticing the phenomenon because it isn’t happening anymore.

Some other indications of change at Banneker:

GPA. My recollection is that when my student started at Banneker, there was a minimum GPA required to return. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it in the current handbook. But I did find evidence that the average GPA at Banneker is rising. The GPA cutoff for NHS used to be 3.2 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=261782&type=d). It’s currently 3.7. For the Class of 2029, it’s going up to 3.9 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382211&type=d) (page 10).

SAT scores. Banneker is reporting that the average SAT for the Class of 2025 was 1127 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up 20 points from even the 23-24 number reported by DCPS (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat).

AP scores. Similarly, Banneker is reporting that the AP pass rate for the 24-25 school year was 70% (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up from the 23-24 figure of 57% (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets).

That’s FOUR discrepancies in the data, all tied to the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes: increased retention, increased GPA, increased average SAT score, and increased AP pass rate.

The Class of 2025 was also the first class admitted to high school after Walls dropped the exam. It looks to me like the most banal and predictable result possible: Walls used to use an exam to cherry pick students who are good at taking exams. Take away that exam, and more of those students wind up at Banneker (some because Walls is rejecting a lot of high-scoring students these days, and others because, knowing that Walls now rejects a lot of high-scoring students, they cast a broader net and decide they prefer Banneker). And the result is that the student body at Banneker is performing better on a variety of metrics than it was in the past.

Very informative. Thank you for this. That link also lists all the college destinations, which readers might be interested in.

And for a PP who asked, Walls' AP pass rate was 91 percent for the past two years that DCPS reported.

Oof. The DCPS AP pass rate definition is very soft-bigotry-of-low-expectations. Students with at least one pass score over students who did APs. So if you took 7 APs and passed 1, you count in the numerator. Unless I completely misinterpreted it.

The other factor, though, is that DC schools often require you to take AP classes and the exam as part of that class, so far more students are taking the exam than in some other states.

USNews profiles have the more rigorous stat of % of AP exams taken with a score of 3 or higher. SWW is at 86% and Banneker is 45%. Jackson-Reed is at 56%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the OP of this thread pointed out, times are changing.

Here are the 9th-to-10th grade retention rates for Banneker over the past decade or so, based on OSSE data. (https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment)

* Class of 2016, 88/108, 81%
* Class of 2017, 114/142, 80%
* Class of 2018, 128/167, 77%
* Class of 2019, 133/155, 86%
* Class of 2020, 115/135, 85%
* Class of 2021, 125/142, 88%
* Class of 2022, 135/151, 89%
* Class of 2023, 157/187, 89%
* Class of 2024, 139/161, 86%
* Class of 2025, 135/145, 93%
* Class of 2026, 162/168, 96%
* Class of 2027, 232/245, 95%
* Class of 2028, 179/188, 95%

Note the gradual rise from the Classes of 2016-18, when only 4 out of every 5 students returned for sophomore year, to the Classes of 21-23, when nearly 9 in 10 returned, and then the final jump to the current period, when we have 19 out of 20 returning. Old timers who remember “counseling out” as a major feature at Banneker aren’t lying, but they are out of date. Current families aren’t noticing the phenomenon because it isn’t happening anymore.

Some other indications of change at Banneker:

GPA. My recollection is that when my student started at Banneker, there was a minimum GPA required to return. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it in the current handbook. But I did find evidence that the average GPA at Banneker is rising. The GPA cutoff for NHS used to be 3.2 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=261782&type=d). It’s currently 3.7. For the Class of 2029, it’s going up to 3.9 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382211&type=d) (page 10).

SAT scores. Banneker is reporting that the average SAT for the Class of 2025 was 1127 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up 20 points from even the 23-24 number reported by DCPS (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat).

AP scores. Similarly, Banneker is reporting that the AP pass rate for the 24-25 school year was 70% (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up from the 23-24 figure of 57% (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets).

That’s FOUR discrepancies in the data, all tied to the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes: increased retention, increased GPA, increased average SAT score, and increased AP pass rate.

The Class of 2025 was also the first class admitted to high school after Walls dropped the exam. It looks to me like the most banal and predictable result possible: Walls used to use an exam to cherry pick students who are good at taking exams. Take away that exam, and more of those students wind up at Banneker (some because Walls is rejecting a lot of high-scoring students these days, and others because, knowing that Walls now rejects a lot of high-scoring students, they cast a broader net and decide they prefer Banneker). And the result is that the student body at Banneker is performing better on a variety of metrics than it was in the past.

Very informative. Thank you for this. That link also lists all the college destinations, which readers might be interested in.

And for a PP who asked, Walls' AP pass rate was 91 percent for the past two years that DCPS reported.

Oof. The DCPS AP pass rate definition is very soft-bigotry-of-low-expectations. Students with at least one pass score over students who did APs. So if you took 7 APs and passed 1, you count in the numerator. Unless I completely misinterpreted it.

The other factor, though, is that DC schools often require you to take AP classes and the exam as part of that class, so far more students are taking the exam than in some other states.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re a Banneker family. If you go to school events there is a whole lot of emphasis on getting into college and this annoying celebration of scholarships awarded which makes little sense when (1) you start to see university scholarships as discounts rather than cash and (2) realize you can only send your kid to one university at a time.

They have an emphasis on “everybody getting into (and presumably going to) college.” I think that this is a great aspiration for a school where every student has demonstrated an interest in working hard regardless of academic ability.

We’re a Banneker family. If you go to school events there is a whole lot of emphasis on getting into college and this annoying celebration of scholarships awarded which makes little sense when (1) you start to see university scholarships as discounts rather than cash and (2) realize you can only send your kid to one university at a time.

They have an emphasis on “everybody getting into (and presumably going to) college.” I think that this is a great aspiration for a school where every student has demonstrated an interest in working hard regardless of academic ability.

One of the ways they meet this aspiration is by sending kids to HBCUs. These are also great for the affinities of many students and in many ways the affinities of Banneker itself (it feels like a little HBCU almost). If you see the requirements for these schools and their SAT averages, they are not very demanding.

Alabama A&M requires an 1130 for their HONORS program and a 990 for regular admission. Coppin State’s average is 950. “Top” HBCUs don’t have much higher requirements. Spelman has a 1200 SAT average, Morehouse, 1060. These universities want students from schools with cultures like Banneker, and recent news has shown smaller HBCUs are looking for students where they can get them. When these are the requirements, students have little incentive to try to score higher.

It makes me legitimately angry when a school tries to steer kids to a very bad nearly for profit private HBCU over a state school because of “scholarships.” DC has this problem less than some places because of the lack of an in state flagship school, but still, watching kids celebrate a scholarship covering 5% cost of attendance at a school with a 20% 4 year grad rate and being encouraged to do so by the high school is gross.

I don't know much about Hampton specifically, but if you are not black you may not understand the appeal and benefit of HBCUs for high achieving black students. There are very good reasons that many Banneker students decided to attend HBCUs. And even the very best, most well respect HBCUs have lower average SAT scores than top non-HBCU schools.

Going to a school like Howard, Spelman, or Morehouse not only offers a strong academic opportunity (these schools tend to attract excellent professors because of their history and reputations, and attracting exception black students from all over the country) but there is a social and networking component it is hard to beat. The alumni networks of these schools run deep and are incredibly loyal, and the benefits start from the moment you graduate until you die. Because so many students at these schools come from similar backgrounds with similar cultural touchstones, morals, and values, the friendships people make at these schools are often lifelong and devoted in a way that is rare in this day and age.

There can be elements of this experience at other schools with large black populations. I went to a state flagship with multiple black sororities and frats, for instance, and I think that experience sort of approximates an HBCU environment in a more diverse school. I would like to even say there are advantages to going to a school with more racial diversity because it better prepares you for the workplace, but I actually don't know if that's true -- my peers who are HBCU grads don't seem to have any problem acclimating to diverse workplaces, and seem to carry a level of confidence in themselves that I think can be rare for black professionals, especially early in their careers. There is something incredibly empowering about being in a place where black excellence is celebrated in every corner of the institution, where your professors are mostly black, where the expectation is that every black students has the potential to do great things in their chosen field and there are no questions of anyone being less than or a charity case simply because they are black. I think that experience changes you.

Banneker seems to be offering an experience akin to that at the high school level, and it does not surprise me that many of their graduates head to HBCUs (or to schools like mine with large and active black student associations). There is power in numbers.

If that means caring a bit less about a tippy top SAT score because you can get into one of these schools with a 1250 SAT, so be it. I absolutely think some of these students just remove themselves from the rat race for Ivies or top SLACs or even many of the elite public programs, which would require much more impressive scores, because they would rather have the kind of experience I just described. So why devote time and energy on getting a higher SAT, when you could spend it on refining your writing ability, pursuing a sport or other extra-curricular more seriously, doing an internship, etc. All of which will matter much more in an HBCU or similar environment, where what you do matters more than how you scored on a test that most black people believe was developed to perpetuate discrimination against black students at elite academic institutions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the OP of this thread pointed out, times are changing.

Here are the 9th-to-10th grade retention rates for Banneker over the past decade or so, based on OSSE data. (https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment)

* Class of 2016, 88/108, 81%
* Class of 2017, 114/142, 80%
* Class of 2018, 128/167, 77%
* Class of 2019, 133/155, 86%
* Class of 2020, 115/135, 85%
* Class of 2021, 125/142, 88%
* Class of 2022, 135/151, 89%
* Class of 2023, 157/187, 89%
* Class of 2024, 139/161, 86%
* Class of 2025, 135/145, 93%
* Class of 2026, 162/168, 96%
* Class of 2027, 232/245, 95%
* Class of 2028, 179/188, 95%

Note the gradual rise from the Classes of 2016-18, when only 4 out of every 5 students returned for sophomore year, to the Classes of 21-23, when nearly 9 in 10 returned, and then the final jump to the current period, when we have 19 out of 20 returning. Old timers who remember “counseling out” as a major feature at Banneker aren’t lying, but they are out of date. Current families aren’t noticing the phenomenon because it isn’t happening anymore.

Some other indications of change at Banneker:

GPA. My recollection is that when my student started at Banneker, there was a minimum GPA required to return. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it in the current handbook. But I did find evidence that the average GPA at Banneker is rising. The GPA cutoff for NHS used to be 3.2 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=261782&type=d). It’s currently 3.7. For the Class of 2029, it’s going up to 3.9 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382211&type=d) (page 10).

SAT scores. Banneker is reporting that the average SAT for the Class of 2025 was 1127 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up 20 points from even the 23-24 number reported by DCPS (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat).

AP scores. Similarly, Banneker is reporting that the AP pass rate for the 24-25 school year was 70% (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up from the 23-24 figure of 57% (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets).

That’s FOUR discrepancies in the data, all tied to the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes: increased retention, increased GPA, increased average SAT score, and increased AP pass rate.

The Class of 2025 was also the first class admitted to high school after Walls dropped the exam. It looks to me like the most banal and predictable result possible: Walls used to use an exam to cherry pick students who are good at taking exams. Take away that exam, and more of those students wind up at Banneker (some because Walls is rejecting a lot of high-scoring students these days, and others because, knowing that Walls now rejects a lot of high-scoring students, they cast a broader net and decide they prefer Banneker). And the result is that the student body at Banneker is performing better on a variety of metrics than it was in the past.

Very informative. Thank you for this. That link also lists all the college destinations, which readers might be interested in.

And for a PP who asked, Walls' AP pass rate was 91 percent for the past two years that DCPS reported.

Oof. The DCPS AP pass rate definition is very soft-bigotry-of-low-expectations. Students with at least one pass score over students who did APs. So if you took 7 APs and passed 1, you count in the numerator. Unless I completely misinterpreted it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the OP of this thread pointed out, times are changing.

Here are the 9th-to-10th grade retention rates for Banneker over the past decade or so, based on OSSE data. (https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment)

* Class of 2016, 88/108, 81%
* Class of 2017, 114/142, 80%
* Class of 2018, 128/167, 77%
* Class of 2019, 133/155, 86%
* Class of 2020, 115/135, 85%
* Class of 2021, 125/142, 88%
* Class of 2022, 135/151, 89%
* Class of 2023, 157/187, 89%
* Class of 2024, 139/161, 86%
* Class of 2025, 135/145, 93%
* Class of 2026, 162/168, 96%
* Class of 2027, 232/245, 95%
* Class of 2028, 179/188, 95%

Note the gradual rise from the Classes of 2016-18, when only 4 out of every 5 students returned for sophomore year, to the Classes of 21-23, when nearly 9 in 10 returned, and then the final jump to the current period, when we have 19 out of 20 returning. Old timers who remember “counseling out” as a major feature at Banneker aren’t lying, but they are out of date. Current families aren’t noticing the phenomenon because it isn’t happening anymore.

Some other indications of change at Banneker:

GPA. My recollection is that when my student started at Banneker, there was a minimum GPA required to return. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it in the current handbook. But I did find evidence that the average GPA at Banneker is rising. The GPA cutoff for NHS used to be 3.2 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=261782&type=d). It’s currently 3.7. For the Class of 2029, it’s going up to 3.9 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382211&type=d) (page 10).

SAT scores. Banneker is reporting that the average SAT for the Class of 2025 was 1127 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up 20 points from even the 23-24 number reported by DCPS (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat).

AP scores. Similarly, Banneker is reporting that the AP pass rate for the 24-25 school year was 70% (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up from the 23-24 figure of 57% (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets).

That’s FOUR discrepancies in the data, all tied to the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes: increased retention, increased GPA, increased average SAT score, and increased AP pass rate.

The Class of 2025 was also the first class admitted to high school after Walls dropped the exam. It looks to me like the most banal and predictable result possible: Walls used to use an exam to cherry pick students who are good at taking exams. Take away that exam, and more of those students wind up at Banneker (some because Walls is rejecting a lot of high-scoring students these days, and others because, knowing that Walls now rejects a lot of high-scoring students, they cast a broader net and decide they prefer Banneker). And the result is that the student body at Banneker is performing better on a variety of metrics than it was in the past.

Very informative. Thank you for this. That link also lists all the college destinations, which readers might be interested in.

And for a PP who asked, Walls' AP pass rate was 91 percent for the past two years that DCPS reported.

Anonymous wrote:As the OP of this thread pointed out, times are changing.

Here are the 9th-to-10th grade retention rates for Banneker over the past decade or so, based on OSSE data. (https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment)

* Class of 2016, 88/108, 81%
* Class of 2017, 114/142, 80%
* Class of 2018, 128/167, 77%
* Class of 2019, 133/155, 86%
* Class of 2020, 115/135, 85%
* Class of 2021, 125/142, 88%
* Class of 2022, 135/151, 89%
* Class of 2023, 157/187, 89%
* Class of 2024, 139/161, 86%
* Class of 2025, 135/145, 93%
* Class of 2026, 162/168, 96%
* Class of 2027, 232/245, 95%
* Class of 2028, 179/188, 95%

Note the gradual rise from the Classes of 2016-18, when only 4 out of every 5 students returned for sophomore year, to the Classes of 21-23, when nearly 9 in 10 returned, and then the final jump to the current period, when we have 19 out of 20 returning. Old timers who remember “counseling out” as a major feature at Banneker aren’t lying, but they are out of date. Current families aren’t noticing the phenomenon because it isn’t happening anymore.

Some other indications of change at Banneker:

GPA. My recollection is that when my student started at Banneker, there was a minimum GPA required to return. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it in the current handbook. But I did find evidence that the average GPA at Banneker is rising. The GPA cutoff for NHS used to be 3.2 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=261782&type=d). It’s currently 3.7. For the Class of 2029, it’s going up to 3.9 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382211&type=d) (page 10).

SAT scores. Banneker is reporting that the average SAT for the Class of 2025 was 1127 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up 20 points from even the 23-24 number reported by DCPS (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat).

AP scores. Similarly, Banneker is reporting that the AP pass rate for the 24-25 school year was 70% (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up from the 23-24 figure of 57% (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets).

That’s FOUR discrepancies in the data, all tied to the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes: increased retention, increased GPA, increased average SAT score, and increased AP pass rate.

The Class of 2025 was also the first class admitted to high school after Walls dropped the exam. It looks to me like the most banal and predictable result possible: Walls used to use an exam to cherry pick students who are good at taking exams. Take away that exam, and more of those students wind up at Banneker (some because Walls is rejecting a lot of high-scoring students these days, and others because, knowing that Walls now rejects a lot of high-scoring students, they cast a broader net and decide they prefer Banneker). And the result is that the student body at Banneker is performing better on a variety of metrics than it was in the past.

Anonymous wrote:As the OP of this thread pointed out, times are changing.

Here are the 9th-to-10th grade retention rates for Banneker over the past decade or so, based on OSSE data. (https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment)

* Class of 2016, 88/108, 81%
* Class of 2017, 114/142, 80%
* Class of 2018, 128/167, 77%
* Class of 2019, 133/155, 86%
* Class of 2020, 115/135, 85%
* Class of 2021, 125/142, 88%
* Class of 2022, 135/151, 89%
* Class of 2023, 157/187, 89%
* Class of 2024, 139/161, 86%
* Class of 2025, 135/145, 93%
* Class of 2026, 162/168, 96%
* Class of 2027, 232/245, 95%
* Class of 2028, 179/188, 95%

Note the gradual rise from the Classes of 2016-18, when only 4 out of every 5 students returned for sophomore year, to the Classes of 21-23, when nearly 9 in 10 returned, and then the final jump to the current period, when we have 19 out of 20 returning. Old timers who remember “counseling out” as a major feature at Banneker aren’t lying, but they are out of date. Current families aren’t noticing the phenomenon because it isn’t happening anymore.

Some other indications of change at Banneker:

GPA. My recollection is that when my student started at Banneker, there was a minimum GPA required to return. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it in the current handbook. But I did find evidence that the average GPA at Banneker is rising. The GPA cutoff for NHS used to be 3.2 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=261782&type=d). It’s currently 3.7. For the Class of 2029, it’s going up to 3.9 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382211&type=d) (page 10).

SAT scores. Banneker is reporting that the average SAT for the Class of 2025 was 1127 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up 20 points from even the 23-24 number reported by DCPS (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat).

AP scores. Similarly, Banneker is reporting that the AP pass rate for the 24-25 school year was 70% (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up from the 23-24 figure of 57% (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets).

That’s FOUR discrepancies in the data, all tied to the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes: increased retention, increased GPA, increased average SAT score, and increased AP pass rate.

The Class of 2025 was also the first class admitted to high school after Walls dropped the exam. It looks to me like the most banal and predictable result possible: Walls used to use an exam to cherry pick students who are good at taking exams. Take away that exam, and more of those students wind up at Banneker (some because Walls is rejecting a lot of high-scoring students these days, and others because, knowing that Walls now rejects a lot of high-scoring students, they cast a broader net and decide they prefer Banneker). And the result is that the student body at Banneker is performing better on a variety of metrics than it was in the past.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re a Banneker family. If you go to school events there is a whole lot of emphasis on getting into college and this annoying celebration of scholarships awarded which makes little sense when (1) you start to see university scholarships as discounts rather than cash and (2) realize you can only send your kid to one university at a time.

They have an emphasis on “everybody getting into (and presumably going to) college.” I think that this is a great aspiration for a school where every student has demonstrated an interest in working hard regardless of academic ability.

We’re a Banneker family. If you go to school events there is a whole lot of emphasis on getting into college and this annoying celebration of scholarships awarded which makes little sense when (1) you start to see university scholarships as discounts rather than cash and (2) realize you can only send your kid to one university at a time.

They have an emphasis on “everybody getting into (and presumably going to) college.” I think that this is a great aspiration for a school where every student has demonstrated an interest in working hard regardless of academic ability.

One of the ways they meet this aspiration is by sending kids to HBCUs. These are also great for the affinities of many students and in many ways the affinities of Banneker itself (it feels like a little HBCU almost). If you see the requirements for these schools and their SAT averages, they are not very demanding.

Alabama A&M requires an 1130 for their HONORS program and a 990 for regular admission. Coppin State’s average is 950. “Top” HBCUs don’t have much higher requirements. Spelman has a 1200 SAT average, Morehouse, 1060. These universities want students from schools with cultures like Banneker, and recent news has shown smaller HBCUs are looking for students where they can get them. When these are the requirements, students have little incentive to try to score higher.

It makes me legitimately angry when a school tries to steer kids to a very bad nearly for profit private HBCU over a state school because of “scholarships.” DC has this problem less than some places because of the lack of an in state flagship school, but still, watching kids celebrate a scholarship covering 5% cost of attendance at a school with a 20% 4 year grad rate and being encouraged to do so by the high school is gross.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re a Banneker family. If you go to school events there is a whole lot of emphasis on getting into college and this annoying celebration of scholarships awarded which makes little sense when (1) you start to see university scholarships as discounts rather than cash and (2) realize you can only send your kid to one university at a time.

They have an emphasis on “everybody getting into (and presumably going to) college.” I think that this is a great aspiration for a school where every student has demonstrated an interest in working hard regardless of academic ability.

We’re a Banneker family. If you go to school events there is a whole lot of emphasis on getting into college and this annoying celebration of scholarships awarded which makes little sense when (1) you start to see university scholarships as discounts rather than cash and (2) realize you can only send your kid to one university at a time.

They have an emphasis on “everybody getting into (and presumably going to) college.” I think that this is a great aspiration for a school where every student has demonstrated an interest in working hard regardless of academic ability.

One of the ways they meet this aspiration is by sending kids to HBCUs. These are also great for the affinities of many students and in many ways the affinities of Banneker itself (it feels like a little HBCU almost). If you see the requirements for these schools and their SAT averages, they are not very demanding.

Alabama A&M requires an 1130 for their HONORS program and a 990 for regular admission. Coppin State’s average is 950. “Top” HBCUs don’t have much higher requirements. Spelman has a 1200 SAT average, Morehouse, 1060. These universities want students from schools with cultures like Banneker, and recent news has shown smaller HBCUs are looking for students where they can get them. When these are the requirements, students have little incentive to try to score higher.

Not sure what the issue is then? A 1200 SAT is the top 25%. That’s more than enough for basic college work and to do any number of professions. I think we get a little distracted by all the talk of kids with 4.5 GPAs and 1600 SATs. Top 25% encompasses a lot of ability and more importantly a lot of individual characteristics that can lead to success.

I think the point is that Walls kids and Banneker kids are different (some of them). 1200 is just fine, as you say. But there are a set of colleges that you can only access with 1500+ scores, and I'm sure some Walls kids are aiming for those.

And I’m sure that some Banneker students are aiming for – and getting into – such schools as well.

You are sure how?