Wheaton Schools Among Most, Least Hopeful in Survey

Two elementary schools in the Wheaton-Glenmont area, Glenallan and Highland, were ranked among the “most hopeful” schools in Montgomery County, according to a Gallup survey conducted in 2012 and analysis done by The Washington Post.

However, John F. Kennedy High School was at the bottom of the pile, the “least hopeful” school, according to analysis by Dan Reed on Just Up The Pike.

However, Reed points out that Kennedy scored just 4.23 out of 5, compared to 4.45 out of 5 at Potomac’s Churchill High School, which was ranked as the “most hopeful.”

Reed created charts to compare student happiness (measured by their hopefulness and engagement) with their academic performance. Here’s what he found:

"So are students at the county's highest-ranked schools outperforming their counterparts elsewhere because they're happier at school? Not really. If you look at this year's surveys for the county's 26 high schools, the correlation between student happiness and academic performance looks pretty weak."

How did other schools in the Wheaton-Glenmont area do in the survey? Arcola Elementary School was ranked among the “least hopeful” schools, as were two other high schools in addition to Kennedy: Northwood and Einstein.

>> See school-by-school survey results on the MCPS website.

>> Read more background about the Gallup survey at The Washington Post and see more analysis at Just Up The Pike.