ugly, racist questions about Hearst

[Anonymous]

I walked by Hearst many times before I had children and always thought, "What a nice, sweet school." Now I have a child and I'm interested in moving in-bounds for Hearst: I want a small, safe school. I love that they have a speech therapist on staff and the new playground rocks. We've attended their various fairs and have enjoyed ourselves and I've sensed the enthusiasm from parents and others about their school.

But I get different vibes when I talk to people in the neighborhood and to members of my parents' generation (old-time Washingtonians who remember when Anacostia was largely white). "Hearst is so very nice and small," they say carefully. "Of course, 'everyone' transfers out after third grade." Now I know that Hearst until recently didn't go beyond third grade, so duh. But now it does--and the implication is that the only people are left are lower-income, black, OOB students.

Is this true? I don't know a polite way to ask this--what's the percentage of middle or upper-income, in-boundary kids in the upper grades? I dream of my children walking to school with a few of their classmates--does that happen?
Until recently, Hearst didn't have a "feeder" school--now it feeds into Alice Deal, I understand. So maybe more in-boundary kids will stay? The test scores are not great, though they are an average and so can mask a lot.

THere just seems to be a cloud around Hearst. I went to the DC Jewish Community Center forum Tuesday night called, "What Do We Do After Pre-School?" and Hearst wasn't even represented there. (The organizer said she forgot to invite them, and that Hearst was there last year). But it seems like the "safe" schools among uptight Washingtonians in that area are Stoddert, Eaton, Murch, Janney and Mann, and the old trusty stalwarts: Lafayette, Key, etc.
So--what's wrong with Hearst? Is it purely racial? ("Too many" black kids?)

[Anonymous]

I don't think there's anything wrong with asking how many children are in-boundary. It is code, yes, but it is also a legitimate concern because a neighborhood school has advantages that a non-neighborhood school lacks (proximity of friends, e.g.).

Not sure if this answers any of your questions, but acc to NCES, in 2008-09 (when Hearst was still PK-3), enrollment was 4% Asian/Pacific Islander, 70% black, 3% Hispanic, and 23% white. Total enrollment was 163 students.

[Anonymous]

This is relatively easy to figure out. If you go to the OSSE website and look at who they are testing (and it's broken down by race and SES) you can compare it against the "School profile."

You find the latter on the DCPS website and the link is right under the search box at the top of the page.

Hearst only tested 45 children last year and 11 of them were on a free and reduced price lunch. 34 were Black, 2 Hispanic, 2 Asian and 7 were White.

If you compare this to the Hearst overall population where 27% of the children are on a free/reduced price lunch, it seems relatively consistent.

It looks like a nice, diverse school.

Why not visit and see if it's a good fit for your child?

Though I think most people on these boards view schools as "safe" once whites comprise 50% or more of the student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:THere just seems to be a cloud around Hearst. I went to the DC Jewish Community Center forum Tuesday night called, "What Do We Do After Pre-School?" and Hearst wasn't even represented there. (The organizer said she forgot to invite them, and that Hearst was there last year).

Wow. That sounds crazy. How could you "forget" a school like Hearst? It's Georgetown. Unless it reverts back to a majority black neighborhood, there will always be upper income families leaving for private schools. By the way, OOB does not equal low income or black or Maryland residents in disguise. Ignore the haters and judge for yourself by taking a tour of the school or attending a school event, not just walking by.

As an inboundary AA parent at a "safe" school (and former G'town resident), I admire your candid approach to asking this question. I wish some of my neighbors were as open-minded as you!

[Anonymous]

It's not Georgetown; it's behind Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

PP, I think you're getting confused with Hyde.

[Anonymous]

How was that after preschool event? What were the takeaways?

[Anonymous]

Seconding 12:56. Would love to hear a summary of the "after preschool" event if you don't mind.

[Anonymous]

The school profile reports that 12% are in-boundary overall.

[Anonymous]

Can you tell me how you found that out, 13:08? Link? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is racist to judge the quality of the school based upon the number of white children. It is sad and unfortunate that this continues to happen. Hearst is a lovely school and our in-boundary family is very happy there. And be careful when using statistics such as the racial makeup of the school or the number of OOB students to draw inferences. There are plenty of in-boundary children who are of mixed race or non-caucasian. As for OOB students, how does this tell you their race? I know several OOB families at Hearst who are white. And many of the OOB families who are not white are more affluent than my in-boundary neighbors. But none of this should matter. Why don't you visit the school and make your own decision about what is best for your family, rather than what you think others think of the school?

[Anonymous]

I followed 12:50's advice. Direct link to elementary school profiles is: http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Learn+About+Schools/School+Profiles/School+Profiles+-+Elementary+Schools

[Anonymous]

As a parent of an in-boundary child at Hearst, I can attest that the school is indeed small and safe. In addition, the teaching is absolutely wonderful. The Principal is great--very sensible, responsive, and transparent. It has a great feeling of community. The OOB population is very diverse, both in terms of race and socioeconomic status. Several of the children in my child's class are from low-income families. Three of the OOB kids in my child's class have parents that are professors/administrators at AU (proximity to AU was one of the things that drew them to enter the lottery to get into Hearst). One has a parent that works at Fannie Mae (proximity was also a draw in that situation). In my experience, lower socioeconomic status of the parents has generally not translated into less involvement in the school. I can think of many wonderful parents who don't have a lot of financial resources but give a lot to the school in terms of time and involvement. I can think of other parents who do have a fair amount of financial resources, but who contribute very little to the community of the school.

As to why the percentage of in-boundary is fairly low, I think people need to remember that it's situated in possibly the most expensive neighborhood in the city. More expensive than AU park, more expensive than most parts of Palisades, mor expensive than Chevy Chase DC (I should know--currently we live in a 2-bedroom condo but we are house-hunting in these neighborhoods as well as in Cleveland Park and Woodley Park). My take is that if you can afford to buy a single-family, detached home in that area, there's a fairly decent chance you can also afford to send your child to private school. In addition, keep in mind that some in-boundary families, depending on exactly where they live, have a choice between Hearst and Eaton, or between Hearst and Janney. So a lot of parents might choose those other schools b/c it's a better fit. We had a choice between Hearst and Eaton, and upon visiting both it was very clear to me that Hearst was the right fit for my child.

I think folks need to think carefully about exactly what is motivating people who speak in "code" about a wonderful, diverse school like Hearst.

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that Hearst has been somewhat less favored than other local schools because it is PK-3. Some parents don't want to have to move their kids to a new school for 4th and 5th grades, and then to another school for 6-8. Also, I called Hearst several years ago to find out where most kids went after 3rd grade and was told some kids went to Eaton and some went to Janney, but I did not get an answer to the question about whether they are assigned to a school or parents can choose. I believe Hearst attracts a lot of out of bounds kids because it generally has many more OOB spots for pre-K than nearby schools such as Murch, Lafayette and Janney.

[Anonymous]

I'm the original poster, and I thank you for all the info and feedback. I need links, because saying, "It's all on the DCPS Web site" gets me nowhere. Thank you for the url.
A few thoughts:

1. There's no Open House scheduled--as far as I can tell from their Web site--so I've e-mailed the principal to see when I can stop by and walk around. I wish there were an Open House, but it's been hard to "see for yourself" so far.

2. SOrry for using OOB as a synonym for African-American. It's largely in a white, affluent neighbhorhood (my friends send their kids to St. Patrick's and to Sidwell) so I assumed that most of the Out of Boundary families would be black. We're going to apply out of bounds, and I'm white, but we never do well in the lotteries, so we'll have to move in-boundary, and I don't know if Hearst is "worth" the move.

3. The DCJCC forum: crowded, lots of worried, uptight people like me, overwhelmed by the choices. It seemed to me that the charters and private schools blew the public schools out of the water in terms of what they offer, and the test scores, broken down by school, were shocking to me. I'm sorry if that's an obvious point. I attended a DC Public School for elementary school and got a decent education. Went to a private high school and the math and science were poor. For financial reasons, I'll probably send my children to public schools for elementary school, too. But if I can get financial aid (mega bucks needed--and that's just for tuition, not aftercare and ancillaries), I'd go private in a heartbeat. The DC rep, who spoke last, just kept apologizing: We know we have a long way to go, we're sorry the chancellor is leaving, but we're on the right track. Give us a chance.
I had to leave early, and my impressions are still blurry, but I'm applying to private schools while hoping to fall in love with a small public school. Like Hearst. But I will have to defend my choice to a lot of old-guard Washingtonians, and a few younger ones, too, and I need ammunition.
Wish there were an Open House soon.