Why is SWS so white?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Long time former sws parent. The old cliquey crowd has almost phased out. Yes, they were pretty terrible. Kids are happy but there is no focus or emphasis on academic achievement. If you have the resources to supplement heavily or you are fine with middling academics it is a lovely place with nice kids and more diverse than most of NW.

This feels fair to me. We got a spot for both kids, but ultimately turned them down in favor of another school with stronger academics. I am a POC, and I didn’t want my kids to be “the only” in every class.

I also think it’s not fair to discount the wonderful sped program they have at SWS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a lot of families that find things like "atelieristas" "Reggio Emilia" "Love Fairy" and a gala/auction off-putting, or at least not particularly appealing and not worth commuting past a lot of other schools for. How available are before and aftercare? Is breakfast and lunch free for everyone? Are there classroom/activity fees? Do the kids seem respectful of the adults or do they talk back? Not saying all families use all of these criteria but these are some things that families I know care about.

Another former long-timer SWS parent - before and after care are available and have lots of activities, breakfast is free for all but lunch is not, the kids are respectful. The school has a lot of rules that are inviolable - if you are late to school in the morning you must wait in the hall with a parent until morning meeting is over (30-40 minutes), no nuts at all in the building. But then again they always have babysitting (for a fee) for PTA meetings.

It's a great place, but it really works for parents who have flexible jobs.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t that the name of the school? So White School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t that the name of the school? So White School

NAILED IT!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time former sws parent. The old cliquey crowd has almost phased out. Yes, they were pretty terrible. Kids are happy but there is no focus or emphasis on academic achievement. If you have the resources to supplement heavily or you are fine with middling academics it is a lovely place with nice kids and more diverse than most of NW.

This feels fair to me. We got a spot for both kids, but ultimately turned them down in favor of another school with stronger academics. I am a POC, and I didn’t want my kids to be “the only” in every class.

I also think it’s not fair to discount the wonderful sped program they have at SWS.

Truly NOT trying to tangent this, but thanks for being a non-white person admitting that being the only is not ideal (see: my white kid needs to be forced to be the only in my neighborhood DCPS or I am racist).

[Anonymous]

What’s the point of this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a lot of families that find things like "atelieristas" "Reggio Emilia" "Love Fairy" and a gala/auction off-putting, or at least not particularly appealing and not worth commuting past a lot of other schools for. How available are before and aftercare? Is breakfast and lunch free for everyone? Are there classroom/activity fees? Do the kids seem respectful of the adults or do they talk back? Not saying all families use all of these criteria but these are some things that families I know care about.

Another former long-timer SWS parent - before and after care are available and have lots of activities, breakfast is free for all but lunch is not, the kids are respectful. The school has a lot of rules that are inviolable - if you are late to school in the morning you must wait in the hall with a parent until morning meeting is over (30-40 minutes), no nuts at all in the building. But then again they always have babysitting (for a fee) for PTA meetings.

It's a great place, but it really works for parents who have flexible jobs.

Available =/= free, which a lot of other schools offer. Families don't always want to fill out forms for free lunch if they can go to a school where everyone gets it and their kids won't stick out. Charging for childcare at PTA meetings is not accessible for many families. And "respectful" behavior is different for different people--what some see as inquisitive, engaged kids might seem like annoying backtalk to another. I agree that people with flexible jobs and who can easily get to the school might like it more than people who need a place where they can drop their kids off and go to work, and communicate with staff as needed by phone, text, or email. SWS is amazing for some families, but if the goal were to make it more inviting to a broader range of DCPS families they could do more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a lot of families that find things like "atelieristas" "Reggio Emilia" "Love Fairy" and a gala/auction off-putting, or at least not particularly appealing and not worth commuting past a lot of other schools for. How available are before and aftercare? Is breakfast and lunch free for everyone? Are there classroom/activity fees? Do the kids seem respectful of the adults or do they talk back? Not saying all families use all of these criteria but these are some things that families I know care about.

Another former long-timer SWS parent - before and after care are available and have lots of activities, breakfast is free for all but lunch is not, the kids are respectful. The school has a lot of rules that are inviolable - if you are late to school in the morning you must wait in the hall with a parent until morning meeting is over (30-40 minutes), no nuts at all in the building. But then again they always have babysitting (for a fee) for PTA meetings.

It's a great place, but it really works for parents who have flexible jobs.

Available =/= free, which a lot of other schools offer. Families don't always want to fill out forms for free lunch if they can go to a school where everyone gets it and their kids won't stick out. Charging for childcare at PTA meetings is not accessible for many families. And "respectful" behavior is different for different people--what some see as inquisitive, engaged kids might seem like annoying backtalk to another. I agree that people with flexible jobs and who can easily get to the school might like it more than people who need a place where they can drop their kids off and go to work, and communicate with staff as needed by phone, text, or email. SWS is amazing for some families, but if the goal were to make it more inviting to a broader range of DCPS families they could do more.


Wow -- you're dating yourself. That tardy policy was eased years ago. Even then only a handful of teachers stuck to it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time former sws parent. The old cliquey crowd has almost phased out. Yes, they were pretty terrible. Kids are happy but there is no focus or emphasis on academic achievement. If you have the resources to supplement heavily or you are fine with middling academics it is a lovely place with nice kids and more diverse than most of NW.

This feels fair to me. We got a spot for both kids, but ultimately turned them down in favor of another school with stronger academics. I am a POC, and I didn’t want my kids to be “the only” in every class.

I also think it’s not fair to discount the wonderful sped program they have at SWS.

Truly NOT trying to tangent this, but thanks for being a non-white person admitting that being the only is not ideal (see: my white kid needs to be forced to be the only in my neighborhood DCPS or I am racist).

Thats not the same thing, and maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.

Also thanks for making me feel doubly sure SWS was not the school for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time former sws parent. The old cliquey crowd has almost phased out. Yes, they were pretty terrible. Kids are happy but there is no focus or emphasis on academic achievement. If you have the resources to supplement heavily or you are fine with middling academics it is a lovely place with nice kids and more diverse than most of NW.

This feels fair to me. We got a spot for both kids, but ultimately turned them down in favor of another school with stronger academics. I am a POC, and I didn’t want my kids to be “the only” in every class.

I also think it’s not fair to discount the wonderful sped program they have at SWS.

Truly NOT trying to tangent this, but thanks for being a non-white person admitting that being the only is not ideal (see: my white kid needs to be forced to be the only in my neighborhood DCPS or I am racist).

Thats not the same thing, and maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.

Also thanks for making me feel doubly sure SWS was not the school for my kids.

Agreed on 1st point, but on 2nd - what makes you think that response came from an SWS parent? DCUM is a den of trolls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time former sws parent. The old cliquey crowd has almost phased out. Yes, they were pretty terrible. Kids are happy but there is no focus or emphasis on academic achievement. If you have the resources to supplement heavily or you are fine with middling academics it is a lovely place with nice kids and more diverse than most of NW.

This feels fair to me. We got a spot for both kids, but ultimately turned them down in favor of another school with stronger academics. I am a POC, and I didn’t want my kids to be “the only” in every class.

I also think it’s not fair to discount the wonderful sped program they have at SWS.

Truly NOT trying to tangent this, but thanks for being a non-white person admitting that being the only is not ideal (see: my white kid needs to be forced to be the only in my neighborhood DCPS or I am racist).

Thats not the same thing, and maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.

Also thanks for making me feel doubly sure SWS was not the school for my kids.

Agreed on 1st point, but on 2nd - what makes you think that response came from an SWS parent? DCUM is a den of trolls.

ECE parent here and my child's class is diverse. We also get free lunch and we ranked them #1 for the sped program.

[Anonymous]

Bump. Are the new incoming grades getting any better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bump. Are the new incoming grades getting any better?

Why would you bump this ridiculous 2 year old thread?

[Anonymous]

Self-selection. You pretty have to list it #1 or else you will match elsewhere. A lot of people choose a preK closer to home etc. Some nearby schools have a very white lower elementary demographic that dissipates in upper grades. It looks like SWS families stay preK-4/5 and enroll siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the point of this thread?

To equalize things so black families will feel as though they are in charge of everything. In a nutshell.