SWS -- Atmosphere and Leadership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This analysis makes a lot of sense to me. For what it's worth, same story at Maury and Brent.

Apparently, this is what happens in troubled urban school systems. The best schools are built via strong parental involvement. If you can't or won't contribute much to a school community (in terms of time, money or both) forced to lean heavily on PTA support for everything from paying a science teacher to installing a sound system on a stage, you won't probably feel as welcome as those who can and do. It's unfair and unreasonable but true.

I think your characterization and oversimplification is a bit unfair. If you want to feel welcome then you need to find a way to integrate yourself into the larger school community. You don't need to attend every PTA meeting, volunteer for every event or donate $1000 to the school. You do need to do something more than double park when you're dropping off and picking up your kids or attending a concert twice a year. It's a two-way street.

[Anonymous]

I have news for you. If you work a 40-50 hour per week job, especially one that does not offer a lot of flexibility (and these are typically the lower paid ones), and you make the effort to get your kid a healthy breakfast and to school on time (usually requires double parking) ready to learn, pick them up after aftercare and feed them processed food for dinner because that is all you have time for, help them with their homework and read with them before bed, AND you take time off work to volunteer for occasional field trip, and attend 2 concerts a year, that is a LOT. You don't have time for more than 6 hours of sleep per night and forget about exercise. You are doing the best you can for your kids and your family but none of this is perceived as "contributing" to the school. Wealthy families can make up for this through $$ contributions, but others cannot. Please keep in mind that every hour spent being involved in the school is an hour away from a job (where your leave may be unpaid), or an hour away from family time, which is particularly valuable if you and your spouse are both working 40+ hours a week, or if you are a single parent working 40+ hours a week plus taking on 100% of the household responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have news for you. If you work a 40-50 hour per week job, especially one that does not offer a lot of flexibility (and these are typically the lower paid ones), and you make the effort to get your kid a healthy breakfast and to school on time (usually requires double parking) ready to learn, pick them up after aftercare and feed them processed food for dinner because that is all you have time for, help them with their homework and read with them before bed, AND you take time off work to volunteer for occasional field trip, and attend 2 concerts a year, that is a LOT. You don't have time for more than 6 hours of sleep per night and forget about exercise. You are doing the best you can for your kids and your family but none of this is perceived as "contributing" to the school. Wealthy families can make up for this through $$ contributions, but others cannot. Please keep in mind that every hour spent being involved in the school is an hour away from a job (where your leave may be unpaid), or an hour away from family time, which is particularly valuable if you and your spouse are both working 40+ hours a week, or if you are a single parent working 40+ hours a week plus taking on 100% of the household responsibilities.

Hello PP, you broken record. You show up on every SWS thread, trying to pin your insecurities on the administration or the other parents, who you fail to "connect" with (I wonder why?) You work super hard, so hard that you have time to monitor this board and jump all over any mention of parent expectations at the school. You know as well as we do that they are consummately sensitive about the ask with families, but yes, they ask, that's. . . . drumroll . . . Reggio! Some parents can give more, yep, but if you can't give it your kids aren't being mistreated. $100 you're not black and your insecurities extend well beyond this school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to sound too simple, and I'm not discrediting the idea that SWS couldn't benefit from a more diverse student body and faculty. But I know location played a huge role in how we ranked schools, and I would imagine that for many other families the location of SWS and lousy public transportation access would be a dealbreaker. If AA families tend to have lower SES, I would think they're more likely to depend on public transportation. It's a nice school, but is it metro + bus nice? For many, I would think the answer is no and the preference would be to go to school either close to home or someplace that doesn't require too much trouble. My son is in a charter that skews pretty white, and the best I can figure it's at least in part because it's a PITA to get there without a car. CMI appears to be the same way.

It's actually very metro and bus nice. From Eastern Market metro, you cross Pennsylvania and catch the 90 or 92 bus north to 8th and F street NE. Then it's a 3 min walk to 9th and F, where the school is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to sound too simple, and I'm not discrediting the idea that SWS couldn't benefit from a more diverse student body and faculty. But I know location played a huge role in how we ranked schools, and I would imagine that for many other families the location of SWS and lousy public transportation access would be a dealbreaker. If AA families tend to have lower SES, I would think they're more likely to depend on public transportation. It's a nice school, but is it metro + bus nice? For many, I would think the answer is no and the preference would be to go to school either close to home or someplace that doesn't require too much trouble. My son is in a charter that skews pretty white, and the best I can figure it's at least in part because it's a PITA to get there without a car. CMI appears to be the same way.

+1 to location. It was our number one factor in how we ranked schools, even more than the quality of the school itself. There are better schools around than the one my child goes to. However, I know the realities of dealing with transporting kids everyday. When you have more than 1, and the second is not at the same school, commute becomes a huge priority. Unless SWS is a guaranteed HYP feeder, I'm not going to turn myself into circles to try to get in.

[Anonymous]

It appears SWS retains it's students, so this is mostly about the remainder of the ~30 PK3 and ~10 PK4 SWS slots that don't go to sibs each year.

We've been in the lottery at both PK3 and PK4 several times.

By the time we researched "the next Brent", figured out a safety school or two (either DCPS where ECE seemed OK or appletree), some years sibs (long shot) school, maybe a WOTP, included immersion programs, and several HRCS the 12 lottery slots filled in a hurry. If we were working over a broader geographic area the slots would have filled quicker (in this thread some of the desired AA population is described as coming from further away, so by definition has more school options to consider in the same range). Some schools that looked attractive (i.e. Brent before it closed to OOB, a HRCS, SWS) didn't make our cut some years because the odds were just too long and we used the slot where we thought we had a better chance.

It may not be safe to assume that just because someone would like to have the opportunity they actually applied (and if they applied whether they placed it high enough on their list to stay on the waitlist after they got in somewhere closer to home -- there's an art to that). I don't think DCPS publishes the demographic data on who's actually applying, but the lottery auditors probably have access. An inbounds Brent/Maury/proximity family (that can probably use private daycare for PK3 & PK4 if necessary) is in a different position using lottery slots (and perhaps more likely to apply) than a family under more pressure to escape the inbounds school and use those precious PK3/PK4 lottery slots on schools where the odds are best to land somewhere they can ride through 4th/5th. Probably not the whole story, but wouldn't be surprised if it's a factor since it was for us and 12 slots didn't end up being as many as it sounded like when the common lottery was announced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This analysis makes a lot of sense to me. For what it's worth, same story at Maury and Brent.

Apparently, this is what happens in troubled urban school systems. The best schools are built via strong parental involvement. If you can't or won't contribute much to a school community (in terms of time, money or both) forced to lean heavily on PTA support for everything from paying a science teacher to installing a sound system on a stage, you won't probably feel as welcome as those who can and do. It's unfair and unreasonable but true.

I think your characterization and oversimplification is a bit unfair. If you want to feel welcome then you need to find a way to integrate yourself into the larger school community. You don't need to attend every PTA meeting, volunteer for every event or donate $1000 to the school. You do need to do something more than double park when you're dropping off and picking up your kids or attending a concert twice a year. It's a two-way street.

I think some AA parents, particularly if lower SES, definitely may be less likely to volunteer if they feel less welcomed by the school community. It's a complicated issue, but consider, for example, this passage (emphasis added):

"One key factor that may contribute to the lack of
clarity in this body of research is the weaker connections
between African American parents and the educational
system. Not unlike White parents, some African American
parent involvement tends be influenced by affiliation or
relationships with school staff, a sense of power to
influence their children’s learning, and by the belief that
educational success can provide opportunities and personal
success for their children (Huang & Mason, 2008; Tyler,
Boykin, Miller & Hurley, 2006). Indeed, connections for
African American parents are compromised when they
encounter “personal, cultural, and structural barriers that
may cause them to be isolated or alienated from the school
system” (Brandon, 2007, p. 116; see also Huang & Mason,
2008). Finally, educators who do not respect parenting
styles that differ significantly from those practiced by
middle-class White parents may communicate their
disapproval and alienate parents (Ferguson, 2001; Lareau,
1987, 2003; Lareau & Horvat, 1999; Thompson, 2003;
Tyler et al., 2006)."

Cousins, L., & Mickelson, R. A. (2011). Making Success In Education: What Black parents believe about participation in their children's education. Current Issues in Education, 14(3).
http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/viewFile/784/243

There's a bunch more out there on the topic, but suffice it to say it's not as simple as AA parents being lazy or uninterested in their children's education, IMO. I recall at my own child's school an AA parent (who I guessed was from a low SES background) emotionally proclaiming at a school meeting that she didn't feel heard by other parents involved in the school.

There also may be a cultural component to parental involvement. I'm likely outing myself, but my husband, an AA pediatrician, has worked at hospitals with a high SES, predominantly white and highly educated population, and also at hospitals with a low SES, inner city, less educated and predominantly AA population. He's stated that in the former hospitals, the families are much more likely to be very engaged by questioning diagnosis and treatment plan, wanting second opinions, etc. In the latter type of hospital, he says families often are very grateful but are less likely to question his recommendations or ask very many questions at all. This isn't quite a apples-to-apples comparison between healthcare and education, but I wonder if something similar could be operating as far as parental involvement in schools. I seem to have read somewhere that AA parents, even middle class families, are less likely to question authority figures in an educational context (can't find the link right now).

That said, at my child's school there are many (mostly middle/upper SES) AA parents involved in the PTA, recruitment, regularly meet with the principal, etc.--so while the data from the article above may be true in the aggregate, it certainly doesn't apply to all AA families.

[Anonymous]

That said, at my child's school there are many (mostly middle/upper SES) AA parents involved in the PTA, recruitment, regularly meet with the principal, etc.--so while the data from the article above may be true in the aggregate, it certainly doesn't apply to all AA families.



This is also true at SWS - there are many AA families involved in the PTA and who know and meet with the principal. I agree that those families are probably middle class, though not all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to sound too simple, and I'm not discrediting the idea that SWS couldn't benefit from a more diverse student body and faculty. But I know location played a huge role in how we ranked schools, and I would imagine that for many other families the location of SWS and lousy public transportation access would be a dealbreaker. If AA families tend to have lower SES, I would think they're more likely to depend on public transportation. It's a nice school, but is it metro + bus nice? For many, I would think the answer is no and the preference would be to go to school either close to home or someplace that doesn't require too much trouble. My son is in a charter that skews pretty white, and the best I can figure it's at least in part because it's a PITA to get there without a car. CMI appears to be the same way.

Plenty of black families within easy bus or walking distance to SWS. I don't think that is it. And if it is it - then the city needs to move these schools closer to public transport or provide busses.

[Anonymous]

Let's get this discussion back on track. Whether or not there is a lack of diversity at SWS, and the right answer to remedying it, should have nothing to do with the number of bourse Black parents can volunteer, the dollars they can donate, or their "cultural fit" with the schools. This is a public school, and none of these are acceptable criteria for school composition. If SWS had s diversity problem, it is SWS that has to change to fix it. Not shrug it off and say "Oh noes, black families just don't feel welcome because they don't fit culturally with Reggio and the school." Can't you see the problem with that logic?

[Anonymous]

Just a quick reminder PP, that the ONE black parent at the school that has weighed-in here didn't say anything about having a problem with SWS' current diversity break-down. Also see: ten non-sibling seats. There is not going to be a massive change here overnight.

Beyond hiring more black teachers, which I think they should make every effort to do, what do you suggest SWS does here? What will satisfy you?

They host at least 4 or 5 open houses a year, attend numerous education conventions, participate in training other DCPS schools in Reggio concepts, host symposiums, blog about the school -- I could go on and on. All of these activities are a ton of work on top of their regular responsibilities and commitments, and they have families too! These people aren't hiding from anyone. They've got hundreds of kids on their wait-list, there is no shortage of applicants, but apparently they need to do more. I guess they also need to force the minority black parents to be the only visible faces at all of these events and slow drive through ward 8 throwing out brochures.

You want SWS to be a bad guy here for some reason. Fine, but while you're at it why don't you head over to Ludlow-Taylor, and Brent, and Maury and peek in those lower grades and ask the admin what the hell they're doing to attract more black/new families. Do they just get a pass because they're boundary schools or shouldn't they be DOING MORE? In five years SWS will be the most colorful and diverse school on the hill and this conversation will seem ludicrous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick reminder PP, that the ONE black parent at the school that has weighed-in here didn't say anything about having a problem with SWS' current diversity break-down. Also see: ten non-sibling seats. There is not going to be a massive change here overnight.

Beyond hiring more black teachers, which I think they should make every effort to do, what do you suggest SWS does here? What will satisfy you?

They host at least 4 or 5 open houses a year, attend numerous education conventions, participate in training other DCPS schools in Reggio concepts, host symposiums, blog about the school -- I could go on and on. All of these activities are a ton of work on top of their regular responsibilities and commitments, and they have families too! These people aren't hiding from anyone. They've got hundreds of kids on their wait-list, there is no shortage of applicants, but apparently they need to do more. I guess they also need to force the minority black parents to be the only visible faces at all of these events and slow drive through ward 8 throwing out brochures.

You want SWS to be a bad guy here for some reason. Fine, but while you're at it why don't you head over to Ludlow-Taylor, and Brent, and Maury and peek in those lower grades and ask the admin what the hell they're doing to attract more black/new families. Do they just get a pass because they're boundary schools or shouldn't they be DOING MORE? In five years SWS will be the most colorful and diverse school on the hill and this conversation will seem ludicrous.

I agree with the rest of the post, but your last sentence is completely ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

OK, it'll be more diverse than LT, Brent and Maury. Better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I guess they also need to force the minority black parents to be the only visible faces at all of these events and slow drive through ward 8 throwing out brochures.

This made me laugh out loud and sums up a good part of the thread-it can't be both that the school pressure to be involved is a turnoff for black parents and black parents need to be the face of the school.