McKinley Tech - a great school

[Anonymous]

When my DCs were little, I didn't know anyone who went there. Because I didn't really know any high school students at all. But now that my DCs are in middle school, I know plenty of people who want to go, a few who go, and I've been in the building and seen how nice it is. It's just how people learn more because of the aging of my kids' peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

Original poster here. I had not wanted to get into this but feel I need to address this. As a UMC white mom myself, i was struck that my white friends had almost no info/personal insights on the school while all my AA friends highly recommended it, and rightly so. The only thing I can think, sadly, is the a) frankly bigoted and sadly engrained assumption/fear of being singled out as the “only white kid” has kept white people away and the racist view that majority black schools in NE aren’t safe/good and b) so many kids want to only go to schools with their friends and there is a clustering effect around the same public and charter schools. I’m sorry to be that blunt but otherwise I struggle to understand a rationale that makes sense. Certainly it’s a STEM school and that doesn’t attract all kids. But I struggle to see that as the key reason for the demographic composition.

Overall I just think the school (and the kids that attend) deserve recognition and I had wanted to just flag it for parents who struggled as I did to get sufficient information on it in this forum.

This +100. And it’s true of many other schools in DC. Schools get stuck in a chicken or egg scenario of there aren’t enough white kids, so white parents wont send their kids there, so then there’s never “enough” white kids for those families to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, they’re adding hours to their commute or paying private school tuition when they likely would have had a good experience at that school—as well as gaining the benefits of a stronger local school community and having your kid exposed to a broader range of people. As a UMC white mom of a child at another predominantly Black school, the amount of conversations I have with white parents who say “we wish we could go there, it’s just not there yet” is tiresome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

Original poster here. I had not wanted to get into this but feel I need to address this. As a UMC white mom myself, i was struck that my white friends had almost no info/personal insights on the school while all my AA friends highly recommended it, and rightly so. The only thing I can think, sadly, is the a) frankly bigoted and sadly engrained assumption/fear of being singled out as the “only white kid” has kept white people away and the racist view that majority black schools in NE aren’t safe/good and b) so many kids want to only go to schools with their friends and there is a clustering effect around the same public and charter schools. I’m sorry to be that blunt but otherwise I struggle to understand a rationale that makes sense. Certainly it’s a STEM school and that doesn’t attract all kids. But I struggle to see that as the key reason for the demographic composition.

Overall I just think the school (and the kids that attend) deserve recognition and I had wanted to just flag it for parents who struggled as I did to get sufficient information on it in this forum.

Ironically, the only person I know who went there is the dad of a friend of mine who committed residency fraud to go. He was in Bethesda. They are white.

That being said I know a couple teachers there, and I play soccer with other teachers, and they speak really highly of the teachers and administration.

[Anonymous]

I’m in zone for Dunbar which is simply not an option. And won’t ever be until my kids have kids at the earliest. But I’m excited for McKinley tech to become a viable option and would strongly consider it regardless of my child’s interests. Art is a nice hobby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

Original poster here. I had not wanted to get into this but feel I need to address this. As a UMC white mom myself, i was struck that my white friends had almost no info/personal insights on the school while all my AA friends highly recommended it, and rightly so. The only thing I can think, sadly, is the a) frankly bigoted and sadly engrained assumption/fear of being singled out as the “only white kid” has kept white people away and the racist view that majority black schools in NE aren’t safe/good and b) so many kids want to only go to schools with their friends and there is a clustering effect around the same public and charter schools. I’m sorry to be that blunt but otherwise I struggle to understand a rationale that makes sense. Certainly it’s a STEM school and that doesn’t attract all kids. But I struggle to see that as the key reason for the demographic composition.

Overall I just think the school (and the kids that attend) deserve recognition and I had wanted to just flag it for parents who struggled as I did to get sufficient information on it in this forum.

This +100. And it’s true of many other schools in DC. Schools get stuck in a chicken or egg scenario of there aren’t enough white kids, so white parents wont send their kids there, so then there’s never “enough” white kids for those families to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, they’re adding hours to their commute or paying private school tuition when they likely would have had a good experience at that school—as well as gaining the benefits of a stronger local school community and having your kid exposed to a broader range of people. As a UMC white mom of a child at another predominantly Black school, the amount of conversations I have with white parents who say “we wish we could go there, it’s just not there yet” is tiresome.

I think this is a WOTP/EOTP thing too. I live east of the park in an UMC milieu and plenty of people are talking about McKinley as an option, and I know white and black UMC people who send their kids there.

Maybe WOTP people don't and simply can't imagine that it's a good option?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

Original poster here. I had not wanted to get into this but feel I need to address this. As a UMC white mom myself, i was struck that my white friends had almost no info/personal insights on the school while all my AA friends highly recommended it, and rightly so. The only thing I can think, sadly, is the a) frankly bigoted and sadly engrained assumption/fear of being singled out as the “only white kid” has kept white people away and the racist view that majority black schools in NE aren’t safe/good and b) so many kids want to only go to schools with their friends and there is a clustering effect around the same public and charter schools. I’m sorry to be that blunt but otherwise I struggle to understand a rationale that makes sense. Certainly it’s a STEM school and that doesn’t attract all kids. But I struggle to see that as the key reason for the demographic composition.

Overall I just think the school (and the kids that attend) deserve recognition and I had wanted to just flag it for parents who struggled as I did to get sufficient information on it in this forum.

This +100. And it’s true of many other schools in DC. Schools get stuck in a chicken or egg scenario of there aren’t enough white kids, so white parents wont send their kids there, so then there’s never “enough” white kids for those families to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, they’re adding hours to their commute or paying private school tuition when they likely would have had a good experience at that school—as well as gaining the benefits of a stronger local school community and having your kid exposed to a broader range of people. As a UMC white mom of a child at another predominantly Black school, the amount of conversations I have with white parents who say “we wish we could go there, it’s just not there yet” is tiresome.

I think this is a WOTP/EOTP thing too. I live east of the park in an UMC milieu and plenty of people are talking about McKinley as an option, and I know white and black UMC people who send their kids there.

Maybe WOTP people don't and simply can't imagine that it's a good option?

And WHY is that? Read the reasons OP posted. Lets stop running around the bush and call a spade a spade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

Original poster here. I had not wanted to get into this but feel I need to address this. As a UMC white mom myself, i was struck that my white friends had almost no info/personal insights on the school while all my AA friends highly recommended it, and rightly so. The only thing I can think, sadly, is the a) frankly bigoted and sadly engrained assumption/fear of being singled out as the “only white kid” has kept white people away and the racist view that majority black schools in NE aren’t safe/good and b) so many kids want to only go to schools with their friends and there is a clustering effect around the same public and charter schools. I’m sorry to be that blunt but otherwise I struggle to understand a rationale that makes sense. Certainly it’s a STEM school and that doesn’t attract all kids. But I struggle to see that as the key reason for the demographic composition.

Overall I just think the school (and the kids that attend) deserve recognition and I had wanted to just flag it for parents who struggled as I did to get sufficient information on it in this forum.

This +100. And it’s true of many other schools in DC. Schools get stuck in a chicken or egg scenario of there aren’t enough white kids, so white parents wont send their kids there, so then there’s never “enough” white kids for those families to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, they’re adding hours to their commute or paying private school tuition when they likely would have had a good experience at that school—as well as gaining the benefits of a stronger local school community and having your kid exposed to a broader range of people. As a UMC white mom of a child at another predominantly Black school, the amount of conversations I have with white parents who say “we wish we could go there, it’s just not there yet” is tiresome.

I think this is a WOTP/EOTP thing too. I live east of the park in an UMC milieu and plenty of people are talking about McKinley as an option, and I know white and black UMC people who send their kids there.

Maybe WOTP people don't and simply can't imagine that it's a good option?

And WHY is that? Read the reasons OP posted. Lets stop running around the bush and call a spade a spade.

Why? Test scores. That's the complicating factor.

[Anonymous]

...and also location. It is not at all convenient to Ward 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

White students are not 40% of the school age population. That's a red herring. They are more like 20% as many white parents move to the suburbs or go private.

[Anonymous]

McKinley Tech sent people to MIT, Yale, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins last year. It’s a truly excellent school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in zone for Dunbar which is simply not an option. And won’t ever be until my kids have kids at the earliest. But I’m excited for McKinley tech to become a viable option and would strongly consider it regardless of my child’s interests. Art is a nice hobby.

One nice thing about the school is that, since it's a STEM focused school, they know the kids will need extra help in writing and include writing instruction in every class. As a professionally trained former writing teacher myself, I couldn't be happier that this is the case.

And, agree about art being a nice hobby. I attended a school with a large Conservatory for college, and I don't have any friends who graduated from the Conservatory and ended up making a living using their musical talents. That's simply not common. As my daughter nears high school, though, she's interested in Duke Ellington, and I won't discourage her, but also I'll emphasize the need to find a way to make a living outside of the arts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't this great school far more diverse? Why is it 3% white in a city where whites are more than 40% of the population these days? Just poor PR? Serious question.

Glad your teens are happy there thus far but I'm skeptical. You can shout "strong public options!" all you want. But the inconvenient truth is that few UMC families are convinced.

White students are not 40% of the school age population. That's a red herring. They are more like 20% as many white parents move to the suburbs or go private.

And much of the white population are young adults who don't have kids. (Separately, that's one of the reasons mayoral control of schools is a problem -- so much of the electorate doesn't have kids, so the mayoral election provides no accountability for how the schools are doing.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...and also location. It is not at all convenient to Ward 3.

Ward 5 is becoming much more diverse, but my family was on the cutting edge of this trend and our kid is now a 10th grader. We were actually the only white family in our census block for a few years! That is no longer the case. I expect more white in the coming decade as more kids who live nearby and are white enter high school.

The other thing is that, even as someone who went to a high school that was very diverse (more black than white students) I was nervous about sending my kid to a school where he would be part of the 4.7% of white students. (The 3% number is wrong and the 4.7% number has held for two years, so white kids haven't been the "onlies" at the school for quite some time if ever.)

But, that said, I went to school in the South in the 90s. Racial tensions were much higher then because segregation was not a distant memory but something fellow students' parents had lived through. I think enough time has passed that it's a bit different now than then. It's pretty easy for us parents to project our experiences onto our kids, but they're really living in a very different time than the one we grew up in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...and also location. It is not at all convenient to Ward 3.

Test scores I can agree with but the location is a cop out imo. Plenty of parents WOTP/EOTP take on hellish commutes for privates and schools thought of as "good".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McKinley Tech sent people to MIT, Yale, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins last year. It’s a truly excellent school.

How well does it do with college counseling? I don’t mean to use the old saw, but a kid who can get into MIT probably does not need a ton of handholding in that regard. What about the kids who are more average and are aiming for state colleges or SLACs?