If you're in Takoma Park schools...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm wondering about the great schools as well. I like the vibe of Takoma Park. However, there must be a reason as to why many people choose elementary schools that feed into BCC, Walter Johnson, Whitman, Churchill, and Wootton. It seems like those are the only schools that people on DC Urban Mom Forum talk about. Why are those schools so popular?

The reason is that schools in Bethesda are much whiter and much wealthier, and as such their scores and outcomes are higher. Parents say they are looking for the best schools for their children, so they look at these scores and outcomes and they find these schools more appealing. Many people are also more comfortable in environments of people a lot like themselves. I don't mean to judge people on either side of this discussion, just to explain what I believe to be the reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More tiresome Takoma Park hype -- and self congratulation -- about how their kids "are thriving in this diverse environment."

Truth is, what little racial interaction there is -- and there's not all that much -- for the most part is all done and dusted by middle school.

Take a walk around Takoma Park Middle School or Blair High School on a typical day, and peer into the classrooms. You'll find one classroom of kids who are predominantly (as in almost 100 percent save one or two) kids of color, and another next door that's nearly all white. And yes, I'm a member of the community, and know whereof I speak.

Just walk along the streets in downtown Takoma, Old Town Takoma -- for that matter, anywhere except the outer fringes of Takoma, and you'll see block after block where no people of color reside. The pattern is duplicated in the schools, where kids of color and kids who are white are educated separately for the most part.

Whether it's sports teams, recreation league activities, housing patterns within Takoma Park, social interaction within the school or after school, it's hard to imagine a more segregated set-up.
Yet, parents in Takoma Park continue to talk as if they're part of some sort of Rainbow Nation. The fact is their kids are educated in classrooms that are very nearly as homogeneous as those in Potomac or Bethesda.

Not that I begrudge them that. I suspect that had there been true diversity -- with people of color living as their next door neighbors and not in Langley Park or the apartment complexes of Maple Avenue -- many would never have been tempted to buy homes in Takoma Park.

My guess is that its the same with the schools: Create true integration of the classroom and see how long it takes for white flight to commence.
I tire of the readiness of folks in Takoma Park to try to have it both ways, giving lip service to the virtues of diversity, even while most -- with the exception of people they hire to watch their kids and clean their homes -- seem to have precious little interaction with people who don't look just like them.

So folks who have chosen to send their kids to private schools or to public ones in McLean -- don't let the TP folks guilt-trip you. They've made very much the same choices about whom their kids will be educated alongside. They've just disguised it in such a way as to be able to hang on to their "diversity" bragging rights.

It's a magnet school, is it not? I would assume that the reason why one class might have more kids of color than the next is because they are probably not taking the same sort of classes that their white peers are. This was the case when my DH was a student at Eleanor Roosevelt. The magnet and non-magnet kids rarely had classes together.

[Anonymous]

It's a magnet school, is it not? I would assume that the reason why one class might have more kids of color than the next is because they are probably not taking the same sort of classes that their white peers are. This was the case when my DH was a student at Eleanor Roosevelt. The magnet and non-magnet kids rarely had classes together.

That could be the reason. Or self-segregation could be. Or schools that try to draw and keep white parents by creating program tailored to them might be.

Lack of diversity in communities and in schools occurs everywhere. What's unique about Takoma Park is the proclivity to look down their noses at whiter school districts, as if the demographics or their own kids' classrooms is any different. A big part of the whole "cache" of Takoma Park is that it's some sort of progressive, racial melting pot. This is very much not the case.

[Anonymous]

13:40, this is crazy talk. The real question to ask here is why don't more AA and Hispanic families settle in Takoma Park? Instead they choose PG county or Bethesda (like our AA friends did). It's not like they're prohibited from buying a Takoma Park house, and they WOULD be made to feel welcome there.

Also, Blair has two test-in programs - the math-science magnet and the CAP program. Both are predominantly white although not entirely so. But that's a subject for another thread.

Are you by any chance conservative? You sound like David Brooks in that book of his where he goes on about the gazillions of self-righteous sociology professors with frizzy hair who live in Takoma Park - I don't know a single one of these, either. (And PS, it's "cachet")

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I won't stoop to your base language. I assume it strikes a nerve because it's true. Takoma Park is one of the most segregated communities going. Not a crime unto it self, but a little laughable that it holds itself out as some sort of racial paradise.

No, you just impugn the motives of thousands of people you don't know, by implying that they're actively doing something to exclude minorities. Because that is the certainly implication of your attack.

I'm with the poster who wants you and your unfocused anger problems to get lost (said more nicely).

[Anonymous]

The Takoma Park basher got me curious, so I did a little rudimentary research. It seems she's completely off target.

Here are Flickr pictures of TPMS. The classrooms look pretty diverse to me. No indication of segregation. http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=takoma%20park%20middle%20school

Oddly, pictures of classrooms from Blair High are harder to find. Lots were from the science magnet program, where there seems to be a lot of diversity, albeit but not much of it AA, FWIW. Someone else can look for one.
http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=963&q=montgomery+blair+high+school&oq=montgomery+blair&gs_l=img.3.0.0l2j0i24l8.1665.6388.0.8706.20.19.1.0.0.0.357.2659.6j10j2j1.19.0.epsugrpq1high..0.0...1.1.zfPapdm_yTo#hl=en&tbo=d&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=montgomery+blair+high+school+class+&oq=montgomery+blair+high+school+class+&gs_l=img.12...0.0.2.208797.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0.epsugrpq1high..0.0...1.AZ2-a0C7TF0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.dmQ&fp=fb46fd1a353eac20&bpcl=40096503&biw=1280&bih=963
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=montgomery+blair+school+&m=text

FWIW, here's a bunch of Blair students with Chris Cooley.


I'm sure that TPMS and Blair have their fair share of racial struggles, just like every other school in America. But from my personal experience, and from what I see in these pictures, the Takoma Park basher is exaggerating severely.

[Anonymous]

Also, in case you're interested in general Takoma Park diversity, here are pictures from the Takoma Park 4th of July parade, the Jazz Festival, and the Street Festival.
http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=963&q=takoma+park+street+festival&oq=takoma+park+street&gs_l=img.3.0.0i24l2.2166.5879.0.7528.18.18.0.0.0.0.207.2223.7j10j1.18.0.epsugrpq1high..0.0...1.1.yw0BdgO2nRM
http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=963&q=takoma+park+street+festival&oq=takoma+park+street&gs_l=img.3.0.0i24l2.2166.5879.0.7528.18.18.0.0.0.0.207.2223.7j10j1.18.0.epsugrpq1high..0.0...1.1.yw0BdgO2nRM#hl=en&tbo=d&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=takoma+park+july+4th+parade&oq=takoma+park+july+4th+parade&gs_l=img.3...38864.41398.0.41522.15.15.0.0.0.0.164.1049.9j5.14.0.epsugrpq1high..0.0...1.1.LtlAnbGeSnI&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.dmQ&fp=fb46fd1a353eac20&bpcl=40096503&biw=1280&bih=963
http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=963&q=takoma+park+street+festival&oq=takoma+park+street&gs_l=img.3.0.0i24l2.2166.5879.0.7528.18.18.0.0.0.0.207.2223.7j10j1.18.0.epsugrpq1high..0.0...1.1.yw0BdgO2nRM#hl=en&tbo=d&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=takoma+park+jazz+festival&oq=takoma+park+jazz+festival&gs_l=img.3..0i24l2.21242.24099.2.24349.15.14.1.0.0.0.227.2050.4j7j3.14.0.epsugrpq1high..0.0...1.1.yO--e8Q1G7A&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.dmQ&fp=fb46fd1a353eac20&bpcl=40096503&biw=1280&bih=963

Takoma Park demographics: "The racial makeup of the city was 48.79% White, 33.97% African American, 0.44% Native American, 4.36% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 7.44% from other races, and 4.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.42% of the population."

Silver Spring: "The racial makeup of the community was 45.7% White, 27.8% African American, 0.6% Native American, 7.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 13.2% from other races, and 4.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race consist of 26.3% of the population. "

Compared to Washington Metro Area demographics:
"Non-Hispanic White : 48.2%, Black or African American : 25.3%, Hispanic or Latino : 14.1%, Asian : 9.3%, Mixed and Other : 3.1%"

Compared to Bethesda: "The racial makeup of the CDP was 85.86% White, 2.67% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 7.92% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.23% from other races, and 2.11% from two or more races. 5.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race."

[Anonymous]

I live in the heart of TP and on our very short block alone there is a hispanic family, several inter-racial families (all representing different nationalities), a gay couple, young families, and senior citizen couples. Walking home from work each day I pass by kids of all ages hanging out outside--elementary through high school--who live in my neighborhood, and it is an extremely diverse group. I have lived in several parts of the DC area and certainly TP is the most diverse community I have experienced so far. I agree that there isn't necessarily a lot of economic diversity, at least not in my immediate neighborhood (pretty solidly middle class), but my sense is that there is a pretty decent range of economic diversity within Takoma Park overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lately I've heard negative things about the Middle School in TP-- like there's a "bad crop" of kids right now that the administration doesn't quite know how to handle. Not sure? But my understanding is that Blair is a very good, solid HS.

please elaborate? what exactly did you hear?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lately I've heard negative things about the Middle School in TP-- like there's a "bad crop" of kids right now that the administration doesn't quite know how to handle. Not sure? But my understanding is that Blair is a very good, solid HS.

Not sure where you're hearing this. My kid graduated from TPMS last year, and it was a good crop of kids. It's possible the incoming 6th graders are trouble, but I hadn't heard that.

I heard this from several former TPMS teachers, who fled their school to come and work at the one I work at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lately I've heard negative things about the Middle School in TP-- like there's a "bad crop" of kids right now that the administration doesn't quite know how to handle. Not sure? But my understanding is that Blair is a very good, solid HS.

Not sure where you're hearing this. My kid graduated from TPMS last year, and it was a good crop of kids. It's possible the incoming 6th graders are trouble, but I hadn't heard that.

I heard this from several former TPMS teachers, who fled their school to come and work at the one I work at.

Teachers fleeing TPMS? Are you the poster who thinks TPMS is segregated?

TPMS did change principals maybe 2 years ago. But during our time there, which ended last year, we definitely didn't see a massive exodus of teachers. I'm not sure what you're talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lately I've heard negative things about the Middle School in TP-- like there's a "bad crop" of kids right now that the administration doesn't quite know how to handle. Not sure? But my understanding is that Blair is a very good, solid HS.

Not sure where you're hearing this. My kid graduated from TPMS last year, and it was a good crop of kids. It's possible the incoming 6th graders are trouble, but I hadn't heard that.

I heard this from several former TPMS teachers, who fled their school to come and work at the one I work at.

Teachers fleeing TPMS? Are you the poster who thinks TPMS is segregated?

TPMS did change principals maybe 2 years ago. But during our time there, which ended last year, we definitely didn't see a massive exodus of teachers. I'm not sure what you're talking about.

PP again. And your "friend" thinks Blair is "very good, solid"? This is totally backwards. Blair is great, don't get me wrong, and both my kids go there. But if you're worried about a rough crop of kids, you will find them at Blair (alongside the many, many top students in regular Blair, the magnet and CAP) but not at TPMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lately I've heard negative things about the Middle School in TP-- like there's a "bad crop" of kids right now that the administration doesn't quite know how to handle. Not sure? But my understanding is that Blair is a very good, solid HS.

Not sure where you're hearing this. My kid graduated from TPMS last year, and it was a good crop of kids. It's possible the incoming 6th graders are trouble, but I hadn't heard that.

I heard this from several former TPMS teachers, who fled their school to come and work at the one I work at.

BS alert. Name your school, or it didn't happen.

[Anonymous]

yes name your school? I have not heard this about TPMS and have a student there and know many parents there with older students/alumni

[Anonymous]

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/08/167471106/2-pi-rhymes-and-radii?ft=3&f=111787346&sc=nl&cc=es-20130113

An example, perhaps, of the integrated classrooms that we're to believe are commonplace at Blair and in Takoma schools? No this is fairly typical of the "diversity" folks in Takoma are peddling.

So what if the parade route is diverse. That says nothing about the classrooms, where I still maintain you'll find a classroom of 90 percent white kids right next to one that's nearly 100 percent black and hispanic. (See above.)

Sure, the overall diversity numbers look great. Just drill down at the classroom level, though. Take a stroll along Maple, Willow -- or most any block that doesn't border the Maple Avenue apartments or head toward Langley Park.

With the exception of a small handful of interracial couples, as white as the driven snow. And with very, very few exceptions, these neighborhoods are 100 percent black and brown.

Yes indeed, back where I come from, we call that segregation.