Please tell me about your A student's experience at Wilson?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a rising sophomore at Wilson. Great experience. Strong track for college bound kids, a big peer group of similar kids, and academic and extracurricular opportunities galore.

The drawback is that there are plenty of Wilson kids on a different track - it will be up to you and your kid to make sure they stay on the right track!

Thanks! Do you ever get the feeling that there is pressure to fall off track? Nice community among college-bound kids?

Very nice community among the college bound, and even some of the non-college bound. My child is in the music program and has friends from both groups. I wouldn't say there is pressure to fall off the track (and in some ways it is nice to be able to point to cautionary tales that are real and right there) - but the option is there. At Wilson your child must - and will learn how to - be responsible for their own academic well-being. This is a great skill to learn before going off to college!

[Anonymous]

AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

Interesting. I read a lot of threads on here that deal with the issue of middle class blacks at Wilson, and how a lot of black and latino parents wont send their kids there. Does your daughter has a majority black peer group, or are most of her classes filled with white students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

white do well not just because they are white, but because white students at Wilson are mostly high SES from families with highly educated parents and living in safe upper NW. as discussed on this board many times, it seems that AA families with a similar SES level and education tend to send their kids to private instead of Wilson so given the demographics of DC a good amount of kids on the wrong track at Wilson are AA and other minorities with low SES

[Anonymous]

Ours are not at Wilson (yet), but from visits there and from friends who have kids there, it seems like there is a vast racial divide, socially, academically, and in extracurriculars. If you look at the website, some activities/sports appear to be all white kids and some all black kids. Few are mixed. We are coming from a diverse AND integrated school so expect that to be a shock.

As an outsider, it's interesting to hear people talk about Wilson as diverse, a great way to learn to get along with different kinds of people, etc., when the kids actually don't seem to mix much at all, but just pass each other in the hallways. Kids mostly seem to hang out with kids from their elementary schools, which as we all know, are quite racially segregated. So students (mostly white) from Murch still seem to hang out with other Murch kids, etc., basically carrying the segregated elementary school feeling on through high school.

Just seems like a sad reality, although I'm sure there are individual exceptions. What have families who have been there for a few years experienced? Is the divide as deep and wide as it appears?

FWIW, we do know several black and Latino families from our current school who are not even considering sending kids to Wilson for this reason. I'm sure many white families are also turned off by the segregation, but I don't think anyone has great ideas for improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ours are not at Wilson (yet), but from visits there and from friends who have kids there, it seems like there is a vast racial divide, socially, academically, and in extracurriculars. If you look at the website, some activities/sports appear to be all white kids and some all black kids. Few are mixed. We are coming from a diverse AND integrated school so expect that to be a shock.

As an outsider, it's interesting to hear people talk about Wilson as diverse, a great way to learn to get along with different kinds of people, etc., when the kids actually don't seem to mix much at all, but just pass each other in the hallways. Kids mostly seem to hang out with kids from their elementary schools, which as we all know, are quite racially segregated. So students (mostly white) from Murch still seem to hang out with other Murch kids, etc., basically carrying the segregated elementary school feeling on through high school.

Just seems like a sad reality, although I'm sure there are individual exceptions. What have families who have been there for a few years experienced? Is the divide as deep and wide as it appears?

FWIW, we do know several black and Latino families from our current school who are not even considering sending kids to Wilson for this reason. I'm sure many white families are also turned off by the segregation, but I don't think anyone has great ideas for improvement.

I have no kids at Wilson so I can't comment on this directly. However, 25 years ago I went to a school that was probably a slight majority while but sizable Latino and black students. At school and after, I mostly hung with white kids but I was friendly with everyone and still am. I don't live in my hometown but am Facebook friends with/see at reunions many of my black and Latino classmates and have a great time reminiscing with them. I don't think any of us would look back at high school and think there was a "divide" in a negative sense.

So it's possible that even though the kids at Wilson might not totally intermingle all the time they still consider the others friends, just not ones they hang with outside of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

Interesting. I read a lot of threads on here that deal with the issue of middle class blacks at Wilson, and how a lot of black and latino parents wont send their kids there. Does your daughter has a majority black peer group, or are most of her classes filled with white students?

Her peer group is mostly white with some other races mixed in. Her classes usually have more white students but she is never the ONLY. I would say she is having a true integrated experience. She is totally comfortable moving across groups though. I always check-in with her about this but overall she's having a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

white do well not just because they are white, but because white students at Wilson are mostly high SES from families with highly educated parents and living in safe upper NW. as discussed on this board many times, it seems that AA families with a similar SES level and education tend to send their kids to private instead of Wilson so given the demographics of DC a good amount of kids on the wrong track at Wilson are AA and other minorities with low SES

Don't be embarrassed about being white and what that actually means. Facts are facts. White students do well at Wilson because white students are more likely to be in a better economic situation.
High SES AAs are not at the same level academically as high SES white folks - this has been proven over and over. That's why high SES black families try to stack the deck with private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

white do well not just because they are white, but because white students at Wilson are mostly high SES from families with highly educated parents and living in safe upper NW. as discussed on this board many times, it seems that AA families with a similar SES level and education tend to send their kids to private instead of Wilson so given the demographics of DC a good amount of kids on the wrong track at Wilson are AA and other minorities with low SES

Don't be embarrassed about being white and what that actually means. Facts are facts. White students do well at Wilson because white students are more likely to be in a better economic situation.
High SES AAs are not at the same level academically as high SES white folks - this has been proven over and over. That's why high SES black families try to stack the deck with private school.

Jesus, Charles Murray. Don't you have anything better to do than troll parenting boards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

white do well not just because they are white, but because white students at Wilson are mostly high SES from families with highly educated parents and living in safe upper NW. as discussed on this board many times, it seems that AA families with a similar SES level and education tend to send their kids to private instead of Wilson so given the demographics of DC a good amount of kids on the wrong track at Wilson are AA and other minorities with low SES

Don't be embarrassed about being white and what that actually means. Facts are facts. White students do well at Wilson because white students are more likely to be in a better economic situation.
High SES AAs are not at the same level academically as high SES white folks - this has been proven over and over. That's why high SES black families try to stack the deck with private school.

Show me one study that shows that. Not non FARM AA vs non FARM white but high SES AA vs high SES white. bullshit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

white do well not just because they are white, but because white students at Wilson are mostly high SES from families with highly educated parents and living in safe upper NW. as discussed on this board many times, it seems that AA families with a similar SES level and education tend to send their kids to private instead of Wilson so given the demographics of DC a good amount of kids on the wrong track at Wilson are AA and other minorities with low SES

Don't be embarrassed about being white and what that actually means. Facts are facts. White students do well at Wilson because white students are more likely to be in a better economic situation.
High SES AAs are not at the same level academically as high SES white folks - this has been proven over and over. That's why high SES black families try to stack the deck with private school.

I am not embarrassed to be white, I simply point out that the poster was comparing apples with oranges. there are no pockets of poor, disadvantaged whites in DC. white students at Wilson are predominantly from high SES families, had family support since birth and went to great elementary and middle schools. the "jail track" at Wilson comes mostly from a different background unfortunately. AA and minorities with high SES and education background comparable to Wilson' white students do not go to Wilson normally (the ones I know went private after Deal or even before) for reasons discussed here many times. if they were, they would do as well as white students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours are not at Wilson (yet), but from visits there and from friends who have kids there, it seems like there is a vast racial divide, socially, academically, and in extracurriculars. If you look at the website, some activities/sports appear to be all white kids and some all black kids. Few are mixed. We are coming from a diverse AND integrated school so expect that to be a shock.

As an outsider, it's interesting to hear people talk about Wilson as diverse, a great way to learn to get along with different kinds of people, etc., when the kids actually don't seem to mix much at all, but just pass each other in the hallways. Kids mostly seem to hang out with kids from their elementary schools, which as we all know, are quite racially segregated. So students (mostly white) from Murch still seem to hang out with other Murch kids, etc., basically carrying the segregated elementary school feeling on through high school.

Just seems like a sad reality, although I'm sure there are individual exceptions. What have families who have been there for a few years experienced? Is the divide as deep and wide as it appears?

FWIW, we do know several black and Latino families from our current school who are not even considering sending kids to Wilson for this reason. I'm sure many white families are also turned off by the segregation, but I don't think anyone has great ideas for improvement.

I have no kids at Wilson so I can't comment on this directly. However, 25 years ago I went to a school that was probably a slight majority while but sizable Latino and black students. At school and after, I mostly hung with white kids but I was friendly with everyone and still am. I don't live in my hometown but am Facebook friends with/see at reunions many of my black and Latino classmates and have a great time reminiscing with them. I don't think any of us would look back at high school and think there was a "divide" in a negative sense.

So it's possible that even though the kids at Wilson might not totally intermingle all the time they still consider the others friends, just not ones they hang with outside of school.

This seems consistent with our child's experience.

I think it's true that the boys sports are more segregated (mainly aa kids playing basketball and football; mainly white playing baseball, soccer, and lacrosse). I can't speak for the girls teams. And the non-sports extracurriculars (music, theater room, newspaper, etc) seem very integrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AA Wilson parent here with 4.0 DD. She is having an awesome experience. More than the teachers an administration, the peer group matters. Honors and AP level classes offer rigor and can be very demanding. It's a large school with many, many different types of kids. I don't agree with the previous poster about teachers not pushing advanced kids - we have had the opposite experience.

I will say though as truth that Wilson is a school where white kids definitely excel - no question. While I actually hate to put a racial lens on it because race is a social construct, it is just the truth and stats bear it out.

I would think coming from Oakland there are similar issues. Anyway good luck.

white do well not just because they are white, but because white students at Wilson are mostly high SES from families with highly educated parents and living in safe upper NW. as discussed on this board many times, it seems that AA families with a similar SES level and education tend to send their kids to private instead of Wilson so given the demographics of DC a good amount of kids on the wrong track at Wilson are AA and other minorities with low SES

Don't be embarrassed about being white and what that actually means. Facts are facts. White students do well at Wilson because white students are more likely to be in a better economic situation.
High SES AAs are not at the same level academically as high SES white folks - this has been proven over and over. That's why high SES black families try to stack the deck with private school.

Unconscious (or, in your case, very conscious) bias against black students is the factor in private school decision for AA families you're not aware of. Ironically, your post underscores why so many AA families feel that way. Fortunately, we have options. I have no doubt there are AA students from lower SES backgrounds who are getting an experience that's better than what their neighborhood school could provide, but falling way short of the students' potential because everyone's expectations are so low. The social dynamic seems like side food (just find the right crowd!) but when it's predetermined by skin color, and brown skin is "on the wrong track," people with options opt out.

[Anonymous]

400 Students in the senior class and about 40 were honor roll worthy. There were more students who graduated with GPA less than 2.0 than those who graduated with a rating above 3.0. The white students do well and so do the black students do well too. Don't worry your child will do well at Wilson, as for SWW your child will do well there too. C'mon Eastern had an Asian on the right track to be the Valedictorian and he dropped out in his 3rd semester of his senior year. Shocking isn't it???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:400 Students in the senior class and about 40 were honor roll worthy. There were more students who graduated with GPA less than 2.0 than those who graduated with a rating above 3.0. The white students do well and so do the black students do well too. Don't worry your child will do well at Wilson, as for SWW your child will do well there too. C'mon Eastern had an Asian on the right track to be the Valedictorian and he dropped out in his 3rd semester of his senior year. Shocking isn't it???

Huh? You make no sense.

Here's an observation: School Without Walls has a large AA contingent and average SAT scores 400 points higher than Wilson. I suspect, but do not know, that many AA parents with high achieving students are shunning Wilson in favor of SWW because expectations for AA students at Wilson are low.