Why doesn't DC have a competitive public high school like Stuyvesant in NYC?

[Anonymous]

thanks for the exact language of the law, PP. I wrote earlier that I was surprised a charter hadn't tried to open a merit based admissions school. Now I know why. The law should change. However, what prevents Michelle Rhee from opening a merti based public school?

Before kids, I tutored some kids in a college Prep program well attended by many kids from Banneker. Many of the kids were excellent students, but others still needed major help in writing, reading comprehension., etc. far beyond what I thought would be found in a school with competitive enterance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't there a moratorium on new charters at the moment? If not, someone with young children should try to found such a high school, as well as a Spanish-English immersion school.

There already are several Spanish-English immersion schools: Centronia/DC Bilingual, Elsie Whitlow Stokes, and LAMB. (Stokes also offers French).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP asked a very, very good question and some of the people who answered didn't know what they were talking about.

My husband & I struggled mightily to pay for a private school tuition for our daughter. We would have loved to have saved the money if we thought any of the DC Public High Schools were good enough. We did not think they were good enough. The standards are too low.

Over 1 million kids manage to be educated in the NYC Public Schools. Somehow the gov't officials in NY have figured it out. No one in DC can EVER figure it out. We had a general, several "saviors" and now Rhee. We have less than 50,000 kids in the DC Publics. My advice is for them to start over and let all of the DC kids go to privates or publics outside of DC with our taxpayer money.

SWW only requires a 2.5 GPA -- that is terrible. DC is afraid of excellence. I actually think it is racism for the people who run DC schools to think the black students can't manage anything more -- they can and do in other major American Cities. DC is the capital of the free world. Every single government official here -- federal, state & local should be embarassed about our schools. They are not. They don't think the black kids deserve anything more. They accept mediocrity for them. It's a crime.

PP, I am a black parent with a child in PK and I think that your post is spot on. The standards in the district are way too low. I was shocked when I went to a meeting at my local elementary school and the principal announced (without an ounce of shame) that a 67% score (out of 100) is considered "proficient". Isn't that a C. We are zone for Deal/Wilson but I think that we will likely bail at 4th grade if things do not improve system wide.

[Anonymous]

Thank you PP. I like Mayor Fenty, but I just heard him speak last week at a fundraiser and he was raving how great the test results were recently...something like 40% of kids were grade proficient in math...whoopee! I thought that was terrible. What's wrong with 100% of kids being grade proficient in math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SWW only requires a 2.5 GPA -- that is terrible.

Fortunately, it's not true. Walls requires a minimum 3.2 GPA. But that alone is not enough to admit a student--the interview process filters out kids who aren't ready, and the school will expel for failing grades, skipping classes or other offenses. They admit less than 10% of students who apply.

[Anonymous]

You are wrong above. The SWW website itself says 3.0 -- "B" avg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are wrong above. The SWW website itself says 3.0 -- "B" avg.

Wrong about the GPA (as was the 2.5 poster above), but right about the application essay, interview, and tough attitude toward current students.

[Anonymous]

Did anybody read the Washingtonian article on TJ? There was a lengthy discussion of the application process. Sorry, but saying, no, really, a 3.2 GPA is the cut off, not 2.5, is not even anywhere in the ballpark. My best friend in college went to Stuyvesant, and another friend went to Hunter. They have been good for a long time. TJ is the closest thing we have to them in the area.

I agree with the poster above who thinks DC kids who don't go private should be absorbed in neighboring jurisdictions' public schools. It is impossible to understand how this system has been this messed up for so long. Of course, MoCo, Arlington and Fairfax would never agree to that.

I see no hope for DCPS. As a result, my kids are some of the ones making the pool more shallow, as a PP put it. It is very depressing to think this sort of problem has been allowed to exist for so long.

[Anonymous]

this is why so many kids are in charters -

[Anonymous]

Boston has Boston Latin which I think is also similar (competitive city-wide admission). I wonder how many major urban school systems have similar and if lack of one in DC is unusual or the norm. Interesting question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[quote=Anonymous}

quote]


PP, I am a black parent with a child in PK and I think that your post is spot on. The standards in the district are way too low. I was shocked when I went to a meeting at my local elementary school and the principal announced (without an ounce of shame) that a 67% score (out of 100) is considered "proficient". Isn't that a C. We are zone for Deal/Wilson but I think that we will likely bail at 4th grade if things do not improve system wide.

Please give Deal a hard look before you decide to bail. My DD is in 4th now and I was impressed with what I learned about Deal. I know everyone has their own decision to make, but we can't make this thing better if everyone keeps bailing. My feeling is that once Deal gets certified for IB those kids need to have a high school to go - just need to get to a critical mass.

[Anonymous]

Someone asked if other cities have schools like TJ. The answer is yes. Several do. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Walnut Hills High School has been around for generations. It is one of the specialty high schools like TJ that Jay Matthews in the WP writes about. Walnut Hills is public, free, and teaches Latin, Greek, every kind of math, you name it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Banneker and School Without Walls are both excellent high schools but they might not appeal to all high caliber students. Banneker is an IB program, the student body is mostly African-American. And School without Walls seems to be best suited for students that are self-motivated and the school enjoys a close relationship with GWU. I agree with the pp that these schools are nowhere near Stuyvesant or Hunter. Both schools are also pretty small and I wonder how many applications they receive. I think parents are hungry for more options like this, just can't see how or when it will happen. Also wonder what keeps families of other races from considering Banneker.

Racism. DUH!

[Anonymous]

Not necessarily racism but not wanting to be one of only a few people who aren't black.

By the way, the SWW website itself says it requires only a
B average

[Anonymous]

I have to agree...it can only be racism that is making you all leave Banneker, one of the best schools in the country that admits students BASED ON MERIT off your list. It is the Bronx Science of DC. I think the question you need to ask yourself is why aren't you considering it for your child? Perhaps what you really want is a merit based school in a different neighborhood in DC.