MacArthur

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:y Demographics: we were happy to learn that the current student body is more culturally diverse than we expected considering its neighborhood.

OK, but the neighborhood is heavily white (to put it mildly) and the new school is heavily AA (almost two-thirds) so far. That says to me that neighborhood buy-in isn't strong, at least not yet. Happy news?

As the person that posted that comment, I am happy to provide insight. One of the benefits of living in DC is the opportunity for kids to attend schools that represent the demographics of the world both culturally and socio-economically. One of our main worries was that MacArthur would be demographically homogeneous due to its neighborhood. We are a multi-ethnic family, middle income family (HH less than $160k) who have lived IB for 12 years so are very familiar with the neighborhood.We chose to send our child to DC charter schools from PK3- 8th grade. Now that DD is entering high school, they are making their decision on which type of high school to attend. Their friend group is diverse in MS (ethnically and economically). Whether private or public, they are evaluating both the rigor of the curriculums, the social atmosphere and demographic composition of the schools that they are considering. Every family is looking at schools from different perspectives. We were pleased to see that MacArthur has a more diverse student body right now but it is not their #1 choice- Banneker is due to its math curriculum and the fact that it is a majority female school. I do hope that the neighborhood will support the MacArthur- it has a nice atmosphere to it. Good luck in the lottery all.

[Anonymous]

The AP is great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We attended the in-person Open House a few weeks ago. From a facility perspective, it was originally designed for K-8 so some of the spaces are still scaled for smaller humans. That being said, the school is expanding and upgrading the facilities so it is more appropriately scaled for teens. The classrooms were well-lit, sunny and clean which was a nice contrast to what we saw at SWW. Demographics: we were happy to learn that the current student body is more culturally diverse than we expected considering its neighborhood. Teachers: every teacher we met seemed genuinely enthusiastic and engaged in their disciplines. Curriculum: it was good to see that there are different math paths depending on the level of your student (foundations or accelerated) and there is an option for dual enrollment at grades 11-12. They hope to offer Chinese next year as well as drama as an elective. Sports: growing as well (but I got the feeling that they probably won't be growing as fast at the academic disciplines.) Hope this helps some-

OK, but the neighborhood is heavily white (to put it mildly) and the new school is heavily AA (almost two-thirds) so far. That says to me that neighborhood buy-in isn't strong, at least not yet. Happy news?

I hate to burst your pre-conceived notions, but the upper northwest schools are not lily-white like you assume. At the feeder elementary level for Hardy, there are about 360 "black" students, roughly 1 in 5 students is black. At Hardy, a little under 1 in 3 students is black.

I am an in-boundary parent. I don't care about racial demographics, or even out-of-boundary versus in-boundary. (You'll probably call me a racist for saying that.) If my child's class cohort is well-prepared to learn, I don't care what they look like or where they come from. If the kids are coming from the feeder schools -- ideally, they've been at the feeder schools for years -- then they're generally well-prepared to learn.

In the first two years of MacArthur, students from Deal and Oyster also effectively have rights to attend. These students are also likely well-prepared to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We attended the in-person Open House a few weeks ago. From a facility perspective, it was originally designed for K-8 so some of the spaces are still scaled for smaller humans. That being said, the school is expanding and upgrading the facilities so it is more appropriately scaled for teens. The classrooms were well-lit, sunny and clean which was a nice contrast to what we saw at SWW. Demographics: we were happy to learn that the current student body is more culturally diverse than we expected considering its neighborhood. Teachers: every teacher we met seemed genuinely enthusiastic and engaged in their disciplines. Curriculum: it was good to see that there are different math paths depending on the level of your student (foundations or accelerated) and there is an option for dual enrollment at grades 11-12. They hope to offer Chinese next year as well as drama as an elective. Sports: growing as well (but I got the feeling that they probably won't be growing as fast at the academic disciplines.) Hope this helps some-

OK, but the neighborhood is heavily white (to put it mildly) and the new school is heavily AA (almost two-thirds) so far. That says to me that neighborhood buy-in isn't strong, at least not yet. Happy news?

I hate to burst your pre-conceived notions, but the upper northwest schools are not lily-white like you assume. At the feeder elementary level for Hardy, there are about 360 "black" students, roughly 1 in 5 students is black. At Hardy, a little under 1 in 3 students is black.

I am an in-boundary parent. I don't care about racial demographics, or even out-of-boundary versus in-boundary. (You'll probably call me a racist for saying that.) If my child's class cohort is well-prepared to learn, I don't care what they look like or where they come from. If the kids are coming from the feeder schools -- ideally, they've been at the feeder schools for years -- then they're generally well-prepared to learn.

In the first two years of MacArthur, students from Deal and Oyster also effectively have rights to attend. These students are also likely well-prepared to learn.

Exactly this. You all who need schools to meet some “majority white” threshold are looking at the wrong criteria to evaluate schools. You need to evaluate your thinking.

[Anonymous]

Nobody needs to reevaluate anything, but facing facts isn't a bad idea. When the neighborhood is 85% white and the school is two-thirds AA, neighborhood buy is weak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody needs to reevaluate anything, but facing facts isn't a bad idea. When the neighborhood is 85% white and the school is two-thirds AA, neighborhood buy is weak.

Omg, just stop. What neighborhood are you talking about? The in-boundary area encompasses 5 elementary schools, and those schools do not look like Janney.

The feeder school is Hardy, and for 2022-2023 the demographic profile for Hardy was

Black: 28%
Hispanic/Latino: 18%
White: 40%
Asian: 7%
Pacific/Hawaiian: 0%
Native/Alaskan: 0%
Multiple races: 7%

And Hardy is great and my smart kids are learning (at least this year with the new principal et al.)

Take your misguided assertion and go away.

[Anonymous]

Get a grip, the feeders schools are far more diverse than their neighborhoods/catchment areas. Arguably, the right demographic balance hasn't been struck. Trying to shame and shout down anybody who points this out isn't reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody needs to reevaluate anything, but facing facts isn't a bad idea. When the neighborhood is 85% white and the school is two-thirds AA, neighborhood buy is weak.

Pssst, here's a secret. You do know that even the in-boundary elementary schools (Mann, Key, Eaton, Hyde, Stoddert) are only 54% white, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip, the feeders schools are far more diverse than their neighborhoods/catchment areas. Arguably, the right demographic balance hasn't been struck. Trying to shame and shout down anybody who points this out isn't reasonable.

Did you expect a bunch of kids in 8th grade to suddenly leave NCS and Landon to show up at first year MacArthur?

Why would MacArthur look wildly different from its feeder schools of from the other nearby DCPS middle and high schools (eg, Deal, Walls, J-R, Oyster-Adams)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip, the feeders schools are far more diverse than their neighborhoods/catchment areas. Arguably, the right demographic balance hasn't been struck. Trying to shame and shout down anybody who points this out isn't reasonable.

Did you expect a bunch of kids in 8th grade to suddenly leave NCS and Landon to show up at first year MacArthur?

Why would MacArthur look wildly different from its feeder schools of from the other nearby DCPS middle and high schools (eg, Deal, Walls, J-R, Oyster-Adams)?

And to add a question:

What school--private or public--in NW DC or even in nearby MD or VA is 85% white?!

I'm not sure there is a neighborhood that is 85% white. You might find schools or neighborhoods that are 15% Black, but not 85% white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip, the feeders schools are far more diverse than their neighborhoods/catchment areas. Arguably, the right demographic balance hasn't been struck. Trying to shame and shout down anybody who points this out isn't reasonable.

Did you expect a bunch of kids in 8th grade to suddenly leave NCS and Landon to show up at first year MacArthur?

Why would MacArthur look wildly different from its feeder schools of from the other nearby DCPS middle and high schools (eg, Deal, Walls, J-R, Oyster-Adams)?

And to add a question:

What school--private or public--in NW DC or even in nearby MD or VA is 85% white?!

I'm not sure there is a neighborhood that is 85% white. You might find schools or neighborhoods that are 15% Black, but not 85% white.

Can't find any. Most even in MoCo 50 % white. (both BCC and Churchill are 55 and 45% white respectively). Maybe if you go really far into the exurbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip, the feeders schools are far more diverse than their neighborhoods/catchment areas. Arguably, the right demographic balance hasn't been struck. Trying to shame and shout down anybody who points this out isn't reasonable.

Did you expect a bunch of kids in 8th grade to suddenly leave NCS and Landon to show up at first year MacArthur?

Why would MacArthur look wildly different from its feeder schools of from the other nearby DCPS middle and high schools (eg, Deal, Walls, J-R, Oyster-Adams)?

And to add a question:

What school--private or public--in NW DC or even in nearby MD or VA is 85% white?!

I'm not sure there is a neighborhood that is 85% white. You might find schools or neighborhoods that are 15% Black, but not 85% white.

Can't find any. Most even in MoCo 50 % white. (both BCC and Churchill are 55 and 45% white respectively). Maybe if you go really far into the exurbs.

Lafayette and Janney are in the 70’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip, the feeders schools are far more diverse than their neighborhoods/catchment areas. Arguably, the right demographic balance hasn't been struck. Trying to shame and shout down anybody who points this out isn't reasonable.

Did you expect a bunch of kids in 8th grade to suddenly leave NCS and Landon to show up at first year MacArthur?

Why would MacArthur look wildly different from its feeder schools of from the other nearby DCPS middle and high schools (eg, Deal, Walls, J-R, Oyster-Adams)?

And to add a question:

What school--private or public--in NW DC or even in nearby MD or VA is 85% white?!

I'm not sure there is a neighborhood that is 85% white. You might find schools or neighborhoods that are 15% Black, but not 85% white.

Can't find any. Most even in MoCo 50 % white. (both BCC and Churchill are 55 and 45% white respectively). Maybe if you go really far into the exurbs.

Lafayette and Janney are in the 70’s.

High school

[Anonymous]

Have to get north of Frederick to find a high school in MD around 85% white. Probably have to go even further out in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip, the feeders schools are far more diverse than their neighborhoods/catchment areas. Arguably, the right demographic balance hasn't been struck. Trying to shame and shout down anybody who points this out isn't reasonable.

Did you expect a bunch of kids in 8th grade to suddenly leave NCS and Landon to show up at first year MacArthur?

Why would MacArthur look wildly different from its feeder schools of from the other nearby DCPS middle and high schools (eg, Deal, Walls, J-R, Oyster-Adams)?

And to add a question:

What school--private or public--in NW DC or even in nearby MD or VA is 85% white?!

I'm not sure there is a neighborhood that is 85% white. You might find schools or neighborhoods that are 15% Black, but not 85% white.

Can't find any. Most even in MoCo 50 % white. (both BCC and Churchill are 55 and 45% white respectively). Maybe if you go really far into the exurbs.

Lafayette and Janney are in the 70’s.

73% and 70%, respectively. Which is as high as you will find (and these are ES as pointed out above).

Nowhere is 85%.

Now back to a real-world discussion of MacArthur...