St Albans for black students

[Anonymous]

lol previous poster
pretty was supposed to be "preppy".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just when I had hope for STA I see the governing board is still the same old same old - Chevy Members or conservative or both with the exception of a few. Sigh.

So you crossed checked the list with the membership of a club and know the politics of each board member. You've got some spreadsheet!

Different poster. Their support was very public. I am surprised as well. Kavanaugh just voted against DACA, against LGBTQ rights in the workplace, and against women’s reproductive rights all in one week. Not the views I though STA was trying to associate with right now.

That is diversity too. I know no one in DC wants to acknowledge it, but diversity of political opinion is a kind of diversity. Conservative are FAR outnumbered in this area and should probably be courted by admissions to bring diversity to any school. Isn't diversity supposed to be amazing for expanding kids' educational experience? - not a K fan or country club member, but super tired of people wanting schools to police people's private lives. Ew.

DP. You don’t know what you are talking about. Conservatives are not outnumbered at STA. In fact they have become the majority in recent years. Puzzling in a city that votes 90% democratic.

The city is liberal than it was a few years ago and is becoming more conservative by the day.

Ha. I wish, but no way is this true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be furious if my son was thought of as just a diversity number. If the school and admin have this philosophy then it will naturally trickle down to everyone else.

This is fundamentally the school's problem. You have the super wealthy, mostly conservative, Chevy Chase club members (or similar) and then the token diversity kids. This never works well. My son and friends applied from DCPS with smart, professional parents but not ultra wealthy or waspy. None were admitted despite having top scores and grades. However, they were admitted to GDS, Sidwell and Maret. And female friends to NCS.
The following year it was the same story from our DCPS. None to STA despite being awesome kids. Who was admitted both years? Super pretty boys from one social circle who all attended a few feeder private schools. AND of course the few diversity kids. If the school would admit a few kids "in the middle" economically or a bit more of a social mix they probably wouldn't run into the same problems year after year. Even NCS has figured this out. They have a far more economically diverse student body.

This is very accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA sure has kept the black students and Alumni quiet. They haven’t posted a word on Instagram.

Just as STA has a button to delete threads and posts they don’t like in DCUM, they have similar privileges at all the major social media platforms. You should ask your private school why they don’t have the same.

Not just Saint Albans. Landon, prep, and all the other predominantly white all boy schools in the area have all been silent. My son is applying in the fall and he’s not going to be doing any shucking and jiving, buck dancing, or boot licking nor do I want him around other boys who feel they have to so I’ve crossed these schools off the list.

What schools did your son apply to instead? Also, what private schools would you recommend to other black families?

i recommend the schools where blacks are treated with the same amount of respect white students and white families are and I didn’t apply yet. We are applying in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be furious if my son was thought of as just a diversity number. If the school and admin have this philosophy then it will naturally trickle down to everyone else.

This is fundamentally the school's problem. You have the super wealthy, mostly conservative, Chevy Chase club members (or similar) and then the token diversity kids. This never works well. My son and friends applied from DCPS with smart, professional parents but not ultra wealthy or waspy. None were admitted despite having top scores and grades. However, they were admitted to GDS, Sidwell and Maret. And female friends to NCS.
The following year it was the same story from our DCPS. None to STA despite being awesome kids. Who was admitted both years? Super pretty boys from one social circle who all attended a few feeder private schools. AND of course the few diversity kids. If the school would admit a few kids "in the middle" economically or a bit more of a social mix they probably wouldn't run into the same problems year after year. Even NCS has figured this out. They have a far more economically diverse student body.

This is very accurate.

What are super pretty boys? Yes, the barbell question is something schools think about when determining how to allocate FA. However, if they give a lot to the middle they run into being accused of helping rich people. It's lose-lose sometimes, running a school and meeting everyone's hopes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be furious if my son was thought of as just a diversity number. If the school and admin have this philosophy then it will naturally trickle down to everyone else.

This is fundamentally the school's problem. You have the super wealthy, mostly conservative, Chevy Chase club members (or similar) and then the token diversity kids. This never works well. My son and friends applied from DCPS with smart, professional parents but not ultra wealthy or waspy. None were admitted despite having top scores and grades. However, they were admitted to GDS, Sidwell and Maret. And female friends to NCS.
The following year it was the same story from our DCPS. None to STA despite being awesome kids. Who was admitted both years? Super pretty boys from one social circle who all attended a few feeder private schools. AND of course the few diversity kids. If the school would admit a few kids "in the middle" economically or a bit more of a social mix they probably wouldn't run into the same problems year after year. Even NCS has figured this out. They have a far more economically diverse student body.

Yes, I’m sure that your child wasn’t admitted because he wasn’t pretty enough. Honestly, your stupidity is mind-boggling.

[Anonymous]

Pretty = preppy. The poster clarified. Your inability to read is mind boggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just when I had hope for STA I see the governing board is still the same old same old - Chevy Members or conservative or both with the exception of a few. Sigh.

So? It's their school. They can have whomever they want on the governing board.

1) Whose school is it?
2) The composition of board is telling of the school leadership’s priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just when I had hope for STA I see the governing board is still the same old same old - Chevy Members or conservative or both with the exception of a few. Sigh.

So? It's their school. They can have whomever they want on the governing board.

1) Whose school is it?
2) The composition of board is telling of the school leadership’s priorities.

Ask yourself, is STA worth $50k with all the race/social headaches for your black son? The STA have had years to figure out diversity. THEY CHOSE NOT TO. How many black male faculty does STA have? Any leading a department? Our supporters cannot only be coaches and kind gent at the front desk.

Additionally, is it worth being in a community that isn’t open to you? The parents will say they want diversity, but will they allow their kids to have a play date at your house? Will they explore professional relationships/opportunities with you? Will they invite you to CCC? If not, choose a community that’s more welcoming. From my STA experience - the school, price tag, and community misses the mark. Don’t fall for the we will make the numbers work. BS. Get everything in writing first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be furious if my son was thought of as just a diversity number. If the school and admin have this philosophy then it will naturally trickle down to everyone else.

This is fundamentally the school's problem. You have the super wealthy, mostly conservative, Chevy Chase club members (or similar) and then the token diversity kids. This never works well. My son and friends applied from DCPS with smart, professional parents but not ultra wealthy or waspy. None were admitted despite having top scores and grades. However, they were admitted to GDS, Sidwell and Maret. And female friends to NCS.
The following year it was the same story from our DCPS. None to STA despite being awesome kids. Who was admitted both years? Super pretty boys from one social circle who all attended a few feeder private schools. AND of course the few diversity kids. If the school would admit a few kids "in the middle" economically or a bit more of a social mix they probably wouldn't run into the same problems year after year. Even NCS has figured this out. They have a far more economically diverse student body.

This is very accurate.

What are super pretty boys? Yes, the barbell question is something schools think about when determining how to allocate FA. However, if they give a lot to the middle they run into being accused of helping rich people. It's lose-lose sometimes, running a school and meeting everyone's hopes.

I'm not talking about allocating aid to the middle. I'm talking about admissions. Admitting kids who aren't from the CCC crowd and a select number of privates. STA admits in a barbell fashion. You have the super wealthy CCC crowd and their friends and then the diversity admits to make everyone feel good.
They have little interest in the middle social/economic ground. You know, the children of regular working professionals in DC who are willing to pay the $50K and have smart kids but don't have the right social contacts or cache.
You can't tell me that this isn't the case at STA. Sure, there are some exceptions. It's not to a person. And there are diversity admits who are ultra connected and wealthy. But I now have a child at NCS and the two schools are very different places in this regard. NCS admits from every social class. You have the elites/ CCC members. But then you just have the regular professional
class nobodies of DC. You have two fed families (gasp!). There is no pronounced barbell effect. And it works much better. The other Big3 have figured this out at well.
Off my soapbox now. But until STA stops admitting in this barbell fashion they're going to have issues of race and class pop up again and again and any amount of diversity programs, etc. won't lead to a healthy dynamic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty = preppy. The poster clarified. Your inability to read is mind boggling.

Fine, I’m equally certain that the child was rejected because he was not preppy enough. I can smell your stupidity and striving desperation from here and I happen to be in NY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty = preppy. The poster clarified. Your inability to read is mind boggling.

Fine, I’m equally certain that the child was rejected because he was not preppy enough. I can smell your stupidity and striving desperation from here and I happen to be in NY.

Well if you a) were here in DC and knew anything about STA and b) had bothered to read her insightful posts in depth without fixating on the word "preppy," which is obviously a trigger for you for some weird reason -- you would know that this poster is right on the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just when I had hope for STA I see the governing board is still the same old same old - Chevy Members or conservative or both with the exception of a few. Sigh.

So? It's their school. They can have whomever they want on the governing board.

1) Whose school is it?
2) The composition of board is telling of the school leadership’s priorities.

Ask yourself, is STA worth $50k with all the race/social headaches for your black son? The STA have had years to figure out diversity. THEY CHOSE NOT TO. How many black male faculty does STA have? Any leading a department? Our supporters cannot only be coaches and kind gent at the front desk.

Additionally, is it worth being in a community that isn’t open to you? The parents will say they want diversity, but will they allow their kids to have a play date at your house? Will they explore professional relationships/opportunities with you? Will they invite you to CCC? If not, choose a community that’s more welcoming. From my STA experience - the school, price tag, and community misses the mark. Don’t fall for the we will make the numbers work. BS. Get everything in writing first.

So I don't care for STA. But based on your post and comment about POC's leading a department, I went and took a look. Right off the bat there is a POC as a department chair. And numerous women in leadership roles. Really should check these things out before you post BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty = preppy. The poster clarified. Your inability to read is mind boggling.

Fine, I’m equally certain that the child was rejected because he was not preppy enough. I can smell your stupidity and striving desperation from here and I happen to be in NY.

Well if you a) were here in DC and knew anything about STA and b) had bothered to read her insightful posts in depth without fixating on the word "preppy," which is obviously a trigger for you for some weird reason -- you would know that this poster is right on the money.

I'm not from the DC area and I can tell there are some unhinged and triggered people here whenever the words St. Albans are mentioned. Bit strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be furious if my son was thought of as just a diversity number. If the school and admin have this philosophy then it will naturally trickle down to everyone else.

This is fundamentally the school's problem. You have the super wealthy, mostly conservative, Chevy Chase club members (or similar) and then the token diversity kids. This never works well. My son and friends applied from DCPS with smart, professional parents but not ultra wealthy or waspy. None were admitted despite having top scores and grades. However, they were admitted to GDS, Sidwell and Maret. And female friends to NCS.
The following year it was the same story from our DCPS. None to STA despite being awesome kids. Who was admitted both years? Super pretty boys from one social circle who all attended a few feeder private schools. AND of course the few diversity kids. If the school would admit a few kids "in the middle" economically or a bit more of a social mix they probably wouldn't run into the same problems year after year. Even NCS has figured this out. They have a far more economically diverse student body.

This is very accurate.

What are super pretty boys? Yes, the barbell question is something schools think about when determining how to allocate FA. However, if they give a lot to the middle they run into being accused of helping rich people. It's lose-lose sometimes, running a school and meeting everyone's hopes.

I'm not talking about allocating aid to the middle. I'm talking about admissions. Admitting kids who aren't from the CCC crowd and a select number of privates. STA admits in a barbell fashion. You have the super wealthy CCC crowd and their friends and then the diversity admits to make everyone feel good.
They have little interest in the middle social/economic ground. You know, the children of regular working professionals in DC who are willing to pay the $50K and have smart kids but don't have the right social contacts or cache.
You can't tell me that this isn't the case at STA. Sure, there are some exceptions. It's not to a person. And there are diversity admits who are ultra connected and wealthy. But I now have a child at NCS and the two schools are very different places in this regard./ NCS admits from every social class. You have the elites/ CCC members. But then you just have the regular professional
class nobodies of DC. You have two fed families (gasp!). There is no pronounced barbell effect. And it works much better. The other Big3 have figured this out at well.
Off my soapbox now. But until STA stops admitting in this barbell fashion they're going to have issues of race and class pop up again and again and any amount of diversity programs, etc. won't lead to a healthy dynamic.

We are an STA family, and your perceptions are wildly off. The school does not have a barbell admissions. It's actually about 1/4 CCC & wealthy crowd; 1/2 well-off, dual professional parents without cache or connections; and 1/4 kids who are from households who need financial aid.

The 50% who are ordinary people, often dual feds, doesn't happen until you hit Form A. In Form C and B, the CCC & wealthy crowd dominates because so many of the kids come from Beauvoir. That starts to change STA's middle school. That's equally true for NCS.

There's nothing STA or NCS can do about Beauvoir. Their charter requires them to accept the majority of students from there. Because Beauvoir has less financial resources than STA and NCS, more of their students are full-pay or almost. They like to give small financial aid grants to a large number of families, so not many lower-income families.