New Jackson-Reed HS (Wilson HS) School Principal - Sah Brown from Eastern High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what did the wealthy parents at Jackson-Reed do that "made it better?"

Didn't pull out their well prepared kid? Demanded appropriate classes?

This is "made it better?"

I mean... yes. How do you think the majority of schools in DC improved? There's a cycle of buy in leading to more buy in leading to better offerings and more parental funding leading to more buy in leading to higher expectations leading to, etc, etc. Like yes, I genuinely believe that gentrification in DC has improved schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what did the wealthy parents at Jackson-Reed do that "made it better?"

Didn't pull out their well prepared kid? Demanded appropriate classes?

This is "made it better?"

I mean... yes. How do you think the majority of schools in DC improved? There's a cycle of buy in leading to more buy in leading to better offerings and more parental funding leading to more buy in leading to higher expectations leading to, etc, etc. Like yes, I genuinely believe that gentrification in DC has improved schools.

Sure, if your unit of measure is the building and not the humans inside the building. The kids who previously attended those schools are now priced out of the neighborhood, and they are being poor and having achievement issues somewhere else. But DCUM doesn’t seem to care about that.

[Anonymous]

Cynical view. You can care without being able to change a think. Shall we not live in gentrifying neighborhoods or send our children to DCPS schools to help poor kids? Shall we lobby politicians for at-risk set asides at crowded DCOS programs like Brent and Maury? It all seems pointless to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what did the wealthy parents at Jackson-Reed do that "made it better?"

Didn't pull out their well prepared kid? Demanded appropriate classes?

This is "made it better?"

I mean... yes. How do you think the majority of schools in DC improved? There's a cycle of buy in leading to more buy in leading to better offerings and more parental funding leading to more buy in leading to higher expectations leading to, etc, etc. Like yes, I genuinely believe that gentrification in DC has improved schools.

Sure, if your unit of measure is the building and not the humans inside the building. The kids who previously attended those schools are now priced out of the neighborhood, and they are being poor and having achievement issues somewhere else. But DCUM doesn’t seem to care about that.

Can you say more about what this means? Unless they were in rentals before they weren't priced out of somewhere they did not live. If what you are suggesting is that they lived OOB and because the IB population started sending their kids there, that's not "being priced out" and in fact that's what the IB preference policy design was design to achieve - neighborhood schools.

So I'm asking seriously, what does the bolded section above mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That principal?!

We live on Capitol Hill. My spouse and I met with Brown when when we were looking into the IB Diploma program at Eastern for our oldest in early 2020, before the pandemic began.

Brown seemed clueless about what it would take to attract high SES in-boundary families like ours to Eastern, without any real interest in doing so. He claimed that the program offered "real rigor and challenge to all" repeatedly, and wouldn't answer our questions about Eastern's average IBD points totals. He also wouldn't talk about how many of the "full Diploma" students at Eastern actually earn the Diploma.

Later on, we learned that Eastern's average points total has been mired in the mid 20s, on a 24-45 points pass scale, since the program's inception a decade ago. We also learned that most of the Eastern students who try to earn the Diploma have failed since the get go. We left the meeting unimpressed with Brown and Eastern's IBD program and didn't enroll our child.

So, let me get this right. You walked into this man’s office with your white hood on, took it off, handed it to him and asked him to put it on. He rebuffed your offer and you decided you didn’t like him. Eastern HS kids test poorly due to various reasons (poverty, trauma, inequality, etc). He does not have to explain any of that to you. Your child could have obtained a good education there, but your classism and racism prevented you from entertaining the thought of your child in that school.

ha ha, normally I dislike this kind of invective, but seems to hit the mark.

PP who talked to Brown. My spouse and I are people of color who come from working-class backgrounds. We attended college on full Pell Grants.

We wouldn't have bothered going to Eastern to speak to Brown if we hadn't been trying to keep an open mind. What are you posters slamming us celebrating? Brown's able leadership at Eastern?

I agree with you. I work for a neighborhood organization and Principal Sah asked for a meeting with us. He said he was interested in attracting more in-boundariy students but he was clueless how to do it. He shot down any ideas that were brought up and acted like in-boundary students should attend just because. It was a weird meeting

So basically it’s the same prisoners dilemma that none of us know how to break out of. If Hill parents send their kids to Eastern then the IB diploma rates would be much better. The advanced program everyone claims to want is literally there. All they have to do is send their kids. He’s not wrong. Parents need to organize themselves to send their kids en masse - this is a parent problem.

Exactly. I’m white and volunteered at Eastern over a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, Sah Brown is a tall, dark skinned black man. That may be informing the perceived lack of deference that was shown to the IB Mommy who wanted to have her ass kissed and some of the unease at having a black man from a school with poor kids taking over JR. The subtext here is "Can a black man really understand the UMC needs of our JR population?"

He went to Lehigh University for undergrad. He knows the UMC and UC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, Sah Brown is a tall, dark skinned black man. That may be informing the perceived lack of deference that was shown to the IB Mommy who wanted to have her ass kissed and some of the unease at having a black man from a school with poor kids taking over JR. The subtext here is "Can a black man really understand the UMC needs of our JR population?"

He went to Lehigh University for undergrad. He knows the UMC and UC.

Not buying it. When America voted in a tall, dark skinned black man as president more than a decade back, more than 90% of DC voters who went to the polls cast their ballots for him. Everything criticism of a black principal isn't rooted in racism. The subtext here is that Brown hasn't given a hoot if in-boundary white and Asian students attend Eastern for 8 years now. If you disagree, offer us evidence that he's willing to serve UMC in-boundary families. There is none, which is worrying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That principal?!

We live on Capitol Hill. My spouse and I met with Brown when when we were looking into the IB Diploma program at Eastern for our oldest in early 2020, before the pandemic began.

Brown seemed clueless about what it would take to attract high SES in-boundary families like ours to Eastern, without any real interest in doing so. He claimed that the program offered "real rigor and challenge to all" repeatedly, and wouldn't answer our questions about Eastern's average IBD points totals. He also wouldn't talk about how many of the "full Diploma" students at Eastern actually earn the Diploma.

Later on, we learned that Eastern's average points total has been mired in the mid 20s, on a 24-45 points pass scale, since the program's inception a decade ago. We also learned that most of the Eastern students who try to earn the Diploma have failed since the get go. We left the meeting unimpressed with Brown and Eastern's IBD program and didn't enroll our child.

So, let me get this right. You walked into this man’s office with your white hood on, took it off, handed it to him and asked him to put it on. He rebuffed your offer and you decided you didn’t like him. Eastern HS kids test poorly due to various reasons (poverty, trauma, inequality, etc). He does not have to explain any of that to you. Your child could have obtained a good education there, but your classism and racism prevented you from entertaining the thought of your child in that school.

ha ha, normally I dislike this kind of invective, but seems to hit the mark.

PP who talked to Brown. My spouse and I are people of color who come from working-class backgrounds. We attended college on full Pell Grants.

We wouldn't have bothered going to Eastern to speak to Brown if we hadn't been trying to keep an open mind. What are you posters slamming us celebrating? Brown's able leadership at Eastern?

I agree with you. I work for a neighborhood organization and Principal Sah asked for a meeting with us. He said he was interested in attracting more in-boundariy students but he was clueless how to do it. He shot down any ideas that were brought up and acted like in-boundary students should attend just because. It was a weird meeting

So basically it’s the same prisoners dilemma that none of us know how to break out of. If Hill parents send their kids to Eastern then the IB diploma rates would be much better. The advanced program everyone claims to want is literally there. All they have to do is send their kids. He’s not wrong. Parents need to organize themselves to send their kids en masse - this is a parent problem.

Exactly. I’m white and volunteered at Eastern over a decade ago.

Snap your fingers, hold a parent meeting or two and, voila, a sizeable cohort of in-boundary families rushes to Eastern for 9th grade. Are you even vaguely aware that very few UMC families in Ward 6 even bother with DCPS middle schools? So they're going to drop out of privates, Latin and BASIS to rush to Eastern as a group? Silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, Sah Brown is a tall, dark skinned black man. That may be informing the perceived lack of deference that was shown to the IB Mommy who wanted to have her ass kissed and some of the unease at having a black man from a school with poor kids taking over JR. The subtext here is "Can a black man really understand the UMC needs of our JR population?"

He went to Lehigh University for undergrad. He knows the UMC and UC.

huh ever stop to think … that black people can be UMC themselves? shocker I know!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, Sah Brown is a tall, dark skinned black man. That may be informing the perceived lack of deference that was shown to the IB Mommy who wanted to have her ass kissed and some of the unease at having a black man from a school with poor kids taking over JR. The subtext here is "Can a black man really understand the UMC needs of our JR population?"

He went to Lehigh University for undergrad. He knows the UMC and UC.

Not buying it. When America voted in a tall, dark skinned black man as president more than a decade back, more than 90% of DC voters who went to the polls cast their ballots for him. Everything criticism of a black principal isn't rooted in racism. The subtext here is that Brown hasn't given a hoot if in-boundary white and Asian students attend Eastern for 8 years now. If you disagree, offer us evidence that he's willing to serve UMC in-boundary families. There is none, which is worrying.

wtf is he supposed to “serve” families that DO NOT ATTEND the school??? What you seem to be saying is that he has an animus towards white IB families, and that is a totally unsupported allegation. It does appear true that he hasn’t gone on a campaign to recruit IB families; but IB families have failed to organize themselves as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That principal?!

We live on Capitol Hill. My spouse and I met with Brown when when we were looking into the IB Diploma program at Eastern for our oldest in early 2020, before the pandemic began.

Brown seemed clueless about what it would take to attract high SES in-boundary families like ours to Eastern, without any real interest in doing so. He claimed that the program offered "real rigor and challenge to all" repeatedly, and wouldn't answer our questions about Eastern's average IBD points totals. He also wouldn't talk about how many of the "full Diploma" students at Eastern actually earn the Diploma.

Later on, we learned that Eastern's average points total has been mired in the mid 20s, on a 24-45 points pass scale, since the program's inception a decade ago. We also learned that most of the Eastern students who try to earn the Diploma have failed since the get go. We left the meeting unimpressed with Brown and Eastern's IBD program and didn't enroll our child.

So, let me get this right. You walked into this man’s office with your white hood on, took it off, handed it to him and asked him to put it on. He rebuffed your offer and you decided you didn’t like him. Eastern HS kids test poorly due to various reasons (poverty, trauma, inequality, etc). He does not have to explain any of that to you. Your child could have obtained a good education there, but your classism and racism prevented you from entertaining the thought of your child in that school.

ha ha, normally I dislike this kind of invective, but seems to hit the mark.

PP who talked to Brown. My spouse and I are people of color who come from working-class backgrounds. We attended college on full Pell Grants.

We wouldn't have bothered going to Eastern to speak to Brown if we hadn't been trying to keep an open mind. What are you posters slamming us celebrating? Brown's able leadership at Eastern?

I agree with you. I work for a neighborhood organization and Principal Sah asked for a meeting with us. He said he was interested in attracting more in-boundariy students but he was clueless how to do it. He shot down any ideas that were brought up and acted like in-boundary students should attend just because. It was a weird meeting

So basically it’s the same prisoners dilemma that none of us know how to break out of. If Hill parents send their kids to Eastern then the IB diploma rates would be much better. The advanced program everyone claims to want is literally there. All they have to do is send their kids. He’s not wrong. Parents need to organize themselves to send their kids en masse - this is a parent problem.

Exactly. I’m white and volunteered at Eastern over a decade ago.

“Parents need to organize themselves” … but when they meet with the principal he makes it clear he DNGAF whether they come. Would YOU want to send your kid to that school? A school with crap test scores, a joke of an IB program and a principal who makes it clear he does not care about rigor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That principal?!

We live on Capitol Hill. My spouse and I met with Brown when when we were looking into the IB Diploma program at Eastern for our oldest in early 2020, before the pandemic began.

Brown seemed clueless about what it would take to attract high SES in-boundary families like ours to Eastern, without any real interest in doing so. He claimed that the program offered "real rigor and challenge to all" repeatedly, and wouldn't answer our questions about Eastern's average IBD points totals. He also wouldn't talk about how many of the "full Diploma" students at Eastern actually earn the Diploma.

Later on, we learned that Eastern's average points total has been mired in the mid 20s, on a 24-45 points pass scale, since the program's inception a decade ago. We also learned that most of the Eastern students who try to earn the Diploma have failed since the get go. We left the meeting unimpressed with Brown and Eastern's IBD program and didn't enroll our child.

So, let me get this right. You walked into this man’s office with your white hood on, took it off, handed it to him and asked him to put it on. He rebuffed your offer and you decided you didn’t like him. Eastern HS kids test poorly due to various reasons (poverty, trauma, inequality, etc). He does not have to explain any of that to you. Your child could have obtained a good education there, but your classism and racism prevented you from entertaining the thought of your child in that school.

ha ha, normally I dislike this kind of invective, but seems to hit the mark.

PP who talked to Brown. My spouse and I are people of color who come from working-class backgrounds. We attended college on full Pell Grants.

We wouldn't have bothered going to Eastern to speak to Brown if we hadn't been trying to keep an open mind. What are you posters slamming us celebrating? Brown's able leadership at Eastern?

I agree with you. I work for a neighborhood organization and Principal Sah asked for a meeting with us. He said he was interested in attracting more in-boundariy students but he was clueless how to do it. He shot down any ideas that were brought up and acted like in-boundary students should attend just because. It was a weird meeting

So basically it’s the same prisoners dilemma that none of us know how to break out of. If Hill parents send their kids to Eastern then the IB diploma rates would be much better. The advanced program everyone claims to want is literally there. All they have to do is send their kids. He’s not wrong. Parents need to organize themselves to send their kids en masse - this is a parent problem.

Exactly. I’m white and volunteered at Eastern over a decade ago.

Snap your fingers, hold a parent meeting or two and, voila, a sizeable cohort of in-boundary families rushes to Eastern for 9th grade. Are you even vaguely aware that very few UMC families in Ward 6 even bother with DCPS middle schools? So they're going to drop out of privates, Latin and BASIS to rush to Eastern as a group? Silly.

If that’s your belief, why are you posting here? So Ward 6 families are a lost cause and Eastern will always be majority OOB.

Like it or not, making a school likr Eastern and IB school takes drive and willpower from parents en masse. And that just is not happening, and it’s the fault od the parents primarily for failing to organize in this particular case. Point being, it is not the principal’s fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That principal?!

We live on Capitol Hill. My spouse and I met with Brown when when we were looking into the IB Diploma program at Eastern for our oldest in early 2020, before the pandemic began.

Brown seemed clueless about what it would take to attract high SES in-boundary families like ours to Eastern, without any real interest in doing so. He claimed that the program offered "real rigor and challenge to all" repeatedly, and wouldn't answer our questions about Eastern's average IBD points totals. He also wouldn't talk about how many of the "full Diploma" students at Eastern actually earn the Diploma.

Later on, we learned that Eastern's average points total has been mired in the mid 20s, on a 24-45 points pass scale, since the program's inception a decade ago. We also learned that most of the Eastern students who try to earn the Diploma have failed since the get go. We left the meeting unimpressed with Brown and Eastern's IBD program and didn't enroll our child.

So, let me get this right. You walked into this man’s office with your white hood on, took it off, handed it to him and asked him to put it on. He rebuffed your offer and you decided you didn’t like him. Eastern HS kids test poorly due to various reasons (poverty, trauma, inequality, etc). He does not have to explain any of that to you. Your child could have obtained a good education there, but your classism and racism prevented you from entertaining the thought of your child in that school.

ha ha, normally I dislike this kind of invective, but seems to hit the mark.

PP who talked to Brown. My spouse and I are people of color who come from working-class backgrounds. We attended college on full Pell Grants.

We wouldn't have bothered going to Eastern to speak to Brown if we hadn't been trying to keep an open mind. What are you posters slamming us celebrating? Brown's able leadership at Eastern?

I agree with you. I work for a neighborhood organization and Principal Sah asked for a meeting with us. He said he was interested in attracting more in-boundariy students but he was clueless how to do it. He shot down any ideas that were brought up and acted like in-boundary students should attend just because. It was a weird meeting

So basically it’s the same prisoners dilemma that none of us know how to break out of. If Hill parents send their kids to Eastern then the IB diploma rates would be much better. The advanced program everyone claims to want is literally there. All they have to do is send their kids. He’s not wrong. Parents need to organize themselves to send their kids en masse - this is a parent problem.

Exactly. I’m white and volunteered at Eastern over a decade ago.

“Parents need to organize themselves” … but when they meet with the principal he makes it clear he DNGAF whether they come. Would YOU want to send your kid to that school? A school with crap test scores, a joke of an IB program and a principal who makes it clear he does not care about rigor?

One random, uniformed lady asking dumb gotcha questions (and then proving her bad faith by trashing the principal online) is not organizing.

You don’t need to send your kid to Eastern. I am not sending my kid there! But it’s not the principal’s fault for focusing on students who are *actually there* when it is clear there is zero IB family momentum (and the type of momentum that exists consists of posting nasty takes online).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, Sah Brown is a tall, dark skinned black man. That may be informing the perceived lack of deference that was shown to the IB Mommy who wanted to have her ass kissed and some of the unease at having a black man from a school with poor kids taking over JR. The subtext here is "Can a black man really understand the UMC needs of our JR population?"

He went to Lehigh University for undergrad. He knows the UMC and UC.

huh ever stop to think … that black people can be UMC themselves? shocker I know!!!

Holy shit, right!!! I cannot believe someone typed that and hit "PUBLISH"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, Sah Brown is a tall, dark skinned black man. That may be informing the perceived lack of deference that was shown to the IB Mommy who wanted to have her ass kissed and some of the unease at having a black man from a school with poor kids taking over JR. The subtext here is "Can a black man really understand the UMC needs of our JR population?"

He went to Lehigh University for undergrad. He knows the UMC and UC.

huh ever stop to think … that black people can be UMC themselves? shocker I know!!!

Holy shit, right!!! I cannot believe someone typed that and hit "PUBLISH"

I just imagine the incredibly thick skin professional black people must have … “Oh, I guess you KNOW middle class people since you went to college?”