Recommendations for Parent of Black Son With 99th Percentile Test Scores?

[Anonymous]

Banneker or StAnselms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

Since he is bilingual, check out Washington International School. It is an immersion IB school with an opportunity for a bilingual diploma too.

Otherwise I’d recommend Sidwell, GDS, and Maret. If there is any interest in all-boys then St. Albans.

We are a Black family with boys that toured this past fall and were impressed with the aforementioned schools. Good luck!

WIS is pretty poor in math. I would not send someone with his stats there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you move to Virginia instead?

What good privates are in Virginia?

For 8th grader doing Calculus, maybe Basis in McLean? And apply for TJ for 9th grade. I have no personal experience, but throwing out there. TJ was #1 magnet until very recently. There aren't tons of privates in VA. More in DC/MD

[Anonymous]

black friendly? What do you mean op?

Do you think the ultra liberal dc area schools, from rich to poor, are not black friendly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you move to Virginia instead?

Don’t move to Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Privates: Basis in McLean, VA. Nysmith in Herndon, VA.

Then apply to public TJ High School starting 9th grade, which is a public magnet.

Or move to a public middle school that is a good feeder to TJ High School, such as Carson, Cooper or Longfellow Middle Schools.

Whichever middle school you choose, if you need you can supplement with outside resources. Focus on the path to a high school that would fit your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:black friendly? What do you mean op?

Do you think the ultra liberal dc area schools, from rich to poor, are not black friendly?

NP here. Some are more welcoming than others, yes. For example, some schools have more black faculty members than others. When you have a black child, those things make a diffference.

[Anonymous]

There are also supplemental math programs like Russian School of Math and Art of Problem Solving. You might already be familiar with those.

[Anonymous]

My daughter (mixed race) goes to Jackson Reed and loves it. But it is not rigorous. While diverse, she was previously in more diverse public schools. I second the recommendations of Thomas Jefferson in VA, School Without Walls in DC (public magnet with possible dual enrollment at GW university). Banneker is very rigorous and mostly Black traditionally but becoming more diverse. Great new facility. But I’m not sure if they can accommodate that level of math advancement, but they also have dual enrollment with Howard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

Since he is bilingual, check out Washington International School. It is an immersion IB school with an opportunity for a bilingual diploma too.

Otherwise I’d recommend Sidwell, GDS, and Maret. If there is any interest in all-boys then St. Albans.

We are a Black family with boys that toured this past fall and were impressed with the aforementioned schools. Good luck!

WIS is pretty poor in math. I would not send someone with his stats there.

WIS scored above global average for all IB senior exams, including math. I’m not sure about their speciality courses in terms of math but they are IB

[Anonymous]

Public

[Anonymous]

McLean Basis in McLean, VA. It’s very small and filled with kids like yours. Similarly, Thomas Jefferson in Alexandria, VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

Sidwell, GDS, Maret, Bullis, St. Johns

I would not recommend Jackson Reed

Publics in Maryland can decent

[Anonymous]

At the top - Sidwell and GDS.
Also consider - St. Alban's, Maret, and St. Anselm's

Where do you plan to live, OP? If in "upper NW," Sidwell, GDS, St. Albans, and Maret are going to be the easiest in terms of commute.

[Anonymous]

Your son's math level is very high. If there are high school options that you like and can accommodate this level of acceleration, I'd stay put in Chicago. I don't think there are any public or private options in the DC area that offer Pre-Calc in 7th grade. Maybe Basis DC (it is a DC charter school, I'd ask your question on the DC public school board)?

So, you're going to have to talk to each school individually to find out what they recommend for his math pathway. I am guessing he would get into most schools he applies to (even the most competitive privates) here in the DC area.

If you have to move here, I'd move inbounds for Blair HS in Montgomery County, MD in time for him to apply to the math/science magnet so that is an option. If he doesn't get in (I'm guessing he would), he can still access their high level math, computer science, and science classes.

For privates, St. Anselms is known as the "nerdy" school, and it has a high percentage of black students. My own kids went to St. Johns. It is about 30% black and has plenty of nerdy black kids. My only hesitation is that they only have a handful of kids that take math past Calc BC, and it is offered as an online thing I believe. I'm not sure what they'd do with a kid who has finished Calc in middle school.