This may seem an obvious point...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 'W' high school is the DCUM MD schools board equivalent of a JKLM.

Western Mont Co - Whitman, Wooton, Walter Johnson etc.

This is my urban bias, admittedly, but all I think when I think of affluent suburban schools is a lot of drunk driving at prom. You can offer kids all the bells and whistles in the world, but if that's all you're giving them, they're going to be terribly bored and end up in your garage, huffing glue in between prepping for those AP exams and varsity lacrosse.

I mean... do none of you REMEMBER high school? Or is it that the people who end up in DC were the straight A students who just sat in the library and wept over their Princeton applications?

[Anonymous]

I felt like a weirdo growing up in DC because my experience wasn't reflected in movies/on TV. So I can see what you're saying, OP - it's seen as a bit abnormal, out of the mainstream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I felt like a weirdo growing up in DC because my experience wasn't reflected in movies/on TV. So I can see what you're saying, OP - it's seen as a bit abnormal, out of the mainstream.

But not bad, right? I honestly think urban kids grow up with a lot of coping skills their burb peers lack. Or at least they did, in the days where we were allowed to roam at will. I used to cut school... and go to the art museum and copy paintings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I think I know why everyone on this particular board comes across as defensive and embittered.

We are all, somewhat, expected to justify not moving to the suburbs "for the good of our children," (or, as I like to think of it, move to the suburbs so our children can huff glue in a garage and drive drunk to prom and be abysmally bored), all the damn time. To everyone.

The myth of the suburban school experience is really strong. I never went to a suburban school myself (and I'm sure some immensely clever poster will chime in here about how they can tell that)--but I have to wonder. What, exactly, besides giant sports fields and parking lots, do these mythical burb schools have?

You'll aren't from here, are you?

-- MoCo "W" grad, with DCPS Ward 3 IB kids.

Some DC residents need to get out more. Not all of the suburban schools John Hughes movies.

Very true. What is a "W" grad. She says it like it means something. Should we be impressed your parents moved into a neighborhood that they called the school that?

Seriously ... the response shows the issue here. Saying exactly the opposite. The original post was one of the most naive in DCUM history. Why is the DC school system in the state it's in now? As one example, back in the 1960s, Hardy was a fully integrated, 1/2 Black, 1/2 White school. In the 70s, 80s, 90s, early-mid-00s, it was lower than 10% White. Vast majority of higher SES families (all races) sent kids to private or moved to the burbs - with the exception of JKLMs for periods of that time - and about 25% of Deal and Wilson (and now those numbers have flipped!) Now, there's change across schools that had been under resourced for decades and the emergence of charters and competition and a couple decades of more affluent families staying in the city and a set of them sending their kids on through public school.

[Anonymous]

um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I think I know why everyone on this particular board comes across as defensive and embittered.

We are all, somewhat, expected to justify not moving to the suburbs "for the good of our children," (or, as I like to think of it, move to the suburbs so our children can huff glue in a garage and drive drunk to prom and be abysmally bored), all the damn time. To everyone.

The myth of the suburban school experience is really strong. I never went to a suburban school myself (and I'm sure some immensely clever poster will chime in here about how they can tell that)--but I have to wonder. What, exactly, besides giant sports fields and parking lots, do these mythical burb schools have?

I can tell you what they don't have...they don't have a lot of minorities which is the very definition of a utopian society to a lotta folks.

Well, but see they do these days. That's another one of the sweeping generalizations that is simply no longer true.

My high school in Montgomery County was around 50 percent non-white, more than 20 years ago. Not sure that generalization holds up either as a reason people are moving to the suburbs or as something people in D.C. think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

you should pay closer attention to the demographic shift well underway in DC. DC is getting whiter and more affluent. You can't just take that out of the equation because it's growing faster than any other demographic in DC.

There is a sizable achievement gap and problems for students living in urban poverty. You're dead wrong to assume that no one is sticking with DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

you should pay closer attention to the demographic shift well underway in DC. DC is getting whiter and more affluent. You can't just take that out of the equation because it's growing faster than any other demographic in DC.

There is a sizable achievement gap and problems for students living in urban poverty. You're dead wrong to assume that no one is sticking with DCPS.

There are more white, affluent families moving to and staying in the city. But there are also the same amount of Latino families coming, and they have more children. So while the number of white families is increasing, the percentage is not rising as much or as fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But I think I know why everyone on this particular board comes across as defensive and embittered.

We are all, somewhat, expected to justify not moving to the suburbs "for the good of our children," (or, as I like to think of it, move to the suburbs so our children can huff glue in a garage and drive drunk to prom and be abysmally bored), all the damn time. To everyone.

The myth of the suburban school experience is really strong. I never went to a suburban school myself (and I'm sure some immensely clever poster will chime in here about how they can tell that)--but I have to wonder. What, exactly, besides giant sports fields and parking lots, do these mythical burb schools have?

Suburban schools tend to not have as many kids coming from a systemic poverty like what we have in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I think I know why everyone on this particular board comes across as defensive and embittered.

We are all, somewhat, expected to justify not moving to the suburbs "for the good of our children," (or, as I like to think of it, move to the suburbs so our children can huff glue in a garage and drive drunk to prom and be abysmally bored), all the damn time. To everyone.

The myth of the suburban school experience is really strong. I never went to a suburban school myself (and I'm sure some immensely clever poster will chime in here about how they can tell that)--but I have to wonder. What, exactly, besides giant sports fields and parking lots, do these mythical burb schools have?

Suburban schools tend to not have as many kids coming from a systemic poverty like what we have in DC.

Sure they do, just not the suburban schools that get discussed here ad nauseum. Plenty of ESOL students too. Try the northern half of MoCo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

Ward 6 Elementary Schools like Brent, Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, and Van Ness will be decent options for families with kids in elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

OK, but 46% are in charters and another 15% of HS students attend wilson...not so dire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

OK, but 46% are in charters and another 15% of HS students attend wilson...not so dire.

assuming your math is right, add Banneker and Walls and that number goes to %25

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

you should pay closer attention to the demographic shift well underway in DC. DC is getting whiter and more affluent. You can't just take that out of the equation because it's growing faster than any other demographic in DC.

There is a sizable achievement gap and problems for students living in urban poverty. You're dead wrong to assume that no one is sticking with DCPS.

There are more white, affluent families moving to and staying in the city. But there are also the same amount of Latino families coming, and they have more children. So while the number of white families is increasing, the percentage is not rising as much or as fast.

according to Urban Institute both the white and Hispanic populations are expected to grow at an equal level over the next 15 years as a percentage of population. Percentage of black population expected to fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:um.... are yall serious

once you take out the white kids/closely correlated high SES in DCPS.... DCPS is a shitshow

I mean really if you aren't Wilson pyramid or chartered out NOONE is sticking with DCPS unless you are poor and can't move

Look at the test scores for crying out loud

OK, but 46% are in charters and another 15% of HS students attend wilson...not so dire.

assuming your math is right, add Banneker and Walls and that number goes to %25

Though, to be fair, many of those charters aren't any better than DCPS ...