My daughter is the only white girl in her grade: ask me anything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to what's best for you kid, not what's best for you. Don't say "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make"... It's your DD's future you are playing with.

That's a good point. And I still don't understand the premise behind OP's sense of uniqueness.

Oyster Adams is one of the best performing schools in the city, and probably 60% Hispanic if not higher.Many anglos work hard to get their kids in.

Why would it be a sacrifice to send DD there?

Oyster Adams isn't a Title 1 school, with only a sprinkling of Anglos in it. Her school is.

Oyster adams was title 1 till about 5 years ago. And there were hundreds of people waiting in line for hours to apply, most of them looking very white.

Again, what's the big deal.

Speaking of which, what is the ESL % at Oyster, LAMB, or Marie Reed, anyone knows?

Did OP share the name of her school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to what's best for you kid, not what's best for you. Don't say "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make"... It's your DD's future you are playing with.

That's a good point. And I still don't understand the premise behind OP's sense of uniqueness.

Oyster Adams is one of the best performing schools in the city, and probably 60% Hispanic if not higher.Many anglos work hard to get their kids in.

Why would it be a sacrifice to send DD there?

Oyster Adams isn't a Title 1 school, with only a sprinkling of Anglos in it. Her school is.

Oyster adams was title 1 till about 5 years ago. And there were hundreds of people waiting in line for hours to apply, most of them looking very white.

Again, what's the big deal.

My guess is this is a different demographic than OP's school. I'm no expert on DC's Latino population, but those I've encountered tend to be brown-skinned and from countries like Guatemala and El Salvador, in areas like Columbia Heights.

There's like a million people from El Salvador at Oyster, they have no problem (relatively) getting in because they are Spanish dominant. The people waiting in line were the english dominant families who, the horrors, wanted to send their kids to such school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, does your DD eat the school lunch? From reading this forum, I get the impression that most higher SES parents find DCPS lunches unacceptable, while most poorer kids will eat them, especially if the school is community eligible and meals are free. So this is another potential point of segregation within the school. I'm asking because we are about to start PK at a Title 1 school with very few white kids, and I intend to have my DD eat the school lunch since I assume most if not all kids in her class will.

I'm glad you asked this question! It is something I care about a lot.

Yes, DD mostly eats the school lunch. I'm not thrilled about it. In PK, they ate family-style in the classroom, and I didn't want her to feel left out of what the other kids were eating - her teacher flat out told me that that is usually what happens and strongly encouraged me to let her eat the classroom lunch unless there were dietary restrictions that prohibited that. Last year was her first year in the cafeteria, and I tried to send lunch several times because she's a slow eater and lunch periods are so short, I was worried she wouldn't get enough food. She basically ate school lunch all year anyway. I'd send in lunch and it would come back mostly uneaten and then she'd report that she ate the whatever-was-being-served-in-the-cafeteria with everyone else. This year, they basically sign up for school lunch or home lunch a day in advance, so she decided that she would listen to the menu options and decide whether to pack a lunch accordingly.

Until this year, I was pretty pleased with the quality of the food being served at our school. This year, I am less confident because of the vendor chosen by DCPS and problems that have already arisen with that vendor. There should be menus available so you can make your own decisions, but one of the things that I really appreciated about our PK program was the family-style meals. I wish they still did it because I think it's really important that kids experience family meal times and integrate dining as a social experience, but I get why they're not doing it. I really hope that the food quality at our school doesn't go down the drain so that she can continue to pack lunch.

The food quality has been pretty good on the first two days.

Signed -- high-SES parent who hates packing lunches.

Good to know! First PP here and I also hate packing lunches, but aside from that, I don't want my child to be the only (non-hispanic!) white kid in the class who also doesn't participate in the family-style lunch. Thanks for your response, OP. I totally agree on the importance of sharing meals as a social experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to what's best for you kid, not what's best for you. Don't say "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make"... It's your DD's future you are playing with.

That's a good point. And I still don't understand the premise behind OP's sense of uniqueness.

Oyster Adams is one of the best performing schools in the city, and probably 60% Hispanic if not higher.Many anglos work hard to get their kids in.

Why would it be a sacrifice to send DD there?

Oyster Adams isn't a Title 1 school, with only a sprinkling of Anglos in it. Her school is.

Oyster adams was title 1 till about 5 years ago. And there were hundreds of people waiting in line for hours to apply, most of them looking very white.

Again, what's the big deal.

Speaking of which, what is the ESL % at Oyster, LAMB, or Marie Reed, anyone knows?

Did OP share the name of her school?

OP did not share the name of her school.

The latest public ESL %s for a few schools are below (2014-15). From learndc.org

ESL (2014-15)

Marie Reed 48%
Oyster Adams 13%
LAMB 37.7%
Powell 56.6%
Bancroft 54.9%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to what's best for you kid, not what's best for you. Don't say "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make"... It's your DD's future you are playing with.

That's a good point. And I still don't understand the premise behind OP's sense of uniqueness.

Oyster Adams is one of the best performing schools in the city, and probably 60% Hispanic if not higher.Many anglos work hard to get their kids in.

Why would it be a sacrifice to send DD there?

Oyster Adams isn't a Title 1 school, with only a sprinkling of Anglos in it. Her school is.

Oyster adams was title 1 till about 5 years ago. And there were hundreds of people waiting in line for hours to apply, most of them looking very white.

Again, what's the big deal.

Speaking of which, what is the ESL % at Oyster, LAMB, or Marie Reed, anyone knows?

Did OP share the name of her school?

OP did not share the name of her school.

The latest public ESL %s for a few schools are below (2014-15). From learndc.org

ESL (2014-15)

Marie Reed 48%
Oyster Adams 13%
LAMB 37.7%
Powell 56.6%
Bancroft 54.9%

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I am the PP with a child in a majority Hispanic, majority farms school, whose friends give her grief over it

My son is in first grade. His teacher was a teacher of our school libtarian's daughter who is now in college. Our principal's son is in our school. There are about 3-6 kids of higher SES and with college educated parents in pretty much every classroom.
They can't all be stupid, can they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP with a child in a majority Hispanic, majority farms school, whose friends give her grief over it

My son is in first grade. His teacher was a teacher of our school libtarian's daughter who is now in college. Our principal's son is in our school. There are about 3-6 kids of higher SES and with college educated parents in pretty much every classroom.
They can't all be stupid, can they?

Of course they aren't. Just look at the long wait lists for the schools listed above.

Again, mystified by why OP thought she is so special.

[Anonymous]

Why don't they serve Hispanic food, that would be awesome

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to what's best for you kid, not what's best for you. Don't say "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make"... It's your DD's future you are playing with.

That's a good point. And I still don't understand the premise behind OP's sense of uniqueness.

Oyster Adams is one of the best performing schools in the city, and probably 60% Hispanic if not higher.Many anglos work hard to get their kids in.

Why would it be a sacrifice to send DD there?

Oyster Adams isn't a Title 1 school, with only a sprinkling of Anglos in it. Her school is.

Oyster adams was title 1 till about 5 years ago. And there were hundreds of people waiting in line for hours to apply, most of them looking very white.

Again, what's the big deal.

My guess is this is a different demographic than OP's school. I'm no expert on DC's Latino population, but those I've encountered tend to be brown-skinned and from countries like Guatemala and El Salvador, in areas like Columbia Heights.

Yes, clarification, Hispanic =\= Latino, and oyster has an unusual number of white Hispanics. Most Hispanics at the other DCPS and charter bilingual schools are Latino. You can also see a big difference in Hispanic percentage vs ELL percentage at oyster, whereas at other schools these numbers track a little more closely. All of which is to say oysteris unique. Fwiw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to what's best for you kid, not what's best for you. Don't say "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make"... It's your DD's future you are playing with.

That's a good point. And I still don't understand the premise behind OP's sense of uniqueness.

Oyster Adams is one of the best performing schools in the city, and probably 60% Hispanic if not higher.Many anglos work hard to get their kids in.

Why would it be a sacrifice to send DD there?

Oyster Adams isn't a Title 1 school, with only a sprinkling of Anglos in it. Her school is.

Oyster adams was title 1 till about 5 years ago. And there were hundreds of people waiting in line for hours to apply, most of them looking very white.

Again, what's the big deal.

My guess is this is a different demographic than OP's school. I'm no expert on DC's Latino population, but those I've encountered tend to be brown-skinned and from countries like Guatemala and El Salvador, in areas like Columbia Heights.

Yes, clarification, Hispanic =\= Latino, and oyster has an unusual number of white Hispanics. Most Hispanics at the other DCPS and charter bilingual schools are Latino. You can also see a big difference in Hispanic percentage vs ELL percentage at oyster, whereas at other schools these numbers track a little more closely. All of which is to say oysteris unique. Fwiw.

Sorry, this "clarification" confuses things more. Hispanic and Latino essentially mean the same thing in the US. I am considered "Hispanic" based on US census rules, but I prefer the name Latino/ Latina, as it is more culturally relevant (for example, to include Brazilians).

And, I'm not sure you can say that "oyster has an unusual number of white Hispanics," given the diversity of the people I actually know going there and demographic facts. From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans#Race

Hispanic and Latino Americans by race (2010)

Race % of all Hispanic and Latino Americans
White 53.0%
Some other race 36.7%
Two or more races 6.0%
Black 2.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%
Asian 209,128 0.4%
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 0.1%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to what's best for you kid, not what's best for you. Don't say "it's a sacrifice I am willing to make"... It's your DD's future you are playing with.

That's a good point. And I still don't understand the premise behind OP's sense of uniqueness.

Oyster Adams is one of the best performing schools in the city, and probably 60% Hispanic if not higher.Many anglos work hard to get their kids in.

Why would it be a sacrifice to send DD there?

Oyster Adams isn't a Title 1 school, with only a sprinkling of Anglos in it. Her school is.

Oyster adams was title 1 till about 5 years ago. And there were hundreds of people waiting in line for hours to apply, most of them looking very white.

Again, what's the big deal.

My guess is this is a different demographic than OP's school. I'm no expert on DC's Latino population, but those I've encountered tend to be brown-skinned and from countries like Guatemala and El Salvador, in areas like Columbia Heights.

Yes, clarification, Hispanic =\= Latino, and oyster has an unusual number of white Hispanics. Most Hispanics at the other DCPS and charter bilingual schools are Latino. You can also see a big difference in Hispanic percentage vs ELL percentage at oyster, whereas at other schools these numbers track a little more closely. All of which is to say oysteris unique. Fwiw.

Sorry, this "clarification" confuses things more. Hispanic and Latino essentially mean the same thing in the US. I am considered "Hispanic" based on US census rules, but I prefer the name Latino/ Latina, as it is more culturally relevant (for example, to include Brazilians).

And, I'm not sure you can say that "oyster has an unusual number of white Hispanics," given the diversity of the people I actually know going there and demographic facts. From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans#Race

Hispanic and Latino Americans by race (2010)

Race % of all Hispanic and Latino Americans
White 53.0%
Some other race 36.7%
Two or more races 6.0%
Black 2.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%
Asian 209,128 0.4%
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 0.1%

Good explanation of that "some other race 36.7%"

"A significant portion of the Hispanic and Latino population self-identifies as Mestizo, particularly the Mexican and Central American community. Mestizo is not a racial category in the U.S. Census, but signifies someone who has both European and American Indian Ancestry. According to the 2010 United States Census, 36.7% of Hispanic/Latino Americans identify as "some other race" as these Hispanic/Latinos may feel the U.S. census does not describe their European or American Indian ancestry as they understand it to be.[59]"

[Anonymous]

OP: My DC was one of a handful of white students at a DCPS application only HS which was DC's choice. DC had a great education, teachers and made friends. We were always surprised that more white families were not sending their kids to the school.

Thank you for this post and for your willingness to engage people on really looking beyond color in their school choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: My DC was one of a handful of white students at a DCPS application only HS which was DC's choice. DC had a great education, teachers and made friends. We were always surprised that more white families were not sending their kids to the school.

Thank you for this post and for your willingness to engage people on really looking beyond color in their school choice.

Banneker? Very interested to hear more about your experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: My DC was one of a handful of white students at a DCPS application only HS which was DC's choice. DC had a great education, teachers and made friends. We were always surprised that more white families were not sending their kids to the school.

Thank you for this post and for your willingness to engage people on really looking beyond color in their school choice.

Your "audience" may thank you, your DC does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: My DC was one of a handful of white students at a DCPS application only HS which was DC's choice. DC had a great education, teachers and made friends. We were always surprised that more white families were not sending their kids to the school.

Thank you for this post and for your willingness to engage people on really looking beyond color in their school choice.

At private schools diversity is a selling point, not an avoiding point.
What about education? We toured our local public and it just felt like a day care. Not a place where children inquire.
I find it also not honest to proudly mingle with all social classes and than abandon ship when things get harder aka middle school.
The poor don't have that option but the well off saved money in the early years claiming "we tried public".
Op seems very honest about her approach though.