| +1. Completely agree. Good post. |
This kid is Nigerian/Nigerian American. Nigerian parents are well known tiger parents, so this likely has more to do with family nuturing and guidance/extra tutoring, etc. than the school. |
| Triple package? |
So even when Eastern has a success story they get zero credit? That's not consistent with the interview with the student. |
| id go to the school that is substantially closer. in my view, it will be all-around better to live somewhat nearby (including afterschool activities and social engagements outside of school). i dont think middle school is worth an extremely long commute (even for top students). sh is a much smaller school than deal. your child can presumably go to one of the application schools such as mckinley tech etc. instead of eastern. this is maybe not the conventional dcum advice. |
Check out the environment. Most folks on here have high social capital... your kid will be fine in a decent middle school (finding out the teacher is more important). I prefer Stuart, but if you are going on rep...Deal. |
As an Asian with a kid at BASIS, I don't think BASIS is a rat race at all. It's easy compared to the type of AAP stress that exists in Fairfax schools. I send my kid to BASIS to make sure he gets grade level material, but if I wanted real competition, I would have moved years ago. |
| Bully for you. No idea what your point is. Asian representation in DC public schools is around 1.5%. Not for this Asian family after elementary. When my kid did a shadow day at BASIS he couldn’t find an Asian admin or teacher. |
Asian kids flock to Montgomery County. More welcoming environment, culturally. Not the same experience for underrepresented minorities though imho. |
| Asians also head to NOVA, a more welcoming environment with better academics and facilities than DC public schools. My nephew are at an Arlington MS that's 20% Asian where two Asian languages are taught from 6th grade. The family moved from DC and rejected BASIS, where no Asian languages are taught at the advanced level, no languages are taught at all before 8th grade, and the Asian families who enroll their children are mostly highly assimilated (versus immigrant families, still speaking our languages at home). Things weren't much better at Deal, where no Asian languages are taught at an advanced level. There are several high schools in Fairfax teaching half a dozen Asian languages at an advanced level. |
...plus. a lot of the white families are cowed by the fear of being called "racist" or "not an ally" and so they won't speak up. There's a population of vocal black folks and their wokey woke white enablers who have decided that any white person who demands academic excellence (for all kids) is secretly seeking to oppress POC. (Take a moment and consider how regressive that is - demanding academic excellence for all kids is anti-black!) I swear to you there are people in DC who actually believe that their kids should suffer or accept less than an excellent education as some sort of concession prize to black folks for our country's shameful history of slavery and systemic racism. Never understood that mentality. Personally, I: 1. Don't care what you call me. My liberalism isn't performative, it is real and rooted in a desire to see a high quality education provided to all kids in DC. 2. Think it is perverse and regressive that we have decided that "equity" means teaching to the bottom or lowering standards. 3. Won't put my kids at risk (physically, emotionally, academically) so that some performative liberal talking point will look kindly on me and mine. |
| the “woke” mostly genuinely believe that kids benefit from racial and socioeconomic integration and want better schools for everyone. its complex. |
Not sure what your point is either. DC is only 4.5% Asian overall and that probably includes a lot of childless young people. BASIS DC is 7% Asian. Fairfax County is 21% Asian and TJ is around 70% Asian. Enjoy the burbs! |
Uh, I guess that you didn’t meet the Mandarin teacher. |
TJ, which is 70% Asian, is a very relaxed and low stress. No rat race there! |