Southwest to Eastern HS

[Anonymous]

^The proposed catchment area is mostly white; the current one is only around one-quarter.

It will be interesting to see what the new mayor does with the Eastern boundary. It's hard to imagine Hill parents bothering to lobby to keep it as proposed. Busy professionals have better things to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Dislike for Eastern is not the problem. High SES Hill parents would love to see Eastern thrive. But when the catchment area is more than half white and Asian and the school is not even 1% white and Asian, perception of quality is not the only issue. Would you send your AA kid to a "neighborhood" school that's close to 100% white, Asian and Latino? If yes, convince us.

Err, Black families have been doing this for more than 100 years. Being an "only" or a "first" is not the easiest route, but it is not uncommon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Dislike for Eastern is not the problem. High SES Hill parents would love to see Eastern thrive. But when the catchment area is more than half white and Asian and the school is not even 1% white and Asian, perception of quality is not the only issue. Would you send your AA kid to a "neighborhood" school that's close to 100% white, Asian and Latino? If yes, convince us.

Err, Black families have been doing this for more than 100 years. Being an "only" or a "first" is not the easiest route, but it is not uncommon.

It's uncommon in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Dislike for Eastern is not the problem. High SES Hill parents would love to see Eastern thrive. But when the catchment area is more than half white and Asian and the school is not even 1% white and Asian, perception of quality is not the only issue. Would you send your AA kid to a "neighborhood" school that's close to 100% white, Asian and Latino? If yes, convince us.

Err, Black families have been doing this for more than 100 years. Being an "only" or a "first" is not the easiest route, but it is not uncommon.

It's uncommon in DC

Obviously this is the other side of the spectrum, but if your child is in one of the smaller/mid-sized private schools around town, there is a chance of a Black child being the only one in a class or grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly, there's not enough white students to make a difference in any school population at high school. It will never-ever happened and this hope that Eastern will become Wilson East was the same wishes for McKinley and Banner too. Currently the top students at Eastern are Asian - Americans and African-American and there's one white student at the school at the school. So we are diverse.

I'm 16:43 and my point is not that there's not 'enough white students to make a difference' - the race of the student body doesn't matter to me at all, beyond, I guess, a vague preference for diversity - what does matter is the number of students ready to take rigorous, advanced, college prep classes, which Eastern does lack. Should my kid turn out to be math/science oriented I will absolutely encourage her to apply to Banneker. But Eastern's a far cry from that.

This. My daughter's Asian, so she'll be part of a small minority at ANY high school in DC. I don't care how many white kids there are, I care how many kids there are working at an advanced level.

I'm good with Stuart Hobson for MS -- it's nowhere near Deal, but at least it's comparable to Hardy, as far as student performance goes -- but right now for HS I'm pinning my hopes on one of the test-in programs. Fortunately, she's still in elementary, so we have some time to see if Eastern can bring up its numbers of advanced performers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ yes, but at Wilson, my DC won't be the only non-AA student, nor the only one scoring advanced.

With the boundary chances your DC won't be the only non-AA advanced student at Eastern -- there could be many, especially since Eastern population is small compared to Wilson. Wilson is only 20% White, remember.

This is a very real issue. Until there is a critical mass of white kids, the IB white parents are NOT sending their kids there. It just wont happen. How many white kids have attened Eastern in the last 20 years? none? maybe 5? It doesn't matter if they have the top scores in the City. it won't happen. Same reason white parents don't choose banneker even though its probably more rigorous than Wilson. Less than 5 white kids. This is what parents mean when they talk to each other about "we all just need to stick together through each grade"- they mean a cohort of high SES white kids.

I think the real reason that white parents don't send their children to Banneker is because they fear their child's self esteem will be crushed when their white child is outperformed by Black students from a lower SES.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that Banneker's SAT scores are below the national average. Banneker isn't all that and a bag of chips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ yes, but at Wilson, my DC won't be the only non-AA student, nor the only one scoring advanced.

With the boundary chances your DC won't be the only non-AA advanced student at Eastern -- there could be many, especially since Eastern population is small compared to Wilson. Wilson is only 20% White, remember.

This is a very real issue. Until there is a critical mass of white kids, the IB white parents are NOT sending their kids there. It just wont happen. How many white kids have attened Eastern in the last 20 years? none? maybe 5? It doesn't matter if they have the top scores in the City. it won't happen. Same reason white parents don't choose banneker even though its probably more rigorous than Wilson. Less than 5 white kids. This is what parents mean when they talk to each other about "we all just need to stick together through each grade"- they mean a cohort of high SES white kids.

I think the real reason that white parents don't send their children to Banneker is because they fear their child's self esteem will be crushed when their white child is outperformed by Black students from a lower SES.

Nope, we're worried about their spirit being crushed by a bunch of AA kids who have been brought up to hate and vilify white people. BTDT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that Banneker's SAT scores are below the national average. Banneker isn't all that and a bag of chips.

Please cite your sources. I think a better gauge of the caliber of student at Banneker would be the average score for the AP and IB exam. Also, I would necessarily compare Banneker to the national average. How about comparing the SAT scores with Wilson or Walls. What does your uncited source have to say about that comparison? Banneker has consistently been ranked by US News and World Report. You sound like one of "those" people who disregard the two students who earned the Gates Millennium scholarship or the student from Banneker who was accepted into 5 Ivy league schools. Perhaps you should return to Indiana or whatever state you hail from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that Banneker's SAT scores are below the national average. Banneker isn't all that and a bag of chips.

Please cite your sources. I think a better gauge of the caliber of student at Banneker would be the average score for the AP and IB exam. Also, I would necessarily compare Banneker to the national average. How about comparing the SAT scores with Wilson or Walls. What does your uncited source have to say about that comparison? Banneker has consistently been ranked by US News and World Report. You sound like one of "those" people who disregard the two students who earned the Gates Millennium scholarship or the student from Banneker who was accepted into 5 Ivy league schools. Perhaps you should return to Indiana or whatever state you hail from.

Scroll halfway down this page:

http://benjaminbanneker.k12.dc.us/about_bbahs.html

Banneker's own web site provides data that their SAT scores are below the national average.

It's a selective admission school and you would think that their scores would be better than the national average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ yes, but at Wilson, my DC won't be the only non-AA student, nor the only one scoring advanced.

With the boundary chances your DC won't be the only non-AA advanced student at Eastern -- there could be many, especially since Eastern population is small compared to Wilson. Wilson is only 20% White, remember.

This is a very real issue. Until there is a critical mass of white kids, the IB white parents are NOT sending their kids there. It just wont happen. How many white kids have attened Eastern in the last 20 years? none? maybe 5? It doesn't matter if they have the top scores in the City. it won't happen. Same reason white parents don't choose banneker even though its probably more rigorous than Wilson. Less than 5 white kids. This is what parents mean when they talk to each other about "we all just need to stick together through each grade"- they mean a cohort of high SES white kids.

I think the real reason that white parents don't send their children to Banneker is because they fear their child's self esteem will be crushed when their white child is outperformed by Black students from a lower SES.

Nope, we're worried about their spirit being crushed by a bunch of AA kids who have been brought up to hate and vilify white people. BTDT.

Exactly, how many of these Banneker children have you met? How do you know how they were raised? You don't. You just don't want your child attending a school with Black children who don't see themselves as inferior. As long as you can place Blacks in the Ballou, Anacostia, or Woodson category, you feel good about yourself. Many of the students at Banneker will be attending universities that are majority white. Truthfully, there is a lot of documented world history that might warrant such vilification from various global socially-constructed racialized groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly, how many of these Banneker children have you met? How do you know how they were raised? You don't. You just don't want your child attending a school with Black children who don't see themselves as inferior. As long as you can place Blacks in the Ballou, Anacostia, or Woodson category, you feel good about yourself. Many of the students at Banneker will be attending universities that are majority white. Truthfully, there is a lot of documented world history that might warrant such vilification from various global socially-constructed racialized groups.

Are there groups formed without being socially constructed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that Banneker's SAT scores are below the national average. Banneker isn't all that and a bag of chips.

Please cite your sources. I think a better gauge of the caliber of student at Banneker would be the average score for the AP and IB exam. Also, I would necessarily compare Banneker to the national average. How about comparing the SAT scores with Wilson or Walls. What does your uncited source have to say about that comparison? Banneker has consistently been ranked by US News and World Report. You sound like one of "those" people who disregard the two students who earned the Gates Millennium scholarship or the student from Banneker who was accepted into 5 Ivy league schools. Perhaps you should return to Indiana or whatever state you hail from.

Scroll halfway down this page:

http://benjaminbanneker.k12.dc.us/about_bbahs.html

Banneker's own web site provides data that their SAT scores are below the national average.

It's a selective admission school and you would think that their scores would be better than the national average.

You have to be kidding me! With regard to SAT reading--meets national average. SAT math--8 pts below average. SAT writing (which most universities don't factor)--2 pts below average. Nevertheless, in every SAT category, Banneker is 20 - 40 pts above the DCPS average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind that Banneker's SAT scores are below the national average. Banneker isn't all that and a bag of chips.

Please cite your sources. I think a better gauge of the caliber of student at Banneker would be the average score for the AP and IB exam. Also, I would necessarily compare Banneker to the national average. How about comparing the SAT scores with Wilson or Walls. What does your uncited source have to say about that comparison? Banneker has consistently been ranked by US News and World Report. You sound like one of "those" people who disregard the two students who earned the Gates Millennium scholarship or the student from Banneker who was accepted into 5 Ivy league schools. Perhaps you should return to Indiana or whatever state you hail from.

Scroll halfway down this page:

http://benjaminbanneker.k12.dc.us/about_bbahs.html

Banneker's own web site provides data that their SAT scores are below the national average.

It's a selective admission school and you would think that their scores would be better than the national average.

You have to be kidding me! With regard to SAT reading--meets national average. SAT math--8 pts below average. SAT writing (which most universities don't factor)--2 pts below average. Nevertheless, in every SAT category, Banneker is 20 - 40 pts above the DCPS average.

Come to Banneker! Our SAT scores are just below the national average! And they are above DC public schools! We rock!

[Anonymous]

Of last year's 7 DC public PSAT/National Merit Scholar Semifinalists:

4 were from SWW
3 were from Wilson
0 were from Banneker (and the rest of DC Public)

Incidentally...

there were 227 from Fairfax Co. public schools (with nearly four times as many students as DC public)
there were 142 from MoCo Public public schools (with more than three times as many students as DC public)
there were 22 from Arlington Co. public schools (with around half as many students as DC public)