Black Parents at Wilson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been going on for years. I don't think DCPS sees it as a problem.

That's depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an AA son and live in bounds for Wilson. My son, and those of EVERY single one of my AA friends, went to private after ES or MS.

I'm white with small kids so totally ignorant here, but is anyone in DCPS worrying about this? Sounds like they lose all the UMC black kids at high school and that's a huge brain drain. Is this ever a topic of discussion or concern by DCPS?

NP. I'm black with small kids, and we are also zoned for Wilson but will likely go private (for idiosyncratic reasons, although I'm sure Wilson will be fine by the time we have a teenager). I know a few black neighbors with young kids who plan on considering Wilson when the time comes, but I also know a couple of families who currently have teenage boys, and are not considering Wilson.

Not sure what DCPS can really do about this, though? I'd love if more educated AA families consider Wilson in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: my son went to Deal for middle so has lots of friends. We think it would be a great fit for him, but are trying to convince him of that. I am worried about the male peer group.

Are most of his friends from Deal also headed to Wilson? Or are they headed elsewhere?

We are an AA family also zoned for Deal/Wilson, although we have a long time before having to make this decision. Peer group would also be one of my concerns. I'd worry if the high-achieving AA kids are headed elsewhere.

Many of his friends from Deal are going to Wilson. I live in Colonial Village. He has lots of kids from the neighborhood going to Deal, but SW kids also feed into Wilson and I've heard that they can be a tough element. It doesn't seem to appear to interfere with the white kids, but the black boys seem to have a harder time.

The tiny part of SW that USED to feed to Wilson was not a bunch of tough elements. The ones you need to worry about come from feeder schools in NW.

the HS schoolskids from SW almost all come from public housing.

[Anonymous]

OP - I'm a white parent but one of my son's closest friends at Wilson was AA. He was the only AA friend in the group, but he had been with these kids for a long time, and they stuck together at Wilson. They did not drift apart. I think so much depends on your DS and peer group, as many others have said. I will say that for my son it was eye-awakening to have a close AA friend and to be aware of all the issues all the time that this friend has to deal with just because he's AA. This was especially true in regards to hanging out outside of school, driving late at night, NEVER wanting to be in the wrong place. It's not easy. His AA friend had parents that sound like you who kept on top of him and his friends, and that helps immeasurably. No answer for you, just my observation.

[Anonymous]

hi- first to the parents of AA kids that are posting here - thank you for opening a dialogue and sharing - I am learning a a lot from your posts and feel the frustration and fear and it sucks. It would be wonderful if there were parent groups connected with the schools were parents and kids and teachers could come together and dialogue and support and learn and grow together. We are "white" and I have younger kids and we would love to go to Wilson- our oldest is in 2nd grade. I wanted to ask a candid question - what is actually going on with the "kids from sw" and how does that really play out with the school overall? I don't have too many friends with HS aged in DC kids and curious. I went to a school that was 65% white, 35% black. Mixed income situation for all of us- none too high above middle class. The kids mixed especially in sports and certainly in the classrooms and while there was occasionally racial tension including fights in school and after school - there was some great school spirit that kept us together. There were drugs like pot and pills, cocaine! and alcohol and that was not a black or white thing. No metal detectors or experiences of weapons in school. No gangs but there was some bullying and ganging up on someone but not based on race. Curious about the feeling of the community in Wilson and how things play out by race and gender. Someone mentioned gangs of kids in this post or another - what does that actually mean? And the word thug came up. What is it like for the kids at Wilson?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading the concerns about the peer group I wonder: how much mingling/friendship is there at Wilson between black and white students of similar SES? I've heard there is a "school within a school" for the high achievers, but is there racial segregation even within that high achieving group?

Sorry if this is a stupid question - my kids aren't yet at Wilson, we're white, and I'm not American.

We're white and have a DS who is in honors/AP classes. The kids DS spends his time with are mostly African American, so DS has not experienced a lot of segregation. I've read that some schools are integrated during school but segregated after school, and this has definitely not been DS's experience --- his and his friends are frequently at each others' houses, and DS has attended family events with AA friends. DS plays on a couple of sports teams with mostly AA kids, so that probably impacts his experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hi- first to the parents of AA kids that are posting here - thank you for opening a dialogue and sharing - I am learning a a lot from your posts and feel the frustration and fear and it sucks. It would be wonderful if there were parent groups connected with the schools were parents and kids and teachers could come together and dialogue and support and learn and grow together. We are "white" and I have younger kids and we would love to go to Wilson- our oldest is in 2nd grade. I wanted to ask a candid question - what is actually going on with the "kids from sw" and how does that really play out with the school overall? I don't have too many friends with HS aged in DC kids and curious. I went to a school that was 65% white, 35% black. Mixed income situation for all of us- none too high above middle class. The kids mixed especially in sports and certainly in the classrooms and while there was occasionally racial tension including fights in school and after school - there was some great school spirit that kept us together. There were drugs like pot and pills, cocaine! and alcohol and that was not a black or white thing. No metal detectors or experiences of weapons in school. No gangs but there was some bullying and ganging up on someone but not based on race. Curious about the feeling of the community in Wilson and how things play out by race and gender. Someone mentioned gangs of kids in this post or another - what does that actually mean? And the word thug came up. What is it like for the kids at Wilson?

I'm one of the AA PPs zoned for Wilson. I can't answer your other questions re: high school since my kids are younger than yours. Re: the bolded, I don't actually know anyone in that part of the city (far from my neighborhood), but if you search prior Wilson posts, I've seen several that mention shenanigans in the school and after school in the Tenleytown area (e.g., in the Chick fil a). I think some educated AA families worry that their kids will get grouped with the troublemakers and therefore treated differently by staff, as if they are also troublemakers, just based on their skin color. And I think a subset worry about negative influences from the troublemakers.

And it should be pointed out that not every kid from SW or wherever will be a troublemaker--it's usually a few knuckleheads that give everyone a bad rep.

[Anonymous]

what kind of "trouble" are you all talking about? Are kids hesitant to go to school- anyone scared of kids there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading the concerns about the peer group I wonder: how much mingling/friendship is there at Wilson between black and white students of similar SES? I've heard there is a "school within a school" for the high achievers, but is there racial segregation even within that high achieving group?

Sorry if this is a stupid question - my kids aren't yet at Wilson, we're white, and I'm not American.

We're white and have a DS who is in honors/AP classes. The kids DS spends his time with are mostly African American, so DS has not experienced a lot of segregation. I've read that some schools are integrated during school but segregated after school, and this has definitely not been DS's experience --- his and his friends are frequently at each others' houses, and DS has attended family events with AA friends. DS plays on a couple of sports teams with mostly AA kids, so that probably impacts his experience.

Same with our son at Deal, except his crowd is not the athletic crowd (at all ). I can't imagine these boys would suddenly stop being best friends in high school, but this thread makes me worry that half of his friends might not go to Wilson, which would be truly sad. So far they all are talking as if they are going to Wilson, though it hasn't come up among parents yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hi- first to the parents of AA kids that are posting here - thank you for opening a dialogue and sharing - I am learning a a lot from your posts and feel the frustration and fear and it sucks. It would be wonderful if there were parent groups connected with the schools were parents and kids and teachers could come together and dialogue and support and learn and grow together. We are "white" and I have younger kids and we would love to go to Wilson- our oldest is in 2nd grade. I wanted to ask a candid question - what is actually going on with the "kids from sw" and how does that really play out with the school overall? I don't have too many friends with HS aged in DC kids and curious. I went to a school that was 65% white, 35% black. Mixed income situation for all of us- none too high above middle class. The kids mixed especially in sports and certainly in the classrooms and while there was occasionally racial tension including fights in school and after school - there was some great school spirit that kept us together. There were drugs like pot and pills, cocaine! and alcohol and that was not a black or white thing. No metal detectors or experiences of weapons in school. No gangs but there was some bullying and ganging up on someone but not based on race. Curious about the feeling of the community in Wilson and how things play out by race and gender. Someone mentioned gangs of kids in this post or another - what does that actually mean? And the word thug came up. What is it like for the kids at Wilson?

Kids do not have to be troublemakers to be treated differently by staff. We are not AA but we are recent immigrants (non white). We are not unhappy with the education. However my child and I get treated differently than other parents. Last year when we asked the 11th grade counselor to get enrolled in certain classes, she said everything was full and we had to wait for a few weeks to see if there would be openings. In math my child was placed in a course which was already completed in 9th grade (not at the honors level). The counselor also refused to enroll DS in any AP classes stating that they were all full. Nothing was changed even when the math teacher herself stated this level of math was too easy for DS and that she knew that Calculus and Statistics classes were not maxed out. Never available to speak on the phone, I would have to take half a day off from work to meet with the counselor for 5 minutes before she would brush me off stating she needed to meet with another parent. We registered one week before school started and we know for a fact that a friend of ours who registered 1 week into the school year was able to get into AP classes. Point blank, I was told straight to my face that the school had no choice but to accommodate DC because we lived in boundary. And later in the year, even though my DS was getting very high grades, the same counselor told him that not every student had to attend tier 1 colleges.
This was my personal experience with one individual. So yes, I can understand why AA parents or non white parents might be hesitant about enrolling their children at Wilson.

[Anonymous]

This thread was really eye-opening- A tiny group of kids negatively impact everyone else at the school. When will we stop putting the needs of the 3% who can't control themselves over the 97% who are just trying to get an edication and are not bothering anyone? It's absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread was really eye-opening- A tiny group of kids negatively impact everyone else at the school. When will we stop putting the needs of the 3% who can't control themselves over the 97% who are just trying to get an edication and are not bothering anyone? It's absurd.

Waaay more than 3%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread was really eye-opening- A tiny group of kids negatively impact everyone else at the school. When will we stop putting the needs of the 3% who can't control themselves over the 97% who are just trying to get an edication and are not bothering anyone? It's absurd.

Waaay more than 3%

What %?

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone can answer that, but from 15-16 DCPS profiles:


Out of school suspensions: 4% (about 70 kids)

Truancy: 39% (note that this figure includes everyone who takes the day before Thanksgiving off to travel, for example, which is unexcused -- so it is not very helpful)