2017 "Most Challenging" High Schools List (Wash Post/Jay Mathews) is out

[Anonymous]

Aside from the rankings, which I don't put stock in, it's an easy place to find the average SAT (and in some cases ACT) score for each school's 2016 graduating class.

You need to click into each school's ranking to get this information.

The "E&E" score is also interesting - the number of graduates who pass one or more 'college level' exam (e.g. AP or Intl Baccalaureate)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/high-school-challenge-2017/

[Anonymous]

Not much news here.

Among publics in DC SWW still ranks highest, followed by Banneker.

Washington Latin's SAT/ACT scores seem low - and only 18% of last year's seniors passed at least 1 AP exam?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not much news here.

Among publics in DC SWW still ranks highest, followed by Banneker.

Washington Latin's SAT/ACT scores seem low - and only 18% of last year's seniors passed at least 1 AP exam?

But wait, isn't SAT scores the only reason white folk won't look at Banneker? Yet they'll flock to Latin. Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not much news here.

Among publics in DC SWW still ranks highest, followed by Banneker.

Washington Latin's SAT/ACT scores seem low - and only 18% of last year's seniors passed at least 1 AP exam?

But wait, isn't SAT scores the only reason white folk won't look at Banneker? Yet they'll flock to Latin. Sad.

Excellent point.

Banneker - SAT average for 2016 = 1038
Washington Latin - SAT average for 2016 = 943

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not much news here.

Among publics in DC SWW still ranks highest, followed by Banneker.

Washington Latin's SAT/ACT scores seem low - and only 18% of last year's seniors passed at least 1 AP exam?

But wait, isn't SAT scores the only reason white folk won't look at Banneker? Yet they'll flock to Latin. Sad.

Excellent point.

Banneker - SAT average for 2016 = 1038
Washington Latin - SAT average for 2016 = 943

Some will say that Latin is lottery and Banneker is application so it should be higher. Banneker is title 1 so there's that. Also Banneker's scores are better than average AA which is what anyone should compare.

Also PARCC
Banneker: 98/62
Latin HS: 52/26

I truly don't understand why white families don't give Banneker a shot.

[Anonymous]

As far as I can tell, they don't give Banneker a shot for the very same reasons there are few whites at historically black colleges. Even a great school like Howard attracts very few whites. Banneker's traditions are outside the orbit of whites and other races.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell, they don't give Banneker a shot for the very same reasons there are few whites at historically black colleges. Even a great school like Howard attracts very few whites. Banneker's traditions are outside the orbit of whites and other races.

I think for some, it's about having more of a traditional high school experience. DS is bi-racial and would not consider Banneker because he wanted to play basketball, go to football games, play in the band, etc. Had nothing to do with race. Our friend's child, same age is white and loves Banneker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell, they don't give Banneker a shot for the very same reasons there are few whites at historically black colleges. Even a great school like Howard attracts very few whites. Banneker's traditions are outside the orbit of whites and other races.

I think for some, it's about having more of a traditional high school experience. DS is bi-racial and would not consider Banneker because he wanted to play basketball, go to football games, play in the band, etc. Had nothing to do with race. Our friend's child, same age is white and loves Banneker.

NP. But if "traditional HS experience" is a driving factor, why is Wash Latin 1/3 white while Banneker has just 1 white student total (at least according to the NAEP reports and some DCPS reports)? Does Wash Latin have a football team and a band? I honestly don't know.

The question of why more white families don't apply to Banneker (and to Ellington) has long mystified me too. They're essentially an opportunity for the sort of G&T program that white Ward 3 families often clamor for, and a way to escape the overcrowding at other Ward 3 schools.

My only guess is that Banneker (and to a lesser extent Ellington) are largely promoted at historically black institutions, designed and maintained primarily for DC's black community, so any white student applying would be looked at with suspicion (or not admitted) unless he could show some genuine cultural link to the black community. I even thought that Banneker was explicitly designed as a black school, and enrollment was limited to only male black students (sort of like DCPS's Empowering Males of Color program). I know, I know, that's silly and uninformed, and my impression was obviously way off base on lots of facts, but that was the impression I got when I moved to DC many years ago and began hearing and reading about them in passing, and I had no children then so I had no need to investigate whether what I'd heard was true or not.

And even if my uninformed impression from years ago was justified, I don't understand why more white families (who are better informed than I was) haven't taken advantage of Banneker. Still confuses me.

[Anonymous]

The Latin vs Banneker phenomenon certainly isn't based on data.

It may be as simple as white folks are lemmings? Or branding? Washington Latin sounds like it will be 'classical' and rigorous whereas Bannneker sounds like a high school HBCU which they don't know anything about.

[Anonymous]

Its a fear of poor brown kids. Racism, mostly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell, they don't give Banneker a shot for the very same reasons there are few whites at historically black colleges. Even a great school like Howard attracts very few whites. Banneker's traditions are outside the orbit of whites and other races.

I think for some, it's about having more of a traditional high school experience. DS is bi-racial and would not consider Banneker because he wanted to play basketball, go to football games, play in the band, etc. Had nothing to do with race. Our friend's child, same age is white and loves Banneker.

NP. But if "traditional HS experience" is a driving factor, why is Wash Latin 1/3 white while Banneker has just 1 white student total (at least according to the NAEP reports and some DCPS reports)? Does Wash Latin have a football team and a band? I honestly don't know.

The question of why more white families don't apply to Banneker (and to Ellington) has long mystified me too. They're essentially an opportunity for the sort of G&T program that white Ward 3 families often clamor for, and a way to escape the overcrowding at other Ward 3 schools.

My only guess is that Banneker (and to a lesser extent Ellington) are largely promoted at historically black institutions, designed and maintained primarily for DC's black community, so any white student applying would be looked at with suspicion (or not admitted) unless he could show some genuine cultural link to the black community. I even thought that Banneker was explicitly designed as a black school, and enrollment was limited to only male black students (sort of like DCPS's Empowering Males of Color program). I know, I know, that's silly and uninformed, and my impression was obviously way off base on lots of facts, but that was the impression I got when I moved to DC many years ago and began hearing and reading about them in passing, and I had no children then so I had no need to investigate whether what I'd heard was true or not.

And even if my uninformed impression from years ago was justified, I don't understand why more white families (who are better informed than I was) haven't taken advantage of Banneker. Still confuses me.

Another person here who once thought Benneker was expressly for blacks only.

Ellington is not academically rigorous, that's why it was a non-starter for this family.

[Anonymous]

8:07 again. Just re-read my post. Should have written it this way: "... so any white student applying would think he would be looked at with suspicion (or not admitted) unless ...." I don't think there's any reason the school wouldn't admit and embrace white students, but I could see some misinformed parents (like I was!) thinking so.

[Anonymous]

Count me as another who initially thought it was a school only for black students.

But you can't understand the hesitation of a student not wanting to be the only if something? And at the high school level I'd give a lot of deference to the student's choice of schools. High school is hard enough socially, I can completely understand a student or a family giving that a lot of consideration when deciding what environment to pursue and perhaps starting as an outsider at a fairly critical academic and social juncture in a teenager's life is too much for many to take on.

[Anonymous]

Who cares? It's a perfectly functioning school that's not hurting for students. And frankly I don't care to read thread after thread from gentrifiers asking what they can do to "flip" this school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Count me as another who initially thought it was a school only for black students.

But you can't understand the hesitation of a student not wanting to be the only if something? And at the high school level I'd give a lot of deference to the student's choice of schools. High school is hard enough socially, I can completely understand a student or a family giving that a lot of consideration when deciding what environment to pursue and perhaps starting as an outsider at a fairly critical academic and social juncture in a teenager's life is too much for many to take on.

Sure, but it's surprising there aren't even a few white students there. And once there are a few, no one is an "only"