Recommendations for Parent of Black Son With 99th Percentile Test Scores?

[Anonymous]

If your kid is a math nerd, then you should actually go to School Without Walls. The DCPS schools are very flexible with math, and they'll allow your son to accelerate to the level he desires and will even allow him to enroll in DC community colleges to do post-calc courses. SWW, in particular, has a partnership with George Washington University, so he can do very, very advanced math courses if he wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd say be wary of privates when it comes to math, because they tend to really be concerned with "equity" and lowering competition. If your kid is capable of doing calculus as a freshman, don't be shocked if they deny this request and put him in Algebra II. They'll give you some excuse like "we think it's best for his personal development" but in reality they don't want to make the other kids and their parents upset or anxious.

Every private school we talked to was willing and able to accelerate in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

He will qualify for all the privates people on this forum go nuts over and probably get financial aid too.

Here is my only guidance- polish his unicorn horn with great care. If you can get him good at a traditional team sport he will go ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

He will qualify for all the privates people on this forum go nuts over and probably get financial aid too.

Here is my only guidance- polish his unicorn horn with great care. If you can get him good at a traditional team sport he will go ivy.

This and don't even consider public school. A child like him will be more socially refined in the private system, Obama is a great example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

He will qualify for all the privates people on this forum go nuts over and probably get financial aid too.

Here is my only guidance- polish his unicorn horn with great care. If you can get him good at a traditional team sport he will go ivy.

This and don't even consider public school. A child like him will be more socially refined in the private system, Obama is a great example.

Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

He will qualify for all the privates people on this forum go nuts over and probably get financial aid too.

Here is my only guidance- polish his unicorn horn with great care. If you can get him good at a traditional team sport he will go ivy.

Team sports? Smh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

He will qualify for all the privates people on this forum go nuts over and probably get financial aid too.

Here is my only guidance- polish his unicorn horn with great care. If you can get him good at a traditional team sport he will go ivy.

Team sports? Smh.

Then he will have the golden trinity: smart, URM, and sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm moving to the DC area from Chicago, and my black son has a 99th percentile ISEE score and straight-A's. He's very advanced in math and has already completed pre-calculus in 7th grade and is bilingual. I'm not trying to brag, but I want some recommendations for schools that are black-friendly but can also accommodate an advanced student.

Also, would public schools be fine? We are zoned for Jackson-Reed High School in our next home. Is that a good option for advanced black students? Our previous public school was a nightmare, because he was bullied by the other black kids for being too nerdy.

He will qualify for all the privates people on this forum go nuts over and probably get financial aid too.

Here is my only guidance- polish his unicorn horn with great care. If you can get him good at a traditional team sport he will go ivy.

This and don't even consider public school. A child like him will be more socially refined in the private system, Obama is a great example.

Nope.

Right.....throwing him in a gifted magnet public school surrounded by kids with hyper competitive parents and zero social skills he will somehow manage to learn them from his peers?

Vs

Throwing him into a private school surrounded by UC/UMC kids who have parents at the top of all their fields. Those kids are steeped in social grace. Maybe they are not as smart but they will know not to button the bottom button, among other things.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have a feeling of you posted the exact same about your son, instead of your black son, you would have fewer people pushing him to public school. Just a thought. You think he deserves the best and a 9 in all categories on the ISEE is nearly impossible for anyone, so he should go to the top tier private he likes the best.

BTW my daughter, also high IQ got 7,8,9,9 on the ISEE. All the "top" scores were like hers; your son's seem to be better if he got all 9s. And not a chance in the world I would send her to public school. We gave them an in-depth look and a hard pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have a feeling of you posted the exact same about your son, instead of your black son, you would have fewer people pushing him to public school. Just a thought. You think he deserves the best and a 9 in all categories on the ISEE is nearly impossible for anyone, so he should go to the top tier private he likes the best.

BTW my daughter, also high IQ got 7,8,9,9 on the ISEE. All the "top" scores were like hers; your son's seem to be better if he got all 9s. And not a chance in the world I would send her to public school. We gave them an in-depth look and a hard pass.

I think this reflects the truth that DMV privates CAN be particularly tough for black students, ESPECIALLY black boys who aren’t talented in sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd say be wary of privates when it comes to math, because they tend to really be concerned with "equity" and lowering competition. If your kid is capable of doing calculus as a freshman, don't be shocked if they deny this request and put him in Algebra II. They'll give you some excuse like "we think it's best for his personal development" but in reality they don't want to make the other kids and their parents upset or anxious.

Every private school we talked to was willing and able to accelerate in math.

To the degree OP mentions - Calc by 9th probably, maybe even 8th? Most private schools we looked at offered a year or two of post-Calc math, not three or four. And private schools typically can’t offer the DE classes that publics do with local colleges.

Race aside (because I have no experience with a minority child anyway), if OP wants their son to remain that far accelerated, I question whether more than one or two private schools to accommodate it.

[Anonymous]

As others have said, avoid STA at all costs. It is not a healthy place for students of color. The school only recently allowed black students to form a BSU. This was also when the school permitted a white student group to form.

This is both blatantly false and lacks context. STA had no affinity groups until recent years. When they changed that policy, there was immediately a BSU. Your characterization is misleading and inflammatory by suggesting racism as the reason for no BSU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Andrew's in Potomac tends to be more diverse than a lot of peer schools.

Not as diverse as Burke. Look at student and faculty diversity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have a feeling of you posted the exact same about your son, instead of your black son, you would have fewer people pushing him to public school. Just a thought. You think he deserves the best and a 9 in all categories on the ISEE is nearly impossible for anyone, so he should go to the top tier private he likes the best.

BTW my daughter, also high IQ got 7,8,9,9 on the ISEE. All the "top" scores were like hers; your son's seem to be better if he got all 9s. And not a chance in the world I would send her to public school. We gave them an in-depth look and a hard pass.

I think this reflects the truth that DMV privates CAN be particularly tough for black students, ESPECIALLY black boys who aren’t talented in sports.

Most of the schools mentioned on DCUM aren’t bad as long as there are other black kids at the school and the teachers aren’t discriminating against them. I’d avoid the ones with very low percentages and where black students have lots of complaints about their experiences.

[Anonymous]

OP, you might have to decide which is the priority - diversity, the experience/environment of being in private, or maintaining the extreme math acceleration. It feels like this is a “pick two of three” situation.