Black student experience at Maury

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're going to have a bunch of non-Black people responding to what they think the experiences of Black students are.

This feels potentially true (white Maury parent here). Hope we are wrong though and you get helpful answers. In case not and in case helpful, my kid in 5th has a diverse friend group and when I see them interact in their peer group it all seems focused on their common interests, senses of humor, etc. From what I can see, their experience isn't an outlier. The teaching staff is also diverse. And I'm not sure about going on to Eliot Hine MS but almost all the kids in my kid's class are going there. Hope parents with direct experiences respond and this helps bump up your question!

Is this really true? My kid is in 5th grade at a very similar school in many respects and I am actually struck by how racially divided friend groups are — AA and white/otherr. There are a few UMC Black kids who straddle both groups and who also have their own little social group, but otherwise it is pretty divided along racial and economic lines. Now it’s a friendly school and all of the kids seem to get along fine. There are plenty of mixed race bigger parties. But smaller parties/sleepovers? Pretty divided.

I find it really noticeable because I went to a diverse school growing up, but where race and economics were not so linked and there was not similar racial separation. Because the UMC Black kids are part of both groups, I think it’s SES/class primarily driving it, but it’s apparent.

Anyway, genuinely curious if this is less true at Maury?

PP here - yes, it’s true. I mean, it’s my one kid’s experience and I can’t speak for others. Also saw another PP’s statement that experienced black teachers have all retired - that’s false.

FWIW, I’m white and the Eliot Hine boosterism and guilting is possibly my least favorite part of Maury too.

So what exactly is the impetus there if not to improve school buy-in and keep peer groups together? It reads as if other parents are pushing this option on other parents while keeping their secret great middle school to themselves.. but there is no other decent option other than trying to transfer into SH, or lottery out where everyone has the same possibility more or less.

SH is equally as bad. If you want to improve school buy-in, push to improve the school. Guilting people into making an objectively poor choice for their children doesn’t work.

Also the vast majority are secretly playing the lottery while pretending EH or SH is their first choice.

Are you able to share any datapoints on this? I spoke with a large group of current students at JO Wilsons camp fair in mid Feb(they had a table amongst themselves), and they absolutely waxed poetic about the school while being transparent about some of the issues the school deals with. Some of the kids gave mediocre reviews about the elementary schools they came from, but the SH experience they have seemed to adore. The kids appeared to be 7th/8th graders. SH seems like a fairly solid option currently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a mixed race family who were able to lottery into a charter from Maury. My youngest is still at Maury and will follow their siblings when the time comes. It also angers me when people complain about people peeling off for charters. They don't understand that if you are white and rich, risking a place like Eliot Hine is no big deal, but if you are dark skinned and barely middle class, it can be the difference between getting in to a good college or not.

What time period are you from? A good college won’t get you a good job.

And sorry no charter is going to fix colorism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're going to have a bunch of non-Black people responding to what they think the experiences of Black students are.

This feels potentially true (white Maury parent here). Hope we are wrong though and you get helpful answers. In case not and in case helpful, my kid in 5th has a diverse friend group and when I see them interact in their peer group it all seems focused on their common interests, senses of humor, etc. From what I can see, their experience isn't an outlier. The teaching staff is also diverse. And I'm not sure about going on to Eliot Hine MS but almost all the kids in my kid's class are going there. Hope parents with direct experiences respond and this helps bump up your question!

Is this really true? My kid is in 5th grade at a very similar school in many respects and I am actually struck by how racially divided friend groups are — AA and white/otherr. There are a few UMC Black kids who straddle both groups and who also have their own little social group, but otherwise it is pretty divided along racial and economic lines. Now it’s a friendly school and all of the kids seem to get along fine. There are plenty of mixed race bigger parties. But smaller parties/sleepovers? Pretty divided.

I find it really noticeable because I went to a diverse school growing up, but where race and economics were not so linked and there was not similar racial separation. Because the UMC Black kids are part of both groups, I think it’s SES/class primarily driving it, but it’s apparent.

Anyway, genuinely curious if this is less true at Maury?

PP here - yes, it’s true. I mean, it’s my one kid’s experience and I can’t speak for others. Also saw another PP’s statement that experienced black teachers have all retired - that’s false.

FWIW, I’m white and the Eliot Hine boosterism and guilting is possibly my least favorite part of Maury too.

So what exactly is the impetus there if not to improve school buy-in and keep peer groups together? It reads as if other parents are pushing this option on other parents while keeping their secret great middle school to themselves.. but there is no other decent option other than trying to transfer into SH, or lottery out where everyone has the same possibility more or less.

SH is equally as bad. If you want to improve school buy-in, push to improve the school. Guilting people into making an objectively poor choice for their children doesn’t work.

Also the vast majority are secretly playing the lottery while pretending EH or SH is their first choice.

Are you able to share any datapoints on this? I spoke with a large group of current students at JO Wilsons camp fair in mid Feb(they had a table amongst themselves), and they absolutely waxed poetic about the school while being transparent about some of the issues the school deals with. Some of the kids gave mediocre reviews about the elementary schools they came from, but the SH experience they have seemed to adore. The kids appeared to be 7th/8th graders. SH seems like a fairly solid option currently.

I know dozens and dozens of families both recently and from years passed who moved to get out of Stuart Hobson and Eliot Hine. It was mostly the weak academics but also the nonexistent clubs and activities offered at other dc schools. Once they moved to the suburbs or charters they found out just how behind they were from other kids.

A few years ago a close friend of mine had a child who was literally failing out of Basis. They withdrew from basis and went to Stuart Hobson where they got excellent grades and ended up at Walls. The kid was on cloud 9 because there was zero homework and zero accountability.

Black and brown kids can’t roll the dice on a bad school and hope for the best down the road.

[Anonymous]

Before you make up some bs about how Stuart Hobson is so much better at teaching than basis note that this kid thrived at Stuart Hobson because it was “hilariously easy” and he could goof off and act out with the other kids all day. And sure enough this came back to bite him in high school. High school requires hard work and commitment, and he learned nothing in middle school and needed to catch up which he did not manage to do.

[Anonymous]

I dont think its good/necessary for middle schoolers to need to do 2-3 hours of homework every night. A lot of times kids who feel like failures become unmotivated and quit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I dont think its good/necessary for middle schoolers to need to do 2-3 hours of homework every night. A lot of times kids who feel like failures become unmotivated and quit.

this is also not right. we've been at BASIS for 2 years and my kid usually has 0-30 minutes of homework (he does finish most of it in study hall during the day). He said in a poll, most fellow 6th graders also reported 0-30.

I think the kids taking 2-3 hrs are spending a lot of time daydreaming, tbh. Or maybe the school is a really bad fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before you make up some bs about how Stuart Hobson is so much better at teaching than basis note that this kid thrived at Stuart Hobson because it was “hilariously easy” and he could goof off and act out with the other kids all day. And sure enough this came back to bite him in high school. High school requires hard work and commitment, and he learned nothing in middle school and needed to catch up which he did not manage to do.

If this kid is already off at Walls, and already being "bitten" by the lack of preparation he got at SH, we're talking awhile ago. But also, if he was really "failing out" of BASIS, then I'm pretty skeptical of this whole story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're going to have a bunch of non-Black people responding to what they think the experiences of Black students are.

This feels potentially true (white Maury parent here). Hope we are wrong though and you get helpful answers. In case not and in case helpful, my kid in 5th has a diverse friend group and when I see them interact in their peer group it all seems focused on their common interests, senses of humor, etc. From what I can see, their experience isn't an outlier. The teaching staff is also diverse. And I'm not sure about going on to Eliot Hine MS but almost all the kids in my kid's class are going there. Hope parents with direct experiences respond and this helps bump up your question!

Is this really true? My kid is in 5th grade at a very similar school in many respects and I am actually struck by how racially divided friend groups are — AA and white/otherr. There are a few UMC Black kids who straddle both groups and who also have their own little social group, but otherwise it is pretty divided along racial and economic lines. Now it’s a friendly school and all of the kids seem to get along fine. There are plenty of mixed race bigger parties. But smaller parties/sleepovers? Pretty divided.

I find it really noticeable because I went to a diverse school growing up, but where race and economics were not so linked and there was not similar racial separation. Because the UMC Black kids are part of both groups, I think it’s SES/class primarily driving it, but it’s apparent.

Anyway, genuinely curious if this is less true at Maury?

PP here - yes, it’s true. I mean, it’s my one kid’s experience and I can’t speak for others. Also saw another PP’s statement that experienced black teachers have all retired - that’s false.

FWIW, I’m white and the Eliot Hine boosterism and guilting is possibly my least favorite part of Maury too.

So what exactly is the impetus there if not to improve school buy-in and keep peer groups together? It reads as if other parents are pushing this option on other parents while keeping their secret great middle school to themselves.. but there is no other decent option other than trying to transfer into SH, or lottery out where everyone has the same possibility more or less.

SH is equally as bad. If you want to improve school buy-in, push to improve the school. Guilting people into making an objectively poor choice for their children doesn’t work.

Also the vast majority are secretly playing the lottery while pretending EH or SH is their first choice.

Are you able to share any datapoints on this? I spoke with a large group of current students at JO Wilsons camp fair in mid Feb(they had a table amongst themselves), and they absolutely waxed poetic about the school while being transparent about some of the issues the school deals with. Some of the kids gave mediocre reviews about the elementary schools they came from, but the SH experience they have seemed to adore. The kids appeared to be 7th/8th graders. SH seems like a fairly solid option currently.

I know dozens and dozens of families both recently and from years passed who moved to get out of Stuart Hobson and Eliot Hine. It was mostly the weak academics but also the nonexistent clubs and activities offered at other dc schools. Once they moved to the suburbs or charters they found out just how behind they were from other kids.

A few years ago a close friend of mine had a child who was literally failing out of Basis. They withdrew from basis and went to Stuart Hobson where they got excellent grades and ended up at Walls. The kid was on cloud 9 because there was zero homework and zero accountability.

Black and brown kids can’t roll the dice on a bad school and hope for the best down the road.

I find this fascinating, because it's not my experience at all. Our SH-feeding ES sends kids to privates every year (Maret, GDS and CHDS last year, for example) and those kids have uniformly reported that they are not behind on arrival. Same for families who move to the burbs. So if the "dozens and dozens" of families you know turned up in the burbs or charters and found out they were way behind, I question whether that's a random sampling... or kids who were already struggling. If my kid needed a lot of hand-holding, I wouldn't send them to SH or EH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I lived on Capitol Hill and had a black child, I would sooner send them to Friendship Chamberlain (where 3+ CAPE proficiency is 73% in both math and ELA for black students) than Maury, where it's 54 and 66%, respectively. The numbers at 4+ are even more pronounced: 46/56 at FC and 22/38 at Maury.

Since FC is 96% black and 59% at risk, there are a lot more non-at-risk black families there than at Maury (which is 20% black and 18% at risk). I'd rather go through 8th grade at Chamberlain than do Eliot-Hine, too.

This is a very smart analysis. I think it’s probably mostly accurate. I’d be very eagle eyed and sharp eared to make sure things were going well, but it’s a good thought.

The idea that a Jack & Jill mom is going to send her kids to Friendship PCS is just funny to me.

Do you think there are a lot of j&j folks at Maury? I would think more at Shepherd, Hyde-addison, maybe key and some dci feeders, or private.

Jack and Jill moms should not be the gold standard for anything. That organization is steeped in financial mismanagement and fraud. Such an embarrassment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before you make up some bs about how Stuart Hobson is so much better at teaching than basis note that this kid thrived at Stuart Hobson because it was “hilariously easy” and he could goof off and act out with the other kids all day. And sure enough this came back to bite him in high school. High school requires hard work and commitment, and he learned nothing in middle school and needed to catch up which he did not manage to do.

If this kid is already off at Walls, and already being "bitten" by the lack of preparation he got at SH, we're talking awhile ago. But also, if he was really "failing out" of BASIS, then I'm pretty skeptical of this whole story.

SH is full of basis losers.

[Anonymous]

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're going to have a bunch of non-Black people responding to what they think the experiences of Black students are.

This feels potentially true (white Maury parent here). Hope we are wrong though and you get helpful answers. In case not and in case helpful, my kid in 5th has a diverse friend group and when I see them interact in their peer group it all seems focused on their common interests, senses of humor, etc. From what I can see, their experience isn't an outlier. The teaching staff is also diverse. And I'm not sure about going on to Eliot Hine MS but almost all the kids in my kid's class are going there. Hope parents with direct experiences respond and this helps bump up your question!

Is this really true? My kid is in 5th grade at a very similar school in many respects and I am actually struck by how racially divided friend groups are — AA and white/otherr. There are a few UMC Black kids who straddle both groups and who also have their own little social group, but otherwise it is pretty divided along racial and economic lines. Now it’s a friendly school and all of the kids seem to get along fine. There are plenty of mixed race bigger parties. But smaller parties/sleepovers? Pretty divided.

I find it really noticeable because I went to a diverse school growing up, but where race and economics were not so linked and there was not similar racial separation. Because the UMC Black kids are part of both groups, I think it’s SES/class primarily driving it, but it’s apparent.

Anyway, genuinely curious if this is less true at Maury?

PP here - yes, it’s true. I mean, it’s my one kid’s experience and I can’t speak for others. Also saw another PP’s statement that experienced black teachers have all retired - that’s false.

FWIW, I’m white and the Eliot Hine boosterism and guilting is possibly my least favorite part of Maury too.

So what exactly is the impetus there if not to improve school buy-in and keep peer groups together? It reads as if other parents are pushing this option on other parents while keeping their secret great middle school to themselves.. but there is no other decent option other than trying to transfer into SH, or lottery out where everyone has the same possibility more or less.

SH is equally as bad. If you want to improve school buy-in, push to improve the school. Guilting people into making an objectively poor choice for their children doesn’t work.

Also the vast majority are secretly playing the lottery while pretending EH or SH is their first choice.

Are you able to share any datapoints on this? I spoke with a large group of current students at JO Wilsons camp fair in mid Feb(they had a table amongst themselves), and they absolutely waxed poetic about the school while being transparent about some of the issues the school deals with. Some of the kids gave mediocre reviews about the elementary schools they came from, but the SH experience they have seemed to adore. The kids appeared to be 7th/8th graders. SH seems like a fairly solid option currently.

I know dozens and dozens of families both recently and from years passed who moved to get out of Stuart Hobson and Eliot Hine. It was mostly the weak academics but also the nonexistent clubs and activities offered at other dc schools. Once they moved to the suburbs or charters they found out just how behind they were from other kids.

A few years ago a close friend of mine had a child who was literally failing out of Basis. They withdrew from basis and went to Stuart Hobson where they got excellent grades and ended up at Walls. The kid was on cloud 9 because there was zero homework and zero accountability.

Black and brown kids can’t roll the dice on a bad school and hope for the best down the road.

I find this fascinating, because it's not my experience at all. Our SH-feeding ES sends kids to privates every year (Maret, GDS and CHDS last year, for example) and those kids have uniformly reported that they are not behind on arrival. Same for families who move to the burbs. So if the "dozens and dozens" of families you know turned up in the burbs or charters and found out they were way behind, I question whether that's a random sampling... or kids who were already struggling. If my kid needed a lot of hand-holding, I wouldn't send them to SH or EH.

Why wouldn’t you send them to SH or EH if they needed handholding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're going to have a bunch of non-Black people responding to what they think the experiences of Black students are.

This feels potentially true (white Maury parent here). Hope we are wrong though and you get helpful answers. In case not and in case helpful, my kid in 5th has a diverse friend group and when I see them interact in their peer group it all seems focused on their common interests, senses of humor, etc. From what I can see, their experience isn't an outlier. The teaching staff is also diverse. And I'm not sure about going on to Eliot Hine MS but almost all the kids in my kid's class are going there. Hope parents with direct experiences respond and this helps bump up your question!

Is this really true? My kid is in 5th grade at a very similar school in many respects and I am actually struck by how racially divided friend groups are — AA and white/otherr. There are a few UMC Black kids who straddle both groups and who also have their own little social group, but otherwise it is pretty divided along racial and economic lines. Now it’s a friendly school and all of the kids seem to get along fine. There are plenty of mixed race bigger parties. But smaller parties/sleepovers? Pretty divided.

I find it really noticeable because I went to a diverse school growing up, but where race and economics were not so linked and there was not similar racial separation. Because the UMC Black kids are part of both groups, I think it’s SES/class primarily driving it, but it’s apparent.

Anyway, genuinely curious if this is less true at Maury?

PP here - yes, it’s true. I mean, it’s my one kid’s experience and I can’t speak for others. Also saw another PP’s statement that experienced black teachers have all retired - that’s false.

FWIW, I’m white and the Eliot Hine boosterism and guilting is possibly my least favorite part of Maury too.

So what exactly is the impetus there if not to improve school buy-in and keep peer groups together? It reads as if other parents are pushing this option on other parents while keeping their secret great middle school to themselves.. but there is no other decent option other than trying to transfer into SH, or lottery out where everyone has the same possibility more or less.

SH is equally as bad. If you want to improve school buy-in, push to improve the school. Guilting people into making an objectively poor choice for their children doesn’t work.

Also the vast majority are secretly playing the lottery while pretending EH or SH is their first choice.

Are you able to share any datapoints on this? I spoke with a large group of current students at JO Wilsons camp fair in mid Feb(they had a table amongst themselves), and they absolutely waxed poetic about the school while being transparent about some of the issues the school deals with. Some of the kids gave mediocre reviews about the elementary schools they came from, but the SH experience they have seemed to adore. The kids appeared to be 7th/8th graders. SH seems like a fairly solid option currently.

I know dozens and dozens of families both recently and from years passed who moved to get out of Stuart Hobson and Eliot Hine. It was mostly the weak academics but also the nonexistent clubs and activities offered at other dc schools. Once they moved to the suburbs or charters they found out just how behind they were from other kids.

A few years ago a close friend of mine had a child who was literally failing out of Basis. They withdrew from basis and went to Stuart Hobson where they got excellent grades and ended up at Walls. The kid was on cloud 9 because there was zero homework and zero accountability.

Black and brown kids can’t roll the dice on a bad school and hope for the best down the road.

SH and EH are not bad. They are just as good as any other middle school but with cultural differences. I understand the reasons why black UMC parents avoid these schools but I don’t think they are necessarily correct about the quality of school and academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before you make up some bs about how Stuart Hobson is so much better at teaching than basis note that this kid thrived at Stuart Hobson because it was “hilariously easy” and he could goof off and act out with the other kids all day. And sure enough this came back to bite him in high school. High school requires hard work and commitment, and he learned nothing in middle school and needed to catch up which he did not manage to do.

Boy you sure do know a LOT about someone else’s kid! Unless this is YOUR kid you probably should take a seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a mixed race family who were able to lottery into a charter from Maury. My youngest is still at Maury and will follow their siblings when the time comes. It also angers me when people complain about people peeling off for charters. They don't understand that if you are white and rich, risking a place like Eliot Hine is no big deal, but if you are dark skinned and barely middle class, it can be the difference between getting in to a good college or not.

What time period are you from? A good college won’t get you a good job.

And sorry no charter is going to fix colorism.

A good college gives you connections for a good job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a mixed race family who were able to lottery into a charter from Maury. My youngest is still at Maury and will follow their siblings when the time comes. It also angers me when people complain about people peeling off for charters. They don't understand that if you are white and rich, risking a place like Eliot Hine is no big deal, but if you are dark skinned and barely middle class, it can be the difference between getting in to a good college or not.

What time period are you from? A good college won’t get you a good job.

And sorry no charter is going to fix colorism.

A good college gives you connections for a good job.

No, your child’s ability to network, think critically, and get creative does. Or simply nepotism.