AA Boys at JKLMM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the discussion on AA boys in DCPS we would be very interested in hearing the perspective of parents of AA boys currently in elementary schools in the JKLMM cluster, We are currently IB for Janney.

A family I know had an AA son who attended Janney for a couple of years before transferring to a private school. He told me that his son was never invited to parties, which I found interesting. He said his son was hurt because the kids would talk about parties he was not invited to. If that is true, that speaks volumes about the students and parents.

My Black kids are invited and not excluded. They have good friends, white, Black, African, Asian, mixed, European, etc... They have not been singled out for being "active" or designated Special Ed.

Please take everything said on this board with a grain of salt.

+1
Thanks for your honesty! Some of the people commenting about Janney don't even have children that attend there. There are black parents who are happy about sending their children to Janney. OP's child will be welcome at Janney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the discussion on AA boys in DCPS we would be very interested in hearing the perspective of parents of AA boys currently in elementary schools in the JKLMM cluster, We are currently IB for Janney.

A family I know had an AA son who attended Janney for a couple of years before transferring to a private school. He told me that his son was never invited to parties, which I found interesting. He said his son was hurt because the kids would talk about parties he was not invited to. If that is true, that speaks volumes about the students and parents.

Janney can be a very tough place socially regardless of race. You have the "in" kids/parents who are invited to everything and the "out" kids/parents who are invited to nothing. Thankfully the mafia mentality is dissipating in the younger grades as the school gets larger and is comprised almost entirely of 2 income families. (= less time to get overly involved in the school social scene).

This sounds about right.

[Anonymous]

Our AA boy attended a JKLM and had a great experience. Went private after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is ONE AA child in PK (out of 80) kids at Janney this year and this child has white parents.

This statement is totally incorrect, but I have to admit that the truth is not much better. Current parent at Janney (2 kids). Definitely lacks racial diversity (reflects the neighborhood) but I think the quality of the school is worth it. We just make sure that our kids get lots of exposure to a diverse groups of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Janney second grade parent here. This post prompted me to get out the directory during this 2 hour delay.
In Janney second grade:
121 students
4 --black students with black parents
3 --black students with 1 white, 1 black parent
2 --black students adopted to white parents

Please, I would love to know how you made that determination just by looking at the directory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the discussion on AA boys in DCPS we would be very interested in hearing the perspective of parents of AA boys currently in elementary schools in the JKLMM cluster, We are currently IB for Janney.

A family I know had an AA son who attended Janney for a couple of years before transferring to a private school. He told me that his son was never invited to parties, which I found interesting. He said his son was hurt because the kids would talk about parties he was not invited to. If that is true, that speaks volumes about the students and parents.

My Black kids are invited and not excluded. They have good friends, white, Black, African, Asian, mixed, European, etc... They have not been singled out for being "active" or designated Special Ed.

Please take everything said on this board with a grain of salt.

No greater truth have ever been written. I will go a step further and say that assume everything on here is false unless you can verify it independently.

[Anonymous]

Most of the commenters need their keyboards deactivated and their entitlement cards revoked!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the commenters need their keyboards deactivated and their entitlement cards revoked!!

Yeah, imagine feeling that your kids are entitled to an excellent public school education, not some mediocre experience that others feel should Be "good enough."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious as to why JKLMM doesn't include E!H and S.

Why aren't Eaton, Hearst and Stoddert considered in the same league?

There is a qualitative difference with the JKLMM schools -- just about everyone who attends is in-boundary, and just about everyone who is in-boundary who goes to public school attends. This is starkly different from the rest of public education in DC, where roughly three quarters of kids don't attend thoeir in-boundary school. Eaton and Hearst are dominated by OOB kids so they don't fit that profile.

Stoddert is kind of a mixed bag.

NP. So you're saying because a school's profile isn't 100% IB, they don't earn a right to be considered just as top notch as JKLM. I call BS. In my perspective (and many non original JKLM parents), Stoddert, Eaton, Hearst should belong there if not more so because they are successful and diverse. PP that asked, many of us have already changed it to EHJKLMMORSS (it's just easier to type JKLM). The old guard doesn't want to allow others into the cool club for fear of it becoming a deluded pool. As if more successful schools will cause their property values to go down in the $100ks.

I am assuming you meant diluted, but it is a lot funnier and potentially more accurate your way too.

I take jklm to be a reliable indicator of the preparedness of the vast majority of the student body, quality of the school's administration and faculty, and engagement of the parents. I know families that love some of the named other high quality schools and I know families for whom they were not good enough and they moved out of DC for schools. I doubt that all the named schools (or even the other Jklms) are of equal quality to the jklm that my children attend but I am self aware enough to admit that that is just because I trust what I know. I cannot say that an objective and educated evaluator would reach the same conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'll find the most diversity (in the superficial racial sense) at Murch, the wannabee M that its boosters keep trying to attach to JKLM.

Just curious, why shouldn't "Murch" be attached to JKLM?

I know very prominent parents who have taken their kids out of Murch and Lafayette because they did not feel like the school was very welcoming to kids of color.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Janney second grade parent here. This post prompted me to get out the directory during this 2 hour delay.
In Janney second grade:
121 students
4 --black students with black parents
3 --black students with 1 white, 1 black parent
2 --black students adopted to white parents

Are these students biracial or is this a step parent situation where the child has two AA biological parents and a white step parent? I think it's an important distinction. Biracial kids look all kinds of ways, so a blanket treatment for them would be misleading. My biracial kid looks completely white.

Most biracial people (Black and white) do not look white. I know some, but very few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'll find the most diversity (in the superficial racial sense) at Murch, the wannabee M that its boosters keep trying to attach to JKLM.

Just curious, why shouldn't "Murch" be attached to JKLM?

I know very prominent parents who have taken their kids out of Murch and Lafayette because they did not feel like the school was very welcoming to kids of color.

What does prominent mean to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'll find the most diversity (in the superficial racial sense) at Murch, the wannabee M that its boosters keep trying to attach to JKLM.

Just curious, why shouldn't "Murch" be attached to JKLM?

I know very prominent parents who have taken their kids out of Murch and Lafayette because they did not feel like the school was very welcoming to kids of color.

this is total BS, at least for Murch (the school where my kids go). in my 6 years at Murch the only AA I know was pulled from the school left to go to Sidwell (she was on the waitlist) - mother told me that H's employer was paying for the tuition. my kids have AA classmates, Asians, and kids from International families. both my kids have one AA teacher this year (one kid has an AA teacher and an Indian teacher). so take your BS with you a find something nicer to do than trolling here. thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'll find the most diversity (in the superficial racial sense) at Murch, the wannabee M that its boosters keep trying to attach to JKLM.

Just curious, why shouldn't "Murch" be attached to JKLM?

I know very prominent parents who have taken their kids out of Murch and Lafayette because they did not feel like the school was very welcoming to kids of color.

this is total BS, at least for Murch (the school where my kids go). in my 6 years at Murch the only AA I know was pulled from the school left to go to Sidwell (she was on the waitlist) - mother told me that H's employer was paying for the tuition. my kids have AA classmates, Asians, and kids from International families. both my kids have one AA teacher this year (one kid has an AA teacher and an Indian teacher). so take your BS with you a find something nicer to do than trolling here. thanks

+100. OP and several PPs should clarify what matters most to them and their kids. If it is skin color, they should consider schools east of Anacostia. If it is quality education, and real diversity (language, countries, SES) then NW schools will probably be a better fit.

[Anonymous]

"Janney doesn't have "Special Ed" - it is an inclusion school which means students with special needs are helped through pull outs or more commonly one-on-one work with the roving inclusion teachers that is conducted in the classrooms.

Janney also doesn't label kids as "bad;" behavioral problems are viewed as a child needing help coping with something (whether academic, social or emotional) and are dealt with by a team that includes the special ed coordinator, the school psychologist, other relevant teachers and staff members, and generally the parents.

which post are you responding to? not sure i understand the point of this post."

I was responding to several commentors who seemed to be near hysteria that their boys won't be treated well ANYWHERE solely because of their skin color. It may be true that some schools don't do the right thing, but that doesn't mean all schools should be feared. In my view, Janney does the right thing.