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As for the uniforms mentioned by a PP, uniform requirements seem to less enforced over the past few years. I don't love them either, but many IB parents actually like them for their convenience. I wouldn't be surprised if uniforms go away after a few more years.
I haven't heard of any steps to eliminate the requirement for uniforms. What's your basis for thinking uniforms might go away after a few more years? That would be great but I'm not aware of this direction.
As for uniforms, that was just idle speculation on my part. I think enough parents would have to push the argument about uniforms having little bearing on test scores, behavior, etc. Right now, I think most people are fine with them.
The school did make a change in direction on uniforms this year. Kids can continue to wear the standard uniform (white polos, blue pants/shorts/skirts) or opt to wear a Shepherd t-shirt, of which there are multiple varieties. My little kids opt for the t-shirt nearly every day.
I never grew up with school uniforms, but I really love the idea of constraining what kids wear. One less distraction for the classroom, eliminates peer pressure for having the newest/coolest brands.
So don’t schools close by like Janney and Lafayette do uniforms? A big swath of the city DOES but then the JKLMs don’t. Why?
Janney and Lafayette don't do uniforms. School uniforms have frequently been employed by lower income schools as a tool to control behavior. It's a very outdated practice, and considered to be ineffective. It's the opposite of progressive, along with negative reinforcement (which Shepherd also employs via the red/yellow/green behavior charts). JKLMs don't do uniforms because it screams "poor."
I understand that some Shepherd parents prefer uniforms, but it's yet another negative way that Shepherd isn't run the same way as the other Deal/Wilson feeders along with lower test scores and lower in boundary percentages. Personally, I'm strongly against uniforms as they're a very visible indicator of a lower performing school and it's out of touch with the actual boundary of the school. The optics are bad to have the higher performing, more white WOTP schools not require uniforms while the lower performing, more AA Shepherd requires uniforms. It sends the wrong message to the kids.
It would be such an easy thing for the school leadership to make uniforms optional. We could do school spirit days for kids to wear Shepherd t-shirts and sell special commemorative t-shirts for events so t-shirt sales don't decline (this is a source of income for the PTA).
Abolishing the uniform requirement is an example of the general outlook that would have to change at Shepherd to attract and retain more in boundary families. It's possible to be a traditional curriculum school yet still employ modern educational practices. The JKLMs do this better.
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