Question for parents of black children in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

Because they are.

WJ, a "W" school, is 55% white and 45% non-white. Compared to the overall population of MCPS students, it is disproportionately white. But it's not segregated. It's not a school that non-white students are not allowed to attend, and it's not a school that non-white students do not in fact attend. It is rather a school that over 1,000 non-white students attend.

It is important to talk about the fact that there are schools in our county that are disproportionately white and that have disproportionately few low income students. There are also schools that have disproportionately few white students and disproportionately high numbers of low income students (and I would not call those schools "diverse"). This is an important discussion. But the people who react against saying these schools are "segregated" are not crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

This.

But some people love to claim that any given school is segregated unless it has 20-40% of AA students.

Funny enough, it is often the same people who would never send their kids to an AA-majority school, but somehow 1) there's something magical about that 20-40%, 2) Latinos, Asians, Arabs, Africans, immigrants, don't matter to them, it's all about AAs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

Because they are.

WJ, a "W" school, is 55% white and 45% non-white. Compared to the overall population of MCPS students, it is disproportionately white. But it's not segregated. It's not a school that non-white students are not allowed to attend, and it's not a school that non-white students do not in fact attend. It is rather a school that over 1,000 non-white students attend.

It is important to talk about the fact that there are schools in our county that are disproportionately white and that have disproportionately few low income students. There are also schools that have disproportionately few white students and disproportionately high numbers of low income students (and I would not call those schools "diverse"). This is an important discussion. But the people who react against saying these schools are "segregated" are not crazy.

It's segregated since parents go bonkers whenever small boundary changes are discussed that might bring greater diversity that's consistent with the county to these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

This.

But some people love to claim that any given school is segregated unless it has 20-40% of AA students.

Funny enough, it is often the same people who would never send their kids to an AA-majority school, but somehow 1) there's something magical about that 20-40%, 2) Latinos, Asians, Arabs, Africans, immigrants, don't matter to them, it's all about AAs.

If you're trying to persuade the OP that there are lots of bigots in Montgomery County, posts like these are a good way to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

Because they are.

WJ, a "W" school, is 55% white and 45% non-white. Compared to the overall population of MCPS students, it is disproportionately white. But it's not segregated. It's not a school that non-white students are not allowed to attend, and it's not a school that non-white students do not in fact attend. It is rather a school that over 1,000 non-white students attend.

It is important to talk about the fact that there are schools in our county that are disproportionately white and that have disproportionately few low income students. There are also schools that have disproportionately few white students and disproportionately high numbers of low income students (and I would not call those schools "diverse"). This is an important discussion. But the people who react against saying these schools are "segregated" are not crazy.

Yes, it's basically 55% white and 45% Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

Because they are.

WJ, a "W" school, is 55% white and 45% non-white. Compared to the overall population of MCPS students, it is disproportionately white. But it's not segregated. It's not a school that non-white students are not allowed to attend, and it's not a school that non-white students do not in fact attend. It is rather a school that over 1,000 non-white students attend.

It is important to talk about the fact that there are schools in our county that are disproportionately white and that have disproportionately few low income students. There are also schools that have disproportionately few white students and disproportionately high numbers of low income students (and I would not call those schools "diverse"). This is an important discussion. But the people who react against saying these schools are "segregated" are not crazy.

Segregation is not an all-or-nothing thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

Because they are.

WJ, a "W" school, is 55% white and 45% non-white. Compared to the overall population of MCPS students, it is disproportionately white. But it's not segregated. It's not a school that non-white students are not allowed to attend, and it's not a school that non-white students do not in fact attend. It is rather a school that over 1,000 non-white students attend.

It is important to talk about the fact that there are schools in our county that are disproportionately white and that have disproportionately few low income students. There are also schools that have disproportionately few white students and disproportionately high numbers of low income students (and I would not call those schools "diverse"). This is an important discussion. But the people who react against saying these schools are "segregated" are not crazy.

Yes, it's basically 55% white and 45% Asian.

1. No, it's not.
2. The kids you refer to as Asian were almost all born in America, which makes them Americans, not Asians.

[Anonymous]

Please allow me to start by saying that I have no skin in this game, as my kids are long out of school. I don't want to make this about one school in particular, but I feel the need to clarify some inaccuracies.

I am a realtor located in Bethesda and I search for homes for parents of school aged children every single day. I get to know these families over time, as I live in the neighborhood that their home search is usually in. That being said, I happen to agree with the previous poster who said that Walter Johnson's makeup is not even close to being the same as the other two "W" schools & they shouldn't be lumped together (especially since Walter Johnson has never had incidents of racism occur that both Walt Whitman & Winston Churchill has).

I interact with these folks and their families day in and day out. I see them as they're walking their dogs, as I'm watering my flowers, as they ride their bikes in the neighborhood, while playing basketball at Stratton Park, pet sitting for a neighbor, etc. & believe it or not, they actually come in all different colors, shades, races, religions, cultures & sizes.

Walter Johnson is situated smack dab in the middle of a neighborly, working class community that's filled with hard workers. It's very family oriented & they teach their children important family history & values. International Night at Ashburton is my favorite night of the year, as we have representation from almost every country in the world. The authentic clothing, food, history & intricate details are so lovely & insightful.

I see teens that go to Walter Johnson posting on NextDoor every single day offering their services to babysit, mow lawns, rake leaves, wash cars, etc. I see them lifeguarding at my pool, working in the mall, working at Giant, etc.

There is a nice mix of diversity throughout all of the Walter Johnson schools, as so many folks who come to this country to work for places like NIH, usually settle in the Walter Johnson district. Same for those who've worked for Walter Reed or the Bethesda Navy Exchange... it's a very inclusive community.

Additionally, there is a great deal of affordable housing in the Walter Johnson district, including (but not limited to) all of the apartment towers & townhomes off of Grosvenor Lane/Rockville Pike, Tuckerman Lane, Pooks Hill Rd, as well as next to Montgomery Mall.

As a realtor, I can tell you that Walter Johnson's neighborhoods are far more diverse & affordable than Walt Whitman or Winston Churchill, as both of those schools have zero to no affordable apartment housing, and the average home priced in both Whitman & Churchill are immensely higher than the average home in Walter Johnson.

I realize that what I'm saying may sound silly to those of you who don't "know" Bethesda and only know of it from these boards.

However, the easiest comparison I can make would be that Walt Whitman and Winston Churchill are considered very wealthy communities, where as Walter Johnson is usually considered middle / upper middle class folks. I don't know why I felt the need to clarify this, I just did... my apologies.

In my humble opinion, I do not believe that any of Bethesda's schools are far superior to the other schools in the rest of the county, I mean doesn't every single school in MCPS follow the same exact curriculum no matter which school you attend?

There are brilliant kids in EVERY single school in MCPS and there are also kids who struggle greatly in EVERY single school in MCPS.
I think what it comes down to is that it's not strictly our choice of schools that influence our kids, but a combination of things. It's also our choice of communities, neighbors, familial bonds & inner strength and fortitude that leave a lasting impression on our children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont see why anyone in their right mind would think schools are segregated in MoCo. They are so diverse it is almost annoying. It is like the United Colors of Benneton advertising campaign.

BTW Bethesda/Chevy Chase and WJ drive by at lunch time or when schools let out. It is like a We are the World.

This.

But some people love to claim that any given school is segregated unless it has 20-40% of AA students.

Funny enough, it is often the same people who would never send their kids to an AA-majority school, but somehow 1) there's something magical about that 20-40%, 2) Latinos, Asians, Arabs, Africans, immigrants, don't matter to them, it's all about AAs.

If you're trying to persuade the OP that there are lots of bigots in Montgomery County, posts like these are a good way to do it.

Only in the crazy bubble would you say that stating facts is bigoted.

OP can decide for herself.

[Anonymous]

A black person would NEVER say that there isn't racism and classism at TPMS and Blair. In our experience, it is very bad at these schools, especially classism. The white parents are very tone deaf. Its like the people who think they are not racially biased because they voted for Obama but cross the street if they see a few black teenagers walking in their direction.

[Anonymous]

African Americans in Montgomery County are being displaced by hispanics in areas that used to have more AA residents. They are moving into PG and Howard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

facility? I don't know. Teacher quality? I don't know of tests that teachers take routinely for their "quality". But I do know tests students take routinely, and their scores reflect some quality of the school.

Of course, it is your choice. If you don't care about student scores from schools, just say it.

Oh, the stats you're using are student scores on standardized tests. We've been through that. They don't measure teacher quality or facility quality. They measure students' family background. By that measure, the "best schools" are the schools with the most students from wealthy families. A silly way to define "best schools", in my opinion.

As I said, you choose your own standards. Many people like it when (students in) schools perform well, I don't see anything silly in that. Most of us are not educators and we do not care what student scores "really" measure, in addition to student performance itself. Discrict administrators may want to know that in order to make other schools perform better but as parents who want to choose schools (instead of improving schools), we don't care.

No one is forcing you to define "best" based on student scores. You can try to persuade those who use that standard into not doing so but please be respectful to other people's choices. I would avoid calling something many people do as "stupid".

Are you also a climate change denier by virtue of not being a scientist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

facility? I don't know. Teacher quality? I don't know of tests that teachers take routinely for their "quality". But I do know tests students take routinely, and their scores reflect some quality of the school.

Of course, it is your choice. If you don't care about student scores from schools, just say it.

Oh, the stats you're using are student scores on standardized tests. We've been through that. They don't measure teacher quality or facility quality. They measure students' family background. By that measure, the "best schools" are the schools with the most students from wealthy families. A silly way to define "best schools", in my opinion.

As I said, you choose your own standards. Many people like it when (students in) schools perform well, I don't see anything silly in that. Most of us are not educators and we do not care what student scores "really" measure, in addition to student performance itself. Discrict administrators may want to know that in order to make other schools perform better but as parents who want to choose schools (instead of improving schools), we don't care.

No one is forcing you to define "best" based on student scores. You can try to persuade those who use that standard into not doing so but please be respectful to other people's choices. I would avoid calling something many people do as "stupid".

Are you also a climate change denier by virtue of not being a scientist?

Your logic is faulty.

You could ask: "do you also not care WHY the climate changes by virtue of not being a scientist". That would be a better analogue.

Yet, you started making assumptions on my "denying" climate change. Please, study logic first before making faulty analogies.

[Anonymous]

Oh, the stats you're using are student scores on standardized tests. We've been through that. They don't measure teacher quality or facility quality. They measure students' family background. By that measure, the "best schools" are the schools with the most students from wealthy families. A silly way to define "best schools", in my opinion.

While this is generally true at a macro level if you drill into school scores you can see many examples where this doesn't play out. There are wealthier ES schools in the DCC that score lower than poorer schools in the DCC. There are some ES schools where AA students do better than others. There are schools where the failure rate is much higher than the FARMS number.

Overcrowding seems to be an indicator for lower performance. For an AA kid overcrowding means the teacher have less opportunity to get to know the individual kids. Bias or stereotyping is more likely to kick in for those situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A black person would NEVER say that there isn't racism and classism at TPMS and Blair. In our experience, it is very bad at these schools, especially classism. The white parents are very tone deaf. Its like the people who think they are not racially biased because they voted for Obama but cross the street if they see a few black teenagers walking in their direction.

My AA kids attended TPMS and one attended Blair. We also have roughly 10 other friends who had kids at those schools. No school in MCPS is free of racism and classism. However, in comparison to WJ, Whitman, Clarksburg, Damascus, and Magruder, it is MUCH less widespread at TPMS and Blair. And the admins take it much more seriously. Northwood seems to be ok, but the AA families I know who sent their kids there were MCPS insiders. I think Paint Branch is another non-W school that is a safer choice for an AA middle class family, but the feeder middles are not as strong as TPMS. I don’t know as much about Blake or QO.