NPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS is constantly telling people "it is come as you are" "we are such a warm nurturing environment" "we have no bullies. we have core values". I feel like if all of this were true you wouldn't need to constantly say it. We would all just see it.

You do see it as a parent there. Core values are discussed regularly so young children internalize them. Not all things are for parents.

I didn’t see it as a parent there but that’s why we didn’t stay long. We’re also a family of color. I could see this as being a wonderful place for white children.

PP, what led you to leave the school? Did you find it unwelcoming? If you did, was it the students, the teachers, or the parents? What could the school have done better? Was attending a tough commute?

What did you do next? Was trying out a private, majority white school in ward 3 a mistake, or a useful experience?

We have young children at NPS. If they notice the race of their classmates, they have never mentioned it.

I’m curious too. I’m willing to commute for what best for my kid but I don’t want him in an uncomfortable situation as an AA kid. My friends whose daughter is AA and now attends Holton swears by NPS

We are another family of color who didn't stay long. Felt the school had a long way to go, but seems they've made some ground since.

What drove you away? The kids? Parents? Teachers? Too few AA families? Location? Unwelcoming vibe for you? For your child?

I will say this -- I have never spoken ill of the school or even posted about it until now. I'm not writing to complain, but to offer a perspective that might be helpful and that's because your question. It's not my intent to criticize the school because we did thing it was a nice place with a lot of nice families and kids. At the time we were there, I would call it well meaning. The main challenge is that it's just too darn white and that creates a lot of blind spots for the school. It's a nice community overall. We were an affluent family of color. To be honest, I got the sense that many in the community assumed most of the families of color were on aid. I saw a lot of the problems stemming from lack of diversity overall and with implicit bias. For example, if there were three black kids in a grade, it seemed that the school would put one per class. That's diversity to benefit white kids, but for black kids, that makes them the "only" in their class. Does that make sense? I remember an incident in a younger grade where someone egged my child to do something, and only my child was reprimanded. Maybe bias, maybe not -- but I didn't like being in a place where I had to keep questioning it. My husband would stand in line at the pancake events and felt like people he had met on numerous occasions would look "through" him as though they didn't see him. He was the one who had to make the effort to remind. We moved to a different school and felt an immediate relief and a sense of belonging that we didn't experience at NPS. Again, it's not to criticize NPS. It was just that we didn't feel a sense of belonging and I was worried that my kid was going to be subject to implicit bias and that it would mess with self esteem. My biggest recommendations would to hire more diverse teachers and to really have the whole parent body (not just the diversity crowd) attend workshops on implicit bias/or equity and inclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS is constantly telling people "it is come as you are" "we are such a warm nurturing environment" "we have no bullies. we have core values". I feel like if all of this were true you wouldn't need to constantly say it. We would all just see it.

You do see it as a parent there. Core values are discussed regularly so young children internalize them. Not all things are for parents.

I didn’t see it as a parent there but that’s why we didn’t stay long. We’re also a family of color. I could see this as being a wonderful place for white children.

PP, what led you to leave the school? Did you find it unwelcoming? If you did, was it the students, the teachers, or the parents? What could the school have done better? Was attending a tough commute?

What did you do next? Was trying out a private, majority white school in ward 3 a mistake, or a useful experience?

We have young children at NPS. If they notice the race of their classmates, they have never mentioned it.

Understood.

I’m curious too. I’m willing to commute for what best for my kid but I don’t want him in an uncomfortable situation as an AA kid. My friends whose daughter is AA and now attends Holton swears by NPS

We are another family of color who didn't stay long. Felt the school had a long way to go, but seems they've made some ground since.

What drove you away? The kids? Parents? Teachers? Too few AA families? Location? Unwelcoming vibe for you? For your child?

I will say this -- I have never spoken ill of the school or even posted about it until now. I'm not writing to complain, but to offer a perspective that might be helpful and that's because your question. It's not my intent to criticize the school because we did thing it was a nice place with a lot of nice families and kids. At the time we were there, I would call it well meaning. The main challenge is that it's just too darn white and that creates a lot of blind spots for the school. It's a nice community overall. We were an affluent family of color. To be honest, I got the sense that many in the community assumed most of the families of color were on aid. I saw a lot of the problems stemming from lack of diversity overall and with implicit bias. For example, if there were three black kids in a grade, it seemed that the school would put one per class. That's diversity to benefit white kids, but for black kids, that makes them the "only" in their class. Does that make sense? I remember an incident in a younger grade where someone egged my child to do something, and only my child was reprimanded. Maybe bias, maybe not -- but I didn't like being in a place where I had to keep questioning it. My husband would stand in line at the pancake events and felt like people he had met on numerous occasions would look "through" him as though they didn't see him. He was the one who had to make the effort to remind. We moved to a different school and felt an immediate relief and a sense of belonging that we didn't experience at NPS. Again, it's not to criticize NPS. It was just that we didn't feel a sense of belonging and I was worried that my kid was going to be subject to implicit bias and that it would mess with self esteem. My biggest recommendations would to hire more diverse teachers and to really have the whole parent body (not just the diversity crowd) attend workshops on implicit bias/or equity and inclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS is constantly telling people "it is come as you are" "we are such a warm nurturing environment" "we have no bullies. we have core values". I feel like if all of this were true you wouldn't need to constantly say it. We would all just see it.

You do see it as a parent there. Core values are discussed regularly so young children internalize them. Not all things are for parents.

I didn’t see it as a parent there but that’s why we didn’t stay long. We’re also a family of color. I could see this as being a wonderful place for white children.

PP, what led you to leave the school? Did you find it unwelcoming? If you did, was it the students, the teachers, or the parents? What could the school have done better? Was attending a tough commute?

What did you do next? Was trying out a private, majority white school in ward 3 a mistake, or a useful experience?

We have young children at NPS. If they notice the race of their classmates, they have never mentioned it.

I’m curious too. I’m willing to commute for what best for my kid but I don’t want him in an uncomfortable situation as an AA kid. My friends whose daughter is AA and now attends Holton swears by NPS

PP the reality is there are very few visibly extremely diverse schools in the DMV. If anything, odds are better at a public or public charter (and the ones with the lovely diverse mix we all idealize are often just as hard to get into/buy into the zones as any private). Peeling back the visible diversity onion, look at the values and tone of the school. Elementary kids care about friendship and inclusivity, and being seen, heard, acknowledged and valued. When you tour schools I would look for other AA kids, but also how the school makes any kid feel welcomed and supported.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS is constantly telling people "it is come as you are" "we are such a warm nurturing environment" "we have no bullies. we have core values". I feel like if all of this were true you wouldn't need to constantly say it. We would all just see it.

You do see it as a parent there. Core values are discussed regularly so young children internalize them. Not all things are for parents.

I didn’t see it as a parent there but that’s why we didn’t stay long. We’re also a family of color. I could see this as being a wonderful place for white children.

PP, what led you to leave the school? Did you find it unwelcoming? If you did, was it the students, the teachers, or the parents? What could the school have done better? Was attending a tough commute?

What did you do next? Was trying out a private, majority white school in ward 3 a mistake, or a useful experience?

We have young children at NPS. If they notice the race of their classmates, they have never mentioned it.

I’m curious too. I’m willing to commute for what best for my kid but I don’t want him in an uncomfortable situation as an AA kid. My friends whose daughter is AA and now attends Holton swears by NPS

We are another family of color who didn't stay long. Felt the school had a long way to go, but seems they've made some ground since.

What drove you away? The kids? Parents? Teachers? Too few AA families? Location? Unwelcoming vibe for you? For your child?

I will say this -- I have never spoken ill of the school or even posted about it until now. I'm not writing to complain, but to offer a perspective that might be helpful and that's because your question. It's not my intent to criticize the school because we did thing it was a nice place with a lot of nice families and kids. At the time we were there, I would call it well meaning. The main challenge is that it's just too darn white and that creates a lot of blind spots for the school. It's a nice community overall. We were an affluent family of color. To be honest, I got the sense that many in the community assumed most of the families of color were on aid. I saw a lot of the problems stemming from lack of diversity overall and with implicit bias. For example, if there were three black kids in a grade, it seemed that the school would put one per class. That's diversity to benefit white kids, but for black kids, that makes them the "only" in their class. Does that make sense? I remember an incident in a younger grade where someone egged my child to do something, and only my child was reprimanded. Maybe bias, maybe not -- but I didn't like being in a place where I had to keep questioning it. My husband would stand in line at the pancake events and felt like people he had met on numerous occasions would look "through" him as though they didn't see him. He was the one who had to make the effort to remind. We moved to a different school and felt an immediate relief and a sense of belonging that we didn't experience at NPS. Again, it's not to criticize NPS. It was just that we didn't feel a sense of belonging and I was worried that my kid was going to be subject to implicit bias and that it would mess with self esteem. My biggest recommendations would to hire more diverse teachers and to really have the whole parent body (not just the diversity crowd) attend workshops on implicit bias/or equity and inclusion.

PP here. Just to note the above is intentionally general. There were a couple of specific incidents that we experienced but I didn't want to detail because they could be identifying. I honestly think they were mostly related to lack of diversity/diversity training. That could go a long way. Like I said, I truly believe the school is well intended and has a lot going for it. At least when we were there, it seemed to be a great place for white kids. Hopefully that's applied more broadly now. Another positive I saw was the establishment of the Diversity Institute (I think that's what it's called) with Rosetta Lee. She's well respected. Beyond that, is that I think there's a fundamental diversity challenge when the school is so closely tied to the church. Just by definition, you're going to get a large population of people with Scottish ancestry, which is fine but not exactly diverse. The Episcopal schools seems to do a bit better with diversity and I'm not sure why. Anyway, I do wish NPS the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS is constantly telling people "it is come as you are" "we are such a warm nurturing environment" "we have no bullies. we have core values". I feel like if all of this were true you wouldn't need to constantly say it. We would all just see it.

You do see it as a parent there. Core values are discussed regularly so young children internalize them. Not all things are for parents.

I didn’t see it as a parent there but that’s why we didn’t stay long. We’re also a family of color. I could see this as being a wonderful place for white children.

PP, what led you to leave the school? Did you find it unwelcoming? If you did, was it the students, the teachers, or the parents? What could the school have done better? Was attending a tough commute?

What did you do next? Was trying out a private, majority white school in ward 3 a mistake, or a useful experience?

We have young children at NPS. If they notice the race of their classmates, they have never mentioned it.

I’m curious too. I’m willing to commute for what best for my kid but I don’t want him in an uncomfortable situation as an AA kid. My friends whose daughter is AA and now attends Holton swears by NPS

We are another family of color who didn't stay long. Felt the school had a long way to go, but seems they've made some ground since.

What drove you away? The kids? Parents? Teachers? Too few AA families? Location? Unwelcoming vibe for you? For your child?

I will say this -- I have never spoken ill of the school or even posted about it until now. I'm not writing to complain, but to offer a perspective that might be helpful and that's because your question. It's not my intent to criticize the school because we did thing it was a nice place with a lot of nice families and kids. At the time we were there, I would call it well meaning. The main challenge is that it's just too darn white and that creates a lot of blind spots for the school. It's a nice community overall. We were an affluent family of color. To be honest, I got the sense that many in the community assumed most of the families of color were on aid. I saw a lot of the problems stemming from lack of diversity overall and with implicit bias. For example, if there were three black kids in a grade, it seemed that the school would put one per class. That's diversity to benefit white kids, but for black kids, that makes them the "only" in their class. Does that make sense? I remember an incident in a younger grade where someone egged my child to do something, and only my child was reprimanded. Maybe bias, maybe not -- but I didn't like being in a place where I had to keep questioning it. My husband would stand in line at the pancake events and felt like people he had met on numerous occasions would look "through" him as though they didn't see him. He was the one who had to make the effort to remind. We moved to a different school and felt an immediate relief and a sense of belonging that we didn't experience at NPS. Again, it's not to criticize NPS. It was just that we didn't feel a sense of belonging and I was worried that my kid was going to be subject to implicit bias and that it would mess with self esteem. My biggest recommendations would to hire more diverse teachers and to really have the whole parent body (not just the diversity crowd) attend workshops on implicit bias/or equity and inclusion.

PP here. Just to note the above is intentionally general. There were a couple of specific incidents that we experienced but I didn't want to detail because they could be identifying. I honestly think they were mostly related to lack of diversity/diversity training. That could go a long way. Like I said, I truly believe the school is well intended and has a lot going for it. At least when we were there, it seemed to be a great place for white kids. Hopefully that's applied more broadly now. Another positive I saw was the establishment of the Diversity Institute (I think that's what it's called) with Rosetta Lee. She's well respected. Beyond that, is that I think there's a fundamental diversity challenge when the school is so closely tied to the church. Just by definition, you're going to get a large population of people with Scottish ancestry, which is fine but not exactly diverse. The Episcopal schools seems to do a bit better with diversity and I'm not sure why. Anyway, I do wish NPS the best.

Were you there a while ago PP? I understand your concerns, but I do know for a fact that NPS makes a point of not splitting kids up and assigning them to each class in a tokeny way today. A lot of thought is put into class makeup based on current best practices, pedagogy, socio-emotional well being, and being reflective of implicit bias. Also, I would not say there are a lot of people at NPS with Scottish ancestry. Perhaps Presbyterians--but not of direct Scottish ancestry.

[Anonymous]

Both my kids went to NPS. My second child’s class is very diverse compared with other classes. I’m happy to pass along the thread to admissions as this seems strange. No doubt it is a nurturing school. Our kids thrived there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS is constantly telling people "it is come as you are" "we are such a warm nurturing environment" "we have no bullies. we have core values". I feel like if all of this were true you wouldn't need to constantly say it. We would all just see it.

You do see it as a parent there. Core values are discussed regularly so young children internalize them. Not all things are for parents.

I didn’t see it as a parent there but that’s why we didn’t stay long. We’re also a family of color. I could see this as being a wonderful place for white children.

PP, what led you to leave the school? Did you find it unwelcoming? If you did, was it the students, the teachers, or the parents? What could the school have done better? Was attending a tough commute?

What did you do next? Was trying out a private, majority white school in ward 3 a mistake, or a useful experience?

We have young children at NPS. If they notice the race of their classmates, they have never mentioned it.

I’m curious too. I’m willing to commute for what best for my kid but I don’t want him in an uncomfortable situation as an AA kid. My friends whose daughter is AA and now attends Holton swears by NPS

We are another family of color who didn't stay long. Felt the school had a long way to go, but seems they've made some ground since.

What drove you away? The kids? Parents? Teachers? Too few AA families? Location? Unwelcoming vibe for you? For your child?

I will say this -- I have never spoken ill of the school or even posted about it until now. I'm not writing to complain, but to offer a perspective that might be helpful and that's because your question. It's not my intent to criticize the school because we did thing it was a nice place with a lot of nice families and kids. At the time we were there, I would call it well meaning. The main challenge is that it's just too darn white and that creates a lot of blind spots for the school. It's a nice community overall. We were an affluent family of color. To be honest, I got the sense that many in the community assumed most of the families of color were on aid. I saw a lot of the problems stemming from lack of diversity overall and with implicit bias. For example, if there were three black kids in a grade, it seemed that the school would put one per class. That's diversity to benefit white kids, but for black kids, that makes them the "only" in their class. Does that make sense? I remember an incident in a younger grade where someone egged my child to do something, and only my child was reprimanded. Maybe bias, maybe not -- but I didn't like being in a place where I had to keep questioning it. My husband would stand in line at the pancake events and felt like people he had met on numerous occasions would look "through" him as though they didn't see him. He was the one who had to make the effort to remind. We moved to a different school and felt an immediate relief and a sense of belonging that we didn't experience at NPS. Again, it's not to criticize NPS. It was just that we didn't feel a sense of belonging and I was worried that my kid was going to be subject to implicit bias and that it would mess with self esteem. My biggest recommendations would to hire more diverse teachers and to really have the whole parent body (not just the diversity crowd) attend workshops on implicit bias/or equity and inclusion.

PP here. Just to note the above is intentionally general. There were a couple of specific incidents that we experienced but I didn't want to detail because they could be identifying. I honestly think they were mostly related to lack of diversity/diversity training. That could go a long way. Like I said, I truly believe the school is well intended and has a lot going for it. At least when we were there, it seemed to be a great place for white kids. Hopefully that's applied more broadly now. Another positive I saw was the establishment of the Diversity Institute (I think that's what it's called) with Rosetta Lee. She's well respected. Beyond that, is that I think there's a fundamental diversity challenge when the school is so closely tied to the church. Just by definition, you're going to get a large population of people with Scottish ancestry, which is fine but not exactly diverse. The Episcopal schools seems to do a bit better with diversity and I'm not sure why. Anyway, I do wish NPS the best.

Were you there a while ago PP? I understand your concerns, but I do know for a fact that NPS makes a point of not splitting kids up and assigning them to each class in a tokeny way today. A lot of thought is put into class makeup based on current best practices, pedagogy, socio-emotional well being, and being reflective of implicit bias. Also, I would not say there are a lot of people at NPS with Scottish ancestry. Perhaps Presbyterians--but not of direct Scottish ancestry.

Yes, we were there before the current head, so it's quite possible a lot of changes have happened since then. One big challenge I saw is that ethnic diversity and socioeconomic diversity seemed and/or perceived to be synonymous I think that created its own challenges. But, again, I wish NPS the best as I know it was very well intended.

[Anonymous]

Current AA parent of 2 kids at NPS and I want to clarify that our classes have been very diverse. More that 2/3 of the families in our classes have been POC and particularly important to us our kids have always had at least 20% AA kids in their very small classes (under 15 kids/class). You can see a visible shift in more diverse class in the younger grades and I think this is driven by the (relatively new) head of school and his leadership team. We have loved our experience - always felt fully welcomed and been impressed with the socio- economic diversity which we did not see at other private schools. It has been a nurturing environment with strong academics which are a little more traditional than other private schools. They really get to known your kid and have ways to support and challenge them(both of our kids are strong academically - 99 percentile on standardized tests).

[Anonymous]

+1 - I am an incoming K parent and at the formal and informal play dates, this year's class is very diverse. I think there are 3 classes of 13 children with about 4-5 AA in each.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current AA parent of 2 kids at NPS and I want to clarify that our classes have been very diverse. More that 2/3 of the families in our classes have been POC and particularly important to us our kids have always had at least 20% AA kids in their very small classes (under 15 kids/class). You can see a visible shift in more diverse class in the younger grades and I think this is driven by the (relatively new) head of school and his leadership team. We have loved our experience - always felt fully welcomed and been impressed with the socio- economic diversity which we did not see at other private schools. It has been a nurturing environment with strong academics which are a little more traditional than other private schools. They really get to known your kid and have ways to support and challenge them(both of our kids are strong academically - 99 percentile on standardized tests).

I am a very involved parent at NPS. Just FYI there are not a set of two AA siblings at NPS who are old enough to take standardized tests. This post is fake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current AA parent of 2 kids at NPS and I want to clarify that our classes have been very diverse. More that 2/3 of the families in our classes have been POC and particularly important to us our kids have always had at least 20% AA kids in their very small classes (under 15 kids/class). You can see a visible shift in more diverse class in the younger grades and I think this is driven by the (relatively new) head of school and his leadership team. We have loved our experience - always felt fully welcomed and been impressed with the socio- economic diversity which we did not see at other private schools. It has been a nurturing environment with strong academics which are a little more traditional than other private schools. They really get to known your kid and have ways to support and challenge them(both of our kids are strong academically - 99 percentile on standardized tests).

I am a very involved parent at NPS. Just FYI there are not a set of two AA siblings at NPS who are old enough to take standardized tests. This post is fake.

Wrong! I don’t want to name drop but there definitely was.

[Anonymous]

Any diversity besides the visible kind?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current AA parent of 2 kids at NPS and I want to clarify that our classes have been very diverse. More that 2/3 of the families in our classes have been POC and particularly important to us our kids have always had at least 20% AA kids in their very small classes (under 15 kids/class). You can see a visible shift in more diverse class in the younger grades and I think this is driven by the (relatively new) head of school and his leadership team. We have loved our experience - always felt fully welcomed and been impressed with the socio- economic diversity which we did not see at other private schools. It has been a nurturing environment with strong academics which are a little more traditional than other private schools. They really get to known your kid and have ways to support and challenge them(both of our kids are strong academically - 99 percentile on standardized tests).

I am a very involved parent at NPS. Just FYI there are not a set of two AA siblings at NPS who are old enough to take standardized tests. This post is fake.

Wrong! I don’t want to name drop but there definitely was.

A set of two that were old enough to take ERB and we’re both at the school? Nope!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any diversity besides the visible kind?

Yes, they specialize in the invisible diversity. My white grandmother was born in Spain kind of thing. If that’s you, you will do better in admissions and at the school.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully more POC families apply and accept spots to help make the school more diverse. Please come!