Banneker v. Wilson

[Anonymous]

There has been a lot of discussion of Walls and Wilson. I wanted to hear from any parents about their experiences at Banneker. And in particular, a compare/contrast with respect to Wilson. Is there anyone out there that can comment on one or both of the schools?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

There is a great summary from a Banneker grad on this thread:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/648781.page

[Anonymous]

When I first moved to DC a couple of years ago, I was told that SWW and Banneker are the top DCPS high schools and that I should try to get my children into one of those schools when the time came. I assumed they had similar demographics. Last year, I found out that it was not so. Banneker, which is obviously an excellent school judging from the scores, is 99% minority. I am black, so that doesn't change anything for me. I am wondering if white students would rather not go to a majority black/latino high school? For what it's worth, the white students are a minority at Wilson too. To PP, the sizes of the schools differ greatly, Wilson's facilities are newer (but there are some changes down the pike for Banneker's facilities as well), I believe the admission process is also different. A family friend's son attends and he says that it's extremely challenging and there's a lot of homework, but he believes he is receiving a stellar education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I first moved to DC a couple of years ago, I was told that SWW and Banneker are the top DCPS high schools and that I should try to get my children into one of those schools when the time came. I assumed they had similar demographics. Last year, I found out that it was not so. Banneker, which is obviously an excellent school judging from the scores, is 99% minority. I am black, so that doesn't change anything for me. I am wondering if white students would rather not go to a majority black/latino high school? For what it's worth, the white students are a minority at Wilson too. To PP, the sizes of the schools differ greatly, Wilson's facilities are newer (but there are some changes down the pike for Banneker's facilities as well), I believe the admission process is also different. A family friend's son attends and he says that it's extremely challenging and there's a lot of homework, but he believes he is receiving a stellar education.

There's been a lot of discussion about this over the years on DCUM, and I think that the lack of white kids at Banneker is due to a couple of factors. This includes racism, in the form of whites being intimidated to be an extreme minority. But a little more complexly, I think it also involves a degree of white privilege, with white parents actually not thinking their kids "need" to do the really hard work at Banneker, because they'll be "just fine" at Wilson. Seen from a different angle, white parents in DC have different paths to push their kids forward, without having to do the awkward work of integration and a punishing amount of homework. Basically very similar to the reasons they turn their noses up at KIPP. Lastly, I do think Banneker is basically and HBCU high school, and my guess is the school culture there just doesn't go out of its way to try to accommodate the worries of white families. I don't get the sense it's an open door there laying down the red carpet for the exaggerated amount of hand-holding white families might demand. (Which, I don't really have an issue with myself.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I first moved to DC a couple of years ago, I was told that SWW and Banneker are the top DCPS high schools and that I should try to get my children into one of those schools when the time came. I assumed they had similar demographics. Last year, I found out that it was not so. Banneker, which is obviously an excellent school judging from the scores, is 99% minority. I am black, so that doesn't change anything for me. I am wondering if white students would rather not go to a majority black/latino high school? For what it's worth, the white students are a minority at Wilson too. To PP, the sizes of the schools differ greatly, Wilson's facilities are newer (but there are some changes down the pike for Banneker's facilities as well), I believe the admission process is also different. A family friend's son attends and he says that it's extremely challenging and there's a lot of homework, but he believes he is receiving a stellar education.

That's changing.

Banneker in 2017-18 was 75% black, 20% Latino, 3% Asian, 3% two or more races, and 1% white.

Differences in entrance requirements --

SWW requires a 4 or higher on 7th grade PARCC (ELA and Math), an admissions test, 3.0 GPA in MS and a family interview.
Banneker requires a 4 or higher on 7th grade PARCC (ELA and Math), a 3.0 GPA in MS, a 250-word essay, a family interview and recommendations from all of the following: English teacher; Math teacher; Counselor; Principal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I first moved to DC a couple of years ago, I was told that SWW and Banneker are the top DCPS high schools and that I should try to get my children into one of those schools when the time came. I assumed they had similar demographics. Last year, I found out that it was not so. Banneker, which is obviously an excellent school judging from the scores, is 99% minority. I am black, so that doesn't change anything for me. I am wondering if white students would rather not go to a majority black/latino high school? For what it's worth, the white students are a minority at Wilson too. To PP, the sizes of the schools differ greatly, Wilson's facilities are newer (but there are some changes down the pike for Banneker's facilities as well), I believe the admission process is also different. A family friend's son attends and he says that it's extremely challenging and there's a lot of homework, but he believes he is receiving a stellar education.

There's been a lot of discussion about this over the years on DCUM, and I think that the lack of white kids at Banneker is due to a couple of factors. This includes racism, in the form of whites being intimidated to be an extreme minority. But a little more complexly, I think it also involves a degree of white privilege, with white parents actually not thinking their kids "need" to do the really hard work at Banneker, because they'll be "just fine" at Wilson. Seen from a different angle, white parents in DC have different paths to push their kids forward, without having to do the awkward work of integration and a punishing amount of homework. Basically very similar to the reasons they turn their noses up at KIPP. Lastly, I do think Banneker is basically and HBCU high school, and my guess is the school culture there just doesn't go out of its way to try to accommodate the worries of white families. I don't get the sense it's an open door there laying down the red carpet for the exaggerated amount of hand-holding white families might demand. (Which, I don't really have an issue with myself.)

^^ apologies for the word salad. the internet has destroyed my prose.

[Anonymous]

It will be interesting to see what happens when it moves, gets new facilities etc. I wonder if that will attract a whiter crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see what happens when it moves, gets new facilities etc. I wonder if that will attract a whiter crowd.

It will, but it won't really happen IMO until getting into Walls becomes almost impossible due to competition.

More white students are, however, attending Ellington post-renovation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I first moved to DC a couple of years ago, I was told that SWW and Banneker are the top DCPS high schools and that I should try to get my children into one of those schools when the time came. I assumed they had similar demographics. Last year, I found out that it was not so. Banneker, which is obviously an excellent school judging from the scores, is 99% minority. I am black, so that doesn't change anything for me. I am wondering if white students would rather not go to a majority black/latino high school? For what it's worth, the white students are a minority at Wilson too. To PP, the sizes of the schools differ greatly, Wilson's facilities are newer (but there are some changes down the pike for Banneker's facilities as well), I believe the admission process is also different. A family friend's son attends and he says that it's extremely challenging and there's a lot of homework, but he believes he is receiving a stellar education.

There's been a lot of discussion about this over the years on DCUM, and I think that the lack of white kids at Banneker is due to a couple of factors. This includes racism, in the form of whites being intimidated to be an extreme minority. But a little more complexly, I think it also involves a degree of white privilege, with white parents actually not thinking their kids "need" to do the really hard work at Banneker, because they'll be "just fine" at Wilson. Seen from a different angle, white parents in DC have different paths to push their kids forward, without having to do the awkward work of integration and a punishing amount of homework. Basically very similar to the reasons they turn their noses up at KIPP. Lastly, I do think Banneker is basically and HBCU high school, and my guess is the school culture there just doesn't go out of its way to try to accommodate the worries of white families. I don't get the sense it's an open door there laying down the red carpet for the exaggerated amount of hand-holding white families might demand. (Which, I don't really have an issue with myself.)

^^ apologies for the word salad. the internet has destroyed my prose.

DP, and I think you were perfectly understandable. I do think that there is a hesitation from families who are not black about Banneker for the reasons you describe well. There is certainly a perception among non-black families that Banneker is a pipeline to HBCU entry, and I think that is part of it.

[Anonymous]

Banneker does not seem great for STEM students.
Also it is mostly academic focused and does not offer much in terms of sports, etc.
Many kids want a more balanced HS experience.

[Anonymous]

I think it absolutely has to do with racism. People think black and Hispanic kids just aren’t as gifted as white kids. There is always suspicion if a school has high minority attendance that those kids will somehow hold the brilliant white children back. This is pervasive among white parents in NWDC. I have mentioned my dc is going to apply to Banneker and I have had folks tell me that it is an inferior school. Honestly, I have dropped many friends over this. There are some really toxic aspects to folks in NWDC. My dc is in 6th grade and is planning on applying to Banneker.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, the Kipp model is 100% unappealing for my family. Not a racial dis, but rather the teaching style and model is not in sync with the approach we'd like for DC to be educated in.

Personally, I was the white minority in both middle and high school, and my parents pushed for me and my sister to attend because of the quality of academics. I plan on doing the same for my DC- and hope that we find that in a few years. (For now, aspiring to attend SWW based on what we know of the school.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Banneker does not seem great for STEM students.
Also it is mostly academic focused and does not offer much in terms of sports, etc.
Many kids want a more balanced HS experience.

Every bit of this seems like coded-language.

SWW isn't STEM focused.

SWW isn't huge into sports.

Wilson also focuses more on humanities.

Let's not even talk about Charters like Latin that are small and not offering APs.

What exactly is "balanced" from your perspective, PP? Did you read the thread by the Banneker grad talking about all the clubs and people playing music every morning?

I can't even with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it absolutely has to do with racism. People think black and Hispanic kids just aren’t as gifted as white kids. There is always suspicion if a school has high minority attendance that those kids will somehow hold the brilliant white children back. This is pervasive among white parents in NWDC. I have mentioned my dc is going to apply to Banneker and I have had folks tell me that it is an inferior school. Honestly, I have dropped many friends over this. There are some really toxic aspects to folks in NWDC. My dc is in 6th grade and is planning on applying to Banneker.

Some...though I would pick McKinley over Bannekar any day. I didn't like Banneker at all. But I find the biggest factor in why kids go to Wilson (and Walls) over other options...transportation. Kids can walk to Wilson...metro to Walls. Banneker, McKinley all require commuting challenges so unless it is the perfect fit ...why? Plus, if your kid has gone to Deal they are used to big schools and tend to like them. Not all. And the breadth of classes is much better at Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker does not seem great for STEM students.
Also it is mostly academic focused and does not offer much in terms of sports, etc.
Many kids want a more balanced HS experience.

Every bit of this seems like coded-language.

SWW isn't STEM focused.

SWW isn't huge into sports.

Wilson also focuses more on humanities.

Let's not even talk about Charters like Latin that are small and not offering APs.

What exactly is "balanced" from your perspective, PP? Did you read the thread by the Banneker grad talking about all the clubs and people playing music every morning?

I can't even with this.

Oh dude...I can't even. Banneker SUCKS for STEM. Sigh.