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Sheridan -- where is the diversity?
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Anonymous
| we are applying for K for next year for my son. We are also applying to some of the others mentioned on this board. As parent to an African American child, my question on Sheridan is the apparent absence of minority children and teachers as well. I may have missed them and I am going to ask the school, but I wonder if anyone here has any insight. I am a bit uncomfortable sending my kid to a place where he will be the only one. should I just get over it? |
Anonymous
|
I assume you are the other poster on the Sheridan diversity topic as well so I just decided to post here. Well let me say that I do not have a child at Sheridan, but I did tour the school so I have some insight but not to the point that a current parent would. As a parent of a multiracial child, I was completely uncomfortable sending my DC there. About 5 minutes after walking in the school that unsure gut instinct began to prod at me. I was the "only" non-Caucasian parent of a group of about 20 adults, and I quickly noticed that there was no diversity among the staff that I met. I have to say that everyone was nice and welcoming, but if I had the overwhelming feeling of being the one and only person of color how would my young child manage those feelings.
After the very long speech given by the admissions director I was really ready to hit the door, but I stayed and continued about halfway thru the tour. While moving throughout the school there was an occurrence that really sealed the deal on my feelings. There was a group of 3 girls who looked to be about between 9-11 years in age that refused to share the stairwell with the group of parents that were on the tour. Instead of moving over to one side they remained fixated together and even bumped the AD while coming down. Not to mention, the girl never said excuse me, or I apologize. I immediately thought of my little person and knew this would not work. Once entering the classroom, and having the ability to look around I saw a huge lack of diversity. I was not pleased and decided to terminate my tour. From what I saw, I do believe that the academic program is sufficient, but the atmosphere for me was not the right fit. Good luck where ever you decide to submit an application. |
Anonymous
|
Our child is at Sheridan. I am posting to correct a misstatement that is in this thread AND that frequently appears in this forum:
There is no "absence of minority children" at Sheridan. Sheridan has many children who are not of European/American heritage. What I *think* the OP means to say is, where are the dark-skinned African-American children? And with that point I agree that Sheridan overall does not have as high a percentage of African-American children as some other private schools do in NW DC. |
Anonymous
| I have AA friends who sent their kids there and I believe they had a good experience, but I know that the lack of diversity is an issue. |
Anonymous
dark-skinned, light-skinned and medium-skinned. but to be honest i didn't see a lot of other minorities either. I just posted to get some feedback from folks with better knowledge than my admittedly brief interaction with the school. |
Anonymous
| how about economic diversity? that is real diversity. |
Anonymous
| agree and I would love to hear about that as well. the ethnic diversity was what was most apparent from an initial glance. |
Anonymous
|
I send my caucasian child to Sheridan and I will admit that there is a lack of diversity, especially amongst the staff. I cannot think of one non-white staff (besides the AD) member except one of the spanish teachers who is from Colombia. It is pretty bad. I would guess there are about 2-3 black children in each class of 25. There are (as the PP) pointed out quite a few kids from other countries but I won't lie...it is a very white school. Academically we couldn't be happier. The staff is incredibly responsive and supportive and the curriculum very thoughtful.
Look at Lowell if this a major concern for you. Their staff is incredibly diverse and so is their student body (at the younger years anyway) they really make an effort. in this department and the school is about the same size. |
Anonymous
| Also look at WIS if this is a big concern, and probably GDS. |
Anonymous
| Also look at CHDS. 35-40% diversity, predominately AA. |
Anonymous
| Applying to WIS and a couple others. |
Anonymous
| Do consider though that WIS is the polar opposite of Sheridan in terms of actual teaching philosophy. It is a very traditional, not very self-guided style of teaching (in the younger years) that can be perfect for some kids but for a creative-type maybe not so much. |
Anonymous
| Beauvoir is diverse. |
Anonymous
| Get over it. It really doesn't matter. |
Anonymous
So you're saying that Sheridan's diversity is at Beauvoir? Because they are otherwise very similar schools? Or are you merely looking for an opportunity to boost Beauvoir, regardless of context. |