Diversity at Primary Day/Concord Hill
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Can anyone who has experience at either of these schools share your thoughts on diversity/inclusiveness of the schools? TIA. |
Anonymous
| Neither one is all that diverse. They are looking for a very specific type of student. They are both very traditional and there is little change in their curriculum's from the past 30 years. For the right type of kid, they are good schools. |
Anonymous
| what's the "right" type of kid? |
Anonymous
| The right type of kid is someone who learns well in a very structured learning environment. |
Anonymous
Diversity at Concord Hill is not a strong point, but I think it reflects Upper NW, Chevy Chase and Bethesda more than anything.The beauty of Concord Hill is the small class sizes and great attention to each student/family from the teachers and administration. While it may be traditional from a curriculum standpoint, I don't think it is traditional at all when it comes to the attention that the kids receive and the benefits of such a unique environment. Great boosts for learning and self-confidence are the result in my opinion. It is not a lineup of desks of 25 kids to a teacher. We love it, but you have to remember that it is just for the little ones: 3 years old until 3rd grade. We chose Concord Hill over several of the larger well-known schools for these early years, and placement out to privates is very transparent and successful. We're surprised the school doesn't get more mention among the "elites", but we also kind of like it that way. |
Anonymous
| Not sure where 15:34 gets her info (I'm assuming she does not have kids at both schools). Yes, Primary Day is very structured but I don't see what that has to do with diversity and inclusiveness. DS's class is not incredibly diverse, but there is some diversity. I also have found the curriculum and community to be inclusive. I will say that the staff and administration lacks diversity. We also looked at Concord Hill (which is far from what I would described as "traditional") which seemed like a loving, nurturing environment, but not particularly diverse. |
Anonymous
|
Another PDS parent here - to answer the OP question - of 18 or so students in each class, usually 14-15 are white, then maybe one or two of Asian descent, one of hispanic descent and one African-American. Within the white kids, it seems like 20% are Jewish at least, sometimes closer to 30% or even 35%. Can't tell you which denominations make up what % for the other kids. Staff and administration almost entirely white.
For our part, we've had a great experience, our son is very happy, loves school, has friends, likes pretty much everything. It is structured, but I am not sure that is a bad thing. We looked at less structured schools and while there was nothing wrong with them at all, we felt this was the best fit. |
Anonymous
Ouch. I am reading this as "We want to have a diverse evironment, we just couldn't find any black children who were smart enough or well behaved enough." |
Anonymous
|
Please get a grip.
Some kids learn well in less structured environments or with more progressive curriculum's. Everything is not about racisim but choosing the best learning environment for your child. I have seen too many kids put into schools where they should not be because the parents want the reputation of the school and really don't want to choose the best learning environment that might not have the "reputation" they deem important. |
Anonymous
| When I looked at Concord Hill they didn't have ANY black students. You have to work pretty hard for that around here. |
Anonymous
|
OP here - thanks for the responses. I guess neither of these schools would work for my DS.
And to 18:46 - I have no idea how your response is related to my original question about diversity at these schools - you must have misunderstood my question or maybe I should have specified what kind of diversity I was inquiring about. |
Anonymous
DC is at Concord Hill, and they definitely do have black students, albeit few. |
Anonymous
I also know that several minority kids were admitted for next year. Whether they are attending, I don't know. There are only 100 kids at the whole school, so the numbers are going to be small for every group you try to name. |
SAM2
Member Offline
Member Offline
|
Just for context, here is some data on the (relatively minimal) diversity of the general neighborhood.
|
Anonymous
| There's lots of diversity at Harbor School. It has the same kind of focus on early childhood education that you appear to be seeking. We feel it's a great environment for DC. |