Reply to African-American parents - where are your kids in school and how are they doing?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
My kids are very young, like yours. Right now, more than the academics, I'm interested in cultural literacy and socialization with AA peers. I feel it's an inoculation to identity issues that may come up later, when they are marginalized by their decidedly middle class upbringing---the values, household habits, and exposure to opportunities not typically found within the local community.

I'm also a product of DCPS, but ended up at a tony private school and elite college. The early immersion in all-AA environments (D.C. was pretty different 20 years ago, wasn't it?) gave me both a context of belonging [b]AND an understanding of how I was different from peers who may have shared a general cultural background with me but differed in terms of housing and family structure (and all that this entailed).[/b]
The connection between racial socialization and things like self-esteem and resilience has been well established within the literature. I think it's great that you're taking this element into consideration when thinking about their schooling.

Good luck working this out and finding what works best for your family. [/quote][/quote]

OP again - I messed up the quotes on my previous post.

OP here.  So interesting you mention this aspect - this was definitely an eye-opening experience for me in middle and high school in DCPS.  It was not always an easy place to be a smart, achievement-oriented AA student.  In the end, I came out with a stronger sense of self, but I question whether that's what I want to set my kids up for.  What's worse - social ostrazation by your AA peers or social isolation because you have no AA peers?  Or maybe these issues have changed a bit since I was in school.  I know it depends a bit on the kid, but that's what I struggle with.

[/quote]
NP here. I think it is hard to find that sweet spot where there are enough smart and achievement oriented black students that your child is not ostracized. We are doing ok in that respect in our SS elementary school, but our kids are still in very early grades. I recall growing up, the estrangement from black peers did not start in earnest until middle school. For other reasons, we are keeping private school an option for middle school, but we are still leery of many of the private schools for the isolation reasons. It's tough.  I have heard that the BCC and Walter Johnson clusters in Montgomery County are relatively good places to strike the balance. But anecdotally, I have heard of high achieving black students being given a hard time.[/quote]

I'm in the Silver Spring area and am pleased with our elementary school and have heard good things about our middle school.  However, I do wonder about high school and will be open to private for DS.  I'm curious to hear more about the experiences of Black students at BCC and Walter Johnson.  And I'd love to hear more about experiences at private schools in the area.  These are important issues.[/quote]

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