Reply to Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions

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Reply to "Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hi everyone. Our mixed-race DC is looking at schools for next year (through virtual open houses and zoom discussions with administrators).

One of those schools is NCS/STA (I'd rather not do anything to reveal who our family is).

We have read with deep shock the @blackatsta, @blackatncs, @asianatsta and other accounts in the DC schools. They are horrifying--racist comments by students and teachers, race-based bullying, race-based exclusion, extreme bullying (telling kids to kill themselves, relentlessly), etc.  Worst of all--kids of color who just seem deeply and unfairly unhappy. The schools have of course acknowledged these accounts and have issued statements and outlined their plans to do to address these issues. So we have the "official" line from the schools.

What we'd really like to ask and have answers to though are not things we feel like we can get from the schools and those "official" statements and plans. We know that this forum is imperfect, too, and we're doing our best to find families that attend there. We only know a couple, as we've only lived here a couple of years. So we hope that some here are willing to engage.

How deep and ingrained are these issues of racism?  Is there even a chance that these issues will be meaningfully addressed by new administrators? Or are these deep problems that would take decades to root out? Deep problems that will potentially be perpetuated by sets of moneyed groups with long ties to the school who not only aren't really committed to change, but who are also part of the problem (this last question comes from something one of the few families we know there said about a subset of very wealthy legacies at this school who have no commitment to change, and often are part of the problem)?

Again, we've heard the speeches. We've read the plans. Our DC has expressed a desire for single-sex, and DC is a competitive applicant (please, this is not an invitation to tell us to "get in first." You can't get answers about these sorts of things in the very short time you get to decide post-admission, and as parents of a child of color, we owe DC as much due diligence as we can--which is made even harder by the pandemic).

We would deeply appreciate the perspective of anyone from these schools who is willing to talk about what's REALLY going on there on these issues. [/quote]

OP, I assume that if you are applying to Private schools in DC area you accept a few basic facts:

1) 1/10 applicants are accepted
2) Tuition is about 49K a year
3) Its hard academically- most graduates would tell you college is much easier, including at the Ivy + Stanford

The extra things: most boys say the friendships that they made there last a lifetime. Grads come back to be married in the school chapel.There are former students and teachers who last wish was to be burried in the school's memorial garden.

Is it possible that a bad apple got admitted and was later expelled for racist behavior: well, perhaps in the last 100 years since the school's founding, yes. But if you are AA or Asian or even a woman, being subjected to stereotypes would not surprise you, right ?

Does the new Headmaster want to improve the culture in this area: yes. Will any school ever be perfect: No. Is the world ?

What are you looking for in a school ? A fantastic education and the ability to succeed anywhere- then apply to Saint Albans.

If you want a school that is primarily geared to social activism ABOVE ALL else, then keep looking for that school[/quote]

DP. There are a lot of great things about STA. I agree. However I think your post is a bit offensive to those that have shared specific incidents of blatant racism and anti-Semitism some within the past two years. It is not productive to dismiss these incidents which have been verified. Some may be misunderstandings I agree but a few were very specific targeted hate incidents and should not be ignored. [/quote]

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