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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Story Lady,

I am going to assume you are a real person and being honest with your prior posts and respond to you as such.  I think that Georgetown Prep is a fantastic school and if I ever have a son I'd be extremely proud and excited to send him there.  Here's my reasoning:
I'm AA and my husband is AA and Latino. We are in our 30's both grew up in PG County. My husband graduated from GP went on the the Naval Academy and then law school.  Prior to prep he went to his local Catholic school in Lanham, MD. I went to the Potomac School, Groton School and then Harvard. DH education at GP was definitely equivalent to mine (schools often labeled more prestigious on this board) and in some ways superior.

In every way, I have been consistently amazed by the quality and breadth of education my husband received at GP.  In my mind GP is definitely equivalent to most of the aforementioned schools and, for many boys, sports are a huge part of their high school development.  It probably is an aggressive, sink or swim environment and not suited to all boys.  That's a fair comment from PP.  DH played basketball at GP and Navy and was a special forces Marine -- GP was great for him but, like any school, not the best fit for everyone.  GP is also not an ivy or little ivy feeder like STA, Sidwell or Potomac, so if that's a concern for you, do look at the last 5 years exmissions data.

Being honest, from what he's told me, as an AA student my husband was not a part of the "in crowd" or "cliques" that seemed to form pre-GP (mostly at mater dei). He had plenty of great friends, many of whom he's still in contact with today and was class president for 2 years.  Realistically, for many AA kids, this kind of social isolation is likely to be the case at any independent school.  Its critically important to maintain contact with a community of AA friends, family and potential dates outside of your private school.  Some of this is definitely achieved through "mixers" with other AA kids at DC independent schools.

PG County is a hard decision.  When I was growing up it was a different place.  I wish I could be surprised by PP comments about sub-par schools, community facilities, falling home prices and crime -- but she's dead on.  At the same time, I drive out of DC every day and take my almost 2 y/o DD to Mitchellville to daycare because I LOVE my tiny AA home daycare where the other families and teachers share my culture and values.  There are a lot of very hard-working, intelligent, education focused AA families in PG county (many of whom end up in private schools).  Unfortunately, I just don't think PG is what it used to be so I personally am more likely to move to MoCo and work hard to find AA friends for my DD.  Based on the number of AA I see around Bethesda, that seems to be getting less hard!

If you are serious about GP definitely ask to speak with some current AA families and grads.

Best of luck to you and your son!  
[/quote]

Wow!  You have covered everything I had been digging for.  I never expected my son to run around in GP cliques but I did expect him to have a healthy social lifestyle while at GP or some school like it.  We are extremely involved in our church.  For a lot of AA families that is where we find other families with similar profiles.  We have freinds all over the country at this point.  I will look at STA,Landon, Sidwell and etc. Everyone can count on that.  One of my biggest concerns is that my son will be going to the 9th grade.  I also thought it would be a good idea to start fresh with all ninth graders however, my goal is to seek out the best possible education I can get for him.  I will dig more and look more into the most recent data.  I had sincerely hoped that there was some way to connect with other AA families and embrace the school wholeheartedly at the same time.  Your post carries significant weight but so do a few others.  I have been thinking about digging more for a couple of days now.  I woke up to STA believe it or not.

Thanks a million for your input, 
Story Lady[/quote]

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