Reply to Do you think Shepherd Elementary will become/is becoming more diverse?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]"Regarding the IB population, it is becoming more diverse, but more slowly than some other EOTP neighborhoods. Honestly I have never had a single (white) friend or colleague mention to me that they are considering a move to Shepherd Park."

How are people supposed to evaluate the merit of this statement when we don't know where you live or work?  Maybe you work somewhere difficult to get to from Shepherd Park, or maybe you don't even work in DC; we don't know.  Maybe you live in MD or VA.  Maybe you work for The Heritage Foundation.  Just saying that just because you don't know people considering this area of DC means little without the appropriate context.[/quote]

I'm PP you are quoting, and I am probably close to exiting this thread, although I have found it interesting.

SP is convenient to many DC-area work locations, including but not limited to downtown DC. Based on geography alone, you would think that it would be considered by a lot of people. Yet, a number of people I know have chosen to live in areas very near Shepherd Park (Takoma, Brightwood, Silver Spring), but non has chosen SP so far. Yes, context matters. I am not married to an African American who grew up in SP like the poster above. But demographic statistics are readily available so this needn't be another battle of the anecdotes. SP has a distinct, historically rooted character that it seems likely to retain. This is in contrast to some other historically black DC neighborhoods that are changing quickly. The PP above provided an explanation for this based on the differences between the black populations (higher income and wealth in SP than in some of the "gentrifying" neighborhoods).

Going back to OP's question, for these reasons and also the point I made about OOB above, my answer is no, I don't expect Shepherd Elementary to become much more diverse in the near future. "More diverse" being defined by OP in this thread as, less black. That's all I was saying. I could be wrong. Not sure why the conversation has to be so difficult. Anyway, Shepherd Elementary and Shepherd Park both seem attractive options, and I'm glad to see they have such strong support.

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I'm the PP who challenged the merit of your statement above.  Okay, maybe I was a little harsh, but race is always a touchy issue--not that it shouldn't be talked about.  When coupled with a comment that seemed to disparage a well-loved DC neighborhood (i.e., "no one white I know has mentioned wanting to move to Shepherd Park") by someone who apparently doesn't live here, you can see how that may've ruffled a few feathers.

I disagree with your prediction about Shepherd Elementary's racial makeup not changing much more in coming years.  You're assuming that all relevant variables will remain constant.  I'd argue that interest in the neighborhood--and thereby the school--will actually increase at a faster rate than in past years.  I think this is due to several factors that've already been mentioned (and yes a bit of boosterism here!), but include:

-Shepherd Elementary's newish IB curriculum (since 2011)

-rising test scores

-Deal/Wilson feeder path: Shepherd is now one of I believe just two EOTP schools w/feeder rights to Deal, and SP is now zoned for Wilson going forward

-the redevelopment of Walter Reed on the (somewhat distant) horizon

-the ripple effects of gentrification:  By this I mean the displacement of one population by another of higher SES, irrespective of race (not in Shepherd Park, but in other parts of DC).  I know several young families of different racial backgrounds who've bought in gentrifying parts of DC (e.g., Petworth), and who've later traded up and moved further up 16th St. to a bigger home with a yard in Shepherd Park.

Not an exhaustive list, but a few reasons why the interest in Shepherd Park as a neighborhood--and thereby interest in Shepherd Elementary--may increase a little faster in coming years than you predict, which will lead to a more diverse (as defined by OP) in-boundary population.

P.S.  I'll admit that until about three years ago, I'd never heard mention of Shepherd Park either.  (We moved from another part of the country and concentrated our search on Bethesda and CCDC/CCMD.  A coworker mentioned her neighborhood, Shepherd Park--we did our research, liked what we found, kept our eye on the tight market, and bought here a year later.)

P.P.S. Don't get me wrong--I love that my AA child is one of several little brown faces on our block, and I don't want that to change anytime soon.  But if she's exposed to people of different backgrounds as well, that's great too.  Particularly when those families are of the ilk that is typically drawn to a diverse neighborhood like SP.[/quote]

I'm PP. These are some very good points, and thank you for this detailed post. You may well be right!
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