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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I for one really liked what I saw at the Banneker interview. The entry was so different from entering our EOTP middle. The security guards watched you but were friendly, no one was ordering you around, they helped you get through, even though they also weren’t shirking the process.

The kids at the table hustled DS off to his test or whatever it was. Another kid brought me to a nearby space where she answered my million questions. And though a charter kid she was clearly from my kid’s demographic. And just being there I could see a demographic mix I liked. Not dominated by Ward 3 kids, nobody slumming from privates, no Georgetown professor’s kids as far as I could tell.

And the program the AP and teacher and administrator described was rigorous. Character building. Community focused. The kind of thing we just haven’t seen up to this point. To date the program has taught my kid and not much more, he’s spent his time teaching his friends, and it’s tiring after a while despite his inherent goodwill and friendliness.

I think it’ll be good for him. And it’s inspiring to me. I yearn for a community like this. After seeing how DCPS has done so little to integrate or improve, with (now I’m sounding pretentious I know) Obama followed by Voldemort, with BLM ending in a painting on 16th Street, I am really looking forward to a small version of a future that America appears not to want. Where _these_ kids replace us.

Just impressed is all. 
[/quote]

We were impressed as well. I got barked at by the security guards when picking up my kid from his MS and found the guards at Banneker incredibly sweet in comparison. The check in and marshalling process was entirely student-run and couldn’t have been more efficient. Our student escort - an IB senior - was very very smart and is likely on her way to a fantastic college. If what she and the teacher interviewers told us about college admissions and financial aid remotely bears scrutiny, it would hard to see how one could go wrong with Banneker. The building is beautiful and centrally located, so that’s a plus too. The downsides for us are what has been discussed here about the curriculum. Having a 20 kid IB program that only a third of interested kids are inducted into is silly. And the bare bones AP and foreign languages offerings are not befitting a school that seeks to attract the highest achievers in the city. It’s still a good choice but not the home run it should be.[/quote]

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