Reply to Black student experience at Maury

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Black student experience at Maury"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, you're going to have a bunch of non-Black people responding to what they think the experiences of Black students are.  [/quote]

This feels potentially true (white Maury parent here).  Hope we are wrong though and you get helpful answers.  In case not and in case helpful, my kid in 5th has a diverse friend group and when I see them interact in their peer group it all seems focused on their common interests, senses of humor, etc.  From what I can see, their experience isn't an outlier.  The teaching staff is also diverse.  And I'm not sure about going on to Eliot Hine MS but almost all the kids in my kid's class are going there.  Hope parents with direct experiences respond and this helps bump up your question![/quote]

Is this really true? My kid is in 5th grade at a very similar school in many respects and I am actually struck by how racially divided friend groups are — AA and white/otherr. There are a few UMC Black kids who straddle both groups and who also have their own little social group, but otherwise it is pretty divided along racial and economic lines. Now it’s a friendly school and all of the kids seem to get along fine. There are plenty of mixed race bigger parties. But smaller parties/sleepovers? Pretty divided.

I find it really noticeable because I went to a diverse school growing up, but where race and economics were not so linked and there was not similar racial separation. Because the UMC Black kids are part of both groups, I think it’s SES/class primarily driving it, but it’s apparent.

Anyway, genuinely curious if this is less true at Maury? [/quote]

PP here - yes, it’s true. I mean, it’s my one kid’s experience and I can’t speak for others. Also saw another PP’s statement that experienced black teachers have all retired - that’s false.

FWIW, I’m white and the [b]Eliot Hine boosterism and guilting[/b] is possibly my least favorite part of Maury too.[/quote]

So what exactly is the impetus there if not to improve school buy-in and keep peer groups together? It reads as if other parents are pushing this option on other parents while keeping their secret great middle school to themselves.. but there is no other decent option other than trying to transfer into SH, or lottery out where everyone has the same possibility more or less.[/quote]

To be fair I think the impetus for pushing EH at Maury probably is, at root, a positive one--to encourage Maury (code for UMS) kids to attend and (though this is an awkward thing to admit) thereby improve the school's ratings, which should then start snowballing with positive effects.  Nothing wrong in theory with wanting to strengthen all schools on the Hill.

The myopic and highly aggressive approach is the problem.  The narrative is relentless.  "WE are all going to Eliot Hine and WE will all be constantly barraged with Eliot Hine events and opportunities because WE are all buying in as good community members."  To counter with "I've decided this is not the right fit for my child" (whether because of race, class, or any other factor related to your kid's personality or learning style), or even to silently distance yourself from the narrative, is therefore grounds for suspicion of racism, classicism, elitism.  It is a handful of parents who are responsible and as another PP mentioned in describing their interaction with one of these mothers, they are out of control.  To be honest, maybe Eliot Hine is a decent option for some kids, but there's such a tone of desperation and forced compliance that the positive statements feel less credible.

At root no one should be applying negative labels to someone else's parenting decision to send their child to a different school.  There's a fault in the EH boosters' logic.  To get people to buy in to Eliot Hine you have to convince people to look past the test scores and absenteeism rates among staff and students--i.e., to see the school as a "good fit" for their kid, whether it's because they're self-motivated, or because they like to walk to school with a small cohort, or because they want to join track and field and it's easier at EH to make the teams because of the school size, or whatever the case may be.  And yet they criticize anyone who makes these individualized assessments about their own child and happens to reach the conclusion that EH is [b]not[/b] a "good fit" for [b]their[/b] kid--in that case, you must be a snob or a racist.  It's a double standard which again has a whiff of desperation about it.  Do you question your own choice to decide it was good enough for your kid and only by trying to strong arm an entire neighborhood into making the same choice do you feel validated?  That's how it feels.[/quote]

This all makes sense, but as somebody who has kids at Eliot Hine, I would argue there is a third category of people that is not included in your post. As the school grows in enrollment I feel like it is happening less, but there are often sweeping generalizations about schools, the students, the courses, etc. that are made by people with little to no actual firsthand knowledge about the school. This does not just happen re: Eliot Hine - anybody who reads any threads on here can see it is a common practice among adults in this city. As a parent who has kids at the school, I may respond to comments here, or answer questions in person - to explain what our lived experience is at the school. Is it perfect? No. Do I care if kids go to other schools? Also no. But it is frustrating try to use an anecdotal, second hand, or overheard experience to describe a whole school. There are a lot of us in this middle category, and I would not qualify us as boosters.[/quote]

PP - I don’t disagree. I wish the dominant narrative was yours. Unfortunately the pushy mothers are getting all the airtime, which serves no one.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics