Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of kids walking walking up from the AU Park area and its a great sign that so many kids in a DC neighborhood walk to school. I assume the younger ones are going to Janney and the older kids are going to Deal. it almost feels like a suburb with kids walking to school, hanging out etc. It's sad that after deal there is no viable option and thus most of these kids are going private or moving to MoCo.

None of my friends/family in the suburbs have kids who walk to school. Even in "walkable" burbs like Arlington/Bethesda--all school buses. I think walking to school is actually a pretty urban phenomenon these days

Speak for yourself. Lots of kids in McLean walk to school.

So sick of the same old tired conversation.....None of it matters once you are out of high school. No one will care if you attended Wilson or Walls or St Albans...It really doesn't matter what college you attend....What matters MOST is how well a child performs at their school and how well that child applies their knowledge to make a viable and bright future for themselves.....

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of kids walking walking up from the AU Park area and its a great sign that so many kids in a DC neighborhood walk to school. I assume the younger ones are going to Janney and the older kids are going to Deal. it almost feels like a suburb with kids walking to school, hanging out etc. It's sad that after deal there is no viable option and thus most of these kids are going private or moving to MoCo.

None of my friends/family in the suburbs have kids who walk to school. Even in "walkable" burbs like Arlington/Bethesda--all school buses. I think walking to school is actually a pretty urban phenomenon these days

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't kid yourself. The academies are a panacea for white parents who worry about their kids being held back by poorer/black and latino kids. A big reason why this AA family moved their kids to private. Sure, my kids could have gotten into the academies (and probably done well there), but who wants to participate in a system like that?

These are my thoughts as well, can you imagine how isolating it would be for the non-whites in the academies.

Probably not as isolating as it would be for whites at Banneker though, so if you want to hate you should spread it around.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't kid yourself. The academies are a panacea for white parents who worry about their kids being held back by poorer/black and latino kids. A big reason why this AA family moved their kids to private. Sure, my kids could have gotten into the academies (and probably done well there), but who wants to participate in a system like that?

These are my thoughts as well, can you imagine how isolating it would be for the non-whites in the academies.

Almost as isolating as moving them to a private. Who is the PP kidding? Do tell which private high school you put your AA child into which is so diverse?

And for the record this starts early in DC. One look at Peabody on Capitol Hill will be enlightening. The white kids go upstairs (SWS) and the black kids go downstairs (regular Peabody). Has been that way for decades.

Anonymous wrote:Don't kid yourself. The academies are a panacea for white parents who worry about their kids being held back by poorer/black and latino kids. A big reason why this AA family moved their kids to private. Sure, my kids could have gotten into the academies (and probably done well there), but who wants to participate in a system like that?

These are my thoughts as well, can you imagine how isolating it would be for the non-whites in the academies.

I can understand you not wanting to do Wilson for your child--but don't kid yourself that private is all that different in terms of system from the academies. They are all a means of tracking higher performing kids whether you agree with this philosophically or not is another issue. And this is really is NOT only about white parents getting what they want--you just said that your child would have gotten into the academies but many upper middle class AA parents with options are not comfortable with Wilson so it becomes more of a SES breakdown rather than race alone. And this is not different from private education in many cases. It is just less obviously so as you don't have the kids with barely a 2.0 in the same school.

Don't kid yourself. The academies are a panacea for white parents who worry about their kids being held back by poorer/black and latino kids. A big reason why this AA family moved their kids to private. Sure, my kids could have gotten into the academies (and probably done well there), but who wants to participate in a system like that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have middle and high school kids (they went to DCPS for elementsary school) and don't share your optimism about Wilson. It may be the best (along with SWW and Banneker) that DC has to offer, but that isn't saying much. And while some Wilson students do get into good colleges, there is no way the academics or extracurriculars (sports in particular) are as good as the offerings in Montgomery County or the privates. ANd then there's the whole segregated "academies" thing . . .

So long as these remain at Wilson my kids will not be attending.

It's probably not a bad thing. Kids who want to learn and have goals are in an environment where they are fostered. Those that want to just fool around and have no future can be kept at bay.

Anonymous wrote:I have middle and high school kids (they went to DCPS for elementsary school) and don't share your optimism about Wilson. It may be the best (along with SWW and Banneker) that DC has to offer, but that isn't saying much. And while some Wilson students do get into good colleges, there is no way the academics or extracurriculars (sports in particular) are as good as the offerings in Montgomery County or the privates. ANd then there's the whole segregated "academies" thing . . .

So long as these remain at Wilson my kids will not be attending.

I have middle and high school kids (they went to DCPS for elementsary school) and don't share your optimism about Wilson. It may be the best (along with SWW and Banneker) that DC has to offer, but that isn't saying much. And while some Wilson students do get into good colleges, there is no way the academics or extracurriculars (sports in particular) are as good as the offerings in Montgomery County or the privates. ANd then there's the whole segregated "academies" thing . . .

Anonymous wrote:Not true. Most of these kids will be going on to Wilson. It'll be truly a great school in couple years. Right now, it is a very good choice. People on this board don't actually skew old enough to get good participation from Wilson Parents. DCUM's population is getting older and many of their kids are at JKLM and Deal--You'll see INCREASING #'s of Wilson posts as time goes on. My kids walk most days to Janney ES, but not on River Road--on Albemarle more in the center of the neighborhood.

I love your optimism. Unfortunately, I think every few years, parents think they'll be the ones to turn the system around. But, alas, as the critical years approach (sometimes its 4th grade, sometimes 6th), parents look around and notice that their neighbors and peers who once were "in this together" in DCPS have disappeared for private or suburbs. I remember older neighbors telling us when we first moved to DC that their group of parents were going to stick together and send their kids to DCPS middle school after our JKLM neighborhood school. But by 5th grade, all the parents were ditching out for private. Well, that was about 11 or 12 years ago. About 5-6 years ago, another set of neighbors expressed the same thing. Now that our kids are in that same JKLM elementary, the same thing is happening to us. Sadly, this is what happens over and over in DC. Personally, I hope you are right, but I don't see it going that way in our school.

Not true. Most of these kids will be going on to Wilson. It'll be truly a great school in couple years. Right now, it is a very good choice. People on this board don't actually skew old enough to get good participation from Wilson Parents. DCUM's population is getting older and many of their kids are at JKLM and Deal--You'll see INCREASING #'s of Wilson posts as time goes on. My kids walk most days to Janney ES, but not on River Road--on Albemarle more in the center of the neighborhood.

Actually OP, DCPS is still a viable option for high school for many, us included. DS attended Wilson and my youngest child will attend Walls, Ellington or Wilson after Deal.

I see a lot of kids walking walking up from the AU Park area and its a great sign that so many kids in a DC neighborhood walk to school. I assume the younger ones are going to Janney and the older kids are going to Deal. it almost feels like a suburb with kids walking to school, hanging out etc. It's sad that after deal there is no viable option and thus most of these kids are going private or moving to MoCo.