Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, leave the district. I am black as well and I am just not playing with these odds. Go to Silver Spring, which will work for both of your commutes. Send your child to an ES like Flora Singer and then Blair HS, or by then, you may have enough equity to move to Bethesda or something.

I truly feel like it isn't worth it for me to chance these schools with my child. Let the white people figure it out and fix it for their kids. I just cannot experiment with my brown baby.

OP here. I hate the idea of doing this because I so want to be one of the middle class brown faces that stays in the city. But, it really doesn't leave a lot of options for our babies. I agree--my DC will not be the experiment.

I had to think long and hard about why I wanted to stay and so many of the reasons were about me. Wanting a 15 min shorter commute, feeling like I was a hipper city person etc. what was best for my kid? A quieter street in the burbs where we play outside and the school is filled with other middle class families doing the same thing as us. There are some lower income families too, but the differentiation and opportunities are just leaps and bounds better than DCPS. And I’m not knocking those who stay, especially the white people, because outcomes for their kids are just statistically better. I had to do what I needed to do for the best shot for my black child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, leave the district. I am black as well and I am just not playing with these odds. Go to Silver Spring, which will work for both of your commutes. Send your child to an ES like Flora Singer and then Blair HS, or by then, you may have enough equity to move to Bethesda or something.

I truly feel like it isn't worth it for me to chance these schools with my child. Let the white people figure it out and fix it for their kids. I just cannot experiment with my brown baby.

OP here. I hate the idea of doing this because I so want to be one of the middle class brown faces that stays in the city. But, it really doesn't leave a lot of options for our babies. I agree--my DC will not be the experiment.

I had to think long and hard about why I wanted to stay and so many of the reasons were about me. Wanting a 15 min shorter commute, feeling like I was a hipper city person etc. what was best for my kid? A quieter street in the burbs where we play outside and the school is filled with other middle class families doing the same thing as us. There are some lower income families too, but the differentiation and opportunities are just leaps and bounds better than DCPS. And I’m not knocking those who stay, especially the white people, because outcomes for their kids are just statistically better. I had to do what I needed to do for the best shot for my black child.

What could DCPS do to keep you? What would they need to change?

Not OP, but I think DCPS is just not that attractive for black middle class families. I wish it weren't so. Some may luck into ITS or some other popular charter that has close to a critical mass of black middle class families. Others may lotto into Shepherd or Eaton or a couple other schools. If they're able to--and we're no longer talking middle-class, but upper middle class--they'll buy IB for these schools (my overall impression re: many UMC AA families is that many skip DCPS altogether, and go private or parochial).

One major factor, IMO, is that this city has a lot of fairly new-to-DC, highly educated, and fairly affluent white families who are often willing to try out gentrifying schools, and then there are a lot of AA families from multi-generational poverty that make up the bulk of the public school population. In schools with few middle class AA students, AA parents have legitimate concerns about peer influences and low expectations from teachers who may lump all black kids together and consider them a lost cause, or just have lower expectations for our kids. White families in these gentrifying schools will be largely insulated from these concerns, as it doesn't really affect their children to the same extent. It's just not worth it for many middle class AA families, and they may leave for Silver Spring/Bowie/Rockville/etc. after a while, if they didn't start out there in the first place.

I think there will continue to be a growing divide in the city, with middle class families of all stripes being squeezed out, unless there is a significant investment in affordable housing and in multi-family housing in a lot of the upper NW neighborhoods with attractive school options.

I am not AA but have noticed a lot this as well and heard it many, many times from middle class AA friends who either left the city or never considered living here in the first place. I have also noticed the tension in schools as it seems almost like there aren't enough middle class AA families to go around because of these issues, so schools can tip quickly between being either majority AA and mostly poor, or majority white and mostly rich. Hard to maintain a balance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, leave the district. I am black as well and I am just not playing with these odds. Go to Silver Spring, which will work for both of your commutes. Send your child to an ES like Flora Singer and then Blair HS, or by then, you may have enough equity to move to Bethesda or something.

I truly feel like it isn't worth it for me to chance these schools with my child. Let the white people figure it out and fix it for their kids. I just cannot experiment with my brown baby.

OP here. I hate the idea of doing this because I so want to be one of the middle class brown faces that stays in the city. But, it really doesn't leave a lot of options for our babies. I agree--my DC will not be the experiment.

I had to think long and hard about why I wanted to stay and so many of the reasons were about me. Wanting a 15 min shorter commute, feeling like I was a hipper city person etc. what was best for my kid? A quieter street in the burbs where we play outside and the school is filled with other middle class families doing the same thing as us. There are some lower income families too, but the differentiation and opportunities are just leaps and bounds better than DCPS. And I’m not knocking those who stay, especially the white people, because outcomes for their kids are just statistically better. I had to do what I needed to do for the best shot for my black child.

What could DCPS do to keep you? What would they need to change?

Not OP, but I think DCPS is just not that attractive for black middle class families. I wish it weren't so. Some may luck into ITS or some other popular charter that has close to a critical mass of black middle class families. Others may lotto into Shepherd or Eaton or a couple other schools. If they're able to--and we're no longer talking middle-class, but upper middle class--they'll buy IB for these schools (my overall impression re: many UMC AA families is that many skip DCPS altogether, and go private or parochial).

One major factor, IMO, is that this city has a lot of fairly new-to-DC, highly educated, and fairly affluent white families who are often willing to try out gentrifying schools, and then there are a lot of AA families from multi-generational poverty that make up the bulk of the public school population. In schools with few middle class AA students, AA parents have legitimate concerns about peer influences and low expectations from teachers who may lump all black kids together and consider them a lost cause, or just have lower expectations for our kids. White families in these gentrifying schools will be largely insulated from these concerns, as it doesn't really affect their children to the same extent. It's just not worth it for many middle class AA families, and they may leave for Silver Spring/Bowie/Rockville/etc. after a while, if they didn't start out there in the first place.

I think there will continue to be a growing divide in the city, with middle class families of all stripes being squeezed out, unless there is a significant investment in affordable housing and in multi-family housing in a lot of the upper NW neighborhoods with attractive school options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What could DCPS do to keep you? What would they need to change?

Not OP, but I think DCPS is just not that attractive for black middle class families. I wish it weren't so. Some may luck into ITS or some other popular charter that has close to a critical mass of black middle class families. Others may lotto into Shepherd or Eaton or a couple other schools. If they're able to--and we're no longer talking middle-class, but upper middle class--they'll buy IB for these schools (my overall impression re: many UMC AA families is that many skip DCPS altogether, and go private or parochial).

One major factor, IMO, is that this city has a lot of fairly new-to-DC, highly educated, and fairly affluent white families who are often willing to try out gentrifying schools, and then there are a lot of AA families from multi-generational poverty that make up the bulk of the public school population. In schools with few middle class AA students, AA parents have legitimate concerns about peer influences and low expectations from teachers who may lump all black kids together and consider them a lost cause, or just have lower expectations for our kids. White families in these gentrifying schools will be largely insulated from these concerns, as it doesn't really affect their children to the same extent. It's just not worth it for many middle class AA families, and they may leave for Silver Spring/Bowie/Rockville/etc. after a while, if they didn't start out there in the first place.

I think there will continue to be a growing divide in the city, with middle class families of all stripes being squeezed out, unless there is a significant investment in affordable housing and in multi-family housing in a lot of the upper NW neighborhoods with attractive school options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, leave the district. I am black as well and I am just not playing with these odds. Go to Silver Spring, which will work for both of your commutes. Send your child to an ES like Flora Singer and then Blair HS, or by then, you may have enough equity to move to Bethesda or something.

I truly feel like it isn't worth it for me to chance these schools with my child. Let the white people figure it out and fix it for their kids. I just cannot experiment with my brown baby.

OP here. I hate the idea of doing this because I so want to be one of the middle class brown faces that stays in the city. But, it really doesn't leave a lot of options for our babies. I agree--my DC will not be the experiment.

I had to think long and hard about why I wanted to stay and so many of the reasons were about me. Wanting a 15 min shorter commute, feeling like I was a hipper city person etc. what was best for my kid? A quieter street in the burbs where we play outside and the school is filled with other middle class families doing the same thing as us. There are some lower income families too, but the differentiation and opportunities are just leaps and bounds better than DCPS. And I’m not knocking those who stay, especially the white people, because outcomes for their kids are just statistically better. I had to do what I needed to do for the best shot for my black child.

What could DCPS do to keep you? What would they need to change?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, leave the district. I am black as well and I am just not playing with these odds. Go to Silver Spring, which will work for both of your commutes. Send your child to an ES like Flora Singer and then Blair HS, or by then, you may have enough equity to move to Bethesda or something.

I truly feel like it isn't worth it for me to chance these schools with my child. Let the white people figure it out and fix it for their kids. I just cannot experiment with my brown baby.

OP here. I hate the idea of doing this because I so want to be one of the middle class brown faces that stays in the city. But, it really doesn't leave a lot of options for our babies. I agree--my DC will not be the experiment.

I had to think long and hard about why I wanted to stay and so many of the reasons were about me. Wanting a 15 min shorter commute, feeling like I was a hipper city person etc. what was best for my kid? A quieter street in the burbs where we play outside and the school is filled with other middle class families doing the same thing as us. There are some lower income families too, but the differentiation and opportunities are just leaps and bounds better than DCPS. And I’m not knocking those who stay, especially the white people, because outcomes for their kids are just statistically better. I had to do what I needed to do for the best shot for my black child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess maybe there are different ideas of what middle class or black middle class means. But, that is probably serveral different threads for that topic.
Most middle class and upper middle class African American families want progressive schools geared towards sending kids to good high schools and colleges.

OP here, I literally thought the same thing. I’m a AA middle class family and I wouldn’t send my kids to KIPP or DC Prep because of their approach to education. Lots of stereotypes being made here ?

What do you find troubling about the approach to education at KIPP and DC Prep?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess maybe there are different ideas of what middle class or black middle class means. But, that is probably serveral different threads for that topic.
Most middle class and upper middle class African American families want progressive schools geared towards sending kids to good high schools and colleges.

OP here, I literally thought the same thing. I’m a AA middle class family and I wouldn’t send my kids to KIPP or DC Prep because of their approach to education. Lots of stereotypes being made here ?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, leave the district. I am black as well and I am just not playing with these odds. Go to Silver Spring, which will work for both of your commutes. Send your child to an ES like Flora Singer and then Blair HS, or by then, you may have enough equity to move to Bethesda or something.

I truly feel like it isn't worth it for me to chance these schools with my child. Let the white people figure it out and fix it for their kids. I just cannot experiment with my brown baby.

OP here. I hate the idea of doing this because I so want to be one of the middle class brown faces that stays in the city. But, it really doesn't leave a lot of options for our babies. I agree--my DC will not be the experiment.

I had to think long and hard about why I wanted to stay and so many of the reasons were about me. Wanting a 15 min shorter commute, feeling like I was a hipper city person etc. what was best for my kid? A quieter street in the burbs where we play outside and the school is filled with other middle class families doing the same thing as us. There are some lower income families too, but the differentiation and opportunities are just leaps and bounds better than DCPS. And I’m not knocking those who stay, especially the white people, because outcomes for their kids are just statistically better. I had to do what I needed to do for the best shot for my black child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am feeling a bit disillusioned this week. We love our school, and are happy to stay with an inbounds DCPS. I know all families are different, and make different choices, but watching families leave year-after-year is just really disheartening. I know my kid is getting a great education, and I am confident in that part of my choice. But watching the rotating door of friends/family/community is just... depressing.

Is this just the way DC schools are? Or only EOTP DCPS?

I'm taking this into account in decisions this year. We are happy at Title I. But I assume I would feel disillusioned, as you do, in a couple years. Still a tough choice for us, as we are considering a really tough commute instead. Pros and cons each way. We all make the best choices we can.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, leave the district. I am black as well and I am just not playing with these odds. Go to Silver Spring, which will work for both of your commutes. Send your child to an ES like Flora Singer and then Blair HS, or by then, you may have enough equity to move to Bethesda or something.

I truly feel like it isn't worth it for me to chance these schools with my child. Let the white people figure it out and fix it for their kids. I just cannot experiment with my brown baby.

OP here. I hate the idea of doing this because I so want to be one of the middle class brown faces that stays in the city. But, it really doesn't leave a lot of options for our babies. I agree--my DC will not be the experiment.

Anonymous wrote:I wholeheartedly agree, OP. When I visited the various schools and none could address my questions regarding differentiation I left feeling extremely dismayed. I don’t feel that my child’s needs will be met and I don’t want her lumped in or subject to the other peer pressure issues at such a young age.