Anonymous
11/16/2020 16:12
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
All of the local schools have the instagram accounts. The question is, what are they doing about it?
I know another "big 3" is taking it very seriously to address systemic problems within the institution and across the community.
It is very hard work, but if our country is to survive, critically important.
I know another "big 3" is taking it very seriously to address systemic problems within the institution and across the community.
It is very hard work, but if our country is to survive, critically important.
Anonymous
11/16/2020 16:11
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is what the diversity director who quit mid-year had to say about why she left. Maybe this might help?
https://www.thewellscollective.com/post/forblackwomen
Did you quit NCS, or is she joining it?
Sorry: did she quit NCS, or is she joining it?
She quit.
And STA is FAR more conservative.
People, the proof is in the pudding at these institutions. They have next to no black faculty.
And there are scores of highly educated black educators in the DC area. My younger kids are in middle school
in DCPS and 50% of their teachers are black with degrees from amazing schools. If STA/NCS can't hire black
faculty there's a reason. And it's not salary--new teachers at DCPS are not making more than their counterparts
at STA/NCS.
They are making more in DCPS. Much more.
I looked up two of my kids' DCPS teachers (both are amazing). They're making $57K and $65K this year in DCPS (all salaries are online).
Public school teachers always make more than the private school teacher with equal amount of years teaching. Public school teachers are required to be certified and have degrees and they have a union protecting them, private school teachers at a school have a degree but not necessarily in teaching and they are not certified and have no union. Teachers make more in public schools.
Is this more than STA/NCS?
Anonymous
11/16/2020 16:05
Subject: Re:Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
DC Public Schools Educational Service - Reg Appt Teacher, General Secondary 15 $ 59,794.00 8/21/2016
For example, this one is INCREDIBLE
Do STA/NCS really pay less than $59K for 5 years of teaching experience?
For example, this one is INCREDIBLE
Do STA/NCS really pay less than $59K for 5 years of teaching experience?
Anonymous
11/16/2020 16:00
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is what the diversity director who quit mid-year had to say about why she left. Maybe this might help?
https://www.thewellscollective.com/post/forblackwomen
Did you quit NCS, or is she joining it?
Sorry: did she quit NCS, or is she joining it?
She quit.
And STA is FAR more conservative.
People, the proof is in the pudding at these institutions. They have next to no black faculty.
And there are scores of highly educated black educators in the DC area. My younger kids are in middle school
in DCPS and 50% of their teachers are black with degrees from amazing schools. If STA/NCS can't hire black
faculty there's a reason. And it's not salary--new teachers at DCPS are not making more than their counterparts
at STA/NCS.
They are making more in DCPS. Much more.
I looked up two of my kids' DCPS teachers (both are amazing). They're making $57K and $65K this year in DCPS (all salaries are online).
Is this more than STA/NCS?
Anonymous
11/16/2020 16:00
Subject: Re:Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
The racism problems are not exclusive to NCS and STA. You will find them at all predominately white institutions and also at those that strive to enroll and hire students and faculty of color. Racism and racial tension are a longstanding and entrenched problem in the dc area and beyond.
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:58
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is what the diversity director who quit mid-year had to say about why she left. Maybe this might help?
https://www.thewellscollective.com/post/forblackwomen
Did you quit NCS, or is she joining it?
Sorry: did she quit NCS, or is she joining it?
She quit.
And STA is FAR more conservative.
People, the proof is in the pudding at these institutions. They have next to no black faculty.
And there are scores of highly educated black educators in the DC area. My younger kids are in middle school
in DCPS and 50% of their teachers are black with degrees from amazing schools. If STA/NCS can't hire black
faculty there's a reason. And it's not salary--new teachers at DCPS are not making more than their counterparts
at STA/NCS.
But do these black teachers want to teach at majority white schools?
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:56
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is what the diversity director who quit mid-year had to say about why she left. Maybe this might help?
https://www.thewellscollective.com/post/forblackwomen
Did you quit NCS, or is she joining it?
Sorry: did she quit NCS, or is she joining it?
She quit.
And STA is FAR more conservative.
People, the proof is in the pudding at these institutions. They have next to no black faculty.
And there are scores of highly educated black educators in the DC area. My younger kids are in middle school
in DCPS and 50% of their teachers are black with degrees from amazing schools. If STA/NCS can't hire black
faculty there's a reason. And it's not salary--new teachers at DCPS are not making more than their counterparts
at STA/NCS.
They are making more in DCPS. Much more.
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:52
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
O.p. It is about power. White W.A.S.P. males have "lorded" over the U.S. since its inception. It used to be just being white alone was not good enough. My Jewish + Catholic relatives were shunned + excluded. The Jewish ones were killed in the Holocaust. Now U.M.C. whites can largely pass for W.A.S.P.S. If they look + act the part + as long as their names are not "too Jewish" or "too ethnic". So it stands to reason that since N.C.S. + STA are W.A.S.P. "Enclaves, i.e. Episcopalen, that they would be the most exclusive + want to retain white "waspy" power. Yes they will admit some "acceptable looking" people of color, but they will never truly fit in unless they come from famous +/or celebrity families.
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:41
Subject: Re:Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:STA is doing the hard work now to fix this. There is a new-ish headmaster who is aware and committed to change. The remnants of the old - and unacceptable - culture will hopefully change through attrition as people retire, move on, etc. Change does not happen overnight but I really think it is happening now at STA.
NP who has been lurking b/c son is looking at STA: Is it possible for you to be a little more concrete? We have heard good things about the headmaster as well, but we have also heard that STA is historically very white/conservative and would be very hard to change in fundamental ways, much less in the next few years. We've read the letter he sent out a few months ago about steps they are looking into taking, but concretely, are things really changing, and how? Thanks!
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:38
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:This is what the diversity director who quit mid-year had to say about why she left. Maybe this might help?
https://www.thewellscollective.com/post/forblackwomen
Wow. I know this kind of work is difficult, but this post suggests the writer stopped believing in what it means to be a diversity educator at a primarily white school. How long was she at the school?
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:31
Subject: Re:Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
STA is doing the hard work now to fix this. There is a new-ish headmaster who is aware and committed to change. The remnants of the old - and unacceptable - culture will hopefully change through attrition as people retire, move on, etc. Change does not happen overnight but I really think it is happening now at STA.
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:15
Subject: Re:Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:I don’t think there has been a single STA/NCS latent in this thread yet.
The code of silence is strong
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:14
Subject: Re:Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Op here: I might imagine that some of the other privates are better, but is that actually just my imagination? For instance, the history of GDS is certainly inspiring, but I was surprised to read accounts on their ig page that sound a lot like the ncs dei director’s resignation letter that a pp so helpfully posted. Indeed, both @blackatsidwell and @blackatgds contain deeply troubling posts as well. I couldn't even get through @blackatmaret. 
More than that, those IG feeds from gds and sidwell stopped adding contributions in August. I don’t know if that’s because issues are getting addressed, because there aren’t other stories to be told, because the schools channeled those voices to less public fora, or something else. I would love to read into that stop date positive things, but that seems a stretch.
Fundamentally, it is just so frustrating not to be able to feel like we really can look at "fit" for all the attributes that make up my dc (intellectually insatiable, relatively sporty, funny, friendly, empathetic, chatty
, artistic, competitive, and again, interested in single sex). Is "fit" for the whole child just another luxury children of color dare to dream about? Is the only aspect of "fit" they get to consider which school is sufficiently less racist than another school? I'm being serious with these questions. It feels as if our family can't even consider any number of otherwise excellent schools, whose programs would seem to fit DC very well, because we can't and won't trade DC's psychological well-being--even for a truly top education.
Finally, to a pp who suggested we ask the school for current families to talk to: We have, and we will. However, there's school selection in those referrals. Beyond the school-selected referrals, we don't want to push. We are grateful to any family who wishes to speak, but we also know personally that many families in this situation are tired of always having to take on the burden of discussing these issues. In fact, and maybe I'm dreaming here, but we would like to hear from all types of families in these schools; this should be something everyone is taking on and caring about.
Thank you to those who have engaged with the thread topic, and I hope more people will contribute.
More than that, those IG feeds from gds and sidwell stopped adding contributions in August. I don’t know if that’s because issues are getting addressed, because there aren’t other stories to be told, because the schools channeled those voices to less public fora, or something else. I would love to read into that stop date positive things, but that seems a stretch.
Fundamentally, it is just so frustrating not to be able to feel like we really can look at "fit" for all the attributes that make up my dc (intellectually insatiable, relatively sporty, funny, friendly, empathetic, chatty
, artistic, competitive, and again, interested in single sex). Is "fit" for the whole child just another luxury children of color dare to dream about? Is the only aspect of "fit" they get to consider which school is sufficiently less racist than another school? I'm being serious with these questions. It feels as if our family can't even consider any number of otherwise excellent schools, whose programs would seem to fit DC very well, because we can't and won't trade DC's psychological well-being--even for a truly top education.
Finally, to a pp who suggested we ask the school for current families to talk to: We have, and we will. However, there's school selection in those referrals. Beyond the school-selected referrals, we don't want to push. We are grateful to any family who wishes to speak, but we also know personally that many families in this situation are tired of always having to take on the burden of discussing these issues. In fact, and maybe I'm dreaming here, but we would like to hear from all types of families in these schools; this should be something everyone is taking on and caring about.
Thank you to those who have engaged with the thread topic, and I hope more people will contribute.
Anonymous
11/16/2020 15:14
Subject: Re:Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
I don’t think there has been a single STA/NCS latent in this thread yet.
Anonymous
11/16/2020 14:27
Subject: Deep Racism Problems at NCS and STA: Questions/Answers we can't get through admissions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is what the diversity director who quit mid-year had to say about why she left. Maybe this might help?
https://www.thewellscollective.com/post/forblackwomen
Did you quit NCS, or is she joining it?
Sorry: did she quit NCS, or is she joining it?
She quit.
And STA is FAR more conservative.
People, the proof is in the pudding at these institutions. They have next to no black faculty.
And there are scores of highly educated black educators in the DC area. My younger kids are in middle school
in DCPS and 50% of their teachers are black with degrees from amazing schools. If STA/NCS can't hire black
faculty there's a reason. And it's not salary--new teachers at DCPS are not making more than their counterparts
at STA/NCS.
Agreed, the faculty profile says a lot! It takes a while to change a school's culture. The insta profiles are as real as it gets. Ethnic and economic diversity are key if you want to address any of the issues.