Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why Banneker is harder for the boys than girls. I have a boy, and Banneker is on my radar for future consideration. To be honest, I've heard the same comment about Washington Latin. Thanks.

More on this please?

I'm not the person you quoted, but I have a boy at Banneker, 9th grader. It's been very hard on my son and I've seen several boys asked to leave already. If you don't keep a 2.0 GPA they will force you out (and that's a 2.0 on Banneker's alternative grading scale which is brutal).

I think some of it is just the typical adjustment to high school, but it's also t his particular school. I already know my younger kid will not be attending Banneker, there is no way he could keep up with the rigor. I wish I had thought about this more with my current son. I think that if he really pushes himself he can make it through, but I don't know if I want to subject him to this kind of pressure for the next 4 years. At Banneker they really pride themselves with preparing kids for the rigor of college. They say Banneker kids have no problems adjusting to college, because they push them so hard while they are at Banneker. They also say that for Banneker grads getting an A in college is a breeze, because at Banneker to get an A you need a 95%. I think it's a great school and a great program but it's not for every kid. There's a lot of pressure, enormous workload and not a lot of typical high school fun to balance it out. For example, there is no football team, therefore no homecoming.

That's why there are very few boys there. They start off with few boys and by the end of the year almost half are gone. I can't remember the exact numbers but for my son, he may be 1 of 3 or 4 boys in each of his classes. I think in a class or two he is the only boy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 14:20, the PP in all likelihood attended Banneker 20-30 years ago. I wonder if the makeup has changed since then; just curious. My understanding of Title 1 schools is that a large % of students attending are from low-income backgrounds. Again, makes me even more impressed about current test scores if true.

The Challenge Index has about 27% of Banneker graduates passing at least AP or IB test. There's not much about this statistic that impresses, in either absolute terms or compared to other local schools with high levels of low-income students (Columbia Heights in DC, Mount Vernon and Stuart in Fairfax, Kennedy and Wheaton in Montgomery, Wakefield in Arlington, or TC Williams in Alexandria). For the most part, Banneker only looks good in comparison with other schools in DCPS, and white parents have been avoiding those schools for decades.

I beg to differ. It is quite impressive considering 2/3 of the population is low income.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why Banneker is harder for the boys than girls. I have a boy, and Banneker is on my radar for future consideration. To be honest, I've heard the same comment about Washington Latin. Thanks.

More on this please?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 14:20, the PP in all likelihood attended Banneker 20-30 years ago. I wonder if the makeup has changed since then; just curious. My understanding of Title 1 schools is that a large % of students attending are from low-income backgrounds. Again, makes me even more impressed about current test scores if true.

The Challenge Index has about 27% of Banneker graduates passing at least AP or IB test. There's not much about this statistic that impresses, in either absolute terms or compared to other local schools with high levels of low-income students (Columbia Heights in DC, Mount Vernon and Stuart in Fairfax, Kennedy and Wheaton in Montgomery, Wakefield in Arlington, or TC Williams in Alexandria). For the most part, Banneker only looks good in comparison with other schools in DCPS, and white parents have been avoiding those schools for decades.

Anonymous wrote:New poster. Looking forward to the article, Aaron.

Banneker is like its neighbor, Howard University. Excellent school, but an odd choice for a white student.

Anonymous wrote:New poster. Looking forward to the article, Aaron.

Banneker is like its neighbor, Howard University. Excellent school, but an odd choice for a white student.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say many qualified white students choose not to apply to Banneker because it's not a diverse school. At all. There's not much more to the issue than that, imo.

And once again we get to an issue raised in the TJ thread.

When white students are the majority of the school, minorities (blacks, latinos, Asians, etc) should just be quiet and 'put up with it'.

When a schools is 'too black' or 'too asian', whites take their ball and go home.

That's because white parents have plenty of other options. Minorities would do the same if they had ample options of high-performing schools where they are in the majority, but there aren't too many Bannkers. Nobody wants their kid to be part of a small minority. As long as minorities are actually in the minority, that's just how it's going to be. Why should I put my white kid in the position of being in a small minority when I could send them to a truly diverse school that is more representative of the reality of their daily lives?

Go for it. No one at Banneker is begging you to come. The kids do great. I have a white friend who's son is at McKinley. Similar statistics. MIT is trying to recruit him. Why? Because he has the hook of being smart and at an all black school. To me it was smart. In addition, he LOVES McKinley so everyone wins.

And there is another reason: the desire for segregation comes from both sides. Nobody wants to be a gate crasher if they don't have to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say many qualified white students choose not to apply to Banneker because it's not a diverse school. At all. There's not much more to the issue than that, imo.

And once again we get to an issue raised in the TJ thread.

When white students are the majority of the school, minorities (blacks, latinos, Asians, etc) should just be quiet and 'put up with it'.

When a schools is 'too black' or 'too asian', whites take their ball and go home.

That's because white parents have plenty of other options. Minorities would do the same if they had ample options of high-performing schools where they are in the majority, but there aren't too many Bannkers. Nobody wants their kid to be part of a small minority. As long as minorities are actually in the minority, that's just how it's going to be. Why should I put my white kid in the position of being in a small minority when I could send them to a truly diverse school that is more representative of the reality of their daily lives?

Go for it. No one at Banneker is begging you to come. The kids do great. I have a white friend who's son is at McKinley. Similar statistics. MIT is trying to recruit him. Why? Because he has the hook of being smart and at an all black school. To me it was smart. In addition, he LOVES McKinley so everyone wins.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say many qualified white students choose not to apply to Banneker because it's not a diverse school. At all. There's not much more to the issue than that, imo.

And once again we get to an issue raised in the TJ thread.

When white students are the majority of the school, minorities (blacks, latinos, Asians, etc) should just be quiet and 'put up with it'.

When a schools is 'too black' or 'too asian', whites take their ball and go home.

That's because white parents have plenty of other options. Minorities would do the same if they had ample options of high-performing schools where they are in the majority, but there aren't too many Bannkers. Nobody wants their kid to be part of a small minority. As long as minorities are actually in the minority, that's just how it's going to be. Why should I put my white kid in the position of being in a small minority when I could send them to a truly diverse school that is more representative of the reality of their daily lives?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say many qualified white students choose not to apply to Banneker because it's not a diverse school. At all. There's not much more to the issue than that, imo.

And once again we get to an issue raised in the TJ thread.

When white students are the majority of the school, minorities (blacks, latinos, Asians, etc) should just be quiet and 'put up with it'.

When a schools is 'too black' or 'too asian', whites take their ball and go home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's a topic that should be addressed in your piece – SAT scores. How does a selective admission school score below the national average on the SAT?

Below is data taken directly from the Banneker web site:
http://benjaminbanneker.k12.dc.us/about_bbahs.html

READING
DCPS 473
Banneker 496
National 496

MATH
DCPS 466
Banneker 506
National 514



WRITING
DCPS 461
Banneker 486
National 488

Those Banneker scores seem surprisingly low. If true, well, that answers the reporter's question.

I was thinking the same thing. For a test in school, the scores aren't anything special. It would be helpful to compare them to Wilson and TJ in Va, a real test in school. As for parents not sending their white kids to a majority AA school, that really oversimplifies the issues. its that a white kid would likely be the ONLY white kid in the entire school. I would worry about bullying, exclusion etc if that were my kid. No one wants to be the ONLY. Most white parents have their elem kids in majority non white elem schools but parents worry less about elem. By middle and high school, parents with high achieving kids (And also likely higher income), know its time to really buckle down and get hard core into academics, IB, AP and honors. Also, middle and HS is when the really serious behvaviroal and violent issues start to play out as the kids get older. The challenges of very low income kids really becomes a different reality at that age.

There is NO bullying at Banneker. My son happened to befriend the only white kid there at the time. The kid loved Banneker. Unfortunately, both kids were asked to leave (as most boys are), but bullying was not the reason.

Hey, you cannot leave it at that. Why were both boys asked to leave? And, is that truly a widespread problem with boys?

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why Banneker is harder for the boys than girls. I have a boy, and Banneker is on my radar for future consideration. To be honest, I've heard the same comment about Washington Latin. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say many qualified white students choose not to apply to Banneker because it's not a diverse school. At all. There's not much more to the issue than that, imo.

And once again we get to an issue raised in the TJ thread.

When white students are the majority of the school, minorities (blacks, latinos, Asians, etc) should just be quiet and 'put up with it'.

When a schools is 'too black' or 'too asian', whites take their ball and go home.

Try this. What is the demographic breakdown of a certain country called USA?

Hint: much closer to Janney than to Banneker.

Actually, the US doesn't look much like either Janney or Banneker.

White parents don't have to think about whether their children are internalizing anything negative about themselves if they don't see high achievers who look like them. Non white parents do have to think about this, and kids will internalize these negative messages. The science says so.

Interestingly, what white parents need to worry about is the fact that their kids may internalize racism. Studies show that this is almost inevitable, if parents don't discuss race, since children start to classify people into groups based on external criteria from a young age. Start with Po Bronson's "Nurture Shock" for a summary of the scientific literature on this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say many qualified white students choose not to apply to Banneker because it's not a diverse school. At all. There's not much more to the issue than that, imo.

And once again we get to an issue raised in the TJ thread.

When white students are the majority of the school, minorities (blacks, latinos, Asians, etc) should just be quiet and 'put up with it'.

When a schools is 'too black' or 'too asian', whites take their ball and go home.

Sums it up right there, right there. However, in this case if whites don't want to apply to Banneker, as they can as the school is not race-specific, then it's there loss. It's not as if the school is suffering without them. This is another school that DCPS will meddle with and mess up soon!!!!