Would love to read an interview with the one white student at Anacostia High School.

Anonymous wrote:School Year 2023-2024

Hadn't seen this before. Thought I'd share.

Ballou 0
Bard High School Early College 1
Anacostia 1
Maya Angelou 1
Statesman College Preparatory Academy 1
Luke C Moore 1
Woodson 1
Paul High School 2
Phelps 3
Roosevelt STAY 4
EL Haynes 4
Perry Street Prep 4
Washington Leadership Academy 5
Dunbar 3
Coolidge 6
Cap City 7
Roosevelt High School 9
CHEC 13
Eastern 21
Sojourner truth 25
Mc Kinley Tech 24
Banneker 37
MacArthur 52
Duke Ellington 92
Basis 116
DCI 173
Washington Latin 143
School Without Walls 283
Jackson-Reed 722

Old numbers and need percentages

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I predict a dramatic increase in those numbers for both Banneker and Eastern in the next 5 years

Oh…based on what? A “feeling”?

NP here but I agree, and it’s based on recent history. I’m inbounds for Eastern and when we bought our house there were zero white kids at Eastern. Now there are 21. That’s a huge change. My kids don’t go to Eastern, but they are at a public high school on the list. We don’t have any friends on the Hill who send their kids to private school. All our kids’ friends are split between Latin, Basis, Eastern, DCI, Duke Ellington, and Walls.

If the Eastern honors program takes off it could be a real game changer. I have an EH student and am keeping an open mind (although the likelihood is low because his other parent is against it.)

It feels like there is some momentum towards Eastern. As the bigger three feeder schools continue to grow their IB participation, it feels more possible to have cohorts of those kids move to Eastern together.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I hope all the people so “worried” about being at a school with a low white student population are doing everything in their power to bring back affirmative action at the college level. Black and Latine students have been dealing with this forever. And let me tell you, white students at elite schools are NOT kind to students of color. People really shouldn’t be surprised by majority Black public schools in a city known as Chocolate City.

I would not want to be the only black student at an otherwise white school. I would also not want to be the only white student at an otherwise black school. That's all people are saying -- it would just be very hard to be the only person of a specific race at a school because it makes you visible in a way that is specifically hard on kids who have a strong desire to fit in. I absolutely favor affirmative action or whatever method works to ensure that black and latino students attending elite schools are not "onlies". But I also would not send my white kid to a high school with literally no other white kids because I think it would place a spotlight on her that I know she'd hate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would really hate to be that one white kid at one of those schools. I imagine they are probably relentlessly singled out and teased.

Probably an athlete, and he’s probably fine

or, whispers, a multiracial student …

Quite possible but generally in DC they don’t classify as white. That’s another factor here as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I predict a dramatic increase in those numbers for both Banneker and Eastern in the next 5 years

Oh…based on what? A “feeling”?

NP here but I agree, and it’s based on recent history. I’m inbounds for Eastern and when we bought our house there were zero white kids at Eastern. Now there are 21. That’s a huge change. My kids don’t go to Eastern, but they are at a public high school on the list. We don’t have any friends on the Hill who send their kids to private school. All our kids’ friends are split between Latin, Basis, Eastern, DCI, Duke Ellington, and Walls.

If the Eastern honors program takes off it could be a real game changer. I have an EH student and am keeping an open mind (although the likelihood is low because his other parent is against it.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would really hate to be that one white kid at one of those schools. I imagine they are probably relentlessly singled out and teased.

Probably an athlete, and he’s probably fine

or, whispers, a multiracial student …

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker is the only school on that list where you can make a reasonable case that white parents have avoided it because of the racial makeup.

The neighborhood high schools white kids avoid are the same ones with extremely low IB participation rates overall. They aren't good schools, and It's crazy that some of these numbers aren't even lower.

My sense with Banneker is that white parents have less enthusiasm for the school largely because of how the principal runs the school, less because of race. Principal is very strict with discipline and many classes have a drill and kill approach. Communication from the school is minimal. Sports teams are mostly weak. Extracurriculars are mostly weak. The split between IB and AP means that you don’t have a wide selection of AP or IB classes. STEM is also weak. Banneker does somethings very well but those things are not especially valued by white parents as a whole

Do you have any experience with Banneker? Or just a “sense”?

I work with DCPS high schools. I’m a central office employee. I also have friends with kids at Banneker.

I am also a DCPS employee and know several current and former teachers at Banneker. The principal is the number one reason I wouldn’t send my child to the school. It’s not just ridiculously strict rules, there are other things that I fundamentally disagree with (I would be more specific but really can’t with the things I’ve heard).

As a former football player, you get these old school coaches who have a lot of really old fashioned ideas that mix some bad and some good. There’s a lot of good you don’t find in some places, but a whole lot of bad. And the coach believes all that stuff is part of the secret sauce that makes the team great. Wouldn’t surprise me if Banneker’s principal is like those coaches.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I predict a dramatic increase in those numbers for both Banneker and Eastern in the next 5 years

Oh…based on what? A “feeling”?

NP here but I agree, and it’s based on recent history. I’m inbounds for Eastern and when we bought our house there were zero white kids at Eastern. Now there are 21. That’s a huge change. My kids don’t go to Eastern, but they are at a public high school on the list. We don’t have any friends on the Hill who send their kids to private school. All our kids’ friends are split between Latin, Basis, Eastern, DCI, Duke Ellington, and Walls.

That Dunbar number is embarrassing given how big its zone is.

Anonymous wrote:I would really hate to be that one white kid at one of those schools. I imagine they are probably relentlessly singled out and teased.

Probably an athlete, and he’s probably fine

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker is the only school on that list where you can make a reasonable case that white parents have avoided it because of the racial makeup.

The neighborhood high schools white kids avoid are the same ones with extremely low IB participation rates overall. They aren't good schools, and It's crazy that some of these numbers aren't even lower.

My sense with Banneker is that white parents have less enthusiasm for the school largely because of how the principal runs the school, less because of race. Principal is very strict with discipline and many classes have a drill and kill approach. Communication from the school is minimal. Sports teams are mostly weak. Extracurriculars are mostly weak. The split between IB and AP means that you don’t have a wide selection of AP or IB classes. STEM is also weak. Banneker does somethings very well but those things are not especially valued by white parents as a whole

I am a current Banneker parent and can tell you a lot of your “sense” doesn’t align with our actual experience

Ha no kidding! Not a Banneker parent but my ideal school runs on autopilot. I’ve been around DCPS long enough to see that there is a direct connection between admins that know what they are doing and keeping school communication to a minimum. It’s HS not PS - I don’t need a daily note home.

Wow. I hope all the people so “worried” about being at a school with a low white student population are doing everything in their power to bring back affirmative action at the college level. Black and Latine students have been dealing with this forever. And let me tell you, white students at elite schools are NOT kind to students of color. People really shouldn’t be surprised by majority Black public schools in a city known as Chocolate City.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker is the only school on that list where you can make a reasonable case that white parents have avoided it because of the racial makeup.

The neighborhood high schools white kids avoid are the same ones with extremely low IB participation rates overall. They aren't good schools, and It's crazy that some of these numbers aren't even lower.

My sense with Banneker is that white parents have less enthusiasm for the school largely because of how the principal runs the school, less because of race. Principal is very strict with discipline and many classes have a drill and kill approach. Communication from the school is minimal. Sports teams are mostly weak. Extracurriculars are mostly weak. The split between IB and AP means that you don’t have a wide selection of AP or IB classes. STEM is also weak. Banneker does somethings very well but those things are not especially valued by white parents as a whole

Do you have any experience with Banneker? Or just a “sense”?

I work with DCPS high schools. I’m a central office employee. I also have friends with kids at Banneker.

I am also a DCPS employee and know several current and former teachers at Banneker. The principal is the number one reason I wouldn’t send my child to the school. It’s not just ridiculously strict rules, there are other things that I fundamentally disagree with (I would be more specific but really can’t with the things I’ve heard).

I'd love a school with strict rules. Its about time.

That’s great. Have your kid apply to Banneker.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would really hate to be that one white kid at one of those schools. I imagine they are probably relentlessly singled out and teased.

Why is this what you imagine would happen? Is it because this is how you would treat 'onlies' at school? Is this how you treat 'onlies' at work, on teams, at religious settings, in social settings?

+1 This.
How many of you would bat an eye if there were one black kid in some exurban school? None.
Why would you think that a kid needed other whites to fit in?