If OP wants her kids to be around a lot of other black kids, she's not going to find a "top" school. If she wants her black kid to get the highest scores/grades possible, then she needs to put her kid in a school with high performing kids whatever background they have. Some of those high performing school have "diversity" but it won't be significantly black.

OP is gonna have to choose whether she wants her kid to have the highest performing peers or peers with the same racial background. For black kids, it's one or the other.

I value diversity -- including black kids -- for my white kids... but in the end, I want my kids to be around other kids who are motivated and high achievers. I don't presume that I know the value of having other black kids in the peer group for OP's kids... but I am sure that if they are in a school where kids and parents and teacher prioritize achievement, OP's kids will come out of ms/hs better educated than if they are in a lesser school where they "fit in."

My DD and DS have had black kids as their best friends during ES, I am friends with a number of black parents, we live in a neighborhood where our nearest neighbors are black and asian and white; and our zoned HS has as much or slightly more black kids than white... but... we are seriously considering moving to a higher achieving pyramid. The parents affect the motivation of the kids, and the kids affect the motivation of the teachers (and vice versa). Diversity is nice and all... but at the end of the day, I need to see results.

It's unfortunate for OP that there aren't any schools in FCPS where there are 30% or more black kids AND the scores are great or comparable to other FCPS schools... but it is true. OP will have to decide which to prioritize... the academic atmosphere or the cultural atmosphere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can never quite understand what people really mean when they ask for cultural diversity. My kid is mixed race. His girlfriend is black. His best friends are Asian, Hispanic, white, Indian, black, and many mixes. Many of them went to Rocky Run MS in the AAP center. I love this area because it feels pretty diverse--not diverse as code for a lot of one minority, but a great mixture. The kids have first-hand experiences with each others' cultures, ethnicities, and religions. Are there a lot of black kids at Rocky Run? No, certainly less than 10 percent, but the principal is black and the outstanding orchestra teacher is black, and there are other excellent admins and teachers who are black, as well as other ethnicities, so maybe that would work out, if OP doesn't want to land in some lily-white school.

I'm guessing you are not a racial minority although your child is. Why not ask your DH or the child's other parent why it would matter. It seems you would have a good resource close to you to explain this to you. Having other minorities around is it the same as having other black students around.

+ 1000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP from earlier. I was trying to ask if someone asking if a school was "diverse" was code for asking if there were a good number of black kids, versus diverse as I think of it, as having a broad range of ethnicities and cultures represented. I didn't grow up in this country, and I think of diversity as a more international thing than a black/white thing.

I am the. PP and I assume the OP means having more black kids. As an example, my kid's school is very "diverse" in the sense that you mean but there aren't many black kids which I find lacking.

Then just say the school doesn't have many black kids. It can still be very diverse.

+1.

Pretty obvious, but the provincial folks don't get it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP from earlier. I was trying to ask if someone asking if a school was "diverse" was code for asking if there were a good number of black kids, versus diverse as I think of it, as having a broad range of ethnicities and cultures represented. I didn't grow up in this country, and I think of diversity as a more international thing than a black/white thing.

I am the. PP and I assume the OP means having more black kids. As an example, my kid's school is very "diverse" in the sense that you mean but there aren't many black kids which I find lacking.

Then just say the school doesn't have many black kids. It can still be very diverse.

Anonymous wrote:PP from earlier. I was trying to ask if someone asking if a school was "diverse" was code for asking if there were a good number of black kids, versus diverse as I think of it, as having a broad range of ethnicities and cultures represented. I didn't grow up in this country, and I think of diversity as a more international thing than a black/white thing.

I am the. PP and I assume the OP means having more black kids. As an example, my kid's school is very "diverse" in the sense that you mean but there aren't many black kids which I find lacking.