I've been contemplating this piece for a week. There is so much to agree and so much yet to explore about this topic.
Westerners are unlikely to be familiar with the name Mencius, who was regarded in Chinese history as the successor of Confucius. The story goes (an English version can be read here: http://chinese-story-collection.blogspot.com/2016/08/mencius-mother-moving-three-times-meng.html) that Mencius's mother, a widow, moved her family three times in search of a better neighborhood to raise her son. Children imitate what they see, so having an environment that exhibits the characters we want to foster in our children is on top of every parent's mind. I would suggest this environment we want our children to immerse in (rather than calling it "imitate from") is the umbrella above all measurable rankings like school safety, diversity, and academic readiness.
Whether or not it's worth paying a premium for a home near a high-ranking school then becomes a discussion of parents' stated and implicit core values. I am going to state a few intentionally polarized values:
* Is the family valuing the Ivy League over state universities and community colleges?
* Is the family valuing certain career paths more than a laissez-faire development?
* Is the family valuing a like-minded and similar-status peer group and its network leverage over a diverse formative experience?
* Is the family valuing "rising tide lifts all boats" when it comes to tax money distribution to schools, or is the family valuing a hyper-local resource distribution because it sees public school system and government system as inefficient and wasteful?
Love this, thank you so much for sharing the story of Menicus. I truly believe this is what is at the heart of "Where Success Lives:" our environment (place, people, culture) shapes our outcomes. The questions you're asking are for the people who this blog is mainly targeting - those of privilege, who can make the choice. They are thought-provoking questions and I invite our fellow readers to explore and contemplate. What lights a fire under me each day however is that many families cannot make the choice. Their values may not match their means or resources. What is our responsibility to the children of our community versus our own children?
....and I add - I have been thoroughly pleased with my children's teachers at Herndon Middle and Herndon High. Teachers everywhere I believe are underpaid and underappreciated.
THIS! Such an important conversation. It is a self fulfiling prophecy. A lot of families are just trying to work 2 and 3 jobs and they don't have time to "be the squeaky wheel" like parents where one or both parents work part time and/or from home and have flexibility and day care. It is known for a fact that families in North Reston purposely complained about being districted to go to Herndon High School and therefore the lines were redistricted. Just across the street from our neighborhood. This saddens me. One that they would forego the chance for their child to go to a diverse school and two that the FCPS system didn't see this opportunity to redraw the lines. The cycles continue and continue. The segregation continues. My husband and I did not choose a home based on schools - which is not the norm in this area. We figured all of FCPS have very good teachers and schools. We both came from economically disadvantaged small public schools and were the first to go to college in our families. We have done well due to hard work, determination, hustle and initiative. I feel like b/c of where we live, our kids are losing some of this. If you don't have to fight for something/anything then you sometimes lose the will or desire to fight.
I am disappointed our school board and superintendent is not seeing this data the way you are presenting it and I will definitely share with them! When there are such significant gaps b/t schools with such close proximity in academic performance, safety and other factors and correlating significant gaps in ethic diversity, economically disadvantaged and english learners -- its unbelievable we are the only ones doing the MATH and looking at the DATA. Its disheartening to say the least.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! Really interesting and in many ways we have a similar background.
I’ve seen the little cutout of North Reston homes districted for Langley and have wondered why that was. The significance of what’s lost when higher socioeconomic families pool together is a big part of what I hope to share here on WSUL as time goes on.
And thank you for sharing with those who have decision making power. I do hope WSUL is a useful tool for those folks especially, and I’m excited to see what can happen when we come together for all children 💕
Looking at school ratings was high on our list while looking for homes. I remember being nervous about the Herndon High School rating. I knew these rating systems weren’t perfect but there is no way to truly tell so you go with what you have. I find it unfortunate how our schools are naturally segregating them selves. I also have VERY strong feelings about the charter school system and how it’s hurting public schools. When we lived in Charlotte charter schools were everywhere. It was unfortunate because they took funding from public schools and didn’t provide transportation. So many low income families didn’t even have this an option! This is a great read (although frustrating to hear at some points haha) thanks Rebecca!
Thanks for sharing this, Dana! I think any time something is distilled down to something as simple as one number to summarize an entire school, it can be extremely difficult to evaluate or “know what you have.” We just don’t have good tools for making decisions on schools. That’s fascinating about the charter schools. I know v little on charter schools, but you’re not the first person I’ve heard from to have strong feelings on them!
I'm so impressed at the depth to which you've diving into the data, Rebecca -- it's truly mind-boggling. (Also makes me think about how, every time my husband brings up moving, I tell him I refuse to leave our current school district. This isn't the only factor, but it's a pretty big one...)
We've also explored moving multiple times for various reasons (when I thought we made a mistake getting this house, as we all did during the pandemic, etc.) Our neighborhood amenities, location, and community keep us where we are. And the schools, of course. We were very conscious in looking at school demographic data when we looked at homes. It was important to me that my kids didn't go to school with kids just like them. But every parent has different considerations they are juggling!
I was a child of refugees. While my peers in class were taking the standardized tests, I was doing the same, except the time pressure and format triggered a fight or flight state for me. Not only did I have to choose a, b, c, or all the above, I had to contain the feelings of post-war symptoms.
I never realized this until I was a fully grown adult.
Thank you for sharing your story, 80. What seems like a "fair" and "standardized" test is often fraught from so many angles, and doesn't always represent a child's abilities, particularly those who are under-recognized!
I've been contemplating this piece for a week. There is so much to agree and so much yet to explore about this topic.
Westerners are unlikely to be familiar with the name Mencius, who was regarded in Chinese history as the successor of Confucius. The story goes (an English version can be read here: http://chinese-story-collection.blogspot.com/2016/08/mencius-mother-moving-three-times-meng.html) that Mencius's mother, a widow, moved her family three times in search of a better neighborhood to raise her son. Children imitate what they see, so having an environment that exhibits the characters we want to foster in our children is on top of every parent's mind. I would suggest this environment we want our children to immerse in (rather than calling it "imitate from") is the umbrella above all measurable rankings like school safety, diversity, and academic readiness.
Whether or not it's worth paying a premium for a home near a high-ranking school then becomes a discussion of parents' stated and implicit core values. I am going to state a few intentionally polarized values:
* Is the family valuing the Ivy League over state universities and community colleges?
* Is the family valuing certain career paths more than a laissez-faire development?
* Is the family valuing a like-minded and similar-status peer group and its network leverage over a diverse formative experience?
* Is the family valuing "rising tide lifts all boats" when it comes to tax money distribution to schools, or is the family valuing a hyper-local resource distribution because it sees public school system and government system as inefficient and wasteful?
Love this, thank you so much for sharing the story of Menicus. I truly believe this is what is at the heart of "Where Success Lives:" our environment (place, people, culture) shapes our outcomes. The questions you're asking are for the people who this blog is mainly targeting - those of privilege, who can make the choice. They are thought-provoking questions and I invite our fellow readers to explore and contemplate. What lights a fire under me each day however is that many families cannot make the choice. Their values may not match their means or resources. What is our responsibility to the children of our community versus our own children?
....and I add - I have been thoroughly pleased with my children's teachers at Herndon Middle and Herndon High. Teachers everywhere I believe are underpaid and underappreciated.
Here here! Through volunteering with the PTA over the past year, I’ve gotten a closer look, and wow, do teachers and admin deal with A LOT.
THIS! Such an important conversation. It is a self fulfiling prophecy. A lot of families are just trying to work 2 and 3 jobs and they don't have time to "be the squeaky wheel" like parents where one or both parents work part time and/or from home and have flexibility and day care. It is known for a fact that families in North Reston purposely complained about being districted to go to Herndon High School and therefore the lines were redistricted. Just across the street from our neighborhood. This saddens me. One that they would forego the chance for their child to go to a diverse school and two that the FCPS system didn't see this opportunity to redraw the lines. The cycles continue and continue. The segregation continues. My husband and I did not choose a home based on schools - which is not the norm in this area. We figured all of FCPS have very good teachers and schools. We both came from economically disadvantaged small public schools and were the first to go to college in our families. We have done well due to hard work, determination, hustle and initiative. I feel like b/c of where we live, our kids are losing some of this. If you don't have to fight for something/anything then you sometimes lose the will or desire to fight.
I am disappointed our school board and superintendent is not seeing this data the way you are presenting it and I will definitely share with them! When there are such significant gaps b/t schools with such close proximity in academic performance, safety and other factors and correlating significant gaps in ethic diversity, economically disadvantaged and english learners -- its unbelievable we are the only ones doing the MATH and looking at the DATA. Its disheartening to say the least.
Thanks for doing this and carrying the torch.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! Really interesting and in many ways we have a similar background.
I’ve seen the little cutout of North Reston homes districted for Langley and have wondered why that was. The significance of what’s lost when higher socioeconomic families pool together is a big part of what I hope to share here on WSUL as time goes on.
And thank you for sharing with those who have decision making power. I do hope WSUL is a useful tool for those folks especially, and I’m excited to see what can happen when we come together for all children 💕
Looking at school ratings was high on our list while looking for homes. I remember being nervous about the Herndon High School rating. I knew these rating systems weren’t perfect but there is no way to truly tell so you go with what you have. I find it unfortunate how our schools are naturally segregating them selves. I also have VERY strong feelings about the charter school system and how it’s hurting public schools. When we lived in Charlotte charter schools were everywhere. It was unfortunate because they took funding from public schools and didn’t provide transportation. So many low income families didn’t even have this an option! This is a great read (although frustrating to hear at some points haha) thanks Rebecca!
Thanks for sharing this, Dana! I think any time something is distilled down to something as simple as one number to summarize an entire school, it can be extremely difficult to evaluate or “know what you have.” We just don’t have good tools for making decisions on schools. That’s fascinating about the charter schools. I know v little on charter schools, but you’re not the first person I’ve heard from to have strong feelings on them!
I'm so impressed at the depth to which you've diving into the data, Rebecca -- it's truly mind-boggling. (Also makes me think about how, every time my husband brings up moving, I tell him I refuse to leave our current school district. This isn't the only factor, but it's a pretty big one...)
We've also explored moving multiple times for various reasons (when I thought we made a mistake getting this house, as we all did during the pandemic, etc.) Our neighborhood amenities, location, and community keep us where we are. And the schools, of course. We were very conscious in looking at school demographic data when we looked at homes. It was important to me that my kids didn't go to school with kids just like them. But every parent has different considerations they are juggling!
I was a child of refugees. While my peers in class were taking the standardized tests, I was doing the same, except the time pressure and format triggered a fight or flight state for me. Not only did I have to choose a, b, c, or all the above, I had to contain the feelings of post-war symptoms.
I never realized this until I was a fully grown adult.
Thank you for sharing your story, 80. What seems like a "fair" and "standardized" test is often fraught from so many angles, and doesn't always represent a child's abilities, particularly those who are under-recognized!