White family considering PG County - school issues? (Bethesda, Bowie: home, school district)

[EducatedBro82]

I understand your concerns. Im a Probation officer and have my clients in Bowie. Bowie High is around 67%-70% black now due to rezoning. Benjamin Tasker is majority black as well where as Samuel Ogle is 50/50.

Bowie and Laurel schools are still good. Some are not good, and some are good. In those towns, your children wont be the only white child in the school. Now if you were to say Largo, Douglass, or Wise, then that is different.

If you still want to live close to PG, look into Odenton, Crofton, North Laurel, and Hanover. But your children will be fine attending PG schools

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by luckyman79

Thanks. I just checked the website and the middle school my older son is coming out of is 87% white, 9% Asian 3% Hispanic and less than 1% Black. This is in North Western Indiana (Lake County) just south of Chicago. I cannot find the stats for my younger boy's elementary school.

They'll be in for a shock when they see the difference in PG Schools. Prepare them well. It will be very different. Otherwise, go for Howard County.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by luckyman79

Thanks. I just checked the website and the middle school my older son is coming out of is 87% white, 9% Asian 3% Hispanic and less than 1% Black. This is in North Western Indiana (Lake County) just south of Chicago. I cannot find the stats for my younger boy's elementary school.


I'm not afraid of the school having inner city problems like endemic gang violence or whatever, it's Bowie, MD not Southeast DC! But even middle class and upper income kids are mean and in my boys' middle class, vastly majority Caucasian school, my youngest boy has gotten some flak for being "a ginger". In school and amongst teens, being different is bad.


I'm adjusted to black people. We live in a pretty white/Asian area but I worked in Chicago for years. We can't afford private school. That's another reason PG is appealing because I can get a lot more house for the same amount of money there than I can get in Rockville or Olney or something.



Thank you guys for the input, I honestly think the best way to go about this is to talk to my boys and just ask them (the older one, especially) how they would feel about the whole situation and go from there. If they don't mind, we will look further in PG but if they do we will either look further north in Howard County or south in La Plata. Thanks.

Honestly I don't think PG County schools are going to work for you. Going from a school that is 1% Black to around 50%+ is a drastic shift. I'd consider private or public somewhere else.

[Mos82]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

Honestly I don't think PG County schools are going to work for you. Going from a school that is 1% Black to around 50%+ is a drastic shift. I'd consider private or public somewhere else.

LMAO Oh please how can any of these people function as adults in the real world if you can't go to school because half of your classmates dont look like you? Is it that serious to consider private because the school isn't 100 percent white? Oh goodness 50 percent of the kids are black? Run for the hills! SMH

[cjmeck]

I moved to Howard County from Colorado (and prior to that, Ohio) when my oldest was starting middle school. It really was quite a culture shock for him and its hard being the new kid no matter what the racial breakdown of the schools. I don't have any personal PG county school experience but I do understand what you are saying. Just parent to parent; whatever you chose, get your kids involved in sports, clubs, some extracurricular activity right away. My oldest tends to be a quiet kid at first, struggles in social situations, ect but making friends with kids outside of school hours was critical for a successful transition. www.greatschools.org is a decent resource for schools, parent reviews. I personally don't get too caught up in some arbitrary number the website assigns a school; rather I focus on graduation rates, % kids going to college, parent reviews, ect. Good luck to you.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by Mos82

LMAO Oh please how can any of these people function as adults in the real world if you can't go to school because half of your classmates dont look like you? Is it that serious to consider private because the school isn't 100 percent white? Oh goodness 50 percent of the kids are black? Run for the hills! SMH

Diversity is overrated. Don't believe the hype these companies are spewing.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by Mos82

LMAO Oh please how can any of these people function as adults in the real world if you can't go to school because half of your classmates dont look like you? Is it that serious to consider private because the school isn't 100 percent white? Oh goodness 50 percent of the kids are black? Run for the hills! SMH

I think that EdwardA pre-emptively answered your dismissive post quite well, so I'll just go ahead and quote it.

Originally Posted by EdwardA

Honestly I don't think PG County schools are going to work for you. Going from a school that is 1% Black to around 50%+ is a drastic shift. I'd consider private or public somewhere else.

[Mos82]

Originally Posted by bus man

I think that EdwardA pre-emptively answered your dismissive post quite well, so I'll just go ahead and quote it.

Your an idiot, I was quoting him in the first place. There was nothing pre emptive about it

[Mos82]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

Diversity is overrated. Don't believe the hype these companies are spewing.

I could careless if its overrated or not, my point is people screaming for him to go to private schools because half the school he might attend is another race, thats beyond silly. His child could end up at Glenarden Woods, Heather Hills, Robert Goddard all of whom are 70+ percent black and yet have the highest test scores in the entire state, but u wouldn't want your kids around that because they are a shade darker?

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Mos82

I could careless if its overrated or not, my point is people screaming for him to go to private schools because half the school he might attend is another race, thats beyond silly. His child could end up at Glenarden Woods, Heather Hills, Robert Goddard all of whom are 70+ percent black and yet have the highest test scores in the entire state, but u wouldn't want your kids around that because they are a shade darker?

If you stop yelling, "racist!" for a moment and reread what was said, you would discover that is not what they said. It's about the huge shift for a small percentage to a huge percentage in just one summer. If he loves his kids, he won't put them through such a dramatic change so quickly. That's not fair to them. That's totally different from what you thought was said.