@jdewey: Sorry for the duplication…finally got to listen to the rest of the piece last night. Powerful story.
We had initially tuned in via NYC public radio on our way home from the city. My younger girl was sleeping, but my older girl was greatly saddened by the piece, asking us to turn it off or give her headphones so she could listen to her own music.
For me, a product of a very integrated public school system through 7th grade then a private school from 8-12th, and now the parent of two partial FA kids at boarding school…the story was fairly familiar but nonetheless unsettling.
For the kids like the “Melanie” of the story, it’s sad to me that she didn’t see a way through. That she felt she would never get into Harvard after her early disappointment with the Posse Scholarship process, despite the fact her public school teachers encouraged her to. IMO, she probably would have had a good chance.
The piece also made me consider and appreciate anew the opportunities so many of the boarding schools make for kids whose families might not be able to afford the experience. And for the programs like ABC and Prep for Prep who open the door to it even being a possibility.
But it also made me aware for the many kids who are either shut out due to BS FA waitlists, admit waitlists, rejections, and just being unaware of the possibility of a different way than their local public school…whether that be a sub-par urban school or a sub-par rural school (and frankly, any less than ideal school situation).
As a society, we must try to do a better job for all our kids…