Double the Competition: Young Women and the Prep School

In honor of this past week's International Womens' Day:

In the 1980's, prep school enrollment was in decline: Generation X was simply smaller than the previous generation of boarding school students. Perhaps as individualists, they were more interested in MTV than structured, supervised life in the dormitory. At some campuses, the social fabric unraveled with problems like binge drinking and even drug scandals; hurting institutions' pristine, long-cultivated reputations. At the time, some boarding schools were co-ed, but many were either boys' or girls' schools. The boys' schools were renowned for producing America's leaders; the girls' schools most often known as finishing institutions for debutantes.

Few boarding schools have endowments like the two Phillips academies; so declining enrollment- and declining tuition income- posed an existential threat to the survival of fabled institutions. They needed more students. They were "seeking all kinds of kids". These included "Non-traditional" students like first generation preppies, those who attended public grade school, minorities, day students; but most importantly, young women.

The Hill School, located outside of Philadelphia, PA, was one such school that faced enrollment challenges. The quality of the learning environment was great as ever, but simply the quantity of students fell short. The school's reputation was such that daughters of alumni expressed interest in attending; enough so that the Hill School's future was guaranteed when the boarding school went co-ed in the 1990's. That was not the end: going co-ed, there came to be double the competition, in admissions, in awards, and so forth. The student environment drew foreign exchange students from Europe and Asia, who wanted to be part of the reinvigorated boarding school environment. Admissions is selective today. 

Once the gender barrier had been removed from the general psyche of prep schools, the weaker boarding schools closed: they fell behind what public schools in exclusive zip codes could offer.  You could call this efficiencies in the educational marketplace, when students and their parents now had twice the choices of boarding schools. In no small part, it was young women, and their aspirations, who saved prep school culture from the dustbin of American history. 

When Cash is Joker

     Today, with Paypal and Square, even the smallest merchants are connected to digital payment. Bitcoins are totally cyber.  So discussing currency, especially denominations other than the greenback $20, might seem nostalgic. Numismatists, a.k.a. coin collectors, recognize long-obsolete denominations of money: Half-cent coins issued until 1857, large 2 cent coins during the Civil War, small antebellum silver 3 cent coins, and the short lived 20 cent coin of 1875-1876. The small print tells you that it isn’t a quarter. One-cent pieces (pre-1857) and dollars (pre-1979) used to be larger.

     To compare then-and-now circulation of money, I like to use “Jurgis Rudkus” or NYC Subway Fare metric. It does not account for real changes in the price of goods. For example, the real cost of a New York City subway ride ($2.75 today) has doubled since opening in 1904. So the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s CPI calculator is better, when the internet is readily available. Jurgis’ boss might’ve had gilded age gold coins in $2.50 and larger denominations, at a time when laborers made a dollar per day. We know Jurgis, a laborer in the Chicago Stockyards, through Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

     Some denominations have fallen out of favor. Take the one-cent piece, or colloquially- the penny. Due to the percent tax and the psychological deception of $.99 pricing, we have been stuck with the penny. Sure, stores could choose to round down the purchase. In overseas shops using US currency, pennies; even nickels and dimes, are dropped. In Dubai, I saw the 1 dinar coin used as ersatz American quarters.

     Half dollars are widely recognized at all classes of convenience stores, where cash is king. Exception is the shopettes on-base, which serve a straight-laced clientele. Elsewhere, the half dollar is not readily recognized, but most often accepted nonetheless. Their availability at banks is capricious, and the futility of using them in laundry, vending and other machines is frustrating.  

     Despite the US Mint’s best efforts, dollar coins are not the “hip new thing” millennials are clamoring for. If you use a silver-toned Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, make sure it’s not mistaken for a quarter. It was a short-lived series that immediately followed the Nixon-era large Eisenhower dollars. The Sacagawea gold-toned dollar coin fares better. They are the mainstay of mass transit machines, and circulate freely in downtown shops. To stir more interest in auto-centric areas, the US Mint concurrently introduced the Presidential Dollar Series. The Sacagawea series continued concurrently as her peoples’ sworn enemies Andrew Jackson, Zachary Tyler, and colleagues were commemorated in coin.

     $2 bills are a popular Christmas gift. They are accepted on Hampton Roads Transit’s GFI fareboxes, a type that is used around the country. But many younger cashiers do not recognize the bill, even in entertainment-focused locales like San Juan.

     $10 bills: Many stores do not stock these bills in cash registers at the start of shift. $5 bill became the workhorse of the economy. Where a seeming inefficiency is king, this orange hued bill is squeezed out by the $5 and $20 bills. I would also blame inflation, which makes $20 bills more easily broken by cashiers.

     $50 bills: Due to inflation, these are now convenient for grocery shopping, dinner out, and oil changes for the car. Also issued by Navy Federal ATMs in high-priced countries like Bahrain. For all purposes, though, the larger “C Note” remains more popular.

     $100 bills: A mainstay of the cash economy. In the cutthroat world of commercial shipping, if a sailor can’t deposit a paycheck immediately, he or she would prefer cold cash in hand. For those sailing on government ships backed by the full faith of Uncle Sam, the Benjamin is used for the seemingly contrary purposes of Western Union family remittances and entertainment. Overseas, it’s safer to carry cash than to trust an entertainment venue with a credit card. The Benjamin is also required when exchanging for local currencies in underdeveloped economies.

     $500 bills (and larger): Banks have not issued them since 1969, a time when $500 could buy a new car. Yet, unlike deflated or obsolete European currencies, these big bills have not been demonetized. Thus the Federal Reserve keeps track of these large bills remaining in circulation, presumably in collectors’ hands and senior citizens’ safes.

 

Now have a happy new year!

Back to the Cities?

Even though I’ve spent the past year outside of the US, I’d like to catch up on the latest trend: businesses, and people, are moving back to the cities? I’ve heard from urban pioneers of yesteryear, now middle-class homeowners in the swankiest neighborhoods, talk about how their neighborhood “changed for the better”. It’s not a new trend, but one that entered hyperdrive since 2010- or the official end of the last recession. Places like Detroit and Cleveland are on the upswing. Manhattan is back, more than ever. In Washington, DC, gentrification has been completed in the L’Enfant City of stately apartment buildings, Victorian townhomes, and sleek new construction. Prices continue to climb; so where should urban pioneers head next, if not Baltimore?

I’ll ask, why did people move to the cities?

Because of Television

Shows like Entourage and Mad Men glorify the after-work happy hour. Driving to, but mostly from, happy hour with pals from your asphalt-surrounded office park is not a feasible idea. Ditto a decent lunch break. Long waits to take a left turn into the strip mall make the brown bag an appealing option.

Because of the Internet

Facebook says, shouts, and screams that you have to be there in the middle of the action. If college today is about the amenities purchased with tax-advantaged student loans, yuppie life is about prolonging adolescence. Whether you’re a SINK or a DINK, you can’t be more than walking distance from the hot spots.

Why did businesses move to the cities?

Cities wised up about tax policy

Without big-box stores, Washington, DC lost $1 billion per year in tax revenue as residents shopped in neighboring suburbs. Since then, Target and Walmart have opened in the city. Also, state laws limit scope of local regulations: A business can open in inner-city Norfolk or Richmond  with little more red tape than in business-friendly suburbs.

Maximize workforce within commuting distance

Mature workers may be tied down to houses in different parts of the region. Locating in the heart of the city averages out commuting distances, and makes a shorter commute for those choosy, urban-dwelling Millennials. Also, with traffic so bad, mass transit reduces commute times, as long as offices and businesses are located near transportation hubs, often the center city.

Hip and Energetic

We’ve seen companies trying to be “with the times”, occasionally embarrassing themselves in the process. Downtown offices have the same hoped effect: to give a new, friendlier image to the same old corporation. Big Data says it’s the right move to take…what could go wrong?

So where should urban pioneers head next?

How about Crystal City, a stone’s throw from the Pentagon, once the workplace of legions of military personnel and their contractors, the epitome of square culture. Hard times hit the community of 1970’s office towers and large condos with the end of the Cold War, and the subsequent Defense Department’s BRAC initiative that picked up speed after homeland security concerns came to the forefront. (These buildings replaced the wartime “temporary buildings” placed on the National Mall) It was a paradox, because as the offices were emptying out in this “bland” area 10 minutes by car, subway, or commuter train from Downtown Washington, the “authentic” U Street corridor benefited from gentrification that began with the arrival of a new subway station.

What’s wrong with Crystal City? It just wasn’t hip; street life was non-existent as commuters, residents, and hotel guests arrived by car; or by the subway, through a maze of connected basements. Polyester-blend khaki uniforms don’t take sweat-stains well, and the tunnels were a brilliant idea to keep workers of the future away from Washington’s summer heat. Recent renovations have widened sidewalks and opened more ground-level retail. I’ve seen sidewalk cafes bustling at lunchtime as today’s workers ditch the brown bag.

Washington, DC had to develop a start-up culture. Although now home to a wide range of industries outside of government, including Fortune-listed companies offering technology applications, aerospace, and hospitality; even Volkswagen; these companies were transplants like many of the area’s residents. Notable exceptions are Marriott, AOL and Capital One. Young educated born-and-raised locals, a growing demographic, had to realize that government was not the only means to a successful career in Washington.  With the necessary entrepreneurial infrastructure in place, the start-up environment was hatched. 

Then you had to teach the real estate magnates about changing times. Kings of concrete, they were used to renting out entire floors to well-paying clients like the US Government, the US Air Force, and various contractors. Today, they are becoming more accepting of smaller square-foot leases and shorter terms, required by small, fledgling, and nimble companies.  They’ve even torn down some arsenals of cubicles in Crystal City.

Part of the attraction of cities is the cool buildings and a sense of place: I’ve been to Portland, Oregon. Old loft warehouses are inspiring, especially when relics of the past are still visible. Do 1970’s office buildings, such as those surrounding the Pentagon, have to be forever branded as sterile and impersonal? One building owner remodeled one floor in the image of Silicon Valley. For other offices, I envision posting images of the quantifiable work performed and vintage encounters: satellites, mustached military officers, and secretaries with typewriters. Heck, paint the elevators camouflage green.

Could Crystal City, and its sisters across America, be the next up-and coming neighborhoods?

2 Day Weeks Are Easy

On a snow day, I'm obliged to blog. As unusual as it is, I've been productive these past two days. When I'm productive, there isn't usually much news. Down in West End DC, the snow total amassed 4 inches, a respectable amount. In the northern suburbs of Fairfax County, VA and Montgomery County, MD, over 8 inches of snow blanket the ground. Get this- in parts of Mont. Co, the snow totalled two digits- 10.2 inches in moderately populated Damascus, and 11 inches in more rural Boyds, according to WTOP reports. Why do suburban snow totals matter? Because St. Anselm's follows the Mont. Co snow reports. Why?

There are several reasons. Mont. Co. is the lowest common denominator when it comes to snow. Back in the '90's, the County picked up a reputation of being the first to close. This snow-phobia has diminished somewhat: 3 inches of snow on farmland doesn't guarantee a day off- it didn't last season, and it didn't two weeks ago. The second reason is that a plurality of students come from Mont. Co, and adding students who live within walking distance of the county line would make a clear majority. A third reason is that DC the city rarely issues snow days: DC expects kids to trudge through snow to a Metrorail or major bus route, even when cars are snowed in on the sidestreets. At least half of St. Anselm's students rely on a car or SUV some part of their journey to and from school. Reason four is that the other schools in our league abide by MoCo's judgment. If your friends are out to play, then so will you! Then there's brand recognition and association. Mont. Co., as well as Fairfax, VA, do an excellent job in public school education; many schools in these counties rank top in the Nation. Mont. Co. Public Schools is the biggest absorber of students between 8th and 9th grade at St. A's. Reasons for making the leap range from "availability of females" to "my gosh they've got Smartboards in every classroom!". To my knowledge, DC Public Schools has not lured off any rising freshman in recent history.

One proposal that arises in the County is whether or not to split the County's schools into two snow districts, so that South County gentry from Bethesda and Chevy Chase (like my classmates) don't get a free ride whenever Sugarloaf Mountain gets a white coating. This suggestion is off the table, though, because enough students from Upcounty travel to Mid-and Down-county schools for advanced level curricula, lacrosse, etc., that a split system would be unfeasible.

It's my last year in the K-12 ed system, so I'm not concerned about this, but some keen, younger students are aware of "changing demographics". As DC the city becomes more cosmopolitan and attracts well-heeled families,the schools increase recruiting efforts in the rowhouse neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and West Georgetown. As a result, pushy parents from snow-light DC may get the schools to adhere to the DC school closing announcement,and call to an end the easy flow of snow days.