Newton Street, Washington D.C.

The Thurston family, Baratunde, his mother and his sister, lived on Newton Street in Washington, D.C. until seventh grade. His mother kept the young Baratunde busy with extra-curricular activities to avoid the negative influences of the neighborhood. Thurston describes the neighborhood with, “the occasional police raid, mass brawl, and steady drug traffic didn't bother me too much. It felt normal, and that is probably what frightened my mother the most” (80). When the young Baratunde finds a bullet hole in their front window one morning, the mother moves the family to Takoma Park, Maryland. Thurston writes of his mother, “she had fought the good fight against the steady takeover of our neighborhood by drug dealers and users, and she was losing. We all were” (79).

Sidwell Friends

Thurston and his mother toured several private schools in the Washington, D.C. area, and decided on...