Social climate at Georgetown Day School

[Anonymous]

DD got in to GDS for 3th grade but not sure it's a good fit. What is lit like? Is it full of rich kids or can a middle class kid survive without feeling like she has to buy new clothes all the time? What's the social climate like there?

[Anonymous]

I don't have a kid there, but I know kids who go there, and I haven't gotten the impression clothes matter much, or more than they do other places.

Lots of rich kids, but I can't think of a comparable school where that wouldn't be true. It seems like a great school for kids who are the right fit.

I interviewed there for a job once. I was struck by the dedication of the faculty I met and by the very informal atmosphere. Kids lying in the hallway painting banners, lots of "doing," respect for children's talents, a high value on artistic creativity. The middle school kids were drinking copious amounts of coffee from the urns which seemed to be all over the school. For whatever reason that rubbed me the wrong way at the time: entitled? pretentious? in need of boundaries? But that was before I was a parent and I mght feel differently now.

[Anonymous]

PP makes good points. One thing I don't like is the use of first names to adults; I honestly believe this convinces the kids that all adults are their equals with a corresponding lack of civility at times. But that's a pretty small little gripe and I'm sure good parenting can take care of it.

[Anonymous]

Each class has its own culture. Some classes are really toxic and others are fine -- this is probably true everywhere. try to speak with current parents.

[Anonymous]

Didn't someone ask the same thing about Burke? Verbatim? About a ninth grader?

[Anonymous]

Is this a troll or a coincidence?

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/96787.page

[Anonymous]

Lol. Plagiarism on DCUM? Or a parent with a 3d grader who got into GDS and 9th grader who got into Burke?

[Anonymous]

My impression based on families I know who have sent their kids is it's an excellent school with some incredible teachers. I have heard of some challenging social dynamics with girls, but the faculty is tuned in and willing to do what is needed to address these issues. I too am a bit turned off by the boundaries with adults in terms of using first names and so forth. Just about every student from there I have met over the years has been bright and verbal, but seemed to feel like an equal with adults and it came across to my old-fashioned self as disrespectful as compared to the students I have encounted from other area private and public schools. Again, I may just be too traditional.

[Anonymous]

Do PPs know the reason why GDS students call faculty and staff by their first name?

[Anonymous]

I think it started because when the school was founded the families involved (including administrators and teachers) were all friends. Then it became a sort of tradition.

When we applied, I liked the explanation one teacher gave about how it mattered in class. He said that it was jarring the first time a student took issue with something he'd said and prefaced his remarks with "Well, Kevin I disagree because..." But his next reaction was to notice how the first-name basis contributed to an atmosphere were debates were serious and substantive. With rank-pulling and deference out of the mix, teachers are challenged by students and that dynamic is good for both.

As a college professor, I've felt the same way. Automatic respect isn't really useful from a pedagogical standpoint -- it often encourages students to be more trusting/less critical than they should be. If they don't tell you what they're doubting and why, you lose an opportunity to explain more clearly. And it isn't hard to earn respect by knowing the material and doing your job well. In that case, what students are learning to respect is mastery.

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry to see that people that reply to these posts know nothing about what they are talking about. After attending ONE open house I can answer the first name question. It has nothing to do with a lack of respect or trying to insinuate that all adults are equal. When GDS was founded, as the first intergrated school in DC, all black americans had to address whites as Mr. and Mrs. - regardless of roles. This school decided that everyone would call each other by thier first names to avoid the racist conotations of salutations. Please do your research people before you anser these questions. Just saying mr or mrs does not in anyway teach respect - its a facade. respect is taught in many ways. My children call some of my friends by thier first names, and other people they don't know by mr and mrs. Do you really think this means they don't respect my friends? I am sorry that you are so close minded. And those kids don't drink coffee in middle school. If you are trying to diss GDS, your going to have to try harder than that.

[Anonymous]

Using first names is also a characteristic of a progressive school. Our school does that, too.

[Anonymous]

Georgetown Day is superb academically, the classroom atmosphere impressed me as dynamic and vibrant, and I have heard that they do a good job of accommodating children's individual interests and abilities, but we did not choose GDS for DC in 7th grade. Mostly GDS was just too liberal for us.

First, the practice of children's addressing adults by first names did not suit us.

Second, we were told at an upper-school presentation (which GDS encourages you to attend if you are applying to middle school), that ANY club that a student proposes is permitted. Really? Any? That is just too permissive and undicriminating in our view.

Third, my DC was turned off during his visit by the students' eating popcorn and drinking cocoa during class. He thought that was strange. He also did not like the idea of teachers' wearing pajamas to school on pajama days. So the school was not a good fit for him, clearly.

And, finally, I got an interesting glimpse of the permissive culture when I was waiting in the lobby to pick up DC after his visit. A bunch of middle schoolers sat in the chairs next to me and put their feet up on the coffee table in front of me. A teacher walked by and admonished, "Feet off the table, please. We have a visitor!" Really? Sounded as if feet on the table are okay when visitors aren't around.

Recently, another prospective parent told me the same story of feet on the coffee table, and I was astonished.

[Anonymous]

M

[Anonymous]

My husband jokes that the first name thing is a rationing technique designed to scare off prospective parents. Seems to be working, LOL! Really, on a day-to-day level, it's a total non-issue.

As for fashion, it's a very jeans and t-shirts kind of place in the L/MS at least. (I haven't spent much time at the HS but it didn't look much different in that respect.) My mom, who taught elementary school in CA for many years was struck at how little the GDS kids seemed to be into clothes compared to her much less affluent students.