Pros and Cons of Norwood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another Norwood parent here - I too am not crazy about the Lord's Prayer in the daily "chapel" and wish they would change the name to "assembly" and skip the prayer, but really Norwood has made great strides towards secularization in the face of strong opposition from some current parents. The Christmas pageant, for example, has been so marginalized now that it is really not a factor. Dad's Day, well, the very fact that they have one should tell you something - the parents are generally affluent with SAHMs and working dads who seem, in some cases, to be completely disconnected from their family lives. What we have seen in Norwood over the past decade is an increasingly less economically diverse student body, while cultural diversity has improved. However, these issues have not tarnished our view of Norwood generally - we have loved most of the very supportive and genuinely friendly teachers and administrators and are very happy with the curriculum, class sizes, etc.

This picks up on something important. There has been a simmering tension within the school about the role of the religion/pageant/chapel for the last few years. At first it was overtly nasty, and as - in stages - the school gradually loosened its religiousity and affiliation w/ Episcopalianism in favor of a broader approach, it each time unleashed a fury. Friendships were strained or broken, some teachers left, some families left, some families said they would "never give another dime" to the school, the administration (which in my view could have handled it all better, though I favored the actions taken) could have handled it better and alienated many, etc. Not nice things were said, mostly in private, but some in public as well. These splits were sometimes consistent with political ideology, and there are a good number of religious conservatives as well as political conservatives. It was very nasty, and - as I said - still simmers. So if you don't like this kind of debate, that is a con.

Relatedly, when my family was there a lot of folks claimed they chose the school because kids said Lord's Prayer every day, and felt it was a birthright - that changing that was betrayal. My advice would be, if you want to go there because of Chapel, visit chapel first and speak very clearly with administration about what they will offer. That way you will not feel duped.

Another con, for some but not for others, is a rather antiintellectual environment that is fostered by parents. Wealthy, social, but more of a business community than the inside the beltway schools.

[Anonymous]

As a current parent, I would agree that a substantial portion of the parents are upper-middle class Potomac/Bethesda/DC career professionals (at least the dads are), but I am not sure I agree that they are predominantly conservative politically. I also think the hype about the cultural evolution of the school has died down a lot. I strongly disagree that the school is anti-intellectual. Norwood has a progressive multicultural and diversity mission statement, and it is trying very hard to live up to that.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 17:09. Some families have so much money that it makes it hard for academics to be important. They are often businessmen who did not make their money by studying the tails off. They are very intelligent hard working parents, but not as academic as you would find elsewhere. Many have trophy wives. Many people are more reserved about academic achievement, less cut throat competitiveness there. Which to me is a nice thing.
I like the chapel. Maybe they could skip it on Fridays, but I like it, and I am not a Christian.

Good school.

[Anonymous]

BTW, the school still emphasizes academics to the highest level.

[Anonymous]

If a school has a religious foundation, why should it have to change to accommodate some disgruntled parents? If you don't like it, you shouldn't have applied to the school.

[Anonymous]

Speaking generally, a school shouldn't necessarily change to accommodate a disgruntled minority, but change may be appropriate if a majority chose the school despite and not because of its religious foundation and if the current community feels that the some of the school's traditions are incidental to or even stand in the way of its contemporary mission. All institutions evolve over time.

Norwood, by the way, is officially nondenominational but clearly still conflicted about it, and some of its Christian traditions (notably the nativity pageant) are not necessarily obvious to applying families.

[Anonymous]

OK, but getting back to the gist of what OP is asking, it seems like chapel/pageant are some cons for some people.

[Anonymous]

As the poster who first raised the Lord's Prayer and the pageant as cons, I'd actually say that chapel on the whole is a pro. I expected to dislike it, but in fact I like the fact that the school comes together every morning, celebrates birthdays, listens to a book or a discussion of values, and sings a few songs. I'd be even happier if they dropped the prayer and called it "assembly" as another PP suggested, but those are relatively minor irritants.

[Anonymous]

BTW, despite the name, "chapel" takes place in the gym.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the poster who first raised the Lord's Prayer and the pageant as cons, I'd actually say that chapel on the whole is a pro. I expected to dislike it, but in fact I like the fact that the school comes together every morning, celebrates birthdays, listens to a book or a discussion of values, and sings a few songs. I'd be even happier if they dropped the prayer and called it "assembly" as another PP suggested, but those are relatively minor irritants.

I agree - most parents (but not all) take a "it is fine for my child to participate in whatever the life of the school is."

[Anonymous]

Also, the head of lower school makes it very clear that children are expected to be respectful (i.e., listen quietly if they don't want to participate) but they are not required to say anything. It probably doesn't have much impact on the youngest kids but more kids may heed the message as they get older.

[Anonymous]

One thing that I have heard is that if children aren't reading by the end of 1st grade they are counseled out of the school. My DC attends McLean (love it!) and there were a few kids who came in 2nd grade from Norwood. One of these kids' Mom told me that her DC's self-esteem took a huge hit at Norwood because of the reading and the way the school made him feel about it and that McLean not only got the reading down in short order but did wonders for his mental health as well.

This would obviously not be a situation most families would find themselves in but it is something to know.

[Anonymous]

Con: They are dominated by the Langley School in athletics most years.

[Anonymous]

From my experience Norwood tends not to attract the brightest kids. The school competes more with the publics than the NW privates, and the base from which it draws its applicants is very different.

[Anonymous]

Dominated by the Langley School in athletics most years? what kind of a comment is that and how sad that the poster would consider that a "con". In fact, the statement is not true for all the teams or for all the sports.
Norwood has active sports teams for kids in grades 5-8 and those teams have had their shares of wins and losses against different schools.