Troubles at GDS high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gds is the most insecure school ever. The Obama's preferred Sidwell over Gds and the kids did too. It was the campus. It was the reputation and it was the idea that Sidwell had a healthy lunch program.

But GDS was first runner up. No other DC private school is in that league.

Fine. But stop saying it was because of security concerns. It was a choice made by parents and kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent at another schoool, and I'd say the disciplinary process at our kids' school and probably at many other independent schools should also be scrutinized. Our son, who is white, was a witness to an incident (not involving any racial or sexual dimension) that resulted in a disciplinary action against another student. An administrator met with our son to "persuade" him to hand over his cell phone to look at texts. Our son was not sure what to do, felt threatened by the administrator, and asked if he could talk this over with us. He wasn't allowed to do so and ended up allowing the administrator to see the texts. He feels terrible about this and the outcome for the other student.

That's awful, bullying a student like that. I hope you spoke to the administrator about privacy, your child's personal property, etc.

Sounds like a partial story to me. Certainly possible to have very serious conduct (cyberbullying or drug sales or cheating) that involves texting and doesn't "involv[e] racial or sexual dimensions." Without knowing what conduct the school was investigating, I have no idea whether the school's response in persuading the student to show texts (more partial facts -- one can infer that he had the phone in school and was perhaps texting in school, and also was not forthright in telling what he knew about the situation) was in any way disproportionate. I suspect it was not.

The disciplinary infraction didn't involve any of the actions you suggest. The texts were not sent at school. My son was completely forthright with respect to his involvement as a witness. Indeed, the administrator at first tried to cajole my son into showing him the texts by praising him for his honesty. He didn't want to do this, however, without talking to us first. Neither the honor code nor any school rule or policy requires a student to hand over his/her phone to an administrator, yet he felt threatened when he declined to do so. We certainly did speak to the administrator about this as we were very disturbed by this kind of manipulation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a Cathedral parent too and I think GDS is a freak-show. The more I learn and hear and, frankly read on this forum, the stronger and denser that opinion grows.

Interesting. I am the NCS parent who posted right before you, and I find it bizarre that you believe what you read on here. The NCS threads are full of rumor and supposition based on the reputation of the school. It is academically tough, so the girls must all be miserable. Rosalind Wiseman complied research there, so all the mean girl behavior she ever described is endemic at NCS - that sort of thing. Clearly rings false to those of us with children actually at the school.

So why do you believe the crap they say about GDS here?

[Anonymous]

Because nobody has even claimed that somebody didn't write the N word in a visible place at the school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Cathedral parent too and I think GDS is a freak-show. The more I learn and hear and, frankly read on this forum, the stronger and denser that opinion grows.

Interesting. I am the NCS parent who posted right before you, and I find it bizarre that you believe what you read on here. The NCS threads are full of rumor and supposition based on the reputation of the school. It is academically tough, so the girls must all be miserable. Rosalind Wiseman complied research there, so all the mean girl behavior she ever described is endemic at NCS - that sort of thing. Clearly rings false to those of us with children actually at the school.

So why do you believe the crap they say about GDS here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent at another schoool, and I'd say the disciplinary process at our kids' school and probably at many other independent schools should also be scrutinized. Our son, who is white, was a witness to an incident (not involving any racial or sexual dimension) that resulted in a disciplinary action against another student. An administrator met with our son to "persuade" him to hand over his cell phone to look at texts. Our son was not sure what to do, felt threatened by the administrator, and asked if he could talk this over with us. He wasn't allowed to do so and ended up allowing the administrator to see the texts. He feels terrible about this and the outcome for the other student.

That's awful, bullying a student like that. I hope you spoke to the administrator about privacy, your child's personal property, etc.

Sounds like a partial story to me. Certainly possible to have very serious conduct (cyberbullying or drug sales or cheating) that involves texting and doesn't "involv[e] racial or sexual dimensions." Without knowing what conduct the school was investigating, I have no idea whether the school's response in persuading the student to show texts (more partial facts -- one can infer that he had the phone in school and was perhaps texting in school, and also was not forthright in telling what he knew about the situation) was in any way disproportionate. I suspect it was not.

The disciplinary infraction didn't involve any of the actions you suggest. The texts were not sent at school. My son was completely forthright with respect to his involvement as a witness. Indeed, the administrator at first tried to cajole my son into showing him the texts by praising him for his honesty. He didn't want to do this, however, without talking to us first. Neither the honor code nor any school rule or policy requires a student to hand over his/her phone to an administrator, yet he felt threatened when he declined to do so. We certainly did speak to the administrator about this as we were very disturbed by this kind of manipulation.

Meh. Obviously something bad happened that involved texting or they would not have wanted to see texts. As long as you don't identify the conduct (and, actually, I understand why you don't want to, given the chances people would know the school or the kids who were disciplined), it's impossible to evaluate the the situation in its entirety. You might have a point that they overreached, but the mere fact that the school investigated to this degree suggests that it was some sort of serious offense. You've got plenty of parents who are sympathetic to your point, though -- just not me. We will both live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because nobody has even claimed that somebody didn't write the N word in a visible place at the school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Cathedral parent too and I think GDS is a freak-show. The more I learn and hear and, frankly read on this forum, the stronger and denser that opinion grows.

Interesting. I am the NCS parent who posted right before you, and I find it bizarre that you believe what you read on here. The NCS threads are full of rumor and supposition based on the reputation of the school. It is academically tough, so the girls must all be miserable. Rosalind Wiseman complied research there, so all the mean girl behavior she ever described is endemic at NCS - that sort of thing. Clearly rings false to those of us with children actually at the school.

So why do you believe the crap they say about GDS here?

That is one statement (which no one has refuted or proven on here, so jury is still out as far as I am concerned). Your bolded claim above would suggest that you aren't basing your opinion on one possible incident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gds is the most insecure school ever. The Obama's preferred Sidwell over Gds and the kids did too. It was the campus. It was the reputation and it was the idea that Sidwell had a healthy lunch program.

But GDS was first runner up. No other DC private school is in that league.

Fine. But stop saying it was because of security concerns. It was a choice made by parents and kids.

Clearly you have never been or know anyone who is or has been under protection. Real and germane factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gds is the most insecure school ever. The Obama's preferred Sidwell over Gds and the kids did too. It was the campus. It was the reputation and it was the idea that Sidwell had a healthy lunch program.

But GDS was first runner up. No other DC private school is in that league.

Fine. But stop saying it was because of security concerns. It was a choice made by parents and kids.

Clearly you have never been or know anyone who is or has been under protection. Real and germane factor.

Who cares!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gds is the most insecure school ever. The Obama's preferred Sidwell over Gds and the kids did too. It was the campus. It was the reputation and it was the idea that Sidwell had a healthy lunch program.

But GDS was first runner up. No other DC private school is in that league.

Fine. But stop saying it was because of security concerns. It was a choice made by parents and kids.

Clearly you have never been or know anyone who is or has been under protection. Real and germane factor.

Who cares!?

Michelle Obama toured GDS and was very impressed, but Sidwell became the default choice because they had knew how to handle having a president's child at the school and the Secret Service had a template there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gds is the most insecure school ever. The Obama's preferred Sidwell over Gds and the kids did too. It was the campus. It was the reputation and it was the idea that Sidwell had a healthy lunch program.

But GDS was first runner up. No other DC private school is in that league.

Fine. But stop saying it was because of security concerns. It was a choice made by parents and kids.

Clearly you have never been or know anyone who is or has been under protection. Real and germane factor.

Who cares!?

Michelle Obama toured GDS and was very impressed, but Sidwell became the default choice because they had knew how to handle having a president's child at the school and the Secret Service had a template there.

So you've said. A thousand times. No one believes you and besides, they ended up at Sidwell anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Cathedral parent too and I think GDS is a freak-show. The more I learn and hear and, frankly read on this forum, the stronger and denser that opinion grows.

Did you think everything written about STA/NCS on this forum has been accurate? If not (which is the assumption, as crazy stuff has been written about both Cathedral schools), then it is very odd indeed that you would take everything written on DCUM about GDS at face value.

Cathedral schools parent to whom you are referring here. Well, first of all, much of what is written about NCS and STA on DCUM is true, at least from my viewpoint. You just need to take out the obvious jealousy and vitriol.

NCS can be a viper pit and is insanely, overly the top, competitive. It chews up many of the girls who attend. I have yet to meet a parent who refuses to admit this privately. You have to be a very specific type to survive - terrifically confident and hyper intelligent and being a decent (not super great, just really competent, and definitely into it) athlete surely doesn't hurt. The girls bring much of the drama and craziness on themselves but the administration does nothing to change or improve the situation. It is not for the weak of heart or mind or constitution.

STA is largely a bastion of old school preppy waspy-ness and is currently leaning a bit too heavily toward nerdiness and over emphasis on intellectual versus atheltics. It does have weak lacrosse and football programs and does need to do a bit of recruting of more athletic boys for those sports.

Still most of the unflattering posts about the Cathedral schools (at least NCS/STA) come from outsiders (one notable exception being the old-time alum NCS alums who hate STA), not from the current families and students themselves. That is very clear.

On the other hand, GDS rarely comes off well on these boards and it is largely of their own making. Between the constant harping on "we were really the Obama's first choice" and "we send more kids to Harvard then anywhere else in the universe" the parents and students come off as sniveling, self-promoting, whiners. Add in the blatant, over-whelming and pathetic insecurity complex with regard to Sidwell, highlighted regularly by GDS folks desperation to make their school seem better than Sidwell (LOL), its a freakshow. So yes, GDS looks worse on here than any other school, even Landon which is always getting attack by outsiders.

[Anonymous]

Clearly you have never been or know anyone who is or has been under protection. Real and germane factor.

Totally wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Cathedral parent too and I think GDS is a freak-show. The more I learn and hear and, frankly read on this forum, the stronger and denser that opinion grows.

Did you think everything written about STA/NCS on this forum has been accurate? If not (which is the assumption, as crazy stuff has been written about both Cathedral schools), then it is very odd indeed that you would take everything written on DCUM about GDS at face value.

Cathedral schools parent to whom you are referring here. Well, first of all, much of what is written about NCS and STA on DCUM is true, at least from my viewpoint. You just need to take out the obvious jealousy and vitriol.

NCS can be a viper pit and is insanely, overly the top, competitive. It chews up many of the girls who attend. I have yet to meet a parent who refuses to admit this privately. You have to be a very specific type to survive - terrifically confident and hyper intelligent and being a decent (not super great, just really competent, and definitely into it) athlete surely doesn't hurt. The girls bring much of the drama and craziness on themselves but the administration does nothing to change or improve the situation. It is not for the weak of heart or mind or constitution.

STA is largely a bastion of old school preppy waspy-ness and is currently leaning a bit too heavily toward nerdiness and over emphasis on intellectual versus atheltics. It does have weak lacrosse and football programs and does need to do a bit of recruting of more athletic boys for those sports.

Still most of the unflattering posts about the Cathedral schools (at least NCS/STA) come from outsiders (one notable exception being the old-time alum NCS alums who hate STA), not from the current families and students themselves. That is very clear.

On the other hand, GDS rarely comes off well on these boards and it is largely of their own making. Between the constant harping on "we were really the Obama's first choice" and "we send more kids to Harvard then anywhere else in the universe" the parents and students come off as sniveling, self-promoting, whiners. Add in the blatant, over-whelming and pathetic insecurity complex with regard to Sidwell, highlighted regularly by GDS folks desperation to make their school seem better than Sidwell (LOL), its a freakshow. So yes, GDS looks worse on here than any other school, even Landon which is always getting attack by outsiders.

I hope you realize that these two comments in particular most likely come from people not affiliated with the school at all. The comment may have been made once by someone connected to GDS, but now, unfortunately, the GDS threads are filled with anti-GDS trolls. You think an actual GDS family would use the phrase "team of aces"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gds is the most insecure school ever. The Obama's preferred Sidwell over Gds and the kids did too. It was the campus. It was the reputation and it was the idea that Sidwell had a healthy lunch program.

But GDS was first runner up. No other DC private school is in that league.

Fine. But stop saying it was because of security concerns. It was a choice made by parents and kids.

Clearly you have never been or know anyone who is or has been under protection. Real and germane factor.

Who cares!?

Michelle Obama toured GDS and was very impressed, but Sidwell became the default choice because they had knew how to handle having a president's child at the school and the Secret Service had a template there.

What does it matter now anyway 8 years later? Truth be told - many people have no interest in either GDS or Sidwell because they feel they are not mainstream enough and too liberal.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a child at GDS but know a few really nice families there. I commend the community for trying so hard to have race and other issues communicated so freely. I do. Unfortunately, sometimes when these touchy subjects become discussed so regularly and openly - it ends up causing more of a division than uniting people - especially when people have differences of opinion on sensitive matters. Best of luck to the school for trying but my advice would be to focus on academics and on forming clubs that unite all of the kids rather than dividing them and not focus so much on what makes them all so different. Some kids see "different'" as not having anything in common with and it ends up dividing them even more.