GDS admissions

[Anonymous]

I keep hearing that GDS is going accept less students this year. Does anyone know how they will break it down? We are hoping for a K acceptance and are nervous.

[Anonymous]

Your chances were already low even before the announcement about being over capacity, so I wouldn't sweat it too much.

[Anonymous]

I hear they are accepting about 1/2 the usual class at K. Then plan on adding kids in then next 2-4 years to get to a “normal” class size by grade 4. By then then, they should be at the 1075 cap and class size back to desired size. The kids graduating will ease some of the numbers but they are also, as others have said, taking less at 9th as well as it’s a major entry year. Nothing they can do about the oversized classes at grade 10,11 as the students are already enrolled. It’s not like the school can ask so many to leave? So the entry year grades have to suffer.

[Anonymous]

I am a parent with no knowledge about how the school will handle this, but imagine that the pk and k classes would stay the same but the other entry years (1, 3, 4, 6, and 9) will all go down by some percentage. I also suspect that the school won’t replace attrition in non-entry year grades.

[Anonymous]

You can't count on K admissions (or admissions to any grade) in a typical year either. It's not unusual to apply 2 or 3 times if you want a particular, very competitive school like GDS.

[Anonymous]

On its website the school lists 275 for LS, 300 for MS and 500 for HS. Assuming those are targets, the school will be at those numbers for MS and HS with the students currently in the grades that will make up the MS and HS next year. The school can whatever it wants and of course there is attribution, but increasing the numbers for MS and HS for next year will have a multi-year impact on how many kids can be in the LS, because the big HS classes are 9th and 10th. The school's ANC agreement allows the school to increase enrollment to 1,200 over a four year period, but judging from the number of messages we get about traffic and transportation, it may be a while before that period even begins. Being able to have 1,125 students would really help the current situation, but that's not happening for 23-24 and I doubt for the year after.

I can't see the school cutting back significantly on next year's PK and K classes. It makes more sense to cut back in the years that already are at planned size and for which there is greatest demand, which would be MS and HS. They can always fill spots in the 6th and 9th expansion years and from kids looking to move to private in non-expansion years.

[Anonymous]

In short, nobody knows.

[Anonymous]

Well I'd imagine pre-k and K would be less affected than other entry years...just a guess.

[Anonymous]

It's probably a VERY good year to be wealthy. These schools all (in any year) count on a certain percentage of students to not only pay full tuition but donate quite a bit beyond this.
If enrollment size is shrinking by 50 kids, this is $2.5 million in lost revenue if they were all full-pay. Let's call it $2 million lost if 20% of these students got full aid.

So they are down $2 million+ in tuition with really no cut in operating costs.

They are going to be searching for families who can donate beyond full-tuition more than ever this year.

[Anonymous]

“ GDS will be in compliance with the enrollment cap next year, enrolling a total of 1,075 students. This will mean admitting slightly fewer new students across all grade levels for the 2023-24 school year. Please be assured that this enrollment contraction will not impact currently enrolled students.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear they are accepting about 1/2 the usual class at K. Then plan on adding kids in then next 2-4 years to get to a “normal” class size by grade 4. By then then, they should be at the 1075 cap and class size back to desired size. The kids graduating will ease some of the numbers but they are also, as others have said, taking less at 9th as well as it’s a major entry year. Nothing they can do about the oversized classes at grade 10,11 as the students are already enrolled. It’s not like the school can ask so many to leave? So the entry year grades have to suffer.

GDS parent here. Who did you hear this from? School hasn't shared this.

[Anonymous]

Yea they will be limiting. Email just out now. Looks like ANC Nimbyism at work


++++

We are committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown, and we continue to work diligently to honor our neighborhood agreements. In that spirit, we write to share an update of the ongoing discussions with our local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC3E) related to our enrollment cap.

As we shared on Sunday, when GDS unified all three divisions in Tenleytown, the School went through a zoning approval process, which resulted in a number of requirements, particularly regarding the management of traffic in the neighborhood. Our zoning order also sets a specific enrollment cap for the School.

In Sunday’s newsletter, we shared a reminder that GDS is unintentionally temporarily overenrolled due to a drastically different, COVID-related admissions environment. Many of our projections and assumptions related to admissions based on years of experience simply did not hold up during the pandemic. This experience was not unique to GDS. In addition, as we navigated the challenges of the pandemic and managed staff transitions, GDS unintentionally failed to file a required annual report on traffic and enrollment to the ANC. Upon learning of this oversight, GDS filed this year’s annual report before the deadline, along with last year’s report. GDS made mistakes in how we managed and communicated about our compliance with our enrollment commitments. We are committed to returning to compliance with our enrollment cap next fall. And it is important that you know that none of this was intentional.

On Thursday, GDS attended the February meeting of the ANC3E, where the commissioners asked GDS to share more information about our overenrollment and voted on a resolution criticizing GDS. GDS takes great exception to the characterizations of what occurred, both during the meeting and within the resolution, including the misinformed rhetoric that paints the School and its staff as purposefully breaking the rules and hiding information. As we have shared, we sincerely regret the oversight and administrative error and have taken steps to ensure we honor our obligations going forward.

GDS will be in compliance with the enrollment cap next year, enrolling a total of 1,075 students. This will mean admitting slightly fewer new students across all grade levels for the 2023-24 school year. Please be assured that this enrollment contraction will not impact currently enrolled students.

GDS takes our commitments to the ANC and the Tenleytown neighborhood seriously. We have invested enormously in our transportation management program to best serve the needs of our students, families, and neighborhood. In fact, our work has been recognized by the DC Department of Transportation, naming GDS the only Platinum School Ambassador in the District. You’ve likely experienced the impact of our investments, including 11 traffic officers, community-wide subsidized bus and public transit, and a full-time staff member dedicated to helping the School live into our agreement.

Also at issue for the ANC3E commissioners is the GDS community’s pick-up and drop-off behaviors. First, we remain grateful for the majority of our GDS families who follow the requests we make regarding carpooling, not parking in the neighborhood, and carline queuing. We must continue to observe all requirements set forth in our agreement with the ANC. Your help in following all street-level standing and parking restrictions (no matter the street), driving with care for pedestrians, and not arriving before dismissal time will go a long way in rebuilding trust with our local neighborhood representatives.

GDS will continue to work in good faith and seek respectful dialogue with the ANC, the Zoning Administrator, and the DC Department of Transportation to address any areas of disagreement and work toward collaborative resolution. We remain committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown. We are grateful for your partnership in ensuring that we are living into our neighborhood agreements, so that we can all focus on what matters most: our students and their learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea they will be limiting. Email just out now. Looks like ANC Nimbyism at work


++++

We are committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown, and we continue to work diligently to honor our neighborhood agreements. In that spirit, we write to share an update of the ongoing discussions with our local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC3E) related to our enrollment cap.

As we shared on Sunday, when GDS unified all three divisions in Tenleytown, the School went through a zoning approval process, which resulted in a number of requirements, particularly regarding the management of traffic in the neighborhood. Our zoning order also sets a specific enrollment cap for the School.

In Sunday’s newsletter, we shared a reminder that GDS is unintentionally temporarily overenrolled due to a drastically different, COVID-related admissions environment. Many of our projections and assumptions related to admissions based on years of experience simply did not hold up during the pandemic. This experience was not unique to GDS. In addition, as we navigated the challenges of the pandemic and managed staff transitions, GDS unintentionally failed to file a required annual report on traffic and enrollment to the ANC. Upon learning of this oversight, GDS filed this year’s annual report before the deadline, along with last year’s report. GDS made mistakes in how we managed and communicated about our compliance with our enrollment commitments. We are committed to returning to compliance with our enrollment cap next fall. And it is important that you know that none of this was intentional.

On Thursday, GDS attended the February meeting of the ANC3E, where the commissioners asked GDS to share more information about our overenrollment and voted on a resolution criticizing GDS. GDS takes great exception to the characterizations of what occurred, both during the meeting and within the resolution, including the misinformed rhetoric that paints the School and its staff as purposefully breaking the rules and hiding information. As we have shared, we sincerely regret the oversight and administrative error and have taken steps to ensure we honor our obligations going forward.

GDS will be in compliance with the enrollment cap next year, enrolling a total of 1,075 students. This will mean admitting slightly fewer new students across all grade levels for the 2023-24 school year. Please be assured that this enrollment contraction will not impact currently enrolled students.

GDS takes our commitments to the ANC and the Tenleytown neighborhood seriously. We have invested enormously in our transportation management program to best serve the needs of our students, families, and neighborhood. In fact, our work has been recognized by the DC Department of Transportation, naming GDS the only Platinum School Ambassador in the District. You’ve likely experienced the impact of our investments, including 11 traffic officers, community-wide subsidized bus and public transit, and a full-time staff member dedicated to helping the School live into our agreement.

Also at issue for the ANC3E commissioners is the GDS community’s pick-up and drop-off behaviors. First, we remain grateful for the majority of our GDS families who follow the requests we make regarding carpooling, not parking in the neighborhood, and carline queuing. We must continue to observe all requirements set forth in our agreement with the ANC. Your help in following all street-level standing and parking restrictions (no matter the street), driving with care for pedestrians, and not arriving before dismissal time will go a long way in rebuilding trust with our local neighborhood representatives.

GDS will continue to work in good faith and seek respectful dialogue with the ANC, the Zoning Administrator, and the DC Department of Transportation to address any areas of disagreement and work toward collaborative resolution. We remain committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown. We are grateful for your partnership in ensuring that we are living into our neighborhood agreements, so that we can all focus on what matters most: our students and their learning.

No. It’s the GDS families that couldn’t give a [] and refuse to follow the transportation guidelines they agree to each year. If they had, the school would have been able to increase enrollment to its current size next school year. Now it won’t be able to for another couple of years.

[Anonymous]

Many private schools in the DMV and around the country have the same spike in apps and yields due to school shutdowns ranging from a few months to 18-24 mos.
Most communities understood this and the schools business model and waived the caps given the crazy situation. Any business owner or operator gets it. This is a lasting effect of the govt shutting down schools in DC for almost two years. These schools had to operated in crisis mode with tons of local govt uncertainty for two years.

So much for “community understanding” or prioritizing effective education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's probably a VERY good year to be wealthy. These schools all (in any year) count on a certain percentage of students to not only pay full tuition but donate quite a bit beyond this.
If enrollment size is shrinking by 50 kids, this is $2.5 million in lost revenue if they were all full-pay. Let's call it $2 million lost if 20% of these students got full aid.

So they are down $2 million+ in tuition with really no cut in operating costs.

They are going to be searching for families who can donate beyond full-tuition more than ever this year.

That’s not the point and never has been.

Plus, love how you entirely neglect the COST side of running and school or business throughout Covid and in todays inflationary recession environment.