Wasn't Impressed with Maret - What's So Great About It?

[Anonymous]

It seemed very lefty (and we consider ourselves liberal) and had kind of a "let the kids do what they want" kind of vibe to it. It wasn't structured enough for our liking. And I feel like loud and domineering kids could easily run that school and set the tone and quieter kids would get drowned out. Can anyone share some insight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seemed very lefty (and we consider ourselves liberal) and had kind of a "let the kids do what they want" kind of vibe to it. It wasn't structured enough for our liking. And I feel like loud and domineering kids could easily run that school and set the tone and quieter kids would get drowned out. Can anyone share some insight?

Ultra lefty, unstructured, kids running wild…your description sounds like GDS.
Are you confusing Maret with GDS?

[Anonymous]

Are you looking for people to convince you to apply? If it's not a fit, why not move on. Are anonymous players really going to convince you to go from not liking it to loving it? Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seemed very lefty (and we consider ourselves liberal) and had kind of a "let the kids do what they want" kind of vibe to it. It wasn't structured enough for our liking. And I feel like loud and domineering kids could easily run that school and set the tone and quieter kids would get drowned out. Can anyone share some insight?

Ultra lefty, unstructured, kids running wild…your description sounds like GDS.
Are you confusing Maret with GDS?

No - I actually haven't visited GDS and no plans to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for people to convince you to apply? If it's not a fit, why not move on. Are anonymous players really going to convince you to go from not liking it to loving it? Weird.

No. Just honestly curious about what people find so great about this school. Maybe I just have high standards.🤷‍♀️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for people to convince you to apply? If it's not a fit, why not move on. Are anonymous players really going to convince you to go from not liking it to loving it? Weird.

No. Just honestly curious about what people find so great about this school. Maybe I just have high standards.🤷‍♀️

If it's not a good fit for you, there are lots of other schools in the DMV. I hear BASIS McLean is the new top school in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for people to convince you to apply? If it's not a fit, why not move on. Are anonymous players really going to convince you to go from not liking it to loving it? Weird.

No. Just honestly curious about what people find so great about this school. Maybe I just have high standards.🤷‍♀️

If it's not a good fit for you, there are lots of other schools in the DMV. I hear BASIS McLean is the new top school in the area.

After Bullis of course!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for people to convince you to apply? If it's not a fit, why not move on. Are anonymous players really going to convince you to go from not liking it to loving it? Weird.

No. Just honestly curious about what people find so great about this school. Maybe I just have high standards.🤷‍♀️

If it's not a good fit for you, there are lots of other schools in the DMV. I hear BASIS McLean is the new top school in the area.

That BASIS poster really takes up a lot of space in your head. So insecure.

[Anonymous]

What grade are you looking at? It's definitely not a let the kids do what they want school. You formed an opinion on a 1-hour tour. Not sure what else can be said to get you to change your mind. It's a lovely school with great supports, arts, and teachers.

[Anonymous]

It was founded in 1911 and it's a private school known for educating the wealthy and connected along with the others (Sidwell, GDS, etc). To distinguish themselves, Maret has always had a crunchy vibe that has spiraled to super left in today's times. Obsessed with looking cool & diverse, they take it to the extreme. If this is appealing to you, then it's a good fit. Level headed, reasonable people that don't believe in following every fad- look elsewhere

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. We toured with our child (and liked it well enough), but it is hard to get a sense of the place from the tour. On top of this, they are not having shadow days for applicants until after they are admitted, so we (parents and child) feel like we know less about the school and its vibe than the other schools we are looking at.

I will add that the school did seem fairly calm and orderly during our tour — A different feeling from GDS, which felt a bit chaotic to us. That said, these are just our impressions from a one hour tour. We’d like the chance to see more of the school, but other than the open house, there really isn’t much opportunity.

Good luck with your search.

[Anonymous]

This is why we liked Sidwell. Not as rigid/structured as NCS/St Albans and not as unstructured/progressive as Maret and GDS. It seemed like a balance of traditional and progressive, even if Quaker quirky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It was founded in 1911 and it's a private school known for educating the wealthy and connected along with the others (Sidwell, GDS, etc). To distinguish themselves, Maret has always had a crunchy vibe that has spiraled to super left in today's times. Obsessed with looking cool & diverse, they take it to the extreme. If this is appealing to you, then it's a good fit. Level headed, reasonable people that don't believe in following every fad- look elsewhere

No, it hasn't always had this. Through the 1980's, it was the place you sent your kid when they couldn't get into anywhere else, and Bullis was too far away. The demand for private schools was and is so strong, that it attracted a lot of money and VIPs who donated and made it what it is today. It is much better than it was then. But it never had a "lefty vibe" - that was always GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was founded in 1911 and it's a private school known for educating the wealthy and connected along with the others (Sidwell, GDS, etc). To distinguish themselves, Maret has always had a crunchy vibe that has spiraled to super left in today's times. Obsessed with looking cool & diverse, they take it to the extreme. If this is appealing to you, then it's a good fit. Level headed, reasonable people that don't believe in following every fad- look elsewhere

No, it hasn't always had this. Through the 1980's, it was the place you sent your kid when they couldn't get into anywhere else, and Bullis was too far away. The demand for private schools was and is so strong, that it attracted a lot of money and VIPs who donated and made it what it is today. It is much better than it was then. But it never had a "lefty vibe" - that was always GDS.

This is more accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was founded in 1911 and it's a private school known for educating the wealthy and connected along with the others (Sidwell, GDS, etc). To distinguish themselves, Maret has always had a crunchy vibe that has spiraled to super left in today's times. Obsessed with looking cool & diverse, they take it to the extreme. If this is appealing to you, then it's a good fit. Level headed, reasonable people that don't believe in following every fad- look elsewhere

No, it hasn't always had this. Through the 1980's, it was the place you sent your kid when they couldn't get into anywhere else, and Bullis was too far away. The demand for private schools was and is so strong, that it attracted a lot of money and VIPs who donated and made it what it is today. It is much better than it was then. But it never had a "lefty vibe" - that was always GDS.

This is more accurate.

Absolutely false. IT was unstructured and lefty 15 years ago.