Sidwell Construction

[Anonymous]

I am not sure what is hard to understand. if one is part of the sidwell community, they know how the fundraising is going to get the former Washington Home site transformed to the Upper School; from there, they will create a new lower school and then sell the bethesda campus.

There hasn't been radio silence at all.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:NP... tongue in cheek comments aside, it really is true that GDS has handled their expansion/consolidation in a much more community friendly way than Sidwell. If you've followed the respective ANC processes, you know this is true. I think this is why so many people refer to GDS as the most authentically "Quaker" school in DC.

I don't know if this is intended to be serious, but it's actually spot on having watched the two processes closely. It's especially the case with respect to carbon emissions, which SFS surprisingly doesn't seem to care much about.

- Non-SFS/GDS parent with no dog in this fight

Why do you say that SFS doesn't seem to care much about carbon emissions?

Because they did the bare minimum that they were required to do in terms of vehicle trip limitations, instead of voluntarily matching the higher standards that GDS agreed to implement (putting aside whether or not GDS had a choice).

I am no GDS hater, nor do I love Sidwell.

But the GDS project is different because it involved tearing down buildings and starting with a 100% new build. This provides far more flexibility than modifying an existing structure. Not to mention, GDS completely ignored their community agreement by exceeding admissions (by A LOT). And, SOO many families do NOT take the bus as is required - dropping off kids in local neighborhood to "walk the rest". This is not community friendly or emissions friendly.

GDD exceeded admissions because so many more people switched to private during Covid, and their yields were much higher than they had expected. What did you want them to do - revoke admission offers? And they are got into compliance as soon as they could - please see all the complains on this board about how few offers they made the last couple of years.

Now the traffic part I know nothing about. But I believe most private school parents are selfish and entitled, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

Again - not a GDS hater at all. Just pointing out some facts counter to the PP who is raising them as great at carbon footprint and poking at Sidwell.

GDS knew they were overenrolling for a couple of years. They only stepped back because they were caught by the local neighborhood. AND then GDS didn't tell anyone during admissions cycle that they were going to step back so drastically on admissions last year - they did not even tell the private schools admissions outplacement offices that they have very close admissions relationships with. I'm not saying they are horrible - but if people want to go on about GDS's dedication to "green" and being in compliance - GDS is far from perfect. Both schools have done work to be eco-friendly and that's a positive thing - but I don't think either has done such a great job to have outdone the other - and neither has done anything worth commending or condemning to the extent some DCUM have done so far here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure what is hard to understand. if one is part of the sidwell community, they know how the fundraising is going to get the former Washington Home site transformed to the Upper School; from there, they will create a new lower school and then sell the bethesda campus.

There hasn't been radio silence at all.

I think if families haven't attended Bryan's annual budget and planning talk or haven't taken advantage of the few other opportunities related to this project, they might feel like it is radio silence. (this is on them) But even as a family at Sidwell through last year, although I know the physical plans for the US and have had tours of the building and seen mock ups, I still don't know when the expected start date of construction is or the expected open date. (but maybe it was updated/solidified this fall after we left)