How intense/competitive is GDS?

[Anonymous]

We’re at a K-8 and a couple of years from looking at high schools, but GdS has been on our radar. Pulling from the post on APs, are the classes as rigorous as AP classes, but just not called that? And also curious about homework loads etc.

[Anonymous]

Many GDS kids are very ambitious about where they would like to go to college, and they are not dumb. They know it's an extremely competitive process, and that much of that competition will be coming from their classmates. But GDS is not competitive in the sense that kids' ambitions get in the way of friendships. At least that has been our kid's experience. It's been a very supportive atmosphere, and we are thankful for that.

GDS is clear that 9th grade is viewed as a transition year, and that homework and rigor ramp up in 10th grade, and really ramp up in 11th grade. If your kid has a rigorous schedule and is not disciplined or has poor time management skills, then the amount of homework can be overwhelming. But it also can be very manageable if they use their free time during the school day wisely.

GDS has Upper Level (UL) courses, which it views as the equivalent to AP courses. They are the most rigorous courses offered. It's perfectly possible to have an easy schedule and have a very relaxed time at GDS, and some kids do that, too.

[Anonymous]

Do thy offer AP? Or just courses as hard as AP?

[Anonymous]

No private schools offer APs anymore. There are a couple opinions on why. One is that the scores were not good and this way they don’t have to report them. There’s definitely data to suggest that was the case. What the private schools will tell you is that this allows them to teach flexibly and use innovations and not teach a specific curriculum to a specific test. But a lot of private school teachers have little to know actual teaching certification or training, and having a rigorous curriculum with clear milestones is actually a good thing sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do thy offer AP? Or just courses as hard as AP?

GDS does not offer AP-designated courses. It does not offer any support for AP exams unless you have a special situation, like a desire to study abroad where AP scores are important for the application. UL is the designation for GDS' most advanced classes. Some UL classes probably are "harder" than the AP course with the same/similar name; some UL courses, relatively and even absolutely, are easy. If you want to be able to say your kid took a dozen+ AP courses and got a 5 in all of them, then a lot of the area independent private schools are not for you. If you think that your kid then will not be able to find a sufficient difficult/rigorous schedule in a private school, you are mistaken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No private schools offer APs anymore. There are a couple opinions on why. One is that the scores were not good and this way they don’t have to report them. There’s definitely data to suggest that was the case. What the private schools will tell you is that this allows them to teach flexibly and use innovations and not teach a specific curriculum to a specific test. But a lot of private school teachers have little to know actual teaching certification or training, and having a rigorous curriculum with clear milestones is actually a good thing sometimes.

Not true, a number of private schools in the area offer AP classes. GDS and Sidwell don’t, but others do.

[Anonymous]

GDS is rigorous. Beyond that, kids really need to have (or to quickly acquire) strong executive functioning skills. They really have to stay on top of their work. There are no do overs or revisions as was the case in our k-8. Workload ramps up even more in 10th grade. That said, GDS also manages to make the school fun and lighthearted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private schools offer APs anymore. There are a couple opinions on why. One is that the scores were not good and this way they don’t have to report them. There’s definitely data to suggest that was the case. What the private schools will tell you is that this allows them to teach flexibly and use innovations and not teach a specific curriculum to a specific test. But a lot of private school teachers have little to know actual teaching certification or training, and having a rigorous curriculum with clear milestones is actually a good thing sometimes.

Not true, a number of private schools in the area offer AP classes. GDS and Sidwell don’t, but others do.

The following schools do not offer AP classes:
Sidwell Friends, Georgetown Day, Holton-Arms, Landon, Maret, NCS, Potomac, and St. Albans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private schools offer APs anymore. There are a couple opinions on why. One is that the scores were not good and this way they don’t have to report them. There’s definitely data to suggest that was the case. What the private schools will tell you is that this allows them to teach flexibly and use innovations and not teach a specific curriculum to a specific test. But a lot of private school teachers have little to know actual teaching certification or training, and having a rigorous curriculum with clear milestones is actually a good thing sometimes.

Not true, a number of private schools in the area offer AP classes. GDS and Sidwell don’t, but others do.

The following schools do not offer AP classes:
Sidwell Friends, Georgetown Day, Holton-Arms, Landon, Maret, NCS, Potomac, and St. Albans.

Yes, but others do. The PP was claiming that no private schools offer AP classes, which is not correct. Schools that offer them, for example, are Burke, St. Andrew’s, Madeira, St. Anselm’s, Gonzaga, Bullis. I am sure there are more.

[Anonymous]

Stone Ridge has them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private schools offer APs anymore. There are a couple opinions on why. One is that the scores were not good and this way they don’t have to report them. There’s definitely data to suggest that was the case. What the private schools will tell you is that this allows them to teach flexibly and use innovations and not teach a specific curriculum to a specific test. But a lot of private school teachers have little to know actual teaching certification or training, and having a rigorous curriculum with clear milestones is actually a good thing sometimes.

Not true, a number of private schools in the area offer AP classes. GDS and Sidwell don’t, but others do.

The following schools do not offer AP classes:
Sidwell Friends, Georgetown Day, Holton-Arms, Landon, Maret, NCS, Potomac, and St. Albans.

Yes, but others do. The PP was claiming that no private schools offer AP classes, which is not correct. Schools that offer them, for example, are Burke, St. Andrew’s, Madeira, St. Anselm’s, Gonzaga, Bullis. I am sure there are more.

Do you see the difference between the private schools in this area that offer APs and the ones that don’t?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do thy offer AP? Or just courses as hard as AP?

GDS offers "Upper Level" designated courses that are as hard as the APs. Students can sign up to take actual yearly AP tests at other schools (Moco Publics, etc.)--GDS teachers have been very supportive of this. Worth it if your child attends a college who gives credit for APs.

[Anonymous]

Something I like about GDS is the wide range of colleges kids go to - it seems like a kid could be gunning for Harvard or CU Boulder and be successful. To me, that’s a healthier environment than everyone aiming for top 25 schools.

[Anonymous]

I've said this before about GDS, which is that of all the highly competitive schools in DC, GDS seems to have the broadest range of how to be excellent. There's no pressure to be a serious athlete, for example, although there are certain sports that attract very talented athletes (e.g., girls volleyball, cross-country, track and field). And lots of GDS kids are very committed and encouraged to pursue the arts (theater, music, fine arts, etc.). The academics are strong, but no one expects all but a few kids to be in the most advanced math track.
Your child needs to be academically solid in order to be happy at GDS, but does not need to be a superstar scholar and athlete in order to feel like they belong.

[Anonymous]

If you look at this years college outcomes it is not that impressive compared to other area privates and public MCPS. We are in 9th and the workload has not ramped up but they say that happens in 10th. It is good but we were expecting something smarter.