Sidwell to increase tuition a WHOPPING 6.7%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 16 or 18 national merit semifinalists. However, the majority of top students who have taken the rigor courses have not got in. The EA/ED students are either recruited athletes, URM or those with a hook. The process is not transparent so college AO may not know who are the real top students.

This is patently false.

Clearly you are not a parent of class of ‘22.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, they have to pay for those basketball recruits somehow, don't they?

Care to elaborate, or should I just assume the undertones here were intentional?

Check the other thread. PP is mad that Sidwell's WINNING basketball team, the #1 in the nation, is...playing games. Like what?

That's good for the team, the players who will get recruited at competitive colleges, and the potential future enrollment pool for Sidwell itself not to mention donations from parents who want to be associated with high caliber, winning schools.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know how many Sidwell parents on this forum have or know senior students. Class of 2022 is one of the strongest but ED/EA results seem very poor this year. Most of us send our kids to SFS for quality education. Sooner or later your kids will be a senior. Parents should express our real concern and interests while paying increasing tuitions.

I don't see where the current senior class is having a poor year with colleges. Something like 25-30% got into their ED's. A bunch of kids have had positive results on EA's and ED2's are coming out over the next few weeks. It is pretty much on par with peer schools and previous years results.

-parent of a senior

But not for ordinary students especially EA/ED top 20/LAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Administrative bloat is completely out of control. Start there if you want to fix the “inflationary” burden

Counterargument - parents demand this and that and the other thing. In order to stay competitive, the school has to have all of the staff and services. What bloat is there? Be specific, what positions would you eliminate?

They won’t because they can’t.

A few easy ones: one of the middle school librarians (very little value added if any), Freshman Dean role (advisories and others can cover the core responsibilities), and the full time parent relationships coordinator (I don’t know her current title). Separately, my kids’ have had awesome teachers, a terrific and challenging learning environment, and great friends. He condescension of some members of the administration toward parents is palpable, and the narrow range of views that are viewed as acceptable, are disappointing and frustrating. But our kids have gotten terrific, open-minded and engaged teachers with a wide range of interests and backgrounds, and we couldn’t be happier. It’s really just part of the administration we are crazy about. And our kids don’t really need to deal with them and have a terrific school experience which is all that really matters to us in the end. We would take the same path again in a heartbeat.

Also that saves 3x70k salary +(maybe)10-15k benefits… glad to save 240k from the budget.
The three positions you mention, ya, no, you have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry, you just don't.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Administrative bloat is completely out of control. Start there if you want to fix the “inflationary” burden[/quote]

Counterargument - parents demand this and that and the other thing. In order to stay competitive, the school has to have all of the staff and services. What bloat is there? Be specific, what positions would you eliminate?[/quote]
They won’t because they can’t. [/quote]

A few easy ones: one of the middle school librarians (very little value added if any), Freshman Dean role (advisories and others can cover the core responsibilities), and the full time parent relationships coordinator (I don’t know her current title). Separately, my kids’ have had awesome teachers, a terrific and challenging learning environment, and great friends. He condescension of some members of the administration toward parents is palpable, and the narrow range of views that are viewed as acceptable, are disappointing and frustrating. But our kids have gotten terrific, open-minded and engaged teachers with a wide range of interests and backgrounds, and we couldn’t be happier. It’s really just part of the administration we are crazy about. And our kids don’t really need to deal with them and have a terrific school experience which is all that really matters to us in the end. We would take the same path again in a heartbeat.[/quote]

The three positions you mention, ya, no, you have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry, you just don't.[/quote]

Those were good suggestions that someone provided, when challenged that they couldn’t provide anyone. The response is unhelpful and not illuminating. Here are some more: Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs (yes I said it), half of the bloated development office, US community service coordinator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine wanting to send my kids to a school where the average family can afford to pay this kind of tuition. What a warped upbringing to provide them.

It seems to have gotten worse unfortunately

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Administrative bloat is completely out of control. Start there if you want to fix the “inflationary” burden[/quote]

Counterargument - parents demand this and that and the other thing. In order to stay competitive, the school has to have all of the staff and services. What bloat is there? Be specific, what positions would you eliminate?[/quote]
They won’t because they can’t. [/quote]

A few easy ones: one of the middle school librarians (very little value added if any), Freshman Dean role (advisories and others can cover the core responsibilities), and the full time parent relationships coordinator (I don’t know her current title). Separately, my kids’ have had awesome teachers, a terrific and challenging learning environment, and great friends. He condescension of some members of the administration toward parents is palpable, and the narrow range of views that are viewed as acceptable, are disappointing and frustrating. But our kids have gotten terrific, open-minded and engaged teachers with a wide range of interests and backgrounds, and we couldn’t be happier. It’s really just part of the administration we are crazy about. And our kids don’t really need to deal with them and have a terrific school experience which is all that really matters to us in the end. We would take the same path again in a heartbeat.[/quote]

The three positions you mention, ya, no, you have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry, you just don't.[/quote]

Also learning specialist.

Those were good suggestions that someone provided, when challenged that they couldn’t provide anyone. The response is unhelpful and not illuminating. Here are some more: Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs (yes I said it), half of the bloated development office, US community service coordinator.[/quote]

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Beyond insane and completely not acceptable especially with the lowering standards they have with their curriculum. It has been an underwhelming two years and I cannot believe that they think we are supporting this.[/quote]

Tell me more about these lowering standards? Considering applying for next year (though slightly less thrilled about it now)[/quote]

There are no lowering standards. Total nonsense peddled by a disgruntled anti-mask mom[/quote]

NP but yes they are. It’s not the same rigor and absolutely no creativity on the teachers part. Most not all just go thru the motions of being there. The thinking , investigating on topics and fun is all gone. [/quote]

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beyond insane and completely not acceptable especially with the lowering standards they have with their curriculum. It has been an underwhelming two years and I cannot believe that they think we are supporting this.

Tell me more about these lowering standards? Considering applying for next year (though slightly less thrilled about it now)

There are no lowering standards. Total nonsense peddled by a disgruntled anti-mask mom

NP but yes they are. It’s not the same rigor and absolutely no creativity on the teachers part. Most not all just go thru the motions of being there. The thinking , investigating on topics and fun is all gone.

I know nothing about Sidwell’s teachers. But the fun is certainly gone for teachers all over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine wanting to send my kids to a school where the average family can afford to pay this kind of tuition. What a warped upbringing to provide them.

Then why are you on the independent school forum? Do you think the average American family could even afford a local catholic school either?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 16 or 18 national merit semifinalists. However, the majority of top students who have taken the rigor courses have not got in. The EA/ED students are either recruited athletes, URM or those with a hook. The process is not transparent so college AO may not know who are the real top students.

This is patently false.

Clearly you are not a parent of class of ‘22.

I am. While my kid was deferred from their EA, virtually all of their friends from the advanced Math and Physics courses were admitted ED/SCEA. Based on their reporting of other classmates, it seems like the grade is generally on par with other SFS grades in terms of admissions so far. Yes, the Brown and most of the Northwestern applications were not successful, but welcome to the US in 2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know how many Sidwell parents on this forum have or know senior students. Class of 2022 is one of the strongest but ED/EA results seem very poor this year. Most of us send our kids to SFS for quality education. Sooner or later your kids will be a senior. Parents should express our real concern and interests while paying increasing tuitions.

I don't see where the current senior class is having a poor year with colleges. Something like 25-30% got into their ED's. A bunch of kids have had positive results on EA's and ED2's are coming out over the next few weeks. It is pretty much on par with peer schools and previous years results.

-parent of a senior

But not for ordinary students especially EA/ED top 20/LAC

What is the admit rate so far for SFS seniors? What is the admit rate nationally for these schools? Compare the two numbers and you wlil see how well the current senior class is doing. Do you really expect most of the grade to have been admitted ED? It doesn't work like that.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Administrative bloat is completely out of control. Start there if you want to fix the “inflationary” burden

Counterargument - parents demand this and that and the other thing. In order to stay competitive, the school has to have all of the staff and services. What bloat is there? Be specific, what positions would you eliminate?
They won’t because they can’t.

A few easy ones: one of the middle school librarians (very little value added if any), Freshman Dean role (advisories and others can cover the core responsibilities), and the full time parent relationships coordinator (I don’t know her current title). Separately, my kids’ have had awesome teachers, a terrific and challenging learning environment, and great friends. He condescension of some members of the administration toward parents is palpable, and the narrow range of views that are viewed as acceptable, are disappointing and frustrating. But our kids have gotten terrific, open-minded and engaged teachers with a wide range of interests and backgrounds, and we couldn’t be happier. It’s really just part of the administration we are crazy about. And our kids don’t really need to deal with them and have a terrific school experience which is all that really matters to us in the end. We would take the same path again in a heartbeat.
The three positions you mention, ya, no, you have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry, you just don't.

Those were good suggestions that someone provided, when challenged that they couldn’t provide anyone. The response is unhelpful and not illuminating. Here are some more: Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs (yes I said it), half of the bloated development office, US community service coordinator.[/quote]

The people actually do things. Every day, to support your kid or your family in the life of the school. The tireless hours of meetings and events well beyond an 8-9 hour day that the people specifically mentioned give to the school commuinity is ignored by the person who suggests their position should be eliminated. The Dead of Academic Affairs is arguable one of the most important positions in the school and is incredibly well staffed right now. I'll given you 'assistant librarian in the middle school" - however, when there are 30 kids in the library, if there is one librarian and 10 kids seeking help to find resources for a paper, if they come home and tell you that they couldn't start their paper yet because the librarian was too busy, you would be complaining about that too.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]

Also learning specialist.

[/quote]

LOL, having learning specialists on staff means not having to pay even more for outside intervention if your kid is dyslexic of has ADHD or suffers from anxiety. If your kid doesn't need those services, then consider yourself lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine wanting to send my kids to a school where the average family can afford to pay this kind of tuition. What a warped upbringing to provide them.

Then why are you on the independent school forum? Do you think the average American family could even afford a local catholic school either?

According to half of y’all, $400k/year is the average American HHI, so…