Feedback regarding Lowell School

[Anonymous]

Posting for a friend (very pregnant with second and doesn’t have time) who came across the following post from greatschools. Net about Lowell. She and her husband are worried about the poster’s comment (from April 2007) that the school “tend to attract a high number of families with special needs children”. Her kid is really bright and she is all freaked out that she chose the wrong school for her. Her daughter will be entering the junior K, which is new. Tuition is due by June 1.

She wants to know what kind of special needs. Special as in help with reading or something much more? Behavioral? She also noticed today that about a quarter of the schools mentioned on the website for Lowell graduates are for other k-8 schools. She wasn’t impressed by this. Could anyone speak to how well Lowell places its graduates or is it a matter of the students’ caliber compared to other graduates in the area?

Quote from other website -

Lowell's strength is its Pre-Primary program for three-year-olds and four-year-olds. I strongly recommend Lowell for Pre-Primary. Beyond Pre-Primary, Lowell becomes a different school in terms of the teacher quality and overall educational experience especially in 3rd - 6th. The school tends to progress students to the next grade even if age/grade appropriate skills have not been mastered. It becomes the next teacher's challenge. Parent/teacher and parent/administration communication could be improved. Lowell tends to attract a high number of families with special needs children. However, the school does not have the resources to support these students. Most graduates of Lowell do not attend highly selective independent schools (e.g., St. Albans, NCS, GDS, Sidwell, Potomac). Lowell is strong in promoting diversity (e.g., ethnical, economic, lifestyle, religious), which is highly reflected in its faculty and student body. Parent involvement is also strong. While extracurricular activities are lacking (especially organized sports), Lowell's summer camp is wonderful.

[Anonymous]

this has been covered - do a search for Lowell and all sorts of stuff will pop up....

[Anonymous]

As the PP mentioned, some of this has been addressed before, but I will try to address the specific issues raised by the posting and to reassure the concerned parent about her school choice. My two kids are both very bright high achievers and are doing great at Lowell (3rd and 1st grades). The JK teacher is a wonderful teacher so I have no doubt the child will have a great year. I don't quite understand the issue about "special needs" kids. There are a couple of kids with physical disabilities I know of, but surely that is not what the concern is about. What I do know is that for kids who have significant academic or behavior challenges that are not working out in the classroom those students have been asked to leave the school for a more appropriate program. I have seen no problem with kids having significant academic issues and, because the curriculum is progressive and individualized, any such problems would not affect my child's work. The teachers are unbelievably caring and the kids thrive in the environment.

On placement, which has been addressed time and time again, these statements are just wrong. I don't know where the K-8 statement came from. Other than the occassional child who moves to Sheridan or Green Acres, I don't know of much if any movement to K-8 schools after Lowell graduation. what schools are you talking about? The vast majority of kids go from Lowell to schools that go through 12th grade. Common schools for kids to go to are GDS (five out of 18 kids in this year's 6th grade class); Sidwell; Maret; Edmund Burke; Field School. Many of the kids are from Montgomery county and choose to go to schools up there or sometimes to G and T or magnet schools in Montgomery county. St. Albans and NCS are just SO different from Lowell that I've never talked to anyone who has ever applied there so the lack of those placements is not surprising to me at all. Having talked to numerous folks who have been through the process (and transitioned to Sidwell, Maret, etc.) they felt that Lowell manages the process very well and helps kids identify the schools that are a good fit for them. I've never heard anyone complain that their child should have gotten into a different school but didn't because of anything that Lowell did.

I don't know why there are all these negative comments that arise from time to time about Lowell when I see mature, happy, well-educated kids who love to learn and (not unimportantly) have a healthy world view in terms of diversity and avoiding the "snobbiness" that can arise in so many of the private schools.

[Anonymous]

It's the voice of a few people who have a beef with the school. The majority of people are quite pleased, but as is typical if you are happy you tend not to post things, etc.

[Anonymous]

From Lowell's Alumni section. It appears the kids are doing just fine!

Posted July 6
Congratulations to Karen DeYoung, mother of Kate Champ '01 and Jesse Champ '04, on the publication of her book, "Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell". Karen has received numerous awards for foreign correspondence and diplomatic and explanatory journalism, including the 2002 Pulitzer Prize given to The Washington Post for coverage of the war on terrorism.

Kira Feldman '01 worked in the Amigos de las Americas program in Honduras last summer.

Four members of the class of 2001 are semifinalists for the 2007 National Merit Scholarships: Sara E. Edwards (Maret), Brice Plebani (Sidwell Friends), Nikola D. Milanovic (Washington International), and Michael Wheet (Washington International).

Ike McCreery '02 is a junior at Walt Whitman High School and enjoys drama and playing in the band. Clara McCreery '05, an eighth grader at Pyle Middle School, plays the violin.

Courtney Smith '02 went to the Sheridan School, graduated from the Norwood School, and is now a junior at Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills, MD.
Courtney is a member of the Chamber Choir and an acapella group, "Ragged Robin."

Yaa Addison '03 is a sophomore at St. Andrew's School where she is on the girls' cross country team. Last year, her team won the Independent School League's cross country meet; Yaa came in seventh in a field of 160 runners. While she was at Lowell, Yaa was a member of the D. C. Redwings track club and went on to run in the Junior Olympics at ages 12, 13, and 14. She volunteers at S.O.M.E. and helps cook food at a homeless shelter.

Did you see Tessa McGee '03 on WUSA9-TV having her hair cut? For the second year in a row, Tessa has donated her hair to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Tessa also plays on Maret's varsity soccer and lacrosse teams and on the Olympic Development Program Soccer team for North District Virginia.

Mallory Band '04 is having a great year at The Barrie School. She was voted ninth grade homecoming princess, and plays varsity soccer, basketball, and (soon) lacrosse.

Sarah Boren '04 knew none of the students when she entered the Delaware Valley Friends School last fall. That quickly changed when she met the new buddy assigned to her, Zoe Berman '05. Both Sarah and Zoe live in Swarthmore, PA.

Ben Naughton '04 made the cross-country varsity team as a freshman at St. Andrew's School.

Chelsea Hirn '05 won the Sidwell Friends Middle School Shakespeare award (she was the only 7th grader to enter the competition, winning over experienced 8th graders) and is scheduled to compete citywide in February.

Abby Johnson '05 is in the eighth grade at The Kent Place School in NJ and is in this year's musical production of "Little Shop of Horrors."

Julia Karron '05 is an accomplished athlete in the eighth grade at St.
Andrew's School. She plays on an all-girls travel ice hockey team and makes time for tennis and winter track. In addition, Julia is the catcher on the softball team. Lucas Karron '07 is in the sixth grade at Pyle Middle School. He plays soccer with the Striking Lightning and ice hockey on an AA travel team with Bruce Racine '06.

Johannes Dzidzienyo '06 made his acting debut with the African Continuum Theater in Lorraine Hansbury's "A Raisin in the Sun", starring as Travis Younger. The play had a six-weeks run in December and January.

[Anonymous]

And 90s grads

Posted July 6
Abigail Franchot '90 is attending graduate school in business at Columbia University. Nicholas Franchot '94 is majoring in political science at Yale. Abbe and Nick witnessed their father, Peter Franchot, being sworn as Maryland's newly-elected State Comptroller.

Amanda Gilbert '90 graduated from the University of Illinois Law School last June, passed the IL bar, and is an attorney with Simmons Cooper in East Alton, IL. Last September, she married Mohammed Sow. Sarah Higdon-Sudow '90 was her maid of honor. Amanda and Mohammed are living in St. Louis, MO.

Sarah Higdon-Sudow '90 ran a youth program in Mexico and is now working in a dual-language charter school in NYC.

Will Higdon-Sudow '93 traveled in Croatia and is now working for the Exposure agency representing commercial photographers and set designers.

Nathaniel Pincus-Roth '92 has started the MBA program at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Go to the Steak 'n Egg restaurant in Tenleytown and you will find Chris Ravenscroft '92 working for owner Osman "Oz" Barrie. A Washington Post article highlighting the restaurant, notes that "Ravenscroft has been coming to the diner for years. He graduated from nearby Georgetown Day School and attended Ohio State University. 'I spent more time here than I did at home and school combined. Oz even came to our graduation.'" Chris came back to Washington to work in restaurants and Barrie hired him.

Mikell Belser '93 and her fiancé, Brian, are living in New Orleans, fixing up a house. Mikell is the manager of a retail boutique. She and Brian started a production company in 2006 and are finishing their first feature length film.

Lee Butler '93 is a first year student in the graduate program in library science at Simmons College in Boston.

Matthew Hennigan '93 graduated from Miami University of Ohio in 2006 with a major in sociology and a minor in aeronautics. He will begin Commercial Flight School in Sacramento, CA in February 2007.

Emily Hurwitz '93 is in a post-baccalaureate pre-med program at Penn and she is working part-time as a researcher in a neuropsychiatry lab. Daniel Hurwitz '97 is in his freshman year at Hamilton College.

Jacob Leibenluft'93 is interested in East Asia and is now on a year's fellowship in journalism, working as a business reporter for The South China Morning Post. His brother, Michael '97, is studying theater and languages at Yale. Last fall, Michael performed in Antigone. He has begun intensive Chinese so he and Jacob may soon be chatting in Mandarin or Cantonese.

Reuben Wolfson '93 graduated from the University of Michigan in April 2006 with a double major in history and political science.

Jason Nichols '94 is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis. Jordan Nichols '95 is a sophomore at American University and plays on the men's basketball team.

Andrew Hastings-Black '95 is studying in Hyderabad, India. He will graduate from Tufts in 2008.

Adam Hart '96 is a sophomore at Georgia Tech majoring in aerospace engineering.

Remy Van Grack '96 is a sophomore at the University of Oregon.

Kelsey Wallace '97 is a student at Boston College, taking courses in communications and law. Her new interest is playing on the women's rugby team.

[Anonymous]

Someone is going to a lot of effort to bolster impressions of Lowell! It's kind of funny if you actually read through some of these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone is going to a lot of effort to bolster impressions of Lowell! It's kind of funny if you actually read through some of these.

Yes! Why do the Lowell parents (maybe just a few) feel inclined to "prove" the worth of the school? Seems like without fail anytime anything questionable is posted about Lowell, the calvary comes a callin' to mitigate anything remotely negative. What's up with that?

[Anonymous]

I appreciate the information but did you ask the school first? Not sure this is information that should be shared so publicly.

As for PPs - happy panrets post whenever any school that gets a bad rep or negative posting has the same effect. Look at Beauvoir.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the voice of a few people who have a beef with the school. The majority of people are quite pleased, but as is typical if you are happy you tend not to post things, etc.

I don't think it's a few people with a beef with the school. I know many too many families who have left for varying reasons. And I know lots of current parents who in fact are NOT quite pleased.

[Anonymous]

As one of the previous Lowell parent posters, I would note that the original poster asked for input on a couple of specific issues about the school. Why is it then surprising that some current parents responded to provide what we think as to those specific issues. Nor is it surprising that for this or other schools that if parents disagree with negative characterizations of the school put on the website that they respond. A number of the schools seem to attract particular "knocks" on the school that get repeated and that parents routinely post to rebut or address. So I don't see it as particular to Lowell at all.

I also know people who have left Lowell, for a variety of reasons. Some have to do with personal reasons, convenience, etc. And as with any school there are people for whom it is not a good fit either because of the parents or the child. I think that for some kids progressive learning requires too much independence and self-motivation and for kids who struggle with these issues and need to be led through the process step by step by a teacher Lowell may not be the best fit. I just don't see that as a negative for Lowell but as a reflection of the fact that no school is best for all kids or families. In just the same way that we decided not to apply to Beauvoir because we did not think it would be a good school for us but can see why others might think it was a good school for their DC. But for bright inquisitive kids who like school and learning I personally think progressive elementary education is a great way to go.

[Anonymous]

The cruel reality is that every family I've encountered who has gone to Lowell was waitlisted at GDS (and a few at Maret/Beauvoir) . . .

So, I've found those parents often spend time touting how great things are at Lowell and how well things turned out. I guess I understand the psychological motivations to do so, but it gets annoying after awhile.

[Anonymous]

Cruel reality, eh?

Maybe the cruel reality is that the parents of GDS or Beauvoir kids end up becoming so embittered by the Washington Establishment that pervades these schools that they look upon happy Lowell parents and children with secret jealosy and regret... and thus feel the need to criticize the parents' enthusiasm and their children's love of learning...

Or maybe both the previous poster and I are both jerks with nothing better to do than snipe at people who we think we're smarter (or otherwise better) than...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the cruel reality is that the parents of GDS or Beauvoir kids end up becoming so embittered by the Washington Establishment that pervades these schools that they look upon happy Lowell parents and children with secret jealosy and regret... and thus feel the need to criticize the parents' enthusiasm and their children's love of learning...

I don't think so. I am a Lowell alum parent whose child is now at one of the schools you've named. I'm not in the least bit embittered or jealous or regretful, and am beyond thrilled that my child is no longer at Lowell. I have many friends whose children are still at Lowell. Yes, for many of them Lowell was not a first choice and their children were waitlisted or rejected at GDS, Beauvoir and Sidwell. Many of them are content or maybe even resigned, but I would not say that they are happy to be at Lowell. Some are waiting to see if things change with the new head of school. Some are waiting to apply out during an entry year. Some are day-to-day, wondering if they should just opt for a public school.

I'm happy that you are enthused about Lowell. But don't call those that are not embittered or jealous. Just as you have strong positive opinions of Lowell, some (including me, other alum families that I know, some current Lowell families that I know, etc.) have strong negative opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I don't think so. I am a Lowell alum parent whose child is now at one of the schools you've named. I'm not in the least bit embittered or jealous or regretful, and am beyond thrilled that my child is no longer at Lowell. I have many friends whose children are still at Lowell. Yes, for many of them Lowell was not a first choice and their children were waitlisted or rejected at GDS, Beauvoir and Sidwell. Many of them are content or maybe even resigned, but I would not say that they are happy to be at Lowell. Some are waiting to see if things change with the new head of school. Some are waiting to apply out during an entry year. Some are day-to-day, wondering if they should just opt for a public school.

I'm happy that you are enthused about Lowell. But don't call those that are not embittered or jealous. Just as you have strong positive opinions of Lowell, some (including me, other alum families that I know, some current Lowell families that I know, etc.) have strong negative opinions.

By the way, I'm not the 14:22 poster but I agree with what s/he posted.