Do Students Run the Show at Sidwell Upper School?

[Anonymous]

I know there are a million Sidwell threads, and I apologize in advance for adding to the glut, but I am wondering about the atmosphere at the Upper School and if it is a "whatever the students want, they get" atmosphere. I have a neighbor whose daughter brought home an ugly, misogynistic, cruel "Senior Class Poem" that was distributed in hard copy to the whole student body when the admin said the seniors couldn't read it out loud. (eg said freshman girls dressed like whores, referenced blow jobs in parking garage, etc) The Sidwell student said the seniors also disrupted the Quaker meeting this week. Wondering if this is just a difficult class or there is an issue with discipline in the Upper School. I like a lot of what I hear about the Sidwell academics and, yes, the sports program (it sounds balanced and sane), but this didn't sound all that healthy or positive.

[Anonymous]

Why do you care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care?

Child has application pending.

[Anonymous]

The senior class poem and the "disruption" of the last meeting before break are both traditions at sidwell. At the last meeting before break one senior leaves the room. Another senior stands up and starts telling a story. The story ends with the student saying something about keys, at which point the senior class starts jingling their keys and singing jingle bells. The student who left at the beginning of meeting returns dressed as Santa and starts throwing candy at everyone. The rest of the seniors join in. This happens at the last meeting before break every year. As for the senior poem, it is usually read during the holiday concert and can be a bit mean. No hard copy is distributed. The administration always okays the poem before it is read. This year they canceled the poem reading so it was distributed as a hard copy instead of being read at the concerrt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The senior class poem and the "disruption" of the last meeting before break are both traditions at sidwell. At the last meeting before break one senior leaves the room. Another senior stands up and starts telling a story. The story ends with the student saying something about keys, at which point the senior class starts jingling their keys and singing jingle bells. The student who left at the beginning of meeting returns dressed as Santa and starts throwing candy at everyone. The rest of the seniors join in. This happens at the last meeting before break every year. As for the senior poem, it is usually read during the holiday concert and can be a bit mean. No hard copy is distributed. The administration always okays the poem before it is read. This year they canceled the poem reading so it was distributed as a hard copy instead of being read at the concerrt.

NP here. An "ugly, misogynistic, cruel" class poem, as OP said, or at least one that "can be a bit mean" is a tradition? That seems like an odd tradition for a Quaker school.

[Anonymous]

They distributed a hard copy? Someone should leak it to the press.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. An "ugly, misogynistic, cruel" class poem, as OP said, or at least one that "can be a bit mean" is a tradition? That seems like an odd tradition for a Quaker school.

Or for any school. What is the redeeming value of this tradition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The senior class poem and the "disruption" of the last meeting before break are both traditions at sidwell. At the last meeting before break one senior leaves the room. Another senior stands up and starts telling a story. The story ends with the student saying something about keys, at which point the senior class starts jingling their keys and singing jingle bells. The student who left at the beginning of meeting returns dressed as Santa and starts throwing candy at everyone. The rest of the seniors join in. This happens at the last meeting before break every year. As for the senior poem, it is usually read during the holiday concert and can be a bit mean. No hard copy is distributed. The administration always okays the poem before it is read. This year they canceled the poem reading so it was distributed as a hard copy instead of being read at the concerrt.

1. I read the poem--if it is traditional to write such a cruel, mean-spirited, sexually-charged poem, that is quite something.
2. The seniors walked out 10 minutes into meeting--not the norm from past years. Seniors also threw candy (hard) at the administrators.
3. Yes, the poem was distributed in hard copy as an act of defiance to admin who cancelled it, because of the content one presumes.

Is this really traditional, or a graduating class acting out/pushing boundaries? I like individual Sidwell students I've met, but in groups (cheering sections at games, for example), they came off as smug and a bit nasty.

[Anonymous]

These are traditions that started out as fun and clever, but have gotten out of hand. That can happen with teenagers. The administrators are clearly trying to deal with this -- they did, after all, tell the students who wrote the poem that they couldn't read it. The kids defied them, and my guess is that there will be consequences for doing so. The US has gone through a stretch without strong leadership from administrators, particularly last year when there was an interim Head of School and an interim US principal. Now, with a new team in place -- i.e., new Head of School, new US Principal, new US Dean of Students -- the disciplinary approach is changing. As a parent, I hope that other Sidwell parents will support their efforts to find a balance between nurturing an atmosphere where kids are encouraged to have fun and speak out, but also where everyone is expected to treat others with respect. I hope parents of kids at other schools will have the sense not to judge all Sidwell students based on the actions of a few kids.

[Anonymous]

That poem is gross. I can't believe anything like that is a tradition at Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your straightforward response, 15:55.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are traditions that started out as fun and clever, but have gotten out of hand. That can happen with teenagers. The administrators are clearly trying to deal with this -- they did, after all, tell the students who wrote the poem that they couldn't read it. The kids defied them, and my guess is that there will be consequences for doing so. The US has gone through a stretch without strong leadership from administrators, particularly last year when there was an interim Head of School and an interim US principal. Now, with a new team in place -- i.e., new Head of School, new US Principal, new US Dean of Students -- the disciplinary approach is changing. As a parent, I hope that other Sidwell parents will support their efforts to find a balance between nurturing an atmosphere where kids are encouraged to have fun and speak out, but also where everyone is expected to treat others with respect. I hope parents of kids at other schools will have the sense not to judge all Sidwell students based on the actions of a few kids.

Makes sense, thanks for the post.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully those who rushed to judge Landon now see what it's like to be on the other side.

[Anonymous]

I think any group of rich, spoiled teenagers can come off as "as smug and a bit nasty"...

and what exactly can the school do about something like this? There really isn't much to be done. Can't come to the meeting anymore??? Kick them out of school??? Neither are really feasible.

Maybe they should can this particular tradition. The problem with private schools is they come up with "traditions" that seem to run their course, the admins know it, the students know it, but they just keep going. I for one believe if a tradition is stupid - get rid of it. Just because you do something for a long time over and over, doesn't mean it was ever a good idea to begin with...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The senior class poem and the "disruption" of the last meeting before break are both traditions at sidwell. At the last meeting before break one senior leaves the room. Another senior stands up and starts telling a story. The story ends with the student saying something about keys, at which point the senior class starts jingling their keys and singing jingle bells. The student who left at the beginning of meeting returns dressed as Santa and starts throwing candy at everyone. The rest of the seniors join in. This happens at the last meeting before break every year. As for the senior poem, it is usually read during the holiday concert and can be a bit mean. No hard copy is distributed. The administration always okays the poem before it is read. This year they canceled the poem reading so it was distributed as a hard copy instead of being read at the concerrt.

Mean-spirited, misogynistic poems? Throw candy at administrators? Wow - what awesome traditions Sidwell has. Well worth $30+K!