Normal, Co-Ed High School Experience

[Anonymous]

Burke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Burke

I love Burke (one kid there), but if the OP thinks GDS is out because of using first names for teachers, s/he will not like Burke.

[Anonymous]

Do they use first names at Burke? I ask this because I notice that, for some people, the first names thing prompts a visceral reaction that doesn't always seem to reflect their broader educational values. So, for example, someone could find progressive education appealing in practice but be opposed to kids being on a first-name basis with teachers.

[Anonymous]

St Johns immediately comes to mind. Its in DC, co-ed, it is catholic but diverse. Its not a top academic or athletic school but does pretty well for boys and girls. I would actually put it near the top for athletics these days.

Sidwell is not middle of road normal experience. The fact that the Obama girls go there alone is enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they use first names at Burke? I ask this because I notice that, for some people, the first names thing prompts a visceral reaction that doesn't always seem to reflect their broader educational values. So, for example, someone could find progressive education appealing in practice but be opposed to kids being on a first-name basis with teachers.

For most parents opposed to the practice, the issue is not children's addressing teachers by first names but children's addressing any adults at all by first names.

[Anonymous]

Which, presumably, is why the visceral reaction to this practice doesn't necessarily indicate someone's educational philosophy. They have a general cultural norm that they don't want to see violated regardless of context -- even if there's a pedagogical rationale for making an exception to that rule in a classroom environment.

Certainly you can send your children to GDS and simultaneously require them to address other adults more formally/less familiarly than they address their teachers. It's not as if the school requires you to take a pledge that your child will call every adult by his or her first name. It's just a practice within the school and specifically among teachers and students -- e.g. if President Obama were to visit for a guest lecture, the kids wouldn't be encouraged to call him Barack during the Q&A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they use first names at Burke? I ask this because I notice that, for some people, the first names thing prompts a visceral reaction that doesn't always seem to reflect their broader educational values. So, for example, someone could find progressive education appealing in practice but be opposed to kids being on a first-name basis with teachers.

Yes, at Burke they use first names for everyone, including the Head of School.

[Anonymous]

I agree with 13:00. Our child attends a school where teachers and other adults are addressed by first name at school, but my child knows to use Mr./Mrs. in other situations and is not less respectful of adults. If anything, he is more respectful because he is interested in interacting with adults on a somewhat meaningful level ... he has learned that adults, when politely approached, have lots of interesting things to say. They are not just disciplinarians set on ruining a child's fun and freedom. I suspect the earlier poster objects to GDS' curriculum far more than just that one simple practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell is not selling a "normal" experience. Recent grads have spoken of a lot of privileged kids and the school's catering to the privileged, especially a few favored families. I have also heard of a cut-throat academic competitiveness and pressure-cooker atmosphere that the school's espousal of Quaker values cannot eradicate. It's not impossible to get into, but it does have a low acceptance rate.

As a parent of two current students, I'd agree that the workload at Sidwell is pretty heavy and teachers have high expectations, but that's not the same as having a "cut-throat" atmosphere. The kids are generally pretty supportive of one another, and teachers routinely go the extra mile to help their students. Having said that, I would acknowledge that the kids who seem to be happiest there are those who are very motivated to learn and do their best, and who are pretty adept academically. As far as preference being given to children whose parents are wealthy and/or have high-profile jobs, I've never seen that other than in the admissions context, and my guess is that those same folks would be favored in admissions at any school. (Please note that I'm not endorsing such preferences -- actually it turns my stomach -- but it is reality.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell is not selling a "normal" experience. Recent grads have spoken of a lot of privileged kids and the school's catering to the privileged, especially a few favored families. I have also heard of a cut-throat academic competitiveness and pressure-cooker atmosphere that the school's espousal of Quaker values cannot eradicate. It's not impossible to get into, but it does have a low acceptance rate.

As a parent of two current students, I'd agree that the workload at Sidwell is pretty heavy and teachers have high expectations, but that's not the same as having a "cut-throat" atmosphere. The kids are generally pretty supportive of one another, and teachers routinely go the extra mile to help their students. Having said that, I would acknowledge that the kids who seem to be happiest there are those who are very motivated to learn and do their best, and who are pretty adept academically. As far as preference being given to children whose parents are wealthy and/or have high-profile jobs, I've never seen that other than in the admissions context, and my guess is that those same folks would be favored in admissions at any school. (Please note that I'm not endorsing such preferences -- actually it turns my stomach -- but it is reality.)

I was posting about the upper school. In the middle school it's not so cut-throat yet.

[Anonymous]

We have a child in US at Sidwell and our experience there is very similar to that of the 18:03 poster.

[Anonymous]

I'm the 18:03 poster with kids at Sidwell, and just want to clarify that I'm describing the US, not MS.