GDS admissions

Anonymous
Tacky how some gds parent email posts school emails in full on DCUM.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Many private schools in the DMV and around the country have the same spike in apps and yields due to school shutdowns ranging from a few months to 18-24 mos.
Most communities understood this and the schools business model and waived the caps given the crazy situation. Any business owner or operator gets it. This is a lasting effect of the govt shutting down schools in DC for almost two years. These schools had to operated in crisis mode with tons of local govt uncertainty for two years.

So much for “community understanding” or prioritizing effective education.


No waiver would be needed now if the GDS community had abided by its side of the agreement. Public schools are all operating normally. Kids can go back.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Yea they will be limiting. Email just out now. Looks like ANC Nimbyism at work


++++

We are committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown, and we continue to work diligently to honor our neighborhood agreements. In that spirit, we write to share an update of the ongoing discussions with our local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC3E) related to our enrollment cap.

As we shared on Sunday, when GDS unified all three divisions in Tenleytown, the School went through a zoning approval process, which resulted in a number of requirements, particularly regarding the management of traffic in the neighborhood. Our zoning order also sets a specific enrollment cap for the School.

In Sunday’s newsletter, we shared a reminder that GDS is unintentionally temporarily overenrolled due to a drastically different, COVID-related admissions environment. Many of our projections and assumptions related to admissions based on years of experience simply did not hold up during the pandemic. This experience was not unique to GDS. In addition, as we navigated the challenges of the pandemic and managed staff transitions, GDS unintentionally failed to file a required annual report on traffic and enrollment to the ANC. Upon learning of this oversight, GDS filed this year’s annual report before the deadline, along with last year’s report. GDS made mistakes in how we managed and communicated about our compliance with our enrollment commitments. We are committed to returning to compliance with our enrollment cap next fall. And it is important that you know that none of this was intentional.

On Thursday, GDS attended the February meeting of the ANC3E, where the commissioners asked GDS to share more information about our overenrollment and voted on a resolution criticizing GDS. GDS takes great exception to the characterizations of what occurred, both during the meeting and within the resolution, including the misinformed rhetoric that paints the School and its staff as purposefully breaking the rules and hiding information. As we have shared, we sincerely regret the oversight and administrative error and have taken steps to ensure we honor our obligations going forward.

GDS will be in compliance with the enrollment cap next year, enrolling a total of 1,075 students. This will mean admitting slightly fewer new students across all grade levels for the 2023-24 school year. Please be assured that this enrollment contraction will not impact currently enrolled students.

GDS takes our commitments to the ANC and the Tenleytown neighborhood seriously. We have invested enormously in our transportation management program to best serve the needs of our students, families, and neighborhood. In fact, our work has been recognized by the DC Department of Transportation, naming GDS the only Platinum School Ambassador in the District. You’ve likely experienced the impact of our investments, including 11 traffic officers, community-wide subsidized bus and public transit, and a full-time staff member dedicated to helping the School live into our agreement.

Also at issue for the ANC3E commissioners is the GDS community’s pick-up and drop-off behaviors. First, we remain grateful for the majority of our GDS families who follow the requests we make regarding carpooling, not parking in the neighborhood, and carline queuing. We must continue to observe all requirements set forth in our agreement with the ANC. Your help in following all street-level standing and parking restrictions (no matter the street), driving with care for pedestrians, and not arriving before dismissal time will go a long way in rebuilding trust with our local neighborhood representatives.

GDS will continue to work in good faith and seek respectful dialogue with the ANC, the Zoning Administrator, and the DC Department of Transportation to address any areas of disagreement and work toward collaborative resolution. We remain committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown. We are grateful for your partnership in ensuring that we are living into our neighborhood agreements, so that we can all focus on what matters most: our students and their learning.


Gds may not have been trying to screw up its obligations, but for saying that being a good neighbor is such a priority, it wasn't being particularly rigorous about those issues either. It's not fair to heap all blame on Gds, but tenleytown residents have a lot to grapple with between Sidwell and Jackson-reed already. Now Gds. That's a lot in a very small area.

To directly address op's point, we are a current Gds family and have heard all but directly that k slots will be hard to come by.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yea they will be limiting. Email just out now. Looks like ANC Nimbyism at work


++++

We are committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown, and we continue to work diligently to honor our neighborhood agreements. In that spirit, we write to share an update of the ongoing discussions with our local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC3E) related to our enrollment cap.

As we shared on Sunday, when GDS unified all three divisions in Tenleytown, the School went through a zoning approval process, which resulted in a number of requirements, particularly regarding the management of traffic in the neighborhood. Our zoning order also sets a specific enrollment cap for the School.

In Sunday’s newsletter, we shared a reminder that GDS is unintentionally temporarily overenrolled due to a drastically different, COVID-related admissions environment. Many of our projections and assumptions related to admissions based on years of experience simply did not hold up during the pandemic. This experience was not unique to GDS. In addition, as we navigated the challenges of the pandemic and managed staff transitions, GDS unintentionally failed to file a required annual report on traffic and enrollment to the ANC. Upon learning of this oversight, GDS filed this year’s annual report before the deadline, along with last year’s report. GDS made mistakes in how we managed and communicated about our compliance with our enrollment commitments. We are committed to returning to compliance with our enrollment cap next fall. And it is important that you know that none of this was intentional.

On Thursday, GDS attended the February meeting of the ANC3E, where the commissioners asked GDS to share more information about our overenrollment and voted on a resolution criticizing GDS. GDS takes great exception to the characterizations of what occurred, both during the meeting and within the resolution, including the misinformed rhetoric that paints the School and its staff as purposefully breaking the rules and hiding information. As we have shared, we sincerely regret the oversight and administrative error and have taken steps to ensure we honor our obligations going forward.

GDS will be in compliance with the enrollment cap next year, enrolling a total of 1,075 students. This will mean admitting slightly fewer new students across all grade levels for the 2023-24 school year. Please be assured that this enrollment contraction will not impact currently enrolled students.

GDS takes our commitments to the ANC and the Tenleytown neighborhood seriously. We have invested enormously in our transportation management program to best serve the needs of our students, families, and neighborhood. In fact, our work has been recognized by the DC Department of Transportation, naming GDS the only Platinum School Ambassador in the District. You’ve likely experienced the impact of our investments, including 11 traffic officers, community-wide subsidized bus and public transit, and a full-time staff member dedicated to helping the School live into our agreement.

Also at issue for the ANC3E commissioners is the GDS community’s pick-up and drop-off behaviors. First, we remain grateful for the majority of our GDS families who follow the requests we make regarding carpooling, not parking in the neighborhood, and carline queuing. We must continue to observe all requirements set forth in our agreement with the ANC. Your help in following all street-level standing and parking restrictions (no matter the street), driving with care for pedestrians, and not arriving before dismissal time will go a long way in rebuilding trust with our local neighborhood representatives.

GDS will continue to work in good faith and seek respectful dialogue with the ANC, the Zoning Administrator, and the DC Department of Transportation to address any areas of disagreement and work toward collaborative resolution. We remain committed to being good neighbors in Tenleytown. We are grateful for your partnership in ensuring that we are living into our neighborhood agreements, so that we can all focus on what matters most: our students and their learning.


No. It’s the GDS families that couldn’t give a [] and refuse to follow the transportation guidelines they agree to each year. If they had, the school would have been able to increase enrollment to its current size next school year. Now it won’t be able to for another couple of years.


The survey data taken don’t show a problem car-wise for AM drop offs and 3-4pm pick ups.

The data is there. They can measure it again and again.

For all you know the surplus students over the temporary cap is all walkers or VA bus riders.

Stop the falsities and fabrications.

All anc voted on is they didn’t get a notification during the height of Covid shutdowns and uncertainty that enrollment was up. Nevermind that no one even knew if school would be allowed in person or what day configuration or what shape. It was crisis mode for schools, teachers, families and the board.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Well I'd imagine pre-k and K would be less affected than other entry years...just a guess.


I think 9th will be least affected. The school needs to bring in the academic stars and athletes (probably a lesser degree) to keep up its college placement statistics. Perhaps if the current 8th grade is very strong academically this will be less of a concern. After that it makes sense to admit siblings across the entry years as they normally would because loyal families donate more. So that's where siblings of full pay families probably get a bit of an edge this year. Then you back fill PK and K with any remaining spots under the cap.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Many private schools in the DMV and around the country have the same spike in apps and yields due to school shutdowns ranging from a few months to 18-24 mos.
Most communities understood this and the schools business model and waived the caps given the crazy situation. Any business owner or operator gets it. This is a lasting effect of the govt shutting down schools in DC for almost two years. These schools had to operated in crisis mode with tons of local govt uncertainty for two years.

So much for “community understanding” or prioritizing effective education.


No waiver would be needed now if the GDS community had abided by its side of the agreement. Public schools are all operating normally. Kids can go back.


And what? Assumed school would be in session, all students, every day, in Fall 2021 when giving out offer letters in March 2021?
Or pulled back offers already sent out and accepted?
Sidwell and other schools blew out their numbers too.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It's probably a VERY good year to be wealthy. These schools all (in any year) count on a certain percentage of students to not only pay full tuition but donate quite a bit beyond this.
If enrollment size is shrinking by 50 kids, this is $2.5 million in lost revenue if they were all full-pay. Let's call it $2 million lost if 20% of these students got full aid.

So they are down $2 million+ in tuition with really no cut in operating costs.

They are going to be searching for families who can donate beyond full-tuition more than ever this year.


Respectfully, I think your assumptions are off. They're still a non-profit that year after year makes a nice little profit. They don't have to replace that revenue to satisfy shareholders or investors. Rather, they'll look at this current year as just a banner year. There's also a cost to taking on the 50+ kids they did this year. More teachers and supplies, etc. GDS will be fine with a little contraction.
Anonymous
Third parties are at GdS (and every private and public school in the city) for away game viewing, PPA soccer, vball, events, all kinds of stuff. Given the huge lacks of courts, fields and indoor pools in the area, this is needed for community and athletic development. Thank you GdS.

Who is ranting on about after school drivers and evening things - what does anc want? No one to drive by a house or park on wisconsin or river or whatever “just because.” From 6am to midnight? Sounds like they have a different definition of community indeed.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Tacky how some gds parent email posts school emails in full on DCUM.


Oh stop it already.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Tacky how some gds parent email posts school emails in full on DCUM.


Oh stop it already.


No, I agree. These messages are meant for the school community.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing that GDS is going accept less students this year. Does anyone know how they will break it down? We are hoping for a K acceptance and are nervous.


Yes. Probably will hair cut acceptances across all grades and run a very active waitlist.

I only say this because it makes sense. If whatever various agreements don’t factor in the pandemic shutdown situation and consequential yield explosion, then they and other schools have to not admit the usually amount and scrutinize yield more.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Tacky how some gds parent posts school emails in full on DCUM.


+1. Bad form.
Anonymous
Curious if anyone has reached out or had a conversation with GDS admissions about this in the past week? Maybe they would be honest and up front and say how many spots are now available with the ANC developments.
Anonymous
What’s the problem with posting an email that mirrors messaging that GDS gave to the ANC in a public forum? As usual some here are stuck on a technicality instead of the bigger point which clearly is that GDS is taking fewer new kids this year and this is the reason why

Also they do recruit athletes now for 9th grade entry. So I’m guessing they will not cut those numbers.
Anonymous
Great. Was next to impossible to get in. Now impossible. DC government at work.
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