Sidwell Report Cards Just Came Out…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your kid's grades probably put them at the 50-75% mark in the grade. There are always a handful of kids, maybe 10? who get a 3.9+ and a few of these who have a 4.0. These kids are remarkably smart and disciplined and had some luck with teachers as well. I'm quite sure that I (an Ivy educated mom in my 40s) could not get a 4.0 at Sidwell. Those who do are truly impressive.

I have two recent Sidwell alum. This assessment is accurate.

[Anonymous]

Op- mine had similar grades and also worked crazy hard. I’m not sure it’s worth it though for their mental health. But I was pretty proud of them.

My DC has a good friend who will probably be the one that gets a 4.0 all 4 years. DC told me at the end of the year after listening to others sharing grades that they actually seem to be doing well. DC had just been comparing their grades to the 4.0 friend all year.

After meeting 4.0 friend, wow, those kids are truly just brilliant, they are born and nurtured that way all their life. Pretty incredible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op- mine had similar grades and also worked crazy hard. I’m not sure it’s worth it though for their mental health. But I was pretty proud of them.

My DC has a good friend who will probably be the one that gets a 4.0 all 4 years. DC told me at the end of the year after listening to others sharing grades that they actually seem to be doing well. DC had just been comparing their grades to the 4.0 friend all year.

After meeting 4.0 friend, wow, those kids are truly just brilliant, they are born and nurtured that way all their life. Pretty incredible.

This should be a bigger concern when a parent posts about report cards the day they come out to find out about other students’ grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op- mine had similar grades and also worked crazy hard. I’m not sure it’s worth it though for their mental health. But I was pretty proud of them.

My DC has a good friend who will probably be the one that gets a 4.0 all 4 years. DC told me at the end of the year after listening to others sharing grades that they actually seem to be doing well. DC had just been comparing their grades to the 4.0 friend all year.

After meeting 4.0 friend, wow, those kids are truly just brilliant, they are born and nurtured that way all their life. Pretty incredible.

This should be a bigger concern when a parent posts about report cards the day they come out to find out about other students’ grades.

Disagree. Different poster here and my kid got his grades too. I like to mentally process them (including trying to get perspective on how my kid is doing relative to a typical student) and then move on to summer mode ASAP. Just because I do this on day 1 doesn't mean I'm nuts or mentioning anything to my kid.

Also, it's not like public school where a 4.0 is attainable and even typical. At these private schools kids get a mix of As, Bs, etc. If you've come from public they are probably the first Bs your kid has ever received. Most parents are curious if their kid's imperfect grades are "ok" or how they fall in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op- mine had similar grades and also worked crazy hard. I’m not sure it’s worth it though for their mental health. But I was pretty proud of them.

My DC has a good friend who will probably be the one that gets a 4.0 all 4 years. DC told me at the end of the year after listening to others sharing grades that they actually seem to be doing well. DC had just been comparing their grades to the 4.0 friend all year.

After meeting 4.0 friend, wow, those kids are truly just brilliant, they are born and nurtured that way all their life. Pretty incredible.

This should be a bigger concern when a parent posts about report cards the day they come out to find out about other students’ grades.

Disagree. Different poster here and my kid got his grades too. I like to mentally process them (including trying to get perspective on how my kid is doing relative to a typical student) and then move on to summer mode ASAP. Just because I do this on day 1 doesn't mean I'm nuts or mentioning anything to my kid.

Also, it's not like public school where a 4.0 is attainable and even typical. At these private schools kids get a mix of As, Bs, etc. If you've come from public they are probably the first Bs your kid has ever received. Most parents are curious if their kid's imperfect grades are "ok" or how they fall in the class.

“Imperfect grades”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op- mine had similar grades and also worked crazy hard. I’m not sure it’s worth it though for their mental health. But I was pretty proud of them.

My DC has a good friend who will probably be the one that gets a 4.0 all 4 years. DC told me at the end of the year after listening to others sharing grades that they actually seem to be doing well. DC had just been comparing their grades to the 4.0 friend all year.

After meeting 4.0 friend, wow, those kids are truly just brilliant, they are born and nurtured that way all their life. Pretty incredible.

OP here. Thanks, my daughter has had a similar experience. She said that once she talked to more of her friends and classmates, she felt much better about her grades. She has never been depressed or overly anxious about her academic performance at Sidwell, but talking to other students has given her context and a better perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op- mine had similar grades and also worked crazy hard. I’m not sure it’s worth it though for their mental health. But I was pretty proud of them.

My DC has a good friend who will probably be the one that gets a 4.0 all 4 years. DC told me at the end of the year after listening to others sharing grades that they actually seem to be doing well. DC had just been comparing their grades to the 4.0 friend all year.

After meeting 4.0 friend, wow, those kids are truly just brilliant, they are born and nurtured that way all their life. Pretty incredible.

This should be a bigger concern when a parent posts about report cards the day they come out to find out about other students’ grades.

Disagree. Different poster here and my kid got his grades too. I like to mentally process them (including trying to get perspective on how my kid is doing relative to a typical student) and then move on to summer mode ASAP. Just because I do this on day 1 doesn't mean I'm nuts or mentioning anything to my kid.

Also, it's not like public school where a 4.0 is attainable and even typical. At these private schools kids get a mix of As, Bs, etc. If you've come from public they are probably the first Bs your kid has ever received. Most parents are curious if their kid's imperfect grades are "ok" or how they fall in the class.

Thank you! That’s why I asked that only Sidwell parents weigh in. However, as some of these posts indicate, that won’t stop public school parents (and others) from offering their unsolicited opinions.

My daughter works very hard and she’s doing well at Sidwell. She knows it, and my husband and I know it and we tell her so. I just wanted to get a sense of what percentage of the class, generally speaking, earns >3.9 and/or 4.0. As I suspected, it’s fairly rare (especially a 4.0).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your kid's grades probably put them at the 50-75% mark in the grade. There are always a handful of kids, maybe 10? who get a 3.9+ and a few of these who have a 4.0. These kids are remarkably smart and disciplined and had some luck with teachers as well. I'm quite sure that I (an Ivy educated mom in my 40s) could not get a 4.0 at Sidwell. Those who do are truly impressive.

Thanks, that sounds about right. It seems that my daughter’s friends and (some) classmates are fairly honest with each other about grades. She told me that she only knows of one student in her grade who, reputedly, has maintained a 4.0. There may be others, but she has only heard one name mentioned consistently.

i thought the average at big 3s hovered around 3.5 when converted to a GPA. Op's kid seems well above that. probably more like a 3.8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3.9 means they have far more As than A minuses. Remember, an A minus is a 3.7--a super good grade (and very hard to get in many classes) but each one drops the GPA. That's why a 3.9 is so challenging.

DS graduated with a 3.7 GPA and is at a T20 SLAC.

An "A" is an "A."

[Anonymous]

People need to stop demanding or expecting perfection. Humans learn and grow from imperfection and taking risks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your kid's grades probably put them at the 50-75% mark in the grade. There are always a handful of kids, maybe 10? who get a 3.9+ and a few of these who have a 4.0. These kids are remarkably smart and disciplined and had some luck with teachers as well. I'm quite sure that I (an Ivy educated mom in my 40s) could not get a 4.0 at Sidwell. Those who do are truly impressive.

Thanks, that sounds about right. It seems that my daughter’s friends and (some) classmates are fairly honest with each other about grades. She told me that she only knows of one student in her grade who, reputedly, has maintained a 4.0. There may be others, but she has only heard one name mentioned consistently.

i thought the average at big 3s hovered around 3.5 when converted to a GPA. Op's kid seems well above that. probably more like a 3.8.

OP. I haven’t calculated her cumulative GPA, but my guess is that it falls somewhere between a 3.80 to 3.85. As I said before, she’s doing well. I just wanted a rough estimate of those students with a 3.9 and above. This is my question, not my daughter’s. She has made peace with the fact that she will not graduate with a 4.0. She just wants to keep her cumulative GPA above a 3.80, which I think is attainable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3.9 means they have far more As than A minuses. Remember, an A minus is a 3.7--a super good grade (and very hard to get in many classes) but each one drops the GPA. That's why a 3.9 is so challenging.

How is an A minus a 3.7? I thought Sidwell didn’t compute GPAs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.9 means they have far more As than A minuses. Remember, an A minus is a 3.7--a super good grade (and very hard to get in many classes) but each one drops the GPA. That's why a 3.9 is so challenging.

How is an A minus a 3.7? I thought Sidwell didn’t compute GPAs.

An A minus is always a 3.7. It's universal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your kid's grades probably put them at the 50-75% mark in the grade. There are always a handful of kids, maybe 10? who get a 3.9+ and a few of these who have a 4.0. These kids are remarkably smart and disciplined and had some luck with teachers as well. I'm quite sure that I (an Ivy educated mom in my 40s) could not get a 4.0 at Sidwell. Those who do are truly impressive.

Thanks, that sounds about right. It seems that my daughter’s friends and (some) classmates are fairly honest with each other about grades. She told me that she only knows of one student in her grade who, reputedly, has maintained a 4.0. There may be others, but she has only heard one name mentioned consistently.

i thought the average at big 3s hovered around 3.5 when converted to a GPA. Op's kid seems well above that. probably more like a 3.8.

OP. I haven’t calculated her cumulative GPA, but my guess is that it falls somewhere between a 3.80 to 3.85. As I said before, she’s doing well. I just wanted a rough estimate of those students with a 3.9 and above. This is my question, not my daughter’s. She has made peace with the fact that she will not graduate with a 4.0. She just wants to keep her cumulative GPA above a 3.80, which I think is attainable.

If she has more A minuses than As and a B+ then she probably has a low 3.7.

[Anonymous]

Please chill out. For the good of everyone but most of all for the sake of you and your kids. Don’t worry. All will be well.