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Feedback regarding Lowell School
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Can I ask why you switched your child from Lowell into one of the 'designer brand' schools? Did you do it before the normal transition year (I think end of 6th)?
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Anonymous
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To clarify are you 15:21 in http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/3591.page
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Anonymous
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No, I am not. But I agree with her comments about Lowell. |
Anonymous
We switched before the end of 6th grade. There were many reasons we transitioned: - My child's teacher (at the time) often yelled in the classroom....not at my child, but at other children - My child felt the environment was chaotic...not knowing what to expect from day-to-day - My child's class (at the time) had so many special needs (high maintenance) kids, and the school was not equipped to handle them and the needs of the rest of the class. The high maintenance children got the teacher's attention - We felt the academics were not strong, especially in grades 3-6 - At the time we were there, attrition was high among (families leaving after pre-primary, families leaving to go to public schools after K, families leaving after 2nd) - We felt the teachers were no at all vested, and that their efforts were constrained by a very controlling, unyielding head of school. She is now gone, by the way. - We had heard (when we were still at the school) from alumni families who felt their children were not prepared when they got to their next-step schools (both public and private schools) because of huge gaps in their learning - We were not impressed with the lack of consistency in outplacement of the 6th graders, and were concerned that those few who were getting into the "designer brand" schools were mostly special considerations (i.e., connected / high profile, diverse, wealthy). It seemed like the "average" family's kid went to the less competitive schools (Field, Edmund Burke, St. Andrew's, St. Bartholomew) - This wasn't a major concern for us, but the reputation of Lowell (among friends and associates whose children went to other independent schools, among the few teachers that we know at other independent schools, etc.) was not strong. Lowell wasn't viewed in the same league with the "designer brand" schools, or even Green Acres and Burgundy Farm (which are similar in that they are also progressive) Friends whose kids are still at Lowell tell me about teachers who have left abruptly in the middle of the school year (seems like at least 1 or 2 each year), about their continued concern about the academics, etc. |
Anonymous
| Thanks PP for a thoughtful perspective. |
Anonymous
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Ok, but just to be clear, some of us at Lowell did choose it as their number one choice! The five families that I am friendly with all chose the school as their first choice and plan to stay through 6th grade. Now I am not saying the place is perfect, but it is not just an outpost for rejects from other schools!
And to the point that a PP made about how when q's about Lowell are posted, several people come running to tout their oh-so-positive experiences. I don't know why this is odd. People are asking for feedback about Lowell, and they are getting it! I have certainly read the same negative posts over and over... |
Anonymous
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I'm the 11:36 poster. I was just surprised that anyone would cut and paste from the Lowell website, and include kids' names. And amused that one entry was for a parent of Lowell children, as though that were relevant to the Lowell childrens' accomplishments. And finally very amused that the PP who did this thought it would say much to post that one of the alums is working at Steak and Egg Kitchen. It all just seemed funny to me. . . .
11:31, as you saying that Lowell is not considered to be as good as Green Acres? That's interesting to know. |
Anonymous
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PP - I don't think the person who posted the alum stuff went through and pulled out only the "relevant" entries, she just did a quick cut and paste. Not sure that it adds much to this discussion but I don't see why it's something to criticize someone about either.
BTW, I wonder if the "cruel reality" poster above (stating that Lowell kids are just GDS wanna bes) noticed that the kid working at the Steak and Egg Kitchen graduated from GDS. In any event, the tone of some of the posts here and the obsession with "bestness" is really disconcerting to me as someone who wants to raise happy, healthy kids here in DC. I am scared to death of what they will learn about the world when they get to the GDS/Maret/whatever part of the world and get exposed to the kids of some of the posters on the board who seem to think that what school you attend for elementary school is somehow the most important thing in predicting your future in life. I think the reality is that as demonstrated above, your child could go to public school and end up in the Ivy League or could go to GDS and work at Steak and Egg kitchen and as parents we need to let our kids be who they are going to be and love them no matter what, not just if they succeed in getting into a particular school. (and BTW we like previous posters did not like and therefore did not apply to Sidwell and Beauvoir and were happy to get into Lowell). |
Anonymous
Your post seems to be exactly what you despise, attempts to one-up the next guy. No need to say that the GDS graduate is at Steak and Eggs (in a ha ha fashion) or that you don't like Sidwell or Beauvoir (so there!). No need to imply (by being "scared to death") that parents at GDS/Maret/Sidwell/NCS/STA/whatever are somehow raising children that are oh-so-terrible and not worthy of exposing your oh-so-innocent children to. Exposing? You'd think our kids have some sort of communicable disease? Be happy at Lowell, and be thankful that your experience isn't what others' experiences have been at Lowell. I personally would not wish my experience there on anyone. |
Anonymous
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OK, can you give it a rest then? Your kid is no longer there, you have not experienced the current culture and while I appreciate your perspective, I feel like I have read about it in multiple forums about Lowell.
I think we should all be critical of the schools we send our kids to, they are expensive and should be living up to their hype. However, the school is not a bunch of GDS, Beauvoir wannabes! It is a different school than Sidwell, Maret, Aidan, NCs, etc. They have a philosophy and are trying to live up to that. The school may not always be successful in that, but neither is it a place of "unvested", screaming teachers who have chaotic classrooms full of "special needs" kids! For those of you who are interested, visit, and visit outside of the open houses. Talk to multiple families and form your own opinion. |
Anonymous
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Well said. When I first started looking at these boards (right before we applied for schools) I nearly made myself crazy. I had to put myself in check: first, not EVERYONE in DC reads or posts in these forums... in fact, it is just a small percentage. Second, though we don't know for sure because it is an anonymous board, it seems quite possible that the same people are posting most of the messages.
The message board can be helpful, don't get me wrong. But please take what you read with a grain of salt. That is what I have learned to do. I still read, post, etc. -- but I use what I read here as just a supplement to what I learn in person. And that where I agree 100% with the last poster. Visit the schools, talk to the teachers, talk to current parents and students. AND they will be honest! Every time I spoke to parents at the schools I visited, I would say, "look - I know no school is perfect. What would you say the challenges are here?" or "Is there anything you've been a little disappointed by here" or, "I'm not sure this is true because I read it on the DCUM board, but ...." I have yet to find ONE family at ANY of the schools who said, "It is perfect here. There isn't anything I would change." |
Anonymous
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Yes, it's very true that there are only a handful of posters. At any one time there are about 10-15 people viewing the forums; not just this forum but all the forums. The most ever was in March shortly before or after letters were mailed when there were over 200, but still that was for all the forums including expectant moms and new moms.
Don't take most of the stuff written here too seriously. Many are clearly intended to make a school look negative (even if for altruistric reasons like you don't want another family to go through what you did) or very positive. The same posts come up over and over about certain schools and the same people or two or three write very elaborate responses. They are the anonymous self-appointed marketing group of their school. Kudos to them. For everyone else reading to gather information, be careful. As PPs said, talk to real people with real names and who you are certain had or have children at a school of interest. People in this town HEAR all kinds of things. This forum though is invaluable even when there is hyperbole mixed in. It gives propspective and current parents a place to vent and put things in perspective, including the caliber of the schools discussed here. Just be careful navigating the hyperbole and have thicker skin when someone starts to attack your current school. |
Anonymous
?????? |
Anonymous
| Come on, you may disagree, but you know what s/he means. |