Looking for an honest assessment of GDS
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Anonymous
The lack of drugs and alcohol is simply not true. I don't doubt that PP's child abstains but both are there, at GDS and all other schools, but certainly GDS. I know of some very specific situations. Kids don't get high or drunk at school (maybe very rarely) but it absolutely happens on weekends. But I don't think the choice of a school has a tremendous impact on this. Some kids experiment and will anywhere; others don't and wouldn't anywhere. The important is that they are happy at their school because unhappiness, depression, social problems, are a recipe for drug use. |
Anonymous
Although some kids at GDS do drugs and drink on the weekends, like every other high school, it's a great place for kids who do not drink or do drugs, because the school is open every day until 10pm, so there is an alternative to going to parties. Unlike at other schools which lock the doors at 5pm and stay closed on weekends, there are always kids at GDS playing chess, participating in clubs like Quiz Bowl, Debate, Math Team, teaching each other how to program, hanging out with teachers discussing ideas, or just shooting the breeze. My kids would have been miserable at a school where the only after hours activity was sports and the dominant social activity was going to parties. |
Anonymous
| The KKK fliers happened and its over. The person who did it has been expelled from the school. GDS is predominantly Jewish. But think about it this way. Every school is predominantly something else right? (White, Protestant, etc). One isn't better than the other. GDS is accepting of differences and celebrates each kid for what they are. Not every school is this way, whatever its predominant structure might be. Personally, I think it would be good for GDS to not be identifiable with one community. But it is a remarkable place for kids of whatever stripe. |
Anonymous
| GDS isn't predominantly Jewish. Less than half the GDS students are Jewish. Maybe what you observed is that it is diverse and not predominantly WASP. |
Anonymous
| Well, my kids are at GDS and I love the school and everything it stands for. The diversity, the acceptance, the social justice that it teaches. And it is predominantly Jewish - there is no need to shy away from this! The person who writes that less than half the kids are Jewish is quibbling. Every school is predominantly something. St Albans is predominantly WASP, the Catholic schools are predominantly Catholic! I don't know why we need to run away from this and insist it isn't true. GDS is welcoming to everybody. There will also be a LOT of bar and bat mitzvahs in 7th and 8th grade! |
Anonymous
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By the high school there is more religious diversity, it truly is not monolithically any religion at least in our experience in the US.
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Anonymous
Saint Albans is not predominantly Protestant. There are are many Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Agnostics, Jewish, and at least one Athiest. I don't get it either why people protest so much that GDS is not overwhelmingly Jewish. It is. So is Sidwell. |
Anonymous
It is no longer predominantly Jewish in the Lower School. The demographics are shifting. |
Anonymous
| I'd say it is more identified by liberal parents (though with some high profile conservatives and a conservative [or Republican] club). Liberal Jews may often have gone there, but at this point, at least in the HS, there are a lot of non-Jews. And who cares, truly? |
Anonymous
| This is a great thread. As a GDS parent, I am accustomed to vitriol spewed by a vocal group who really detest the school. Have never been able to figure out the underlying reason, but there is hate. I think some of the posters here did a great job capturing that the open community policy creates a place for all kinds of kids. I really enjoyed my HS years - I was not athletic, but a lot of my friends were on teams. In retrospect, I can see how the social sphere was skewed towards athletics. I really like that my children, who range from egg head to athlete, are valued in the GDS community. |
Anonymous
I'm an atheist, and it doesn't matter to me if GDS is predominantly Jewish or Muslim or Pastafarian, but is a fact that it isn't predominantly Jewish. It is less than 40% Jewish. |
Anonymous
What are you talking about? That was a school in South Carolina! |
Anonymous
GDS is a fine school, but it is not the first school that I'd think of for a girl who is a strong athlete. Among the elite girl's schools Viz, NCS and Holton are all better for athletes. Have you considered those schools? |
Anonymous
That makes it more Jewish than any other school! I also doubt that there is 40% of anything else. In the LS, most of the so-called Christians in my kids' classes (including us) are not practicing any religion. The 40-50% Jewish kids in the class are the predominant religious group because almost all go to Sunday school and almost all take their holidays seriously in a religious sense. When its time to explain Xmas traditions, the teachers have to repeatedly ask for one of the theoretical Christians to step forward! But again, none of this matters. Every community has to be predominantly something, and I think GDS is a fabulous and open community for EVERYONE. I also think we should not need to pretend that its not a predominantly Jewish school. Perhaps its open BECAUSE of its Jewish founders who wanted an accepting community for everyone back in the day when only WASPS could enter schools and clubs. |
Anonymous
I am sure there are many people of other faiths and backgrounds. But you would argue that most kids are not of a Protestant background? That is demographically impossible. |