Article on Maret in Washington Post

[Anonymous]

According to the article there are 42 percent students of color. Do the math.....there are definetly non athlete African Americans at Maret. Maret has to be one if the most diverse independent schools around.

[Anonymous]

Interesting thread and great article. To be honest, I don't think much has changed since I went to school in the area. When I was a kid, the serious BB players went to the WCAC, Flint Hill or public school. Now it is the same except that a few other small religious schools have replaced Flint Hill. Sidwell, Maret, Potomac were not know for their sports programs. Although these schools get a little more visibility, they are not know as powerhouses in any serious sport -- Landon/GPREP have strong lacrosse program but lacrosse does not compete with BB/FB in terms of visibility. No one goes to Maret if they want to play Div I FB or BB.

When visiting some of these schools when DS applied, I spoke to the BB coaches at a each school (just in passing -- DS is not a BB player). They do recruit but don't sacrifice academic ability for athletic ability. If you talk to any of the coaches in the MAC, they will complain that they always have quality kids (academics and athletics) that don't get through admissions. It is difficult for them because they get these young kids excited only to have them not clear admissions. There is always tension between Adcom and coaches.

All that to say that you can relax, admissions looks at these kids in terms of what they bring to the table. Obviously, academics are key but they will give extra attention to a kid who has a skill or talent that will add to the community. It is also important to know that schools like Maret also accept minority kids who are disadvantaged but do not play sports.

Give credit to the kids in the article, they decided to attend Maret when the more familiar path was the WCAC. I hope things work out for them.

[Anonymous]

Maret has had numerous D1 athletes on the boys side over the last couple of years. There was an old thread on this. Bottom line is you don't need high school sports to be a D1 athlete (club lax/aau) except in football. Not sure how many d1 football players Maret has had, but I know there have been some. You can go to Maret, Sidwell, STA, etc. If you are good enough you will be a d1 player.

[Anonymous]

The posters who note that it is not necessary to play on a high school team to get into D1 sports programs in most sports makes an interesting point -- AAU, etc. And as it turns out, that point supports the notion that independent schools should not be going out of their way to build their teams with recruits that don't meet other academic standards for the reasons noted in an earlier post -- at least that's how I would hope our DC's school would see it. There is plenty of time for recruiting to colleges and beyond. Why should this be even on the radar screen of independent schools? Develop the talent that you have by admitting kids within the school's usual applicant pool. If more schools took this approach they could form leagues to play against one another, and as long as the teams are relatively balanced you should see good games even if the level of play overall is a notch down.

[Anonymous]

You folks are clueless. Read my post above (21:29). Talk to admissions staffs and they will tell you that they put together a class like they arrange a jigsaw puzzle. They are looking for kids with different backgrounds and talents that can contribute to the overall school experience. If Maret wants a class that is strictly academic-focused, then the school can just take the kids with the top grades and scores without any other talents but since Maret wants a balanced class with strong academics, good arts, and competitive sports, it takes some kids who may not be great students but are strong and bring something else to the schools such athletic abilities, artistic talents and other skills/talents. If you want you DC at a school where academics is the primary focus then Maret is probably not the best place for you.

PP, MAC is the league that you described.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told by a school employee that in recent years Maret has implemented a separate and less accelerated academic track, and that the recent spate of recruits for football/basketball/baseball were often in this less accelerated academic track.

Is it accurate about the new(ish) and less accelerated track for students with more academic challenges?

Yes. The big-time sports recruits are in the slower-paced classes that are a relatively new development. Maret has definitely compromised their academic program to land and keep these athletes. They are also getting over-age kids -- they couldn't play in the DC city basketball tournament last year because they had players over the DC age limit. But this is all for boys' sports -- they don't care about success in girls' athletics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told by a school employee that in recent years Maret has implemented a separate and less accelerated academic track, and that the recent spate of recruits for football/basketball/baseball were often in this less accelerated academic track.

Is it accurate about the new(ish) and less accelerated track for students with more academic challenges?

Yes. The big-time sports recruits are in the slower-paced classes that are a relatively new development. Maret has definitely compromised their academic program to land and keep these athletes. They are also getting over-age kids -- they couldn't play in the DC city basketball tournament last year because they had players over the DC age limit. But this is all for boys' sports -- they don't care about success in girls' athletics.

Exactly!! It makes me queasy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting this. This prompts me to think it may be time that parents on DCUM begin really thinking and talking about sports in independent schools in a more meaningful way.

I will take a shot a starting the dialogue and hope others offer meaningful comments without sarcasm. I preface this by saying I am not talking specifically about the students featured in this article or that school. Rather, this is a commentary on the issue of sports in independent schools generally.

1. I have come to the view that I do not want our independent school seeking out any students primarily for their athletic ability or even admitting such students unless they are expected to be at least average students in our school community.

2. Interscholastic sports involve a huge time commitment. Unless students are fairly strong in the first place, I don't see how they can juggle such a large commitment and their studies. If a school wants to recruit the next Bill Bradley (former Knicks player, US Senator, Rhodes Scholar), that's great -- a traditional scholar athlete. Presumably, very few students from independent schools will have professional sports careers as players, so are we really helping a student who would not be admitted academically absent athletic ability if we require him/her to invest so much time in athletics at our school?

3. For the same reasons and others, I do not want my tuition dollars going toward supporting any sports teams that are focused heavily on getting their kids into college sports teams - especially at Division I schools. There are plenty of public schools, Catholic schools, and other places students can do that if it is dream. As a parent at an independent school, this just isn't something I want to encourage. To the extent it is argued that sports are a way to get some student a college education, I would prefer to donate money to all sorts of worthy causes that help educate underprivileged children directly or help them pay for college. If a student meets high academic standards but loves a sport too, I understand the game of working through coaches to get a hook into college admissions all other things near equal, but even that should have some limits on reasonableness.

4. Some families choose independent schools in part because their child wants more opportunities to play on sports teams than they may get a large public school. If starting slots on teams are taken up by recruited athletes that do not otherwise meet the academic standards of the schools, in the long run independent schools actually take away one reason why some families think its worth spending 30,000 + annually in tuition.

5. We already have a culture that too instills in some athletes a certain sense of entitlement that is harmful in the long run to both the student athlete and others around him. There are many great things about playing sports -- I have no problem with sports. But if independent schools bend the admissions standards, financial aid packages, offer more tutoring to favor students athletes than available to other students, etc., the schools become part of the wider problem rather than the solution. I would rather have a less successful sports team playing in a league against teams from like-minded schools, then win by recruiting primarily to strengthen the teams.

Just my two cents -- others may have different views. And yes, my DC plays varsity sports in an independent school. But schools need to hear all perspectives.

The likelihood that this person has an athletic child is very close to zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told by a school employee that in recent years Maret has implemented a separate and less accelerated academic track, and that the recent spate of recruits for football/basketball/baseball were often in this less accelerated academic track.

Is it accurate about the new(ish) and less accelerated track for students with more academic challenges?

Yes. The big-time sports recruits are in the slower-paced classes that are a relatively new development. Maret has definitely compromised their academic program to land and keep these athletes. They are also getting over-age kids -- they couldn't play in the DC city basketball tournament last year because they had players over the DC age limit. But this is all for boys' sports -- they don't care about success in girls' athletics.

Exactly!! It makes me queasy.

Slower paced classes were created for siblings of very bright students so that big donor families would not pull out of the school so that all siblings could go to the same school. Many schools are providing a variety of level of classes, especially since many AP English and History students are not necessarily AP Chemistry kids and vise versa.

It make me queasy that people still believe that athletes are stupid and parents care about the education of kids that are not in their immediate family.

[Anonymous]

No it was the bit about the girls that makes me queasy.

[Anonymous]

Well, you'd be wrong about the girls too. There are a few girls who are 'recruited' for sports, or for whom sports were a good hook into the school - just like it is at every other school in this city! As for different tracks of classes - doesn't every school have different levels of classes? Not every kid can be in accelerated classes for every subject. Like my kid, for example.

[Anonymous]

Ignore these fools!

[Anonymous]

Look, since these schools have such small enrollment, they need kids with various talents and abilities to support the athletic teams, arts programs, and student-run organizations. Why do admissions ask questions about the activities that applicants are involved? They do so because they want well-rounded students who will benefit the overall experience. If Maret is not going to admit people with athletic abilities but who are strong but not great students, then they should end sports at the school or be prepared to lose. Not because the student body is not very athletic but because the student body is too small to field competitive teams in every sport.

[Anonymous]

I have been told about the slow-track classes by a longtime Maret school employee. They are definitely being used for their big-time athletic recruits -- and as the prior poster said, for rich people's kids too. It was definitely described as a separate, much easier track. It is different from non-honors math vs. honors math or regular US History vs. AP US History, for example. And no, schools like Sidwell/GDS/Potomac (in the MAC) or Holton/NCS (in the ISL) do not have a set-up like this. Nor does St. Albans, if people think everyone in the IAC must do this. The person who told me felt like the school was selling out and was saddened by this.

You think they put the same emphasis on girls' sports? Look at the Division I athletes coming out of Maret for football/basketball/baseball and then compare the girls . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the article there are 42 percent students of color. Do the math.....there are definetly non athlete African Americans at Maret. Maret has to be one if the most diverse independent schools around.

This is a can of worms... but... does this include East &/or South-Central Asian-Americans? Students of Middle-Eastern or Hispanic descent? How do schools define "of color"? It seems somewhat misleading, like they're trying to imply that they're encouraging and assisting URM's, & that "of color" means "look at us, we're giving these kids from the 'hood an education because we're just such good people". I'm looking for diversity in my kids' future school, but I'd like economic, religious, and cultural diversity, not just "we have different skin tones but our dads all work at [local international company/think tank]".