Green Acres vs WES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WES is a Beauvoir-STA-NCS wanna-be.

Green Acres is a GDS/Lowell wanna-be.

Not bad institutions. Both quite excellent in many ways. But will never make it to the first tier by virtue of their suburban locations.

I have no dog in this hunt (applied to none of these schools--not WES, nor Beauvoir, nor STA-NCS, nor GA nor Lowell nor GDS) but I find the latter comment to be bizarre. I have no opinion on whether GA is in fact a Lowell/GDS wannabe or whether WES is a Beauvoir wannabe. but I am mystified by the sweeping generalization that these schools "will never" be first-tier simply because they are located in the suburbs. Why would location matter? What does location haved to do with quality? I am asking seriously, not rhetorically. Lots of highly educated people who live in Bethesda, for example (such as our family--two Ivy PhDs) would be closer to WES than to GDS' lower school or Beauvoir, for example. I would think a suburban location would be a neutral to anyone who doesn't live within the District, and certainly has no bearing on the caliber of the school. All I mean is that for all I know WES and GA aren't first-tier schools, but if that is the case, I am sure it has nothing to do with their location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi - we have children at WES. I have a background in learning and development - although mainly adults. I find this school works well with many different children. For young children, there is so much they are exposed to in a creative environment. I don't find it too academic that scares kids, but develops a great learning environment. The art programme is absolutely amazing. Our child who connects with sports also really connects with art. Teachers are extremely strong, but suspect you would find that at both schools. I have colleagues familiar with Green Acres. I don't know much about the school but they say the loose environment doesn't work with a lot of kids. Personally, my children - although very different from each other in many ways - thrive with structure. WES has enough - but not too much. hope this helps

I have two children at Green Acres and I would not characterize it as a loose environment. Quite the contrary, the teachers spend a lot of time orchestrating choices within a very structured environment, so that students have some measure of control over how they arrive at the desired end result. The idea that Green Acres does not provide structure is a misperception. For example, students are shown a few different strategies on how to solve math problems. Then they are able to choose the one that works best for them when solving for the answer. It is the same for adults - some of us are better with visual cues and some are better with written cues.

Here are some of the great things we experience at Green Acres (this may happen at other schools too, but these things stand out to me):
- To help kids develop analytical reasoning and creative expression, the 2nd grade teachers set up a "book club" where the students discuss books amongst themselves (with the teacher listening covertly to document their discussions).
- Because the student-teacher ratio is 8:1 (on average), we receive unbelievable feedback about our children. The teachers seem to know our children as well as we do.
- In 2nd grade Science class, the students took apart a printer to understand how the it worked. What I loved about that wasn't so much that they learned about wiring, motors, electricity, which they did, but that the teacher allowed the class to explore and ask questions based on what they thought was interesting. This approach to learning seemed to engage my son very well and sparked his intellectual curiosity.

Finally, my husband went to the Wharton School for his MBA. The first time we ever heard about Green Acres was when one of his classmates from Wharton said of all of the schools that he attended (Wharton, Hopkins, GDS, and Green Acres), he thought Green Acres at the greatest influence on his development. Before that, we had never even heard of the school.

We're frankly surprised that we love it as much as we do since we also went into it with the level of skepticism that others have expressed. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi - we have children at WES. I have a background in learning and development - although mainly adults. I find this school works well with many different children. For young children, there is so much they are exposed to in a creative environment. I don't find it too academic that scares kids, but develops a great learning environment. The art programme is absolutely amazing. Our child who connects with sports also really connects with art. Teachers are extremely strong, but suspect you would find that at both schools. I have colleagues familiar with Green Acres. I don't know much about the school but they say the loose environment doesn't work with a lot of kids. Personally, my children - although very different from each other in many ways - thrive with structure. WES has enough - but not too much. hope this helps

I have two children at Green Acres and I would not characterize it as a loose environment. Quite the contrary, the teachers spend a lot of time orchestrating choices within a very structured environment, so that students have some measure of control over how they arrive at the desired end result. The idea that Green Acres does not provide structure is a misperception. For example, students are shown a few different strategies on how to solve math problems. Then they are able to choose the one that works best for them when solving for the answer. It is the same for adults - some of us are better with visual cues and some are better with written cues.

it helps immensely. thank you very much!
Here are some of the great things we experience at Green Acres (this may happen at other schools too, but these things stand out to me):
- To help kids develop analytical reasoning and creative expression, the 2nd grade teachers set up a "book club" where the students discuss books amongst themselves (with the teacher listening covertly to document their discussions).
- Because the student-teacher ratio is 8:1 (on average), we receive unbelievable feedback about our children. The teachers seem to know our children as well as we do.
- In 2nd grade Science class, the students took apart a printer to understand how the it worked. What I loved about that wasn't so much that they learned about wiring, motors, electricity, which they did, but that the teacher allowed the class to explore and ask questions based on what they thought was interesting. This approach to learning seemed to engage my son very well and sparked his intellectual curiosity.

Finally, my husband went to the Wharton School for his MBA. The first time we ever heard about Green Acres was when one of his classmates from Wharton said of all of the schools that he attended (Wharton, Hopkins, GDS, and Green Acres), he thought Green Acres at the greatest influence on his development. Before that, we had never even heard of the school.

We're frankly surprised that we love it as much as we do since we also went into it with the level of skepticism that others have expressed. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WES is a Beauvoir-STA-NCS wanna-be.

Green Acres is a GDS/Lowell wanna-be.

Not bad institutions. Both quite excellent in many ways. But will never make it to the first tier by virtue of their suburban locations.

I have no dog in this hunt (applied to none of these schools--not WES, nor Beauvoir, nor STA-NCS, nor GA nor Lowell nor GDS) but I find the latter comment to be bizarre. I have no opinion on whether GA is in fact a Lowell/GDS wannabe or whether WES is a Beauvoir wannabe. but I am mystified by the sweeping generalization that these schools "will never" be first-tier simply because they are located in the suburbs. Why would location matter? What does location haved to do with quality? I am asking seriously, not rhetorically. Lots of highly educated people who live in Bethesda, for example (such as our family--two Ivy PhDs) would be closer to WES than to GDS' lower school or Beauvoir, for example. I would think a suburban location would be a neutral to anyone who doesn't live within the District, and certainly has no bearing on the caliber of the school. All I mean is that for all I know WES and GA aren't first-tier schools, but if that is the case, I am sure it has nothing to do with their location.

I think if you review the amount of traffic relating to the upper-NW schools and compare it to all of the suburban schools, the former laps the latter repeatedly. It's senseless. But the obsession is with those schools in DC. It's a shame. If the Potomac School were in DC rather than VA, or Norwood in DC rather than MD, they'd be considered Big Three or thereabouts.

[Anonymous]

it's a misperception that a progressive school like green acres lacks rigor. if you're concerned about preparation for the future, look at the list of high schools and colleges for the green acres graduates. we love the school. from what i've seen, the whole "quirky" kid observation also seems inaccurate.

but if as a parent, you place importance on pre-k and k kids coming home with worksheets for homework, you won't find that at green acres.

many of us parents were educated in traditional schools and are reassured by traditional teaching. it worked great for us. it felt rigorous then and it feels rigorous now. however, it is incorrect to assume that a program based on progressive teaching methods does not also value rigor and challenge students. it's just a different approach.

we chose green acres because we wanted a learning environment in which he would thrive. green acres was the best match for him.

[Anonymous]

I can't comment on green acres. But I do want to clarify something that could be construed from the previous post, while WES is viewed as more traditional - there are no worksheets for homework for pre-K or K. homework is not allowed at these levels.

there are a few "home" projects that allow for creativity and can be done with the family. My sense is WES has a traditional structure but with a lot of creativity and age appropriate development.

[Anonymous]

I don't see many posts about WES by parents on these boards, for whatever reason. But in our first year there, we've seen that the parents are every bit as enthusiastic about the school as the more prolifice posters. Does any other school get 100% participation in their annual fund campaign like WES does?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it's a misperception that a progressive school like green acres lacks rigor. if you're concerned about preparation for the future, look at the list of high schools and colleges for the green acres graduates. we love the school. from what i've seen, the whole "quirky" kid observation also seems inaccurate.

but if as a parent, you place importance on pre-k and k kids coming home with worksheets for homework, you won't find that at green acres.

many of us parents were educated in traditional schools and are reassured by traditional teaching. it worked great for us. it felt rigorous then and it feels rigorous now. however, it is incorrect to assume that a program based on progressive teaching methods does not also value rigor and challenge students. it's just a different approach.

we chose green acres because we wanted a learning environment in which he would thrive. green acres was the best match for him.

I am one of those parents who prefers a structured school where the rigor is more evident on a daily basis to progressive education. Not because I don't share your values. Nothing would beat a progressive school where all the teachers are highly motivted, talented and hardworking. However, we have found over time (obviously not at GA) that while this might describe most teachers most of the time, it does not describe all the teachers all the time. And, in particular, many teachers tend to cater to the class median and be preoccuppied with with motivating the reluctant learner. The students who can go faster end up not learning much (but having a good time in class, which is great for a year or two, but then doesn't cut it). This situation is much easier to spot in a more structured environment where a parent can readily track performance. So, for our kids, who are pretty motivated and eager to learn to begin with, we would prefer a format which is more transparent and which makes fewer demands on the average teacher to execute well.

[Anonymous]

OP, we considered GA because we thought that our dd would have issues with self esteem. (yes we saw that at age 4). We did not get in b/c of her late spring b-day. I am certain that it would have been a good place from that perspective, although, I have heard of bullying at that school. I did not believe that GA would do the best for them wrt academics.
That said, in the end, you need to know what matters most for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WES is a Beauvoir-STA-NCS wanna-be.

Green Acres is a GDS/Lowell wanna-be.

Not bad institutions. Both quite excellent in many ways. But will never make it to the first tier by virtue of their suburban locations.

I have no dog in this hunt (applied to none of these schools--not WES, nor Beauvoir, nor STA-NCS, nor GA nor Lowell nor GDS) but I find the latter comment to be bizarre. I have no opinion on whether GA is in fact a Lowell/GDS wannabe or whether WES is a Beauvoir wannabe. but I am mystified by the sweeping generalization that these schools "will never" be first-tier simply because they are located in the suburbs. Why would location matter? What does location haved to do with quality? I am asking seriously, not rhetorically. Lots of highly educated people who live in Bethesda, for example (such as our family--two Ivy PhDs) would be closer to WES than to GDS' lower school or Beauvoir, for example. I would think a suburban location would be a neutral to anyone who doesn't live within the District, and certainly has no bearing on the caliber of the school. All I mean is that for all I know WES and GA aren't first-tier schools, but if that is the case, I am sure it has nothing to do with their location.

It’s just a silly statement. I attended The Madeira School for Girls for high school. It is located in Great Falls, which at the time was pure country. All of my peers went on to the Ivy League or one of the 7 sisters. Anyways, there is no school in an urban area where you have beautiful grounds to ride your horse and have access to a first class equestrian center.