What is with the obsession with STA and Beauvoir on this board?

[Anonymous]

Well said, PP 00:15. It has often made me wonder why parents of Beauvoir and STA children have to go on an anonymous forum to ask each other questions...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Beauvoir/STA obsession is largely created and fueled by insecure, combative, and surprisingly uninformed Beauvoir/STA parents. Just look at the first few pages of threads in this forum. You have new Beauvoir and STA parents looking for tips, a Beauvoir parent asking how to interpret his child’s report card, an STA parent asking if her child would be better off at BCC, STA parents battling about teacher quality, an STA parent posting about how to get into STA, a Beauvoir parent asking about Capital Cotillion, an STA parent asking how easy it is to escape STA, a new STA parent asking how much money matters, a Beauvoir parent asking if NCS and STA kids get together, a Beauvoir parent asking about outplacement, etc. For some reason, parents at Sidwell, Maret, GDS, etc. do not have these kinds of discussions to anywhere the same extent. In Beavoir’s defense, it might be said that its size contributes to the amount of wacky back-and-forth, but I’m not sure what STA’s excuse is.

I am a B parent and I have to say I agree with this post. I would venture to suggest that it just makes people feel good to tell others that they are a Beauvoir/STA/NCS parent and where better than an anonymous board to say it again and again and again. I cannot fathom why, when you are at one of the schools already, you cannot find out whatever you need to know from the administation, teachers, parents and students.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes this 'again and again and again' defense of the schools is a reaction to the 'again and again and again' tirades against the schools. But I give up. I don't have as much stamina as the hater(s) I guess...

[Anonymous]

PP: Why do you care about the "haters?" If you truly feel good about your choice of school for DC, then why bother with comments made on an anoymous forum? Why can't you just let it go????!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Beauvoir/STA obsession is largely created and fueled by insecure, combative, and surprisingly uninformed Beauvoir/STA parents. Just look at the first few pages of threads in this forum. You have new Beauvoir and STA parents looking for tips, a Beauvoir parent asking how to interpret his child’s report card, an STA parent asking if her child would be better off at BCC, STA parents battling about teacher quality, an STA parent posting about how to get into STA, a Beauvoir parent asking about Capital Cotillion, an STA parent asking how easy it is to escape STA, a new STA parent asking how much money matters, a Beauvoir parent asking if NCS and STA kids get together, a Beauvoir parent asking about outplacement, etc. For some reason, parents at Sidwell, Maret, GDS, etc. do not have these kinds of discussions to anywhere the same extent. In Beavoir’s defense, it might be said that its size contributes to the amount of wacky back-and-forth, but I’m not sure what STA’s excuse is.

I've been reading these boards for a while, and I do not agree. It seems that new B/STA parents may start several threads asking questions about the schools. By and large, they seem like new parents entering an unknown environment, and they're looking for the "inside info" that they hope an anonymous board will provide. Then, some people (or maybe it's really only two or three very vocal people?) use the opportunity to take shots at B/STA. The B/STA parents don't really come across as the "combative" ones -- they just seem to be asking questions.

For example, look at this thread (http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/12274.page) with a new parent asking for info. As I am posting, it's currently the top B/STA thread on the Private Schools list. It starts off pretty friendly, with people politely exchanging info. Then, at 5/2/08@19:50, unsolicited bashing begins ("So revealing of a typical Beauvoir parent's world view -- self-centered and assuming everything revolves around them, was created for them, and belongs to them"). The subtle (and not-so-subtle) digs at B continue for several more posts. To my thinking, all the B people posting there come across as friendly and helpful. It's the people bashing B that seem combative.

Also, the fact that there are so many threads on the front pages is not necessarily telling about B/STA families or how often they post. It appears most of those threads were created long ago, and then only bumped recently. See list below. Perhaps one new B/STA parent is bumping all the old threads from 2008? Or perhaps one of the anti-B/STA people is just trying to stir the pot? Hard to tell.

new Beauvoir and STA parents looking for tips (started 4/08, bumped 6/09)
[another] new Beauvoir and STA parents looking for tips (started 3/09, bumped 6/09)
a Beauvoir parent asking how to interpret his child’s report card
an STA parent asking if her child would be better off at BCC (started 4/08, bumped 6/09)
STA parents battling about teacher quality,
an STA parent posting about how to get into STA (started 2/08, bumped with further STA criticism 6/09)
a Beauvoir parent asking about Capital Cotillion (started 5/08, bumped 6/09)
an STA parent asking how easy it is to escape STA (started 4/08, bumped 6/09)
a new STA parent asking how much money matters,
a Beauvoir parent asking if NCS and STA kids get together,
a Beauvoir parent asking about outplacement, etc. (started 4/08, bumped 6/09)
[another] a Beauvoir parent asking about outplacement, etc. (started 7/08, bumped 6/09)
Beauvoir general thread (started 1/08, bumped 6/09)
surviving/succeeding at STA (started 4/08, bumped 6/09)

Anyway, I've got no good answer to why people are obsessed with B/STA. I'm not sure if the B/STA parents post more often than parents at other schools. I don't know how to really test that. But I do know that there seems to be a very vocal group of anti-B/STA people who get very agitated whenever they see anything about B/STA. I don't know what motivates them. Maybe one of them will post here to explain herself.

By the way, I've got no connection to those schools, so no need to accuse me of bias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugggh. If there is anything more tiresome than the DCUM obsession with Beauvoir and STA, it is the curiosity people have with the DCUM obsession with Beauvoir and STA.

Don't read the posts. They aren't written by Beauvoirites, who are by most accounts happy with their school. They're not written by STA families, who are almost universally ecstatic with their school. They're written by Cathedral trolls with major axes to grind.

Don't know much about any of the schools, but I think "Cathedral Trolls" is a wonderful phrase. I picture the hunchback of Notre Dame skulking around the Bishop's Garden...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP: Why do you care about the "haters?" If you truly feel good about your choice of school for DC, then why bother with comments made on an anoymous forum? Why can't you just let it go????!!!!

I'm at an airport lounge and had a few hours to blow. Boredom...and a desire to bicker. That's why. Otherwise, I go about my happy-go-lucky life enjoying my childrens' schools.