Does anybody know the incident recently happened in Sidwell?

[Anonymous]

Holy! How come the other instances weren’t in the Principal’s note? There really has to be zero tolerance if SFS takes itself seriously as a moral leader.

[Anonymous]

A while back, before my kids went there, Bullis had a students post racist videos on YouTube outside of school and they were expelled. I cannot imagine that Sidwell would not do the same. I think concerned parents with students who are attending next year contact the school and ask about the incident. Hopefully they will put your minds at ease and make you aware, along with the rest of the families, the course of action they plan on taking.

[Anonymous]

The head of the school immediately sent an email to the parent community. Unlike Gonzaga or other area schools where days pass before acknowledging or addressing an issue, and only after extreme outside pressure is applied, it appears that the administration doesn’t play around. Good for them.

[Anonymous]

Agree, but they should also be clear about consequences. In some other recent incidents, not racist but troubling incidents, the HoS communicated about the incident — but not about consequences. It’s important to send a loud and clear signal about what is NOT tolerable at SFS. And this can be done effectively without naming any students.

[Anonymous]

It just happened yesterday. I’m sure they need a little time. I understand they are holding an all-school meeting this morning.

[Anonymous]

All US or MS as well?

[Anonymous]

As a Sidwell parent I am confident the school administration will handle this swiftly and with as much transparency as they feel appropriate. My greater concern is my DC and our family are is in our first year at Sidwell and in private school and one element of the culture that we have been really troubled by from the start is the “Sidwell bubble.” It is pervasive in everything about the school and while some take it to mean a community of inclusiveness it just doesn’t always feel that way in the student or parent communities, at least for a new comer. It is distressing to say it but I’m honestly troubled but not surprised by this incident. There is so much pressure to conform and not enough acknowledgment of its impact. That couple with greater intolerance in our country is bound to lead to instances such as this. Here’s hoping it’s condemned as appropriate and also used as a valuable learning tool...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clearly the admissions office is not doing a good job in screening the students they accept. We are not in the application pool this year but I have been surprised by the students that they accept from our K-8. This is something I have observed over the past few years. Nothing scientific, but sometimes, you get this reaction: “Huh? They took —-?”

How would you describe the kids that they accepted then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clearly the admissions office is not doing a good job in screening the students they accept. We are not in the application pool this year but I have been surprised by the students that they accept from our K-8. This is something I have observed over the past few years. Nothing scientific, but sometimes, you get this reaction: “Huh? They took —-?”

I have noticed the same thing, including at grade levels below ninth.

My sense is that the admissions office is so overwhelmed with applicants that they just don't have the time to really get to know students and families in a meaningful way as much anymore. (The more cynical view is that they just care, or are more worried about getting families who can contribute to the capital campaign, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.) They're at the point of doubling up interview slots (i.e., two families interviewing at the same time), which likely means that the interviews are a bit more of a "check the box" aspect of the process than they used to be.

When a restaurant becomes popular and is overrun with advance reservations, you often see the quality start to slip because it isn't forced to stay at the top of its game, and I think SFS has experienced something similar over the last decade.

[Anonymous]

Just sounds like there is an angry, stupidly entitled kid or two there.
Should they have known sooner? That would have been better. If you have done kid drawing swastikas everywhere you should have figured that one out by now.

[Anonymous]

Ignorance clearly doesn’t know boundaries. GDS had multiple anti-Semitic issues come up on campus last year, but I think it was kept within the community? Then there was the Bullis situation. And just this past week, we had the kids in Orange County, CA MAKE A SWASTIKA FROM RED SOLO CUPS, give the Hitler salute...and then post it all over social media. Google anti-semisitsm on school campuses and your skin will crawl. Is it ignorance, stupidity, “kids being kids”, or is there a growing anti-semitism sprouting up across the country?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ignorance clearly doesn’t know boundaries. GDS had multiple anti-Semitic issues come up on campus last year, but I think it was kept within the community? Then there was the Bullis situation. And just this past week, we had the kids in Orange County, CA MAKE A SWASTIKA FROM RED SOLO CUPS, give the Hitler salute...and then post it all over social media. Google anti-semisitsm on school campuses and your skin will crawl. Is it ignorance, stupidity, “kids being kids”, or is there a growing anti-semitism sprouting up across the country?

That’s do awful. What stupid entitled kids.
My child isn’t Jewish, but he goes to camp at the JCC and honestly those people, as a group, are honestly sometimes frightened of violence and that’s just so wrong.
What is wrong with people that they think that this is funny or cool?

[Anonymous]

When students are given rare freedom to express themselves by choosing their own usernames, and "several" students pick names that are racist towards Asians and Native Americans, while two throw in swastika emojis that they have previously downloaded to their phone, that suggests a larger cultural problem that goes beyond a bad apple or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When students are given rare freedom to express themselves by choosing their own usernames, and "several" students pick names that are racist towards Asians and Native Americans, while two throw in swastika emojis that they have previously downloaded to their phone, that suggests a larger cultural problem that goes beyond a bad apple or two.

It does. If the whole point of the school is progressive values how do you end up with students like these? Is admissions more interested in financial contributions, high test scores and legacies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When students are given rare freedom to express themselves by choosing their own usernames, and "several" students pick names that are racist towards Asians and Native Americans, while two throw in swastika emojis that they have previously downloaded to their phone, that suggests a larger cultural problem that goes beyond a bad apple or two.

It does. If the whole point of the school is progressive values how do you end up with students like these? Is admissions more interested in financial contributions, high test scores and legacies?

Excuse me, but since when is recognizing and abhoring/ condemning hateful actions like this a "progressive" value? I am a conservative Christian and I hate this as much as anyone.