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Georgetown Day and parking
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Anonymous
the Head of School didn't make the decision in a vacuum one night during an A-ha! moment on the treadmill. I'm sure there is a negotiated agreement somewhere on file in the District, as is the case with every independent school (and some preschools; NCRC, anyone?). School reps meet with DoT reps and ANC reps and random neighbors, and it all gets hashed out. These agreements always contain language on enrollment caps, too. They are renegotiated periodically. MoCo certainly has them, too. Ask some parents at Landon or Green Acres what their schools require, for point of reference. I believe at Green Acres, there can be no individual drops offs in the a.m. (ie, must be bus or carpool). |
Anonymous
Of course the decision wasn't made in a vacuum. Schools have worked out better and worse deals for themselves. The parents here are saying that GDS seems to have gotten itself into a particularly bad deal. I agree that there has to be ways to be a good neighbor and to make the school community... well, a community. Personally, I would not send a young child to a school where I could not walk in. Thats ridiculous. Others would. Particularly for a school like GDS. Eventually, if GDS does not or is not able to renegotiate, it will find more parents in its young classes who are not as attached to the idea of walking in/community building/getting to know each other/classroom involvement. The new community will make itself. The character of the school will probably change over time. It sounds like the GDS administration will make its own decision whether it cares about this changing character. Schools can and do renegotiate all the time. They also can build more parking on campus. Or they can decide to let things be. |
Anonymous
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You may encounter similar policies elsewhere. When my daughter was at Beauvoir I walked her in for Pre-K, but starting in K they strongly urged us to drop her off (not sure they still do this) so she could find her way to her classroom and develop a sense of independence. This was difficult for me to accept but I noticed over our years there that the families who continued to walk their kids in to school tended to have less independent kids. I'm not saying the lack of drop-off was a reason, just a general incidence that they do it their way.
My son goes to the McLean school which has the most hostile neighbors you can imagine and kids there must take a bus, parents are not allowed to drive their kids to school at all. This was terrifying for me when my son was in kindergarten, but it turned out he loved the bus and, again, gained a smidgen of independence. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think this should keep you from applying at all. When you have a child in preschool, its just difficult to imagine that they can happily walk into school and find their way to the classroom. I suggest you speak with parents at GDS about how this aspect of the school went for them before you make a decision. |
Anonymous
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Wow! We are new to GDS - we're not thrilled by the parking regs, but I think the posters who suggest organizing a committee and meeting with the head of school make more sense than those who simply prefer to vent on DCUM. Yes, I miss the hallway banter from my DC's prior school. But there are ways to meet the other parents. And the teachers send out very detailed newsletters at the end of each week - there is no possible way folks can claim that they do not know what is going on in their child's class (unless they do not read the newsletter). NCRC, Potomac, etc all have very strict policies on student drop-off/pick-up. We chose not to apply to a couple of preschools because we didn't think we could meet the criteria. I did not, however, spend the time I saved on not completing those applications by getting on DCUM and ripping those schools for destroying any sense of parent community by enforcing their PSA and city agreements. From what I can tell, GDS is overflowing with parental involvement and interest from prospective families. As a PP indicated, soon enough your young DC will want to do what all the big kids are doing - walking in on their own, greeting their friends in the hall, etc. They will mark their lives by when they get to wait for the second dismissal and envy those in their grade who already get to stay for the second bell because of older siblings. I am thrilled that my DC desires to be independent - isn't that one of our primary goals as parents - fostering self-sufficiency in our children?
Unlike some other schools in the District, the neighborhood of the GDS lower campus is much more densely populated as well as located on a major thoroughfare into the city. A parking garage would help, but there will always be tension as long as the school is at that location. And finally, because this is DCUM and admissions seasons, there will, no doubt, be folks who are thrilled to know that the app pool may drop because of the parking dilemma. Now if folks can come up with another barrier to entry.... |
Anonymous
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Potomac School kids have to take the bus--GDS' policy ndoesn't seem so bad compared to that.
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Anonymous
| Uh, maybe all folks need is an explanation from the Head of School or, if you are applying, from the Admissions Office. I am certain other schools have similar rules resulting from covenants with the neighhorhood. GDS has probably worked with a council member, too. It's a tight spot on a busy street. Maybe to accommodate parents of younger children the school could systematically arrange visit days, after dropoff, with parking passes. I'm sure there's a way to make this work! |
Anonymous
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Curious: what about parents who walk their children to school, or who take them there by bus? We walk our children to another NW DC private school and drop them off at the door. Once in a while, we walk them through the entrance onto the playground, where the kids play and then gather to be called inside. This is a nice time to chat with other parents who have parked and walked their children inside, but it's not crucial to my feelings about the school. Most parents use the car drop-off line, so it's usually a small group of parents on the playground.
On neighborhood issues: our school has a fairly large drop-off window (i.e., you can drop your children off for supervised play on the playground before first period--no charge), which means that there's really no car line at all in the morning. I'm sure that this helps with neighborhood perceptions of the school. Perhaps something to discuss at your own schools. |
Anonymous
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A few posters have brought up NCRC. NCRC does have a car pool line that parents can use. But it also allows walk ins at both drop-off and pick-up. No one has ever been discouraged from walking into NCRC. It is one of the ways in which parents get to know each other. Many many friendships are made on that front porch area where parents routinely gather.
Potomac doesn't allow parents on campus at drop off and pick up. The previous posters are correct about this. |
Anonymous
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One thing to keep in mind is that many of these policies are MANDATED by the BZA (Board of Zoning Adjustments) in granting these schools special exceptions to operate in residential zones. Almost every private school in NWDC has probably been through zoning hearings to get permission to do one thing or another. There are always neighbors opposing them and these are compromises worked out during the hearings.
The BZA decides and mandates many things such as traffic flow, student caps, parking, hours, etc. If the school doesn't comply, neighbors complain and they're back to the BZA. |
Anonymous
| Do public schools have the same issues with the BZA? I guess many students would be walking in some of the DCPS schools but sure not all. Are the parking issues at Janney, Key, Mann? |
Anonymous
More like stroller jams. These are neighborhood schools. GDS is not getting picked on here. I am a parent and hope that some changes can be made over time, especially in the entry years, but I don't think this is detrimental to the school community. |
Anonymous
| I am also applying to GDS and this is worrysome. My ds goes to a school now where everyone walks their child in and it is a GREAT part of the school and community. It's time for the parents who have a moment to catch up, make a playdate, get to know one another, meet the teachers, see their children interact etc. This summer ds went to Landon summer camp with a carpool line, which was my first experience. I did not make friends with one parent the entire summer, which was disappointing. I also didn't realize that there was a child in the group who was hitting the other kids so aggressively that he had to be in a time out the whole day or one-on-one with a counselor, which took a person away from the other 14 kids. I only found this out the day of the carnival, which was the last week of camp. I only offer this as an example of what happens when you are too distanced from the classroom/teacher/parents, etc. Carpool lines bum me out. |
Anonymous
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The BZA order is old (1996?); the interpretation is new. It's very clear that everyone is supposed to enter through the main entrance (vs. cutting through the parking lot of the adjacent apartment building) and that parents driving to school aren't allowed to drop their kids off anywhere in the neighborhood (rather than on school grounds) and let them walk onto campus bv themselves. Both of these rules are fair and sensible and have been repeatedly articulated for years.
What's new is the interpretation that parents must drive-- not walk -- their children onto/off of campus. As one PP has pointed out, that would be a silly and counterproductive rule if fully enforced -- it would discourage families from walking to school or taking public transit. Given the age of the kids, most would be chaperoned on such trips. So the question is where did this rule come from. I can't find the original BZA order, but it looks like what the local civic associations were demanding was "work with the neighbors on traffic issues." At which point the issue becomes whether the Administration must or should cave to whatever demands the neighbors make. I think that the whole carpool scene is dire, especially in the afternoon. But I'd rather see win-win solutions (like the shuttle bus from the HS to the L/MS in the morning which has been great) than somewhat arbitrary edicts handed down and then routinely flouted. In other words, if you want to keep cars out of Palisades and parents off campus, find other ways to get the kids to school. But if parents are pretty much compelled to drive kids to and fro, then making them sit for 45 minutes in their cars waiting to pick up the kids seems like a colossal waste of everyone's time as well as environmentally noxious and anti-social. |
Anonymous
Are you a new parent? We are new and this is not the environment we expected. We aren't sure what to do about it either. Folks who have been at GDS longer know each other already and have had a year (or several years) of normal community building. I really don't find there are too many other way to really know people if basic access is denied. Yes we read the newsletters but we don't know the teachers much and have little sense of the classroom dynamics. There is no opportunity to set up casual playdates got DC at pick up time or to check in on something quickly with a parent or teachers. Access to teachers is pretty much limited to the fall conference and a couple other small things in the classroom. I only see other parents at big school events. Not a reasonable way to start friendships! And I dislike sitting in the car for 1/2 hour every afternoon. There are legal spots all around the neighborhood. I wonder why the neighbors prefer the crazy long car pool line to some parents using legal spots briefly. MacArthur has been more jammed than usual after the traffic email came down on us from the head of school. |
Anonymous
Yes, we are new. I really haven't had much of a challenge in arranging playdates for my child or finding out about what is happening in the classroom. DC is very happy. Yes, we've had to work more to meet parents, but I expected that at a new school. I've been using the 1/2 hour in the car catching up with old friends and the news. |