Maret’s brand of progressive

[Anonymous]

How bizarre that overnight we are living in a world where we are even talking to elementary school kids about if they want to be a boy or a girl and that “gender identity” is even a concept to be discussed at school. Who is pushing this and why are we going along with it? 25 years ago you would have been thought to be mentally unwell if you suggested a K student with a penis could be a girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GROSS MARET. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE CHEVY CHASE DEAL. THE NEW PRINCIPLE IS HEADING INTO A MESS. I FEEL BAD FOR FAMILIES WHO GOT CAUGHT UP IN THIS MARET MESS.

Oh, please, please, please tell me you are one of the two old ladies who stood outside Maret to harass 5 year olds! You left your ALL CAPS button on, dearie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their brand of being progressive seems like the worst kind -- very performative but they don't walk the walk given that they are restricting access to a public field. SMH

https://wamu.org/story/19/09/02/a-d-c-private-school-has-had-special-access-to-a-public-field-for-almost-a-decade/

Not a Maret parent, but this one is so ridiculous. Maret paid to improve the field and a deal was signed for them to have access for HS sports. If you don't like the deal, then blame the city who agreed to it.

The deal was structured to be below the level for meaningful scrutiny and it was fine when a Market parent was on the city council. You can argue about whether Market was in the right or not, but it was definitely not a progressive move or a move that increased equity in the city

Actually it does. That field is in service and used by everyone. The Duke Ellington field is used by no one. Wish my kids could use the Duke Ellington field for sports after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their brand of being progressive seems like the worst kind -- very performative but they don't walk the walk given that they are restricting access to a public field. SMH

https://wamu.org/story/19/09/02/a-d-c-private-school-has-had-special-access-to-a-public-field-for-almost-a-decade/

Not a Maret parent, but this one is so ridiculous. Maret paid to improve the field and a deal was signed for them to have access for HS sports. If you don't like the deal, then blame the city who agreed to it.

The deal was structured to be below the level for meaningful scrutiny and it was fine when a Market parent was on the city council. You can argue about whether Market was in the right or not, but it was definitely not a progressive move or a move that increased equity in the city

Actually it does. That field is in service and used by everyone. The Duke Ellington field is used by no one. Wish my kids could use the Duke Ellington field for sports after school.

It is a city field. Marie should be not have preferential access to it. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their brand of being progressive seems like the worst kind -- very performative but they don't walk the walk given that they are restricting access to a public field. SMH

https://wamu.org/story/19/09/02/a-d-c-private-school-has-had-special-access-to-a-public-field-for-almost-a-decade/

Not a Maret parent, but this one is so ridiculous. Maret paid to improve the field and a deal was signed for them to have access for HS sports. If you don't like the deal, then blame the city who agreed to it.

The deal was structured to be below the level for meaningful scrutiny and it was fine when a Market parent was on the city council. You can argue about whether Market was in the right or not, but it was definitely not a progressive move or a move that increased equity in the city

Actually it does. That field is in service and used by everyone. The Duke Ellington field is used by no one. Wish my kids could use the Duke Ellington field for sports after school.

It is a city field. Marie should be not have preferential access to it. Full stop.

The city field:

1) Was developed by Maret - benefitting everyone who uses it even when Maret isn't.
2) Will continue to benefit from that development when Maret is no longer using it (beginning a year from now).
3) Is in a supremely wealthy part of NW D.C.
4) See #2 - Maret is moving to private land because of these concerns - which a whole different clientele is mad about because they don't want any traffic near their expensive homes.

Totally fair to level some criticism at any privilege hoarding private school, but Maret has quite literally the smallest actual footprint of their facilities of any of the upper tier schools in the DMV and is intentionally moving away from using the public land. No one is telling St. Albans to give up land to benefit the community, Potomac to declare the campus a wildlife preserve, etc. etc. What should Maret do? Cancel all athletics until they have the new fields at an independent school price points?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their brand of being progressive seems like the worst kind -- very performative but they don't walk the walk given that they are restricting access to a public field. SMH

https://wamu.org/story/19/09/02/a-d-c-private-school-has-had-special-access-to-a-public-field-for-almost-a-decade/

Not a Maret parent, but this one is so ridiculous. Maret paid to improve the field and a deal was signed for them to have access for HS sports. If you don't like the deal, then blame the city who agreed to it.

The deal was structured to be below the level for meaningful scrutiny and it was fine when a Market parent was on the city council. You can argue about whether Market was in the right or not, but it was definitely not a progressive move or a move that increased equity in the city

Actually it does. That field is in service and used by everyone. The Duke Ellington field is used by no one. Wish my kids could use the Duke Ellington field for sports after school.

It is a city field. Marie should be not have preferential access to it. Full stop.

It’s a DCPR field and no one was using it during the time Maret wanted to use it(2-5 week days in the fall and spring). It was a great deal for the city and all the neighborhood kids, teams and clubs who use the field. Hardy was not using it for the 30 years before DCPR and Maret agreed to renovation and maintenance. They have no plans to use in the future. So there is no conflict with anyone.

Why should a middle school which has a field, tennis courts, a track and a large parking lot take control of a public park and deny access to everyone? Everyone knows DCPS will not maintain the field. It will be like the abandon Duke Ellington Field but locked all the time. No more club sports, rec team, public access.

Nope I want my kids to use the field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their brand of being progressive seems like the worst kind -- very performative but they don't walk the walk given that they are restricting access to a public field. SMH

https://wamu.org/story/19/09/02/a-d-c-private-school-has-had-special-access-to-a-public-field-for-almost-a-decade/

Not a Maret parent, but this one is so ridiculous. Maret paid to improve the field and a deal was signed for them to have access for HS sports. If you don't like the deal, then blame the city who agreed to it.

The deal was structured to be below the level for meaningful scrutiny and it was fine when a Market parent was on the city council. You can argue about whether Market was in the right or not, but it was definitely not a progressive move or a move that increased equity in the city

Actually it does. That field is in service and used by everyone. The Duke Ellington field is used by no one. Wish my kids could use the Duke Ellington field for sports after school.

It is a city field. Marie should be not have preferential access to it. Full stop.

It’s a DCPR field and no one was using it during the time Maret wanted to use it(2-5 week days in the fall and spring). It was a great deal for the city and all the neighborhood kids, teams and clubs who use the field. Hardy was not using it for the 30 years before DCPR and Maret agreed to renovation and maintenance. They have no plans to use in the future. So there is no conflict with anyone.

Why should a middle school which has a field, tennis courts, a track and a large parking lot take control of a public park and deny access to everyone? Everyone knows DCPS will not maintain the field. It will be like the abandon Duke Ellington Field but locked all the time. No more club sports, rec team, public access.

Nope I want my kids to use the field.

Have you spoken to the BGCGW kids at Jelleff about how much they get to use the field?

Maret is progressive enough within its bubble but has never been a good neighbor, regardless of the marketing rhetoric on their website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How progressive are they? Toured last year and saw some interesting things like a “Unapologetically Queer” in the elementary school library. Do they talk to elementary aged kids about gender identity? Any insight is appreciated.

Are you referring to an adult, a child, a poster, a book? What exactly did you see? And if anything being unapologetically queer bothers you, go elsewhere.

Ok, calm down. I see OP's concern - would a straight child be welcome?

A couple of years ago, a trans Maret kid killed himself. However progressive Maret is, it is not enough to save him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret needs a re vamp. Sliding down further and further- poor leadership, bad vision, funky morale, poor placement.

You don't have to apply. There, I saved you 50k/year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of the most off the rails threads in DCUM history. Amazing!

Responding to the actual initial question:

1) Maret is a lot more progressive than most DC area privates, including having a much more diverse faculty and leadership team than most area schools. It does have a new head after three decades this year, who knows what changes that brings. It is also still a very expensive elite private in NW DC, so it's socioeconomic footprint remains relatively narrow.

2) There is some internal discomfort, including quiet grumbling about diversity initiatives and affinity groups. This seems to be more of any issue with some parents than within the student body. There is inescapably some pushback about "elevating" certain things by actually calling attention to them.

3) There has been, as with many schools, more teacher turnover in the last three years than previously. Hard to say whether that's an indictment of any kind on the school, or a function of long term leadership turnover and covid.

4) College placement is quite strong but not as Ivy heavy as some other locals.

5) The school is held in high regard for lots of different kinds of kids with different interests being able to find their way there.

How can anyone think of this school as progressive when they are taking a public playground away from public school kids and the overall community? That is the exact opposite of progressive.

This thread is stupid. How can you expect any school that charges 50k/year tuition to be progressive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How bizarre that overnight we are living in a world where we are even talking to elementary school kids about if they want to be a boy or a girl and that “gender identity” is even a concept to be discussed at school. Who is pushing this and why are we going along with it? 25 years ago you would have been thought to be mentally unwell if you suggested a K student with a penis could be a girl.

The priests, pastors,... all those child molesters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their brand of being progressive seems like the worst kind -- very performative but they don't walk the walk given that they are restricting access to a public field. SMH

https://wamu.org/story/19/09/02/a-d-c-private-school-has-had-special-access-to-a-public-field-for-almost-a-decade/

Not a Maret parent, but this one is so ridiculous. Maret paid to improve the field and a deal was signed for them to have access for HS sports. If you don't like the deal, then blame the city who agreed to it.

The deal was structured to be below the level for meaningful scrutiny and it was fine when a Market parent was on the city council. You can argue about whether Market was in the right or not, but it was definitely not a progressive move or a move that increased equity in the city

Actually it does. That field is in service and used by everyone. The Duke Ellington field is used by no one. Wish my kids could use the Duke Ellington field for sports after school.

It is a city field. Marie should be not have preferential access to it. Full stop.

It’s a DCPR field and no one was using it during the time Maret wanted to use it(2-5 week days in the fall and spring). It was a great deal for the city and all the neighborhood kids, teams and clubs who use the field. Hardy was not using it for the 30 years before DCPR and Maret agreed to renovation and maintenance. They have no plans to use in the future. So there is no conflict with anyone.

Why should a middle school which has a field, tennis courts, a track and a large parking lot take control of a public park and deny access to everyone? Everyone knows DCPS will not maintain the field. It will be like the abandon Duke Ellington Field but locked all the time. No more club sports, rec team, public access.

Nope I want my kids to use the field.

Have you spoken to the BGCGW kids at Jelleff about how much they get to use the field?

Maret is progressive enough within its bubble but has never been a good neighbor, regardless of the marketing rhetoric on their website.

So what? It is a private school that charges a premium. What do you expect? Start your own if you are so salty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How bizarre that overnight we are living in a world where we are even talking to elementary school kids about if they want to be a boy or a girl and that “gender identity” is even a concept to be discussed at school. Who is pushing this and why are we going along with it? 25 years ago you would have been thought to be mentally unwell if you suggested a K student with a penis could be a girl.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How bizarre that overnight we are living in a world where we are even talking to elementary school kids about if they want to be a boy or a girl and that “gender identity” is even a concept to be discussed at school. Who is pushing this and why are we going along with it? 25 years ago you would have been thought to be mentally unwell if you suggested a K student with a penis could be a girl.

Mentally unwell is right. Of course you can’t say that or you will be called a bigot and if you stay silent, you will be known as “complicit” in some made-up crime. This is the definition of fascism. And telling little kids they can choose their gender? That’s child abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How bizarre that overnight we are living in a world where we are even talking to elementary school kids about if they want to be a boy or a girl and that “gender identity” is even a concept to be discussed at school. Who is pushing this and why are we going along with it? 25 years ago you would have been thought to be mentally unwell if you suggested a K student with a penis could be a girl.

The priests, pastors,... all those child molesters.

Priests and pastors are pushing this? Huh? You have lost your marbles.