GDS high school

[Anonymous]

And Russel is cool with all this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it’s all the truth. Believe every bit of it.

Yeah, it's so "true" that no one in this thread can name the specific contrary opinions that are supposedly being reported to the DEI office.

There was one just a few weeks ago. A long standing teacher reading a very famous author who wrote some charged words in his work. Boom. Teacher turned into DEI office by the form submitted anonymously by a hs student. Forced to ritually self immolate

He read the passage out loud in a book the academic department had assigned. Yes the passage contained a word that is considered deeply offensive in 2024. The teacher even warned the class before he read it.

And yet, teacher was reported. The administrative state began its investigation. Called the teacher in. An apology was forced to be sent in writing to the entire class by the teacher. That apology was sent around the school.

This happens frequently. God forbid you say “slave” in a class about slavery instead of “enslaved person”. You know the form will be used. And the kid who said slave in proper historic context will be called in.

To be clear, there are a very small number of kids who do this. But they are around. And everyone knows them. And the entire DEI apparatus at the school serves to empower these 1-2 kids per classroom

Was the student censoring "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" or "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Will they be banning those books now?

Think it might have been 'Song of Solomon". I honestly think kids at that age often have a level of righteous indignation and are in the process of learning to advocate, yet haven't learned to pick their battles yet. Learning how and when to speak up is a skill that high school students are still mastering. I like that GDS helps students find their voice and situations like this are a learning experience for everyone.

A Toni Morrison book got a DEI warning and the teacher had to immolate themselves in front of their students? That doesn't seem like a positive learning experience for anyone.

Can confirm this was the book in question

I can’t tell who is most at fault here - administration for allowing this anonymous reporting tool or fragile kids? Both?

Imagine when these kids are in the real world. I don’t mean Wesleyan or Bates or Bowdoin.

Why didn't the administration defend the book itself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to the first question on this string....as a 9 year GDS parent yes, the HS admin is very weak. Teachers are the gem and they really care about the kids. But, the admin is soo out of touch. They try to force the kids to meet with them with repeated emails but kids have no interest.
Also, there is NO appetite for diverse thinking at this school - its the far left or you are considered a complete idiot. When this is raised with teachers they agree but their hands are tied and they express frustration. The HS principal is a total joke. The placement of the seniors is good but dont mistake that for the admin. They dont help one bit. We are excited to be done with that place.

Totally agree. New to this thread and agree with everything you say and in the thread. The admin is terrible and out of touch. Talk to the older teachers and in private they will often reveal what they feel. They despise the admin and the regressive way the admin runs the school. The teachers feel hamstrung in what they can say in classes. The admin will send monitors into controversial classes like teachers who discuss Israel Palestine. Teachers feel like they are being watched by the GDS speech police. It's a very small minority of kids who like the admin. Most side with and love their teachers. Most kids feel as the teachers do - a particularly weak principal and her entire office and many of her underlings are also weak "yes men" who have an axe to grind on regressive speech monitoring.

We are almost done after many years and a few kids here. I can't wait. I will never ever give another dollar to the place.

The place changed for the worse in last 3-4 years. Especially the HS. But not just that. There have been a cascade of bad hiring decisions at LS/MS principal level too. L

ike many, we love(d) Russell but you can't just be good at giving speeches.

Privately someone said HOS is even afraid of his admin in some ways. Return in person was latest of *any* DMV school after COVID b/c he was afraid of a revolt from his administrators. Wow. If that. is true, that tells you a lot.

The tail wags the dog here.

The entire place needs to be cleaned out of its leadership, I'm afraid. That said, I wonder if the board has the balls to do this. Looking at the board, I doubt it.

My two who already graduated from GDS mostly have terrible things to say about the admin and the speech police and great things to say about the vast majority of the teachers. They feel no sense of pride in having gone there, no bind to the school overall.

I've never understood why so many parents give him a free pass while complaining about everything else.

Because he's smart, involved and compassionate. He's more than a gifted speaker. Also, can you imagine who they might hire if he leaves? Given recent HOS hiring at other schools, GDS is darn lucky to have him.

I haven’t found him to be any of those things. And who do you think is ultimately responsible for all the things people complain about at GDS if not the HOS?

Exactly. I do not recommend the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Talked to my GDS high schooler about what I saw in this thread.

Their summary -

The HS principal and her top couple of admins are atrocious. Aloof, not present at many student events, “always traveling to conferences” according to a teacher. The prior HS head was much better on this front. What happened to her BTW?

yes, DEI still is involved the student disciplinary process (including for non DEI discipline issues). The entire framing of discipline actions is around DEI framework. Even for things that have nothing to do w DEI.

Yes, most assemblies are now DEI (down from 100 percent last two years. Now maybe 75 percent). Progress!!!

Yes, many students and teachers are guarded in classroom discussions around political events or historic events for fear of saying something that will be turned into DEI office on an anonymous form

The DEI office is very exclusionary. They do zero to support Jewish, Indian, Asian kids. Until this year no events etc. now a bare few. Even the office itself which is a defacto hang out for 10-15 kids between classes and gives off an unwelcome vibe for non black kids who want to go ask a question in there of the admin.

And finally, the vast majority of kids my kid knows hate this performative stupidity. It’s GDS after all. You aren’t here unless you buy into the mission. It will never be Gt Prep. But for god sake, the admin and school have shoved this so far down kid throats.

Many are there for the name, not the mission. And what is the mission nowadays? Wasn’t part of the reason the school was founded to have a private school where Jews were welcome? How far has the school strayed from its mission?

We like the convenient location

Agreed. It is an excellent location.

Such a tiny parcel for a k-12. And no lunch for the US because of the space constraints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can confirm that the infamous GDS bias reporting anonymous form is still around. I’m shocked this administration allows it to still exist as a thing. But having read this thread perhaps I should not be.

Sure students are told not to abuse the form, but you are empowering 15-18 year olds with an anonymous tool to report to the most important administrative department any speech that makes you feel “unsafe”

I’m sure that will go well.

That office has done nothing to promote Indian American, Arab American or Asian American events or students. Begrudgingly they added some nice nice words about anti Semitic hate after Oct 7.

Here’s my supposition - GDS should eliminate the DEI office. Or they need to entirely change it. Stop making it about one group and just one group. Constantly finger wagging at the kids about their implicit racism against the black community has done lots of harm and if you ask many kids, it’s actually hardened their views against the mission of the school and what they set out to do. Predictable backlash when you tell a group of HS kids that they are part of structural racism at assemblies every single week for 3 years. It’s why many kids find creative ways to skip these assemblies despite high school monitors patrolling hallways.

All assemblies in HS are run by DEI office. There are no longer any non DEI speakers at assemblies. Been this way for 2-3 years.

So yeah. Back to the thread. The HS administration is broken.

And as much as I think Russell is a spectacular leader in so many ways, like many liberals, he lost the thread.

He is struggling to take it back and his own direct reports are the enemy in many cases. He hired them and created their positions.

My God you wrote EXACTLY what I think. Agree 100% and couldn't have written this better. This community of writers makes it clear that we are not alone and that change will come in time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can confirm that the infamous GDS bias reporting anonymous form is still around. I’m shocked this administration allows it to still exist as a thing. But having read this thread perhaps I should not be.

Sure students are told not to abuse the form, but you are empowering 15-18 year olds with an anonymous tool to report to the most important administrative department any speech that makes you feel “unsafe”

I’m sure that will go well.

That office has done nothing to promote Indian American, Arab American or Asian American events or students. Begrudgingly they added some nice nice words about anti Semitic hate after Oct 7.

Here’s my supposition - GDS should eliminate the DEI office. Or they need to entirely change it. Stop making it about one group and just one group. Constantly finger wagging at the kids about their implicit racism against the black community has done lots of harm and if you ask many kids, it’s actually hardened their views against the mission of the school and what they set out to do. Predictable backlash when you tell a group of HS kids that they are part of structural racism at assemblies every single week for 3 years. It’s why many kids find creative ways to skip these assemblies despite high school monitors patrolling hallways.

All assemblies in HS are run by DEI office. There are no longer any non DEI speakers at assemblies. Been this way for 2-3 years.

So yeah. Back to the thread. The HS administration is broken.

And as much as I think Russell is a spectacular leader in so many ways, like many liberals, he lost the thread.

He is struggling to take it back and his own direct reports are the enemy in many cases. He hired them and created their positions.

So let me get this straight. Some random 15-18 YO can decide that s/he “feels unsafe” because a teacher or another student uses a word like “slave”- and can cause this level of disruption over it??

I have never been a fan of GDS but this is stunning even with that bias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The DEI office is a joke! Staff, faculty, and students agree. They just host assemblies and meet in secret. What a complete waste of an office at a school that could really elevate its mission. They hang posters, pretend to be talk show hosts, wear suits with sneakers and give promotions to DEI directors who have not yet produced tangible programming for the community. What a joke. The entire school is a joke.

Anyone want to guess the annual cost of this office to the schools budget?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it’s all the truth. Believe every bit of it.

Yeah, it's so "true" that no one in this thread can name the specific contrary opinions that are supposedly being reported to the DEI office.

There was one just a few weeks ago. A long standing teacher reading a very famous author who wrote some charged words in his work. Boom. Teacher turned into DEI office by the form submitted anonymously by a hs student. Forced to ritually self immolate

He read the passage out loud in a book the academic department had assigned. Yes the passage contained a word that is considered deeply offensive in 2024. The teacher even warned the class before he read it.

And yet, teacher was reported. The administrative state began its investigation. Called the teacher in. An apology was forced to be sent in writing to the entire class by the teacher. That apology was sent around the school.

This happens frequently. God forbid you say “slave” in a class about slavery instead of “enslaved person”. You know the form will be used. And the kid who said slave in proper historic context will be called in.

To be clear, there are a very small number of kids who do this. But they are around. And everyone knows them. And the entire DEI apparatus at the school serves to empower these 1-2 kids per classroom

This is horrifying, if true.
I am a professor who is considering applying DC to GDS, and I will ask about this. This twisted McCarthyism hinders the development of intellectually competent college students. Why is GDS encouraging students to be so fragile? If GDS DEI seriously believes that teaching literature that contains uncomfortable words and ideas is "harmful" and "traumatic," the school needs to contemplate what its educational purpose actually is.
I both pity and loathe students who come to college thinking that "justice" means refusing to be exposed to history.
What is the educational background and training of the DEI staff?

If you are a professor and you are getting job intelligence from an anonymous forum, please don’t apply to GDS.

Why? I think this is very enlightening. Are you embarrassed by what you’re reading here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Talked to my GDS high schooler about what I saw in this thread.

Their summary -

The HS principal and her top couple of admins are atrocious. Aloof, not present at many student events, “always traveling to conferences” according to a teacher. The prior HS head was much better on this front. What happened to her BTW?

yes, DEI still is involved the student disciplinary process (including for non DEI discipline issues). The entire framing of discipline actions is around DEI framework. Even for things that have nothing to do w DEI.

Yes, most assemblies are now DEI (down from 100 percent last two years. Now maybe 75 percent). Progress!!!

Yes, many students and teachers are guarded in classroom discussions around political events or historic events for fear of saying something that will be turned into DEI office on an anonymous form

The DEI office is very exclusionary. They do zero to support Jewish, Indian, Asian kids. Until this year no events etc. now a bare few. Even the office itself which is a defacto hang out for 10-15 kids between classes and gives off an unwelcome vibe for non black kids who want to go ask a question in there of the admin.

And finally, the vast majority of kids my kid knows hate this performative stupidity. It’s GDS after all. You aren’t here unless you buy into the mission. It will never be Gt Prep. But for god sake, the admin and school have shoved this so far down kid throats.

Many are there for the name, not the mission. And what is the mission nowadays? Wasn’t part of the reason the school was founded to have a private school where Jews were welcome? How far has the school strayed from its mission?

We like the convenient location

Sidwell is right down the street and is nowhere NEAR this level of insanity.

[Anonymous]

So with type of insanity, why would anyone with a kid who is white or Jewish, Asian, Indian, or any other ethnic minority send there kids there? Other than being AA and benefiting from the DEI office, it seems every other group is marginalized there and is felt to be an oppressor and the cause of all problems. No thanks. My 1/2 Jewish/Indian kid does not need to be afraid of using words like slave in historical context or god forbid mom/dad instead of parent 1, parent 2.

Does anyone here have any kids who are happy with the social aspect of this school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can confirm that the infamous GDS bias reporting anonymous form is still around. I’m shocked this administration allows it to still exist as a thing. But having read this thread perhaps I should not be.

Sure students are told not to abuse the form, but you are empowering 15-18 year olds with an anonymous tool to report to the most important administrative department any speech that makes you feel “unsafe”

I’m sure that will go well.

That office has done nothing to promote Indian American, Arab American or Asian American events or students. Begrudgingly they added some nice nice words about anti Semitic hate after Oct 7.

Here’s my supposition - GDS should eliminate the DEI office. Or they need to entirely change it. Stop making it about one group and just one group. Constantly finger wagging at the kids about their implicit racism against the black community has done lots of harm and if you ask many kids, it’s actually hardened their views against the mission of the school and what they set out to do. Predictable backlash when you tell a group of HS kids that they are part of structural racism at assemblies every single week for 3 years. It’s why many kids find creative ways to skip these assemblies despite high school monitors patrolling hallways.

All assemblies in HS are run by DEI office. There are no longer any non DEI speakers at assemblies. Been this way for 2-3 years.

So yeah. Back to the thread. The HS administration is broken.

And as much as I think Russell is a spectacular leader in so many ways, like many liberals, he lost the thread.

He is struggling to take it back and his own direct reports are the enemy in many cases. He hired them and created their positions.

So let me get this straight. Some random 15-18 YO can decide that s/he “feels unsafe” because a teacher or another student uses a word like “slave”- and can cause this level of disruption over it??

I have never been a fan of GDS but this is stunning even with that bias.

Don’t kid yourself. All schools are like this now even public schools. My sister-in-law is a MCPS HS teacher and she was recently suspended for 1 week because one kid got offended at some random comment she made and complained to the principal about it. I cannot share what she said but it was relatively innocuous.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a recent GDS. It is great to read this forum and hear things said out loud that I can’t imagine ever being said at the school (without consequences for your kid). The teachers are amazing. The rest was not. The thought/speech police are very effective at teaching kids to not express any view other than the school’s. To the PP above my child made great friends but the atmosphere impacts social relationships. Kids know they can’t really engage in dialog even with their peers on some subjects.

I ran into a beloved teacher recently who said the HS administration had become very difficult to deal with in the last few years and the teacher was thinking of leaving. If my kid were applying today I would worry about the impact the HS administration will have on teacher retention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had one child who graduated in 2020 (was there 9-12, 2016-20). Faculty was great for him. Admin was HORRIBLE in so many ways you don't want to get me started. I did not have my twins even apply to GDS, two years after the eldest went.

Where did you apply for younger children?

My younger children went to Garrison Forest ( girls, Owings mills, Md) and st Andrews -Delaware. Both boarded and had fantastic high school experiences ( and better college counseling!)

Please share more about St. Andrews in DE. It's on our short list of high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does any other GDS parent remember the very obvious DEI hire to teach chemistry 2 years ago at HS level? The teacher was so wholly unqualified to teach the subject matter that they had to let him go mid-way through the year.

I'm genuinely not picking on this but it was yet another self-inflicted wound. At least they fixed it - though it took nearly full school year to counsel the guy out.

Wasn’t that the physics teacher not chemistry?

That’s right. The physics teacher who actually knew no physics. Like how the FCK did GDS hire this clown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So with type of insanity, why would anyone with a kid who is white or Jewish, Asian, Indian, or any other ethnic minority send there kids there? Other than being AA and benefiting from the DEI office, it seems every other group is marginalized there and is felt to be an oppressor and the cause of all problems. No thanks. My 1/2 Jewish/Indian kid does not need to be afraid of using words like slave in historical context or god forbid mom/dad instead of parent 1, parent 2.

Does anyone here have any kids who are happy with the social aspect of this school?

So only black kids benefit from DEI at GDS? Get a life.