How good is Maret?

[Anonymous]

I think the school is great. It would be even greater with a more qualified HOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the school is great. It would be even greater with a more qualified HOS.

We get it. You don’t like the HOS. If you are so unhappy leave instead of mentioning it online every chance you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn’t apply and my child didn’t want such a small school. That was THE factor for us. But, as a relatively disinterested person my take is this. It is a good school with good outcomes and hard admissions due to size and being good. Desirable for some due to its smaller size. But… and this is probably why it is a touchy topic… it does not have the cache of Sidwell, NCS/St Albans, or GDS. Full stop. As a local, it was a school for artsy kids back in the day and that did not necessarily mean academically excellent artsy kids. Back then Sidwell, GDS and St Albans/NCS were already super hard to get into and regularly churning out great college admits. And FWIW, Potomac didn’t even have a high school. So the landscape has changed and Maret has changed and it seems academically much more respectable. But… it is not in the same league as NCS/St Albans and Sidwell. And the Maret people sound a little ridiculous constantly insisting it is. But I don’t have any hate. Just a dose of reality. Some kids and families may prefer it over those “better” schools. We didn’t apply to a single DC school after factoring in transportation and some of the after school requirements. We considered some and would not have put in application at Maret because it is smaller than our child wanted. Everyone has different goals and expectations for high school. But here is the thing. Maret is very good. It’s like Williams or Amherst. But it isn’t Harvard or MIT and those others are.

Sounds about right. Why presidents choose to send their kids to Sidwell over maret?

I thought Barron Trump went to St. Andrew's Episcopal, not Sidwell?

There are two critical reasons for this, one having to do with the student. I have close friends whose kids were in the same grade at St Andrews and then, improbably, a good friend in West Palm Beach whose kid was in the same grade as Trump when he transferred from MD to FL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many families chose Maret because they wanted a good academic program without the overwhelming workload of GDS or Sidwell. In our K–8 community, another big factor that parents and kids said yes aside from the less homework was the smaller class sizes. Not every child thrives in large cohorts or intense social environments.

Maret feels similar to Field and Burke in that sense — and we hope it never grows to 150 students per grade. The homework load is manageable, and the current 9th-grade class is truly fantastic.

It’s true that some kids have left for various reasons, and the school has made some errors and even dealt with staffers but many simply wanted a bigger, more varied social scene. Maret isn’t trying to be one of the “Big 3,” and honestly, if it were farther from the city, it might not have the same draw. In our Northwest neighborhood, almost everyone has it on their list — largely because the commute is so convenient.

Thanks for laying out the pros and cons transparently. Not sure why some parents want to claim that Maret is better than other private schools in all dimensions.

I see most Maret families saying they are happy that it doesn’t have the workload of Sidwell/NCS/STA vs saying they are better than them.

Giving busy work does not mean the school is better. It just means there is more homework with no correlation to mastering the subject. Like a gerbil on a wheel in a cage.

How can you be sure other schools assign “busywork”? Could it be deep work that enhances critical thinking and you just don’t know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many families chose Maret because they wanted a good academic program without the overwhelming workload of GDS or Sidwell. In our K–8 community, another big factor that parents and kids said yes aside from the less homework was the smaller class sizes. Not every child thrives in large cohorts or intense social environments.

Maret feels similar to Field and Burke in that sense — and we hope it never grows to 150 students per grade. The homework load is manageable, and the current 9th-grade class is truly fantastic.

It’s true that some kids have left for various reasons, and the school has made some errors and even dealt with staffers but many simply wanted a bigger, more varied social scene. Maret isn’t trying to be one of the “Big 3,” and honestly, if it were farther from the city, it might not have the same draw. In our Northwest neighborhood, almost everyone has it on their list — largely because the commute is so convenient.

Thanks for laying out the pros and cons transparently. Not sure why some parents want to claim that Maret is better than other private schools in all dimensions.

I see most Maret families saying they are happy that it doesn’t have the workload of Sidwell/NCS/STA vs saying they are better than them.

Giving busy work does not mean the school is better. It just means there is more homework with no correlation to mastering the subject. Like a gerbil on a wheel in a cage.

How can you be sure other schools assign “busywork”? Could it be deep work that enhances critical thinking and you just don’t know?

It’s call experience with kids who have gone through both types of school. Busy work does not increase critical thinking. Cling to your beliefs about homework load and rigor. College/university courses will cover more material and in great depth vs any advanced course in high school and with less homework. Funny how that works!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a bad platform to ask about that school. There are absolutely rabid Maret haters here.

It’s a good school. It’s a competitive but not super selective admit. A strong student will have a strong chance. Go visit.

We went to the tour. We feel we learned little about the curriculum and the academics are underwhelming. Maybe it is the tour not the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the school is great. It would be even greater with a more qualified HOS.

We get it. You don’t like the HOS. If you are so unhappy leave instead of mentioning it online every chance you get.

The majority of teachers agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a bad platform to ask about that school. There are absolutely rabid Maret haters here.

It’s a good school. It’s a competitive but not super selective admit. A strong student will have a strong chance. Go visit.

We went to the tour. We feel we learned little about the curriculum and the academics are underwhelming. Maybe it is the tour not the school.

It’s not the tour. A lot of their quizzes and homework are very superficial and done online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone clearly spell out the main reasons for departure. Of course people leave for different reasons, but what is the main culprit ?

Was a fairly normal year and families left for a variety of reasons, which is typical heading into 9th grade: better fit for HS focus or academic ability, athletics opportunities, geographic moves, etc.

Don’t think there’s much more to be clear about. There are folks - mostly one troll on here - who want to throw out conspiracy theories but there’s no there there.

I'll bite.

The school is small with very strong sibling preference. Because of that, a few kids in a given grade can really change the character of the class, and because of the sibling preference, my sense is these challenging/mean kids don't get counseled out. Across the school, I think any honest parent would say that there are tough grades and really nice ones. If your child is in a grade with kids that are mean, sometimes even violent, it can be brutal. In addition, we were very surprised how many of the middle school kids and teachers talk in depth about Israel and Gaza (considering how contentious it is) in school. Some families left because of that as well, is my sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a bad platform to ask about that school. There are absolutely rabid Maret haters here.

It’s a good school. It’s a competitive but not super selective admit. A strong student will have a strong chance. Go visit.

We went to the tour. We feel we learned little about the curriculum and the academics are underwhelming. Maybe it is the tour not the school.

It’s not the tour. A lot of their quizzes and homework are very superficial and done online.

Apparently in 6th grade they use AI to edit essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a bad platform to ask about that school. There are absolutely rabid Maret haters here.

It’s a good school. It’s a competitive but not super selective admit. A strong student will have a strong chance. Go visit.

We went to the tour. We feel we learned little about the curriculum and the academics are underwhelming. Maybe it is the tour not the school.

It’s not the tour. A lot of their quizzes and homework are very superficial and done online.

Apparently in 6th grade they use AI to edit essays.

Somehow I am not surprised.

[Anonymous]

I work at a MD independent school and teaches a MS student that came to us from Maret. At our MS Open House I met at least one current Maret student looking to apply to come to us.

The HOS change and how they treated the band director are likely giving people pause to stay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a bad platform to ask about that school. There are absolutely rabid Maret haters here.

It’s a good school. It’s a competitive but not super selective admit. A strong student will have a strong chance. Go visit.

We went to the tour. We feel we learned little about the curriculum and the academics are underwhelming. Maybe it is the tour not the school.

It’s not the tour. A lot of their quizzes and homework are very superficial and done online.

Apparently in 6th grade they use AI to edit essays.

Somehow I am not surprised.

I think elementary school kids should use their own brain to write and they should learn how to polish their grammars.

[Anonymous]

They are very liberal and have affinity groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a MD independent school and teaches a MS student that came to us from Maret. At our MS Open House I met at least one current Maret student looking to apply to come to us.

The HOS change and how they treated the band director are likely giving people pause to stay

What happened with the band director ?