NCS going downhill?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PP, I appreciate the advice.

[Anonymous]

It seemed like sock puppetry to me as well, but I guess we'll never know.

[Anonymous]

Sad that that's what your takeaway is...sock puppetry.

[Anonymous]

NP here, I find it amazing that if a person has anything negative to say about one of the DC "Big 3" Schools someone has to assume that there is a troll or a sock puppet! No school is perfect and I think at NCS some of these parents overlooked their daughter's happiness just so they could say "my DD attends NCS" I hate it for the poor kids who hate school each day and the parents make them endure a terrible school experience because it serves them in some way and not the child. SAT scores are not everything, kids have to be happy and feel comfortable in their learning environment. Why damage a child for a a few points on the SAT? If NCS is not a good fit for your DD you could just as easily send your DD to any of the other 1000 great independent schools in this area and they would do just fine.

[Anonymous]

This thread shows the craziness of how people on DCUM attack schools. It started with what was a fairly crazy attack suggesting that NCS was going downhill because of what could at most be viewed as a slight change in one particular year in the early college admissions of the school. Message: people should be worried about NCS because it is not tough enough, selective enough, or something like that and therefore might not get as many kids into Ivies. Then it became that NCS is not a nice enough supportive enough place for kids. Message: people should be worried about NCS because it is too tough and competitive and not supportive for girls. Good grief.

I actually have a bit of input because my daughter started at NCS this year (middle school age) coming from a PK-8 school. What I would say based on our early experience is that it seems like a great place to learn and be for the right type of girl. Our daughter chose NCS herself and has fit in there and is doing well but only because she actually enjoys the demanding academic environment and the personality of the place. Personally I don't really care for it because I find the parent body to be too uptight and the environment to be too competitive and the girls too hard on themselves. I would never send my younger DD there for that reason because I think she is the wrong personality for NCS. I have the sense that PPs who had really bad social issues are dealing with kids who are not the right fit for NCS. If the child is unhappy at a school to the point that the others are discussing I would think you should definitely move them. There is no benefit to being at a particular school (or even being at a "better" school) that would outweigh a kid spending high school feeling unhappy at school and lacking a good social community of friends.

[Anonymous]

I called sock puppet because there was a series of posts purporting to be responses to PP's yet uncannily similar in wording and style. It would be interesting to have the posts analyzed by an expert.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread shows the craziness of how people on DCUM attack schools. It started with what was a fairly crazy attack suggesting that NCS was going downhill because of what could at most be viewed as a slight change in one particular year in the early college admissions of the school. Message: people should be worried about NCS because it is not tough enough, selective enough, or something like that and therefore might not get as many kids into Ivies. Then it became that NCS is not a nice enough supportive enough place for kids. Message: people should be worried about NCS because it is too tough and competitive and not supportive for girls. Good grief.

I actually have a bit of input because my daughter started at NCS this year (middle school age) coming from a PK-8 school. What I would say based on our early experience is that it seems like a great place to learn and be for the right type of girl. Our daughter chose NCS herself and has fit in there and is doing well but only because she actually enjoys the demanding academic environment and the personality of the place. Personally I don't really care for it because I find the parent body to be too uptight and the environment to be too competitive and the girls too hard on themselves. I would never send my younger DD there for that reason because I think she is the wrong personality for NCS. I have the sense that PPs who had really bad social issues are dealing with kids who are not the right fit for NCS. If the child is unhappy at a school to the point that the others are discussing I would think you should definitely move them. There is no benefit to being at a particular school (or even being at a "better" school) that would outweigh a kid spending high school feeling unhappy at school and lacking a good social community of friends.

How dear, a new NCS parent giving advice. When did your DD start in September?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread shows the craziness of how people on DCUM attack schools. It started with what was a fairly crazy attack suggesting that NCS was going downhill because of what could at most be viewed as a slight change in one particular year in the early college admissions of the school. Message: people should be worried about NCS because it is not tough enough, selective enough, or something like that and therefore might not get as many kids into Ivies. Then it became that NCS is not a nice enough supportive enough place for kids. Message: people should be worried about NCS because it is too tough and competitive and not supportive for girls. Good grief.

I actually have a bit of input because my daughter started at NCS this year (middle school age) coming from a PK-8 school. What I would say based on our early experience is that it seems like a great place to learn and be for the right type of girl. Our daughter chose NCS herself and has fit in there and is doing well but only because she actually enjoys the demanding academic environment and the personality of the place. Personally I don't really care for it because I find the parent body to be too uptight and the environment to be too competitive and the girls too hard on themselves. I would never send my younger DD there for that reason because I think she is the wrong personality for NCS. I have the sense that PPs who had really bad social issues are dealing with kids who are not the right fit for NCS. If the child is unhappy at a school to the point that the others are discussing I would think you should definitely move them. There is no benefit to being at a particular school (or even being at a "better" school) that would outweigh a kid spending high school feeling unhappy at school and lacking a good social community of friends.

How dear, a new NCS parent giving advice. When did your DD start in September?

Actually, the perspective of a parent of a girl who just entered NCS in middle school is exactly what I am interested in. I appreciate her thoughtful post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The administrators will be out soon in full defense mode.

Absolutely!

[Anonymous]

NP here, I find it amazing that if a person has anything negative to say about one of the DC "Big 3" Schools someone has to assume that there is a troll or a sock puppet! No school is perfect and I think at NCS some of these parents overlooked their daughter's happiness just so they could say "my DD attends NCS" I hate it for the poor kids who hate school each day and the parents make them endure a terrible school experience because it serves them in some way and not the child. SAT scores are not everything, kids have to be happy and feel comfortable in their learning environment. Why damage a child for a a few points on the SAT? If NCS is not a good fit for your DD you could just as easily send your DD to any of the other 1000 great independent schools in this area and they would do just fine.

Don't worry. It's always the same cast of woefully inane characters with their passive and surrendering retorts ... troll and sock puppet.

[Anonymous]

13:30 I also contributed so there are posters several echoing the same sentiment. Not sock puppeting, just consistency. Sorry if that doesn't support your point of vIew but it is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am only talking about performance on the AP exams. I am not talking about "AP courses" and the like. I do not care about the courses. Anyone can sign up with a high school to take these AP exams, middle school students, homeschoolers and folk in regular courses. Those at the magnets and TJ have better performance by these metrics than the top area privates regardless of whether they take courses labelled AP or not. In fact, I know many who self-study (no formal courses) including middle school students. If you do not like the PSAT, SAT, AP exam metric we could examine other (e.g., Intel and Siemen's awards, USAMO, AIME, AMC, PISA, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science Olympiads. Are there any other metrics you would prefer to use? Or are your metrics non exam oriented and focus on college matriculation rates, legacy and bank accouunt?

resentful, much ? Did it ever occur to you that since private schools are not tax payer funded, the $$$$ contributions have to come from somewhere ?

[Anonymous]

resentful, much ? Did it ever occur to you that since private schools are not tax payer funded, the $$$$ contributions have to come from somewhere ?

What does private school and $$$$ have to do with results of AP exams and SAT tests? Unless you are referring to the cost of the excessive after hour tutoring that goes on in our D.C. area private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For us, there was little joy in any of the years. As a new freshman my DD would naively sit at any lunch table assuming the girls would be friendly-- and would be completely ignored.

PP, I feel really sad for your DD after reading this. My DD is an alum and hates NCS. I'm just relieved that she found her joy again in college. As a parent, I'm totally guilty of subjecting my daughter to a school that wasn't a good fit for her, we should have pulled her out at the end of 6th grade. I thought keeping her at NCS was the best option.

I am glad your DD is in a happier place now. All we can do for ours is look forward to her graduation. I really wish I had known. People did try to warn us when she was accepted, but I foolishly did not listen.

What was the warning? I have my own views, based on friends' direct experience. I'm trying to gently warn a friend whose daughter is sensitive but I don't want to upset her.

[Anonymous]

I'm not the other person raising the sock puppetry idea but I had exactly the same reaction. Posts that just read the same, same style of writing, same tone, with what sounds like an exaggerated story. I have a DD at NCS and I agree that while we are happy with it, it isn't for everyone. but even the folks I know who aren't happy don't sound this hyperbolic. It just doesn't read real. Even the sitting alone in the lunchroom thing. Maybe, I'm sure its possible. But I've been in that lunch many times and I never saw anything like that.