What schools were not what you expected when you visited them in person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the STA booster parent neglected to mention the culture of sexism and misogyny endemic to the school for so many years. I know the new head is trying to change this, but it's a tall order. A simple search on DCUM will reveal past posts about this, including the yearbook scandal five or so years ago. It's far from the paradigm some of these parents claim it is.

Only someone who knows nothing about the school would describe an incident that involved a few boys as a “culture” and as “endemic.” Other students informed, resulting in the yearbooks being pulled. Who do you think was angriest about the incident? The other STA boys who didn’t appreciate being tainted by the few idiots who thought misogyny was funny.

No matter how great a school is, it can’t counter parental influence or lack thereof. There are badly behaved kids in every school. It’s just not news when the kids are at public schools.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/12/22/two-private-schools-review-accounts-of-unwanted-sexual-advances/?utm_term=.799dc575caec

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/sexist-slurs-and-coded-insults-st-albans-school-2015-yearbook-stirred-outrage/2018/10/03/39c788d0-c4ab-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html

https://wamu.org/story/18/10/05/kavanaugh-allegations-prompt-some-prep-schools-to-examine-their-culture/#.XMW78GgpC2c

Also, if the school had recalled the yearbooks in question, why are there so many still in existence? As I understand it, the senior class had already received the yearbook before the school realized what happened and that many of the seniors kept it.

[Anonymous]

School facilities are very important. That said, I went to the GDS high school when it was on MacArthur Blvd., in the same building where the river school is now. It was the most amazing educational experience of my life - including college. Ultimately, its your teachers and fellow students that shape your experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the STA booster parent neglected to mention the culture of sexism and misogyny endemic to the school for so many years. I know the new head is trying to change this, but it's a tall order. A simple search on DCUM will reveal past posts about this, including the yearbook scandal five or so years ago. It's far from the paradigm some of these parents claim it is.

Only someone who knows nothing about the school would describe an incident that involved a few boys as a “culture” and as “endemic.” Other students informed, resulting in the yearbooks being pulled. Who do you think was angriest about the incident? The other STA boys who didn’t appreciate being tainted by the few idiots who thought misogyny was funny.

No matter how great a school is, it can’t counter parental influence or lack thereof. There are badly behaved kids in every school. It’s just not news when the kids are at public schools.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/12/22/two-private-schools-review-accounts-of-unwanted-sexual-advances/?utm_term=.799dc575caec

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/sexist-slurs-and-coded-insults-st-albans-school-2015-yearbook-stirred-outrage/2018/10/03/39c788d0-c4ab-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html

https://wamu.org/story/18/10/05/kavanaugh-allegations-prompt-some-prep-schools-to-examine-their-culture/#.XMW78GgpC2c

Also, if the school had recalled the yearbooks in question, why are there so many still in existence? As I understand it, the senior class had already received the yearbook before the school realized what happened and that many of the seniors kept it.

Your posts do nothing but reiterate the muckraking of cheap journalism.

Sexuality and sexual mores in our culture are so effed up. When I heard of the NCS girls writing up notes of purported unwanted sexual advances and sharing it as a Google doc, I found that appalling. The STA boys were being accused without the ability to defend themselves or even know which of their actions led to their being on the list.

Adolescents of both genders misread cues. Girls hound boys they have crushes on. Boys assume a mutual attraction that may not be there. Punishing these behaviors by putting them on a Google sheet is not the way to go.

If boys are making unwanted advances, they need to be confronted and told so — by the girls. If they aren’t listening, they need to be reported to parents and school administrators.

What I see happening is a generation of girls who are not being challenged to take responsibility for communicating or their own agency. The Babe article about Aziz Ansari pretty much captures the trend. I’ve aggressively pursued you and I’m on a date with you, but you must read my mind about what I like and don’t like. If you get it wrong, I will humiliate you publicly and try to destroy your career.

The fact that the girls made up a Google sheet and put things there doesn’t mean that they were factually correct.

If my son had been put on a list like that, and it came to my attention I would certainly want it investigated. If he had engaged in bad behavior, I would hold him accountable. If the girl who wrote it was telling a falsehood or grossly exaggeration what happened, I would want her to be held accountable as well.

When accusations are allowed to take on the status of fact without investigation or defense, that’s called mob justice.

[Anonymous]

Regardless of what you think,it establishes a pattern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of what you think,it establishes a pattern.

Meh. People can find patterns where they seek them. PP is invested in seeing something and not surprisingly finds it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We felt the same way--surprised at how down to earth the place was. My daughter was coming from DCPS and they admitted quite a large number of kids from DCPS this year. In contrast, STA is still admitting mostly the country club set from the feeder K-8's, new-to-the-area VIPs plus a few kids from outside the city (PG county etc) for diversity. NCS felt far more welcoming and "normal" than STA and it was reflected in the kids we found out were admitted (and not admitted).

This PP oozes envy and resentment of the country club class. Th differences in admissions between NCS and STA is more complex than PP’s simplistic and ill-informed assumptions.

We are a Cathedral family who’s been on the Close for many years. There are no feeder schools for STA.

STA’s AD has done a fabulous job bringing in highly accomplished boys who are also kind, good kids. Admissions are highly competitive, because it has the reputation for being an amazing school that boys love.

A few years ago children of Beauvoir board members were rejected from STA because they disrespected STA teachers during their school visit. If STA were the kind of school that admitted kids solely because of prestige and connections those boys would have been admitted.

It is true that private schools boys have an advantage in applying to STA but that’s because private schools prepare them better. High-level writing and critical analysis skills are crucial for STA admissions. These are areas where DCPS is weak.

NCS has had a poor reputation for the past 10 years, which it has struggled to turn around: high pressured academic environment with a number of mean girls souring social dynamics for some classes. They seem to be doing a better job managing the bullying and creating a less pressured academic approach.

However, many private school parents including from Beauvoir still shy away from NCS. Our Beauvoir daughter chose Sidwell over NCS for these reasons. Girls also do better in verbal skills and critical analysis, are better organized, and more independent learners.

Bottom line: NCS has fewer applicants than STA. Girls from DCPS are probably better prepared for NCS than boys from DCPS are for STA.

Your reply only further supports my point: NCS is far more open to taking kids from DCPS and other public schools while STA sticks to the private elites/VIPS with a few kids thrown in for diversity.

You say that STA doesn't choose DCPS kids because they don't have the high-level writing and critical analysis skills. So apparently, the choice a parent makes at age 4 (to send their kid to DCPS) irreversibly damages then in them in the eyes of STA. They can never catch up (please tell this to Sidwell or GDS or Maret who accept older DCPS kids all the time).
Thankfully NCS can see that a kid may still have potential in 7th or 9th, despite years of being among the philistines in the public school system. I live in NW DC in the neighborhood of a good DCPS. You know who sends their kids to private school beginning in PK or K in our neighborhood? The wealthy. The law partners and the investment bankers. Do you know who uses public? the federal attorneys, professors, journalists, most doctors, etc. But if you're correct those kids will never be good or elite enough for STA since they made this choice beginning at age 4/5. And so by admitting only the private school kids who "are better prepared for STA", STA admits the wealthy of NW. Magical how this works!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We felt the same way--surprised at how down to earth the place was. My daughter was coming from DCPS and they admitted quite a large number of kids from DCPS this year. In contrast, STA is still admitting mostly the country club set from the feeder K-8's, new-to-the-area VIPs plus a few kids from outside the city (PG county etc) for diversity. NCS felt far more welcoming and "normal" than STA and it was reflected in the kids we found out were admitted (and not admitted).

This PP oozes envy and resentment of the country club class. Th differences in admissions between NCS and STA is more complex than PP’s simplistic and ill-informed assumptions.

We are a Cathedral family who’s been on the Close for many years. There are no feeder schools for STA.

STA’s AD has done a fabulous job bringing in highly accomplished boys who are also kind, good kids. Admissions are highly competitive, because it has the reputation for being an amazing school that boys love.

A few years ago children of Beauvoir board members were rejected from STA because they disrespected STA teachers during their school visit. If STA were the kind of school that admitted kids solely because of prestige and connections those boys would have been admitted.

It is true that private schools boys have an advantage in applying to STA but that’s because private schools prepare them better. High-level writing and critical analysis skills are crucial for STA admissions. These are areas where DCPS is weak.

NCS has had a poor reputation for the past 10 years, which it has struggled to turn around: high pressured academic environment with a number of mean girls souring social dynamics for some classes. They seem to be doing a better job managing the bullying and creating a less pressured academic approach.

However, many private school parents including from Beauvoir still shy away from NCS. Our Beauvoir daughter chose Sidwell over NCS for these reasons. Girls also do better in verbal skills and critical analysis, are better organized, and more independent learners.

Bottom line: NCS has fewer applicants than STA. Girls from DCPS are probably better prepared for NCS than boys from DCPS are for STA.

Please stop posting this nonsense. You don’t know anything about NCS and you don’t even have a daughter that attends the school so please keep your misinformed opinions to yourself. You sound like an elitist snob and are giving STA a bad name with your reoccurring posts. STA does admit public school kids but I do not know the numbers to say they admit as many as NCS. They are both great schools and in the same family but the two schools are very different starting from the top down. The boards are very different. The STA board is not as diverse as NCS’s board. It also has a large number of members that belong to the same clubs and the same social group. NCS is more diverse overall. The make up of the grades are different and NCS is much more progressive so maybe NCS is attracting more public school students to apply? I am not sure. I will say though that I can think of some very top students at STA that came from public schools so I am sure STA has faith in the abilities of public school kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We felt the same way--surprised at how down to earth the place was. My daughter was coming from DCPS and they admitted quite a large number of kids from DCPS this year. In contrast, STA is still admitting mostly the country club set from the feeder K-8's, new-to-the-area VIPs plus a few kids from outside the city (PG county etc) for diversity. NCS felt far more welcoming and "normal" than STA and it was reflected in the kids we found out were admitted (and not admitted).

This PP oozes envy and resentment of the country club class. Th differences in admissions between NCS and STA is more complex than PP’s simplistic and ill-informed assumptions.

We are a Cathedral family who’s been on the Close for many years. There are no feeder schools for STA.

STA’s AD has done a fabulous job bringing in highly accomplished boys who are also kind, good kids. Admissions are highly competitive, because it has the reputation for being an amazing school that boys love.

A few years ago children of Beauvoir board members were rejected from STA because they disrespected STA teachers during their school visit. If STA were the kind of school that admitted kids solely because of prestige and connections those boys would have been admitted.

It is true that private schools boys have an advantage in applying to STA but that’s because private schools prepare them better. High-level writing and critical analysis skills are crucial for STA admissions. These are areas where DCPS is weak.

NCS has had a poor reputation for the past 10 years, which it has struggled to turn around: high pressured academic environment with a number of mean girls souring social dynamics for some classes. They seem to be doing a better job managing the bullying and creating a less pressured academic approach.

However, many private school parents including from Beauvoir still shy away from NCS. Our Beauvoir daughter chose Sidwell over NCS for these reasons. Girls also do better in verbal skills and critical analysis, are better organized, and more independent learners.

Bottom line: NCS has fewer applicants than STA. Girls from DCPS are probably better prepared for NCS than boys from DCPS are for STA.

Your reply only further supports my point: NCS is far more open to taking kids from DCPS and other public schools while STA sticks to the private elites/VIPS with a few kids thrown in for diversity.

You say that STA doesn't choose DCPS kids because they don't have the high-level writing and critical analysis skills. So apparently, the choice a parent makes at age 4 (to send their kid to DCPS) irreversibly damages then in them in the eyes of STA. They can never catch up (please tell this to Sidwell or GDS or Maret who accept older DCPS kids all the time).
Thankfully NCS can see that a kid may still have potential in 7th or 9th, despite years of being among the philistines in the public school system. I live in NW DC in the neighborhood of a good DCPS. You know who sends their kids to private school beginning in PK or K in our neighborhood? The wealthy. The law partners and the investment bankers. Do you know who uses public? the federal attorneys, professors, journalists, most doctors, etc. But if you're correct those kids will never be good or elite enough for STA since they made this choice beginning at age 4/5. And so by admitting only the private school kids who "are better prepared for STA", STA admits the wealthy of NW. Magical how this works!

You’re ridiculous. We know many people at private schools who are feds, journalists, pediatricians, teachers, and are not wealthy. You’re further proving that you trade in envious stereotypes. Sad fact is DCPS sucks in teaching writing and critical thinking. Yes, STA accepts some DCPS kids but they do have to be exceptional. Same is true for NCS, Sidwell, GDS, and Maret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please stop posting this nonsense. You don’t know anything about NCS and you don’t even have a daughter that attends the school so please keep your misinformed opinions to yourself. You sound like an elitist snob and are giving STA a bad name with your reoccurring posts. STA does admit public school kids but I do not know the numbers to say they admit as many as NCS. They are both great schools and in the same family but the two schools are very different starting from the top down. The boards are very different. The STA board is not as diverse as NCS’s board. It also has a large number of members that belong to the same clubs and the same social group. NCS is more diverse overall. The make up of the grades are different and NCS is much more progressive so maybe NCS is attracting more public school students to apply? I am not sure. I will say though that I can think of some very top students at STA that came from public schools so I am sure STA has faith in the abilities of public school kids.

I don’t have a daughter who attends NCS but have many friends who do. You’re the one who sounds like a snob and is putting down STA. You sound hysterical and irrational.

It’s not snobbery to say DCPS has challenges and weaknesses. It’s reality. Yes, their students are not as well prepared and yes they do take time to catch up once they enter the top private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please stop posting this nonsense. You don’t know anything about NCS and you don’t even have a daughter that attends the school so please keep your misinformed opinions to yourself. You sound like an elitist snob and are giving STA a bad name with your reoccurring posts. STA does admit public school kids but I do not know the numbers to say they admit as many as NCS. They are both great schools and in the same family but the two schools are very different starting from the top down. The boards are very different. The STA board is not as diverse as NCS’s board. It also has a large number of members that belong to the same clubs and the same social group. NCS is more diverse overall. The make up of the grades are different and NCS is much more progressive so maybe NCS is attracting more public school students to apply? I am not sure. I will say though that I can think of some very top students at STA that came from public schools so I am sure STA has faith in the abilities of public school kids.

I don’t have a daughter who attends NCS but have many friends who do. You’re the one who sounds like a snob and is putting down STA. You sound hysterical and irrational.

It’s not snobbery to say DCPS has challenges and weaknesses. It’s reality. Yes, their students are not as well prepared and yes they do take time to catch up once they enter the top private schools.

NP. Didn’t sound like a put down of STA to me. It sounds like they are merely explaining how it’s more conservative reputation may explain why it does not have as many public school students as NCS because maybe not as many are applying. You put down NCS by giving false facts and saying it didn’t have as many applicants which is not true. You also put down NCS by highlighting its supposed issues. Focus on Sidwell’s issues. It sounds as though they have had many issues lately, including mean parent and student behavior. Focus on that instead of putting down public schools and NCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please stop posting this nonsense. You don’t know anything about NCS and you don’t even have a daughter that attends the school so please keep your misinformed opinions to yourself. You sound like an elitist snob and are giving STA a bad name with your reoccurring posts. STA does admit public school kids but I do not know the numbers to say they admit as many as NCS. They are both great schools and in the same family but the two schools are very different starting from the top down. The boards are very different. The STA board is not as diverse as NCS’s board. It also has a large number of members that belong to the same clubs and the same social group. NCS is more diverse overall. The make up of the grades are different and NCS is much more progressive so maybe NCS is attracting more public school students to apply? I am not sure. I will say though that I can think of some very top students at STA that came from public schools so I am sure STA has faith in the abilities of public school kids.

I don’t have a daughter who attends NCS but have many friends who do. You’re the one who sounds like a snob and is putting down STA. You sound hysterical and irrational.

It’s not snobbery to say DCPS has challenges and weaknesses. It’s reality. Yes, their students are not as well prepared and yes they do take time to catch up once they enter the top private schools.

NP. Didn’t sound like a put down of STA to me. It sounds like they are merely explaining how it’s more conservative reputation may explain why it does not have as many public school students as NCS because maybe not as many are applying. You put down NCS by giving false facts and saying it didn’t have as many applicants which is not true. You also put down NCS by highlighting its supposed issues. Focus on Sidwell’s issues. It sounds as though they have had many issues lately, including mean parent and student behavior. Focus on that instead of putting down public schools and NCS.

+1

[Anonymous]

STA board is not as diverse as NCS’s board. It also has a large number of members that belong to the same clubs and the same social group. NCS is more diverse overall. The make up of the grades are different and NCS is much more progressive so maybe NCS is attracting more public school students to apply?

I should have qualified that NCS does not get as many applicants as STA from other private schools. NCS has worked on better supporting girls and on managing man girls, but reputations linger in the private school world. More applicants from public schools =more girls admitted from public schools.

As for Board diversity, it’s hilarious to suggest having three wealthy Asians somehow makes NCS more diverse, as is the suggestion that STA is more conservative than NCS. So funny!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You also put down NCS by highlighting its supposed issues. Focus on Sidwell’s issues. It sounds as though they have had many issues lately, including mean parent and student behavior. Focus on that instead of putting down public schools and NCS.

Y’all should really learn to read. I said NCS has made progress but that it’s reputation as a pressure cooker with mean girls still lingered. Private school parents are probably more aware of that reputation than those from public.

I love the classic ad hominem attack. Rather than discussing the progress NCS has made, your response was to attack Sidwell. Says a lot about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please stop posting this nonsense. You don’t know anything about NCS and you don’t even have a daughter that attends the school so please keep your misinformed opinions to yourself. You sound like an elitist snob and are giving STA a bad name with your reoccurring posts. STA does admit public school kids but I do not know the numbers to say they admit as many as NCS. They are both great schools and in the same family but the two schools are very different starting from the top down. The boards are very different. The STA board is not as diverse as NCS’s board. It also has a large number of members that belong to the same clubs and the same social group. NCS is more diverse overall. The make up of the grades are different and NCS is much more progressive so maybe NCS is attracting more public school students to apply? I am not sure. I will say though that I can think of some very top students at STA that came from public schools so I am sure STA has faith in the abilities of public school kids.

I don’t have a daughter who attends NCS but have many friends who do. You’re the one who sounds like a snob and is putting down STA. You sound hysterical and irrational.

It’s not snobbery to say DCPS has challenges and weaknesses. It’s reality. Yes, their students are not as well prepared and yes they do take time to catch up once they enter the top private schools.

NP. Didn’t sound like a put down of STA to me. It sounds like they are merely explaining how it’s more conservative reputation may explain why it does not have as many public school students as NCS because maybe not as many are applying. You put down NCS by giving false facts and saying it didn’t have as many applicants which is not true. You also put down NCS by highlighting its supposed issues. Focus on Sidwell’s issues. It sounds as though they have had many issues lately, including mean parent and student behavior. Focus on that instead of putting down public schools and NCS.

+1

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it’s hilarious to suggest having three wealthy Asians somehow makes NCS more diverse

Why is that not diversity in your book?