NCS going downhill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Actually the poster said her daughter was sitting at a table full of girls but they ignored her! So whereas you may go into the dining room and see all the girls sitting together it does not mean that the girls are being inclusive of the new girls or girls outside of their circle. That is pretty hard on a young girl. I hoipe the administration makes some changes so that will not happen to the new students.

[Anonymous]

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.

Ugh, this post brings back chills. I went to NCS and had the same experience. Walking into the cafeteria was like walking into a freezer. I ended up just not eating lunch or eating during one of the later periods alone. But I was also uber shy and self-conscious, so there was culpability on my part as well. I was so shy that people probably thought I was unfriendly too....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The warning was that the school was a pressure cooker and that there was a significant mean girl atmosphere. I wasn't
concerned about the academic challenge/intensity but I do wish I had fully grasped the extent of the negative social dynamic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The warning was that the school was a pressure cooker and that there was a significant mean girl atmosphere. I wasn't
concerned about the academic challenge/intensity but I do wish I had fully grasped the extent of the negative social dynamic.

PP, I received the same warning from friends, etc. who had heard the rumors or who had friends with daughters who had attended/graduated. No, academics wasn't the issue for my DD. It was definitely the social dynamic, and my DD isn't a shy girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Why are you at lunch? You sound suspicious to me!!

[Anonymous]

Agree. In three and a half years, I've never observed a lunch at NCS. Why would you?

[Anonymous]

The girls who seem to be happiest are those deeply committed to their sport or extracurricular activity and have grounded parents.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, administrator, for again shifting the blame on to the parents. Wrong, the most integrated girls (but let's not confuse this with drama free or happy) are the ones running the social hierarchy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The girls who seem to be happiest are those deeply committed to their sport or extracurricular activity and have grounded parents.

Yes, I agree. My DD was happiest at NCS playing her sport, academically she was able to excel regardless of the school's atmosphere. Definitely, without her sport, she would not have made it through.

[Anonymous]

Actually, I'm not. I would never recommend NCS. I was simply commenting that current upper school girls I know who seem happy are those who have found friends through activites and have nice parents. Now I've previously known girls in this category who, a year or so after graduation, said they would never repeat the experience. I don't blame the school, I think it attracts really intense parents who put a lot of pressure on their girls and we all know where mean girls learn that behavior.

[Anonymous]

NCS is going down hill. Meet the new kids on the block: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/thomas-jefferson-student-to-graduate-year-early-a-rare-feat-at-governors-school/2012/01/16/gIQAZqAu7P_story.html

[Anonymous]

What does TJ have to do with NCS? Why would its success have anything to do with how well NCS educates girls? Please try to post only if you have information that is actually relevant to a topic.

[Anonymous]

Alot. Note the story is about a girl.

[Anonymous]

Sure, the story is about a girl. One girl, who is clearly an outlier in terms of intellectual ability. But again, the fact that TJ is an excellent school with excellent students has no bearing on whether NCS is or not. It is not as though TJ has hired away all of the NCS teachers, thus leaving NCS to "go downhill." There is no correlation.

[Anonymous]

Agree. And I'm one of the parents of a not-so-happy-but managing almost graduate. TJ and its students' successes have nothing to do with NCS.