Can anyone shed light on what is likely to change at Norwood with new leadership?

[Anonymous]

Is Saint Andrew's a joke? The joke merged with St Francis.
Is Bullis a joke? It rejected a merger with Norwwood in yesteryear. Stay tuned for the future years.

[Anonymous]

I am a mother of two adult sons, one of whom attended Thomas Pyle Middle School, and Walt Whitman High School for his first two years. He went up to Massachusetts, to a well respected private school, for his last two years. I will say no more, but that huge school was not for him. School choice/fit should be based on the individual learner.

When we moved here, I first substitute-taught at six of the top independents in this area. I was not only trying to find an independent school for him, but a school I felt comfortable in as a teacher. I taught at Bullis during the mid-1990s when, at least the lower school, was in disarray.Third grade had existed for only a few years at that point. Now entry-level is second grade. At that point in time, Bullis struck me as a sports school.

After switching to Norwood, and teaching there a few years, the idea of Bullis and Norwood merging seemed like a clash of cultures. We'd moved to the D.C. area from Massachusetts where I had taught at an excellent private school, recipient of the Presidential Blue Ribbon Award. That school was well organized, had strong academics, the teachers constantly shared important information about the students, and we had already networked (whole-school technology). Norwood felt comfortable since it was like the school I'd come from. The administration was very good at dealing with issues they should have been dealing with - at Bullis, it was like a firehose, in that everything came through to us.

Having just taught full-time again at Norwood, I think there is much to look forward to with the new head. He is extremely personable; wants to get to know the students, and was already sitting in on classes. His credentials speak for themselves. He has lived in a variety of areas, which I see as a good thing. We have, too, and, though I used to look on that unfavorably, it does give a person a much broader perspective. The Norwood communnity is more diversse than during the 1990s. I did not teach math this year, but it seems that is being ironed out. The letter day schedule for middle school was confusing enough that it has now, apparently, been changed.

The head of lower school is now new, so I don't know her, but the head of middle school is most interested in talking to parents about their concerns. We frequently had meetings, before school started in the mornings, and the results of the meetings (with the full team of a child's teachers) proved very beneficial! With everyone on the same page, these children moved forward and improved.

Having subbed at several other independent schools in the last three years, I found the Norwood faculty to (still) be the most dedicated; the children to be challenged with support; and the community one in which people are respected and valued.