Sidwell sued over staff psychologist's affair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An Admisdions Director is at fault when a respected alum father, who is not separated & has full custody, tells her he has had two children in the school very successfully, but the school's educational offerings are not in this child's best interests such that he will neither sign the application nor pay for attendance. Any Admin Officer admitting a student under that circumstance is willfully choosing to "split" a 5 yo from her custodial father and dooming future teachers to a failed Parent-teacher relationship. Hard to find worse Admiss Officer judgment

I think this makes sense, actually. Why would a school accept a child when one parent was so strongly opposed, for whatever reason? How is this going to be a good fit for the family?

I think the first poster has a point. Aside from the parent-teacher relationship angle, what about any semblance of fairness in the admissions process???
SFS has fewer than 50 pre-K spots for all of Washington. I would guess they receive hundreds of applications to fill those 50 spots. They put applicant families through a rigamarole of parent interview, parent essay, etc. All those steps give the impression that parental engagement/involvement are valued criteria for joining the SFS community. SFS's admissions team apparently decided that a resident of Florida whose father explicitly didn't want her to attend SFS (and who lived more than 1,000 miles away and wouldn't sign the paperwork or pay the tuition) needed one of the coveted spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An Admisdions Director is at fault when a respected alum father, who is not separated & has full custody, tells her he has had two children in the school very successfully, but the school's educational offerings are not in this child's best interests such that he will neither sign the application nor pay for attendance. Any Admin Officer admitting a student under that circumstance is willfully choosing to "split" a 5 yo from her custodial father and dooming future teachers to a failed Parent-teacher relationship. Hard to find worse Admiss Officer judgment

I think this makes sense, actually. Why would a school accept a child when one parent was so strongly opposed, for whatever reason? How is this going to be a good fit for the family?

Actually, if neither father or mother had filed for divorced or separation, then only one signature was needed on the application (note: after an offer of admission both signatures are required on the actual contract). It is quite feasible that the mother had their daughter go through the application process without telling the father, so the Sidwell AD would have had no idea the father was opposed.

Could be. but with the father's family so connected to the school, I would think they'd wonder about his complete and total absence from the process.

[Anonymous]

Actually, the Complaint alleges he called and informedthe Head Adm Officer of his concerns that the academic match was not appropriate--not based on geography. With 2 prior kids matriculating there, and his receipt of tge "parent volunteer" award formerly, and as an alum & donor, you'd think he'd receive some deference. My guess is her former DC worksite has partner-mentors also school connected for a custodial spouse's opinion to be discarded by Admissions. I would also guess his reservations were not passed on to the entire team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, the Complaint alleges he called and informedthe Head Adm Officer of his concerns that the academic match was not appropriate--not based on geography. With 2 prior kids matriculating there, and his receipt of tge "parent volunteer" award formerly, and as an alum & donor, you'd think he'd receive some deference. My guess is her former DC worksite has partner-mentors also school connected for a custodial spouse's opinion to be discarded by Admissions. I would also guess his reservations were not passed on to the entire team

Wut.

[Anonymous]

Interesting... All three judges they've put this in front of so far have recused themselves due to conflict of interest:

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/19660.html

[Anonymous]

Anyone know whether this case has moved along?

[Anonymous]

This suit only makes the husband look like an idiot. Get a life!!! I am sorry you got yourself involved in a divorce, but do not make yourself the laughing stock of the Sidwell community, which includes your child. Get over it!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know whether this case has moved along?

Are you the Alexandria Academy stalker? I know people told you to get a new hobby, but this isn't what we meant.

[Anonymous]

Why did you revive this thread? I don't have any connection to Sidwell but I find the Sidwell bashing on these boards to be ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

This sad sack is not the first private school dad to be cuckolded by a school official and he won't be the last.

[Anonymous]

The father's public vitriol reflects poorly on him every time there is another mention of details in the case. All I read is : angry bitter man who got dumped and , since he has to give his Ex money, will try to collect that damage from the somewhere. Sidwell is a pretty convenient target. Very petty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Terry" Newmyer and I were classmates at The Sidwell Friends School a half century ago. I last saw him in 1963. While the specifics of his lawsuit against the school are unfortunate, they serve to point out a glaring shortcoming of the school which has gone unreported and unaddressed for far too long. In 1883 Mr. Sidwell founded a school predicated upon the principles of the highest educational, moral and ethical standards. In the middle of the last century, at the urging of many of the influential parents from Washington's highest socioeconomic strata, the school undertook what can only be characterized as a concerted program of social engineering which sacrificed those same educational, moral and ethical standards to the prevailing ideology of the city's aristocracy to keep the student body populated with those whose parents were notable and whose acceptance into the nation's finest colleges and universities was assured by legacy and the "old boy network" rather than intellect and merit. Having attended Quaker meetings for my fourteen years at Sidwell Friends where we were instructed to listen to our "inner voice", I would respectfully suggest that the school listen to its own inner voice and let it guide them back to the path Mr. Sidwell set nearly 130 years ago.

Worth repeating. I wonder if all those who attacked Newmyer so viciously two years ago are "listening to their inner voice"now?

[Anonymous]

Clearly no one is hearing that inner voice. They are all in with attack mode.

[Anonymous]

Is the little girl still attending Sidwell or is she in Fl now?
Does the dad have full custody?
Are mom, Tara and the psych still an item?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The father's public vitriol reflects poorly on him every time there is another mention of details in the case. All I read is : angry bitter man who got dumped and , since he has to give his Ex money, will try to collect that damage from the somewhere. Sidwell is a pretty convenient target. Very petty.

wromg. clearly the school did not supervise its employee. conducting psych evals on off work hours in a parent's home and then taking the mom out for a drink to give her the "results" is unporfessioanl behavior. period.