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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Browne - doesn't get the "likes" on this forum. Admission director, John and Elise were both nice and welcoming. Being a minority, I was happy to see the diversity. The head was nice and nice campus.

There was even another parent in the mandatory play date because their newest child would be starting in preschool. They had a 2nd grader. it was nice to have a current parent there and give feedback. I was surprised at the gym space. fairly new with windows.

+1 For Browne. I feel like it is a hidden gem...especially for minorities. It has a good balance of diversity in both the student body and faculty. The price is hefty but the facilities are nice, the teachers seem like they enjoy what they do, and they kids are happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Browne - doesn't get the "likes" on this forum. Admission director, John and Elise were both nice and welcoming. Being a minority, I was happy to see the diversity. The head was nice and nice campus.

There was even another parent in the mandatory play date because their newest child would be starting in preschool. They had a 2nd grader. it was nice to have a current parent there and give feedback. I was surprised at the gym space. fairly new with windows.

+1 For Browne. I feel like it is a hidden gem...especially for minorities. It has a good balance of diversity in both the student body and faculty. The price is hefty but the facilities are nice, the teachers seem like they enjoy what they do, and they kids are happy.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMO, Potomac has nice buildings, but the campus itself was a jumbled mess with not enough forethought given to layout.

I really wasn't impressed with Potomac's campus or facilities at all. I don't know why they think they're heads above the rest in that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weighing in on cookies. We did not see Sidwell logo cookies at any of our visits, I did see Maret logo cookies, no food at all at GDS.

Who wants to eat something that looks like a grasshopper?!

No cafeteria = no cookies.

No cafeteria = you eat grass and grasshoppers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg rich people fighting. All these schools are good.

right. This thread was interesting until people started jumping in to take offense when someone else didn't like their school. Let people have and express their own opinions folks. Not everyone is going to order the same thing off the menu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A good teacher can teach kids in a shed. Nice facilities are great and all but I really didn’t care as much about the facilities as much as the teachers and faculty. However I do love a good playground but the school building and classrooms... not so important to me. I love a classroom that looks lived in and loved- lots of the children’s work displayed etc. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Shiny facility doesn’t always mean it’s the best.

I agree with this and have said similar things myself. My kids went to a never-renovated, poorly maintained, public school that frankly was a bit of a death trap. But the people and the teachers made it a wonderful place to be and my kids got a great education. Now that it has been renovated though, the teachers and parents who were there for both phases will readily point out what a huge difference a nice, functioning building makes in ways they never really could have imagined before. So I wouldn't turn down a wonderful school due to poor facilities, but all things being equal on the education front, I'd look closer a the nicer building. Also classroom that looks "lived in" can also be a subtle distraction or sometimes a huge distraction - visual noise, if you will. Same with poor lighting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret admissions person was really bad, this was several years ago.

Maret admissions lady who does tours is still condescending and impolite. Our group kept on looking at each other in disbelief at the things she was saying. Assumed no one would get in. We were all turned off by her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maret admissions person was really bad, this was several years ago.

Maret admissions lady who does tours is still condescending and impolite. Our group kept on looking at each other in disbelief at the things she was saying. Assumed no one would get in. We were all turned off by her.

I don't know who led your tour (and I'm sorry you had a bad experience), but I thought Sophie was warm and friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO, Potomac has nice buildings, but the campus itself was a jumbled mess with not enough forethought given to layout.

I really wasn't impressed with Potomac's campus or facilities at all. I don't know why they think they're heads above the rest in that area.

Wholly disagree - my kid didn’t get in, but I thought Potomac’s was among the nicest of all the area campuses...