Sidwell Paid a family $50K and agree to change grades??????????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell parent here. I think most people on this thread are missing something very basic; The school systematically miscalculated her grades and the principal openly threatened the family with retaliation when they complained.Both unacceptable.

How can a bunch of math teachers mis-calculate grades? Anyone at the school knows how the student teacher power dynamic works. Teachers have a LOT of power over who gets into advanced track classes. Grading is not always transparent.

No wonder the family is pissed offf. If Sidwell wasn’t guilty why did they agree to change the grades?

I confess that sometimes I wonder about the qualifications of people who have so much control over the end game, especially now when it seems there is so much sloppiness in work ethic.

DS is stealth about checking answers on graded exams and coursework. Recently, he informed a science teacher that he scored an exam out of 100 rather than 26. He's also been honest when he's received credit for an incorrect answer. Teacher sent an email to all parents/students:

For Assignment #13 I accidentally scored it out of 100 questions instead of the 26 questions which it truly was. I have corrected the assignment so please refer to this progress report and disregard the average listed in my progress report from earlier today. Thanks for finding that (name) - a free dropped assignment for you!

It happens. I had a teacher call us in to discuss a failed test only to realize my DC hadn't failed the test, rather that the teacher had used the wrong answer code to grade the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, who has never had a conversation with the current head of school, I am super curious about the Tom Farquhar story. Shocking to hear about a head of school threatening a family. I have heard the current head speak once; I don’t even now his name. Having had kids at other schools, I have never seen a more absent head of school than at Sidwell.

You must not go to the school much, which would be surprising if you are a parent. Bryan German is very much present around the schools at at sports event and evening programs.

I go to Sidwell for every event I possibly can, from volunteering for the next to new sale and assembling valentines day cookie treat bags for the teachers to curriculum and college counseling nights. Maybe my DC doesn’t play a sport Bryan (thanks for telling me his name) enjoys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure, some private school parents on DCUM are resentful of MCPS students, but who is specifically calling for their outright ineligibility for admission to selective colleges?

I think the point here is that some MCPS students benefit from the system and perhaps admissions offices need to adjust accordingly when looking at their transcripts. But I don't think any reasonably private school parent on DCUM would deny that there remain plenty of MCPS students whose credentials are so stellar that any discounting or adjustment by colleges of their transcripts should be enough to deny admission.

Whatever adjustment to GPAs that the admissions committees deem fair (details of which and justification of the magnitude of which no outsider knows) are always made to MCPS transcripts. Likewise, who is to say the highly selective schools don't give brownie points to private school transcripts (the more the brownie points the bigger the private school is - like the big three of DMV), especially when these highly selective schools already waved green flags of approval to these privates dropping AP courses from their offerings without adversely affecting the admissions chances of their students. Now more and more universities are dropping SAT/ACT requirement (a la Chicago). But you will never see "LEGACY BLIND" or 'ATHLETICS BLIND' admissions announcements from any of these universities. They will gladly continue to offer admissions to sub-optimal students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, who has never had a conversation with the current head of school, I am super curious about the Tom Farquhar story. Shocking to hear about a head of school threatening a family. I have heard the current head speak once; I don’t even now his name. Having had kids at other schools, I have never seen a more absent head of school than at Sidwell.

You must not go to the school much, which would be surprising if you are a parent. Bryan German is very much present around the schools at at sports event and evening programs.

I go to Sidwell for every event I possibly can, from volunteering for the next to new sale and assembling valentines day cookie treat bags for the teachers to curriculum and college counseling nights. Maybe my DC doesn’t play a sport Bryan (thanks for telling me his name) enjoys.

Mr Garman presents a well prepared state of the school and budget talk every year - well worth attending. He speaks at programs like the recent Zeidman lecture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the girl’s GPA and SAT scores were within the top 15% of her class, There was a problem with the application process considering her URM status. If not, they should not blame on the school. Any vague descriptions like national Achievement scholarship can’t convince people.

Nothing vague. See below. National semifinalist...

https://patch.com/district-columbia/georgetown/national-achievement-scholarship-semifinalists-include-14-dc-students

Do you know how many National Merit Semifinalists from Sidwell never get to HPYS? And they don’t run to the courts about it.

True. And to be clear, she was not a National Merit Semifinalist but National Achievement Semifinalist - different things. Does not take as high a score to be National Achievement.

More evidence of a bogus, faker claim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the girl’s GPA and SAT scores were within the top 15% of her class, There was a problem with the application process considering her URM status. If not, they should not blame on the school. Any vague descriptions like national Achievement scholarship can’t convince people.

Nothing vague. See below. National semifinalist...

https://patch.com/district-columbia/georgetown/national-achievement-scholarship-semifinalists-include-14-dc-students

Do you know how many National Merit Semifinalists from Sidwell never get to HPYS? And they don’t run to the courts about it.

That's not a list of National Merit Semifinalists.

[Anonymous]

As a Sidwell parent for over a decade, I've seen some pretty wacky parental behavior, but this is extreme. That said, though, the school leaves itself open to dubious claims of unfair treatment and retaliation by nurturing, or at least, allowing a culture of opacity to surround grading, course placement and college applications. It's unfortunate because it casts excellent and caring teachers in a poor light.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Head of NCS is married to the number 2 at St Albans

He is not the number two at STA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, who has never had a conversation with the current head of school, I am super curious about the Tom Farquhar story. Shocking to hear about a head of school threatening a family. I have heard the current head speak once; I don’t even now his name. Having had kids at other schools, I have never seen a more absent head of school than at Sidwell.

You must not go to the school much, which would be surprising if you are a parent. Bryan German is very much present around the schools at at sports event and evening programs.

I go to Sidwell for every event I possibly can, from volunteering for the next to new sale and assembling valentines day cookie treat bags for the teachers to curriculum and college counseling nights. Maybe my DC doesn’t play a sport Bryan (thanks for telling me his name) enjoys.

He goes to all the plays, many sports events, most of the music events across all three divisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Sidwell parent for over a decade, I've seen some pretty wacky parental behavior, but this is extreme. That said, though, the school leaves itself open to dubious claims of unfair treatment and retaliation by nurturing, or at least, allowing a culture of opacity to surround grading, course placement and college applications. It's unfortunate because it casts excellent and caring teachers in a poor light.

Agreed 100%. School needs to be much more transparent and communicate better. Start treating parents as stakeholders and partners, not as check writers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, who has never had a conversation with the current head of school, I am super curious about the Tom Farquhar story. Shocking to hear about a head of school threatening a family. I have heard the current head speak once; I don’t even now his name. Having had kids at other schools, I have never seen a more absent head of school than at Sidwell.

You must not go to the school much, which would be surprising if you are a parent. Bryan German is very much present around the schools at at sports event and evening programs.

I go to Sidwell for every event I possibly can, from volunteering for the next to new sale and assembling valentines day cookie treat bags for the teachers to curriculum and college counseling nights. Maybe my DC doesn’t play a sport Bryan (thanks for telling me his name) enjoys.

He goes to all the plays, many sports events, most of the music events across all three divisions.

I’m not that involved a parent, but the few small things that I have attended, and they are not the big events, we have seen Mr. Garman and without giving much info away, he has always remembered us little people and who we are. I have many issues with the school, but that is not one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Head of NCS is married to the number 2 at St Albans

He is not the number two at STA.

Who. Does. Number. 2. Work. For?

[Anonymous]

Why are PPs saying that she only applied to reach schools? She should have gotten into Spelman. Secondly, the mistakes in calculating her math grades are a big effing deal.

Nigerian-Americans are still URMs. Sidwell knows this. A look at Harvard’s C/O 2023 confirms this. I think this case is a net positive for current and future students, as the school will probably do a better job of accurately reporting grades now. It makes me wonder if there are FA families who have had similar experiences with little, if any, recourse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell parent here. I think most people on this thread are missing something very basic; The school systematically miscalculated her grades and the principal openly threatened the family with retaliation when they complained.Both unacceptable.

How can a bunch of math teachers mis-calculate grades? Anyone at the school knows how the student teacher power dynamic works. Teachers have a LOT of power over who gets into advanced track classes. Grading is not always transparent.

No wonder the family is pissed offf. If Sidwell wasn’t guilty why did they agree to change the grades?

I confess that sometimes I wonder about the qualifications of people who have so much control over the end game, especially now when it seems there is so much sloppiness in work ethic.

DS is stealth about checking answers on graded exams and coursework. Recently, he informed a science teacher that he scored an exam out of 100 rather than 26. He's also been honest when he's received credit for an incorrect answer. Teacher sent an email to all parents/students:

For Assignment #13 I accidentally scored it out of 100 questions instead of the 26 questions which it truly was. I have corrected the assignment so please refer to this progress report and disregard the average listed in my progress report from earlier today. Thanks for finding that (name) - a free dropped assignment for you!

It's pretty clear the school did not like the family. It had nothing to do with the family's race but that they were a pain in the ass. The girl got dinged at many colleges surely because she was given lacluckster recs from Sidwell faculty, who did not like her. Because she was probably obnoxious and pushy and demanding. It wasn't the grades. She clearly still received very good grades.

Aren't recs voluntary for the teachers to give? Just because the girl asked a teacher for a rec, that teacher doesn't have to give one, especially if the teacher has nothing good to say about the girl and knows her rec will sink the girl's chances at any university that rec is sent to. Why back stab the girl and ruin her chances (assuming recs sunk all chances for admission)? Is it not the humane thing to deny giving the rec? The girl then would have approached some other teacher for rec.

What kind of a jerky teacher gives a poor rec to a young student. There’s always something good to say. You might not like her attitude and you might think she’s pushy and demanding . But I think these qualities might serve her well in some context. Seriously I wonder what kind of people go around with a God complex thinking about ways to bring down a kid’s college aspirations just because they don’t like her. What a loser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Sidwell parent for over a decade, I've seen some pretty wacky parental behavior, but this is extreme. That said, though, the school leaves itself open to dubious claims of unfair treatment and retaliation by nurturing, or at least, allowing a culture of opacity to surround grading, course placement and college applications. It's unfortunate because it casts excellent and caring teachers in a poor light.

Agreed 100%. School needs to be much more transparent and communicate better. Start treating parents as stakeholders and partners, not as check writers.

From reading recent SIDWELL threads I feel the Sidwell parent community has a lot of issues. The school administrators should tell these entitled parents to shut up.