Next chapter

[Anonymous]

I have older kids who are approaching college and these problems at Beauvoir are not new. When my kids were 5-7 years old, people were complaining about the teacher quality and weak curriculum at Beauvoir. They also complained about disruptive kids who were allowed to run wild and wreak havoc either because they were donors kids or teachers had weak classroom management skills. Not sure if that is an issue at the moment. And there was very little support on transitioning to schools other than the cathedral schools. But the playground is lovely and the school building is charming

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thursday was rough. Had to take a couple of days to process. I'm still processing. I see some comments that say we are to blame. Probably that's true. We're outsiders and didn't know the rules of the game until it was nearly over. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for putting my child through that system. For not wising up sooner. This year has taken a toll on DC no matter what we say or do. I just hope that others can learn from others and spare their own children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thursday was rough. Had to take a couple of days to process. I'm still processing. I see some comments that say we are to blame. Probably that's true. We're outsiders and didn't know the rules of the game until it was nearly over. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for putting my child through that system. For not wising up sooner. This year has taken a toll on DC no matter what we say or do. I just hope that others can learn from others and spare their own children.

Hang in there OP! I really wish we had crossed paths. You are not alone and know there are many parents who feel the same way. It’s time to close the chapter and move on to the next. Your family will be fine, it’s just a school, these kids are young and you’re on to the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only been at the school 1 year so some will say give it time, but overall we had a good experience with the school and community this year, and I consider myself a fairly involved parent. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had a few issues with the school but nothing super alarming. I disagree with the comments about curriculum- before we enrolled I spoke with families from other schools including Sidwell, and they said the strong top-down curriculum was actually one of the advantages of BVR over Sidwell. Unfortunately there is uneven teacher quality at every school- that’s just part of private school in a high COL city where good teachers are in short demand. But BVR’s top-down curriculum ensures all the classes are more or less getting the same instruction.
My main gripe with the community is actually that I find them under-engaged with the school and their kid. We’re not super rich and I felt like I didn’t fit in with the superstar career execs busy with their high-powered DC social lives and nannies round the clock doing pickups and play dates. But I found them nice enough and relatively inclusive even though I definitely don’t fit in. I wouldn’t plan on making friends there as I have at other schools. I have a feeling as we get older we are going to have to deal with entitled kids in our peer group, but that’s a hazard of private school in NW DC (and maybe some publics as well).
I found the admin staff including HOS to be wonderfully engaging and responsive. They know your child by name and were very responsive on the occasion I raised an issue. I thought there was a nice balance of community and parent events as well.

What do you mean by top down curriculum? Can you please explain

Meaning the class curriculum is set school-wide per grade to meet overall objectives, not by the individual teachers. It seems like the individual teachers have very little control over what they’re doing in the class. All four classes use the same materials, more or less do the same activities each week, progress at the same rate. Whereas when I was comparing to Sidwell, it seemed like at Sidwell there was a more open curriculum and the individual teachers had more control over what activities and pace the kids were learning at. At first I thought giving that teacher more flexibility would be better, but Sidwell parents told me it could also be problematic if you had a weaker teacher. Also I spoke with several Beauvoir teachers who told me they genuinely like the curriculum. I don’t know who actually builds the curriculum and how that process works, but they do seem to dedicate a lot of resources to professional development.

I will add BVR also has a ton of additional resource teachers, so if an individual student is not keeping up with the pace of the overall class, that child is typically given individual support so the whole class can keep moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but 2nd poster (don’t want to be accused of sock puppeting)- while we don’t find the parent community great, I want to be clear that our most significant issue has been teacher quality. It is very uneven- each grade has amazing teachers, but each grade has incredibly poor teachers. The variability is too wide to ensure a consistent minimal bar that’s acceptable. Even parents who love the school share stories about their one (or two) bad years. There are only 5 years- one or two bad years means a large minority of your experience is bad. The administration appetite for concerns about teachers is nil. I work in the education space and believe that administration should support teachers…however the Beauvoir admin seems to believe that teachers can do no wrong and if there’s a problem it’s because of the parents and kids. Sometimes it is! But the assumption that your staff is infallible is very odd, and damaging to children and families who have legitimate concerns.

Anyway- best of luck OP. NCS parent, there are some lovely kids and families joining your community. Unfortunately there are many families and children harmed by their Beauvoir experience (some of whom may be joining you at NCS too). We are truly counting the days (three more including today!) and will be celebrating hard after Thursday chapel.

How do you define a “bad” teacher? I am curious. I have had 3 kids growing through BVR and most teachers were fine. I cannot think of any “bad” teacher. I can think of 2 outstanding teachers my kids had that got them… they were the perfect teachers for my kids because they formed a special bond with them. I bet other parents do not feel the same way I feel about those 2 teachers.

Maybe we have been very lucky at BVR but with 13+ different classes, I think I can say the teachers have all been good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but 2nd poster (don’t want to be accused of sock puppeting)- while we don’t find the parent community great, I want to be clear that our most significant issue has been teacher quality. It is very uneven- each grade has amazing teachers, but each grade has incredibly poor teachers. The variability is too wide to ensure a consistent minimal bar that’s acceptable. Even parents who love the school share stories about their one (or two) bad years. There are only 5 years- one or two bad years means a large minority of your experience is bad. The administration appetite for concerns about teachers is nil. I work in the education space and believe that administration should support teachers…however the Beauvoir admin seems to believe that teachers can do no wrong and if there’s a problem it’s because of the parents and kids. Sometimes it is! But the assumption that your staff is infallible is very odd, and damaging to children and families who have legitimate concerns.

Anyway- best of luck OP. NCS parent, there are some lovely kids and families joining your community. Unfortunately there are many families and children harmed by their Beauvoir experience (some of whom may be joining you at NCS too). We are truly counting the days (three more including today!) and will be celebrating hard after Thursday chapel.

How do you define a “bad” teacher? I am curious. I have had 3 kids growing through BVR and most teachers were fine. I cannot think of any “bad” teacher. I can think of 2 outstanding teachers my kids had that got them… they were the perfect teachers for my kids because they formed a special bond with them. I bet other parents do not feel the same way I feel about those 2 teachers.

Maybe we have been very lucky at BVR but with 13+ different classes, I think I can say the teachers have all been good.

Your kids clearly didn’t have the teachers my kids did this year. Absolutely awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but 2nd poster (don’t want to be accused of sock puppeting)- while we don’t find the parent community great, I want to be clear that our most significant issue has been teacher quality. It is very uneven- each grade has amazing teachers, but each grade has incredibly poor teachers. The variability is too wide to ensure a consistent minimal bar that’s acceptable. Even parents who love the school share stories about their one (or two) bad years. There are only 5 years- one or two bad years means a large minority of your experience is bad. The administration appetite for concerns about teachers is nil. I work in the education space and believe that administration should support teachers…however the Beauvoir admin seems to believe that teachers can do no wrong and if there’s a problem it’s because of the parents and kids. Sometimes it is! But the assumption that your staff is infallible is very odd, and damaging to children and families who have legitimate concerns.

Anyway- best of luck OP. NCS parent, there are some lovely kids and families joining your community. Unfortunately there are many families and children harmed by their Beauvoir experience (some of whom may be joining you at NCS too). We are truly counting the days (three more including today!) and will be celebrating hard after Thursday chapel.

How do you define a “bad” teacher? I am curious. I have had 3 kids growing through BVR and most teachers were fine. I cannot think of any “bad” teacher. I can think of 2 outstanding teachers my kids had that got them… they were the perfect teachers for my kids because they formed a special bond with them. I bet other parents do not feel the same way I feel about those 2 teachers.

Maybe we have been very lucky at BVR but with 13+ different classes, I think I can say the teachers have all been good.

Your kids clearly didn’t have the teachers my kids did this year. Absolutely awful.

What grades were your kids in? I’m have one kid in 1st and have not heard of bad teachers in our grade. Of course I do not talk to everyone…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to let you know. This is not specific to BVR. I had similar experience in Maret. The demand for private schools is so high that many schools have that the attitude that they don’t have any problems, the problem is the parent that complains.

Same at Primary Day. The teachers and staff are wonderful and the program is great, but there is zero interest in hearing from parents about pretty much anything, whether it be a complaint or simply a new idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thursday was rough. Had to take a couple of days to process. I'm still processing. I see some comments that say we are to blame. Probably that's true. We're outsiders and didn't know the rules of the game until it was nearly over. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for putting my child through that system. For not wising up sooner. This year has taken a toll on DC no matter what we say or do. I just hope that others can learn from others and spare their own children.

OP what specifically about the last day on Thursday was rough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thursday was rough. Had to take a couple of days to process. I'm still processing. I see some comments that say we are to blame. Probably that's true. We're outsiders and didn't know the rules of the game until it was nearly over. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for putting my child through that system. For not wising up sooner. This year has taken a toll on DC no matter what we say or do. I just hope that others can learn from others and spare their own children.

OP what specifically about the last day on Thursday was rough?

I’m curious too about what could be so challenging about a morning chapel service and listening to some hymns from children that it requires days to recover from.

We’re very happy at Beauvoir, but I agree that there could be more space for constructive criticism at most schools. However, it’s hard to take complaints like the OP seriously when it comes with statements like “I had to take a couple of days to process (a chapel service)”. OP sounds like someone who has never had a real challenge in their life. It also makes me wonder how much OP’s behavior impacted “the toll on DC”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, my reflections on our experience at Beauvoir has left me deeply disappointed as we end the year.

What has frustrated me most is the apparent inability of the school community to engage constructively with criticism. Concerns raised by parents are often dismissed rather than addressed, creating an environment where honest discussion feels unwelcome. Indeed, any critical post of the school has been locked or erased from this site. I fully expect the same to happen with this thread.

One of the biggest problems is the quality of teaching is highly uneven. Our experience over the years has shown that quality varies dramatically from classroom to classroom, and that inconsistency can have a significant impact on young children during formative years.

The culture can also feel surprisingly insular and status-conscious. Rather than the warm and supportive community I expected, I have often found the parent community to be competitive, cliquish, and lacking (ironically) in empathy.

For families with boys, the transition process to the next schools can be especially stressful. Decisions regarding placement and admissions often feel opaque, and when children are not accepted to expected destinations, families are left searching for explanations. Whether or not those explanations exist, the lack of transparency can be painful for both parents and children with profound and lasting impacts.

I was also disappointed by the limited support available to families considering options outside the traditional Cathedral school pathway for our kids. At times, it felt as though families pursuing alternative routes were largely on their own. It seems that trend is starting to change, and for the better.

What saddens me most is that these dynamics affect very young children. This is an age when schools should be building confidence, curiosity, and a sense of belonging. Instead, the pressure, competition, and uncertainty can feel disproportionate to the age of the students involved.

I know many families have had positive experiences, and I respect that. Mine has been different. For us, leaving Beauvoir this week will be a relief rather than a regret.

Did your child not get accepted to their first choice school for the next school? That would be upsetting to me as well. What are the numbers for STA and NCS coming from BVR for the incoming 4th grade class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, my reflections on our experience at Beauvoir has left me deeply disappointed as we end the year.

What has frustrated me most is the apparent inability of the school community to engage constructively with criticism. Concerns raised by parents are often dismissed rather than addressed, creating an environment where honest discussion feels unwelcome. Indeed, any critical post of the school has been locked or erased from this site. I fully expect the same to happen with this thread.

One of the biggest problems is the quality of teaching is highly uneven. Our experience over the years has shown that quality varies dramatically from classroom to classroom, and that inconsistency can have a significant impact on young children during formative years.

The culture can also feel surprisingly insular and status-conscious. Rather than the warm and supportive community I expected, I have often found the parent community to be competitive, cliquish, and lacking (ironically) in empathy.

For families with boys, the transition process to the next schools can be especially stressful. Decisions regarding placement and admissions often feel opaque, and when children are not accepted to expected destinations, families are left searching for explanations. Whether or not those explanations exist, the lack of transparency can be painful for both parents and children with profound and lasting impacts.

I was also disappointed by the limited support available to families considering options outside the traditional Cathedral school pathway for our kids. At times, it felt as though families pursuing alternative routes were largely on their own. It seems that trend is starting to change, and for the better.

What saddens me most is that these dynamics affect very young children. This is an age when schools should be building confidence, curiosity, and a sense of belonging. Instead, the pressure, competition, and uncertainty can feel disproportionate to the age of the students involved.

I know many families have had positive experiences, and I respect that. Mine has been different. For us, leaving Beauvoir this week will be a relief rather than a regret.

Did your child not get accepted to their first choice school for the next school? That would be upsetting to me as well. What are the numbers for STA and NCS coming from BVR for the incoming 4th grade class?

About 25 boys to STA (out of 39 I think) and 31 girls to NCS out of 37 (only 34 applied)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thursday was rough. Had to take a couple of days to process. I'm still processing. I see some comments that say we are to blame. Probably that's true. We're outsiders and didn't know the rules of the game until it was nearly over. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for putting my child through that system. For not wising up sooner. This year has taken a toll on DC no matter what we say or do. I just hope that others can learn from others and spare their own children.

OP what specifically about the last day on Thursday was rough?

I’m curious too about what could be so challenging about a morning chapel service and listening to some hymns from children that it requires days to recover from.

We’re very happy at Beauvoir, but I agree that there could be more space for constructive criticism at most schools. However, it’s hard to take complaints like the OP seriously when it comes with statements like “I had to take a couple of days to process (a chapel service)”. OP sounds like someone who has never had a real challenge in their life. It also makes me wonder how much OP’s behavior impacted “the toll on DC”.

Not OP, but my guess is the social aspect was hard and not the cathedral service. All the parents asking where you enrolled your kids possibly knowing that you had applied to STA/NCS, classmates talking about their next year at the Cathedral schools, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to let you know. This is not specific to BVR. I had similar experience in Maret. The demand for private schools is so high that many schools have that the attitude that they don’t have any problems, the problem is the parent that complains.

This happens at many other school and very often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to let you know. This is not specific to BVR. I had similar experience in Maret. The demand for private schools is so high that many schools have that the attitude that they don’t have any problems, the problem is the parent that complains.

Same at Primary Day. The teachers and staff are wonderful and the program is great, but there is zero interest in hearing from parents about pretty much anything, whether it be a complaint or simply a new idea.

Huh? We completed a parent survey this past year?