Sidwell to increase tuition a WHOPPING 6.7%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know how many Sidwell parents on this forum have or know senior students. Class of 2022 is one of the strongest but ED/EA results seem very poor this year. Most of us send our kids to SFS for quality education. Sooner or later your kids will be a senior. Parents should express our real concern and interests while paying increasing tuitions.

Isn't SFS the only private school with 10 national merit semifinalists or something like that?

But most NMSFs didn't get in EA/ED. LOL. Sidwell CCO is really subpar.

+1 (class of ‘22 parent here)

+2. Were apparently advising some seniors in mid-Jan to apply to more "safety" schools - mind you after the Jan. 1 deadline for many schools, and right up against the later deadlines of Jan. 15 for some schools.

+3 Try to schedule an appointment to check the Naviance Data and finalized the RD list prior to the winter break after knowing the ED result, but we were told her schedule was fully booked. COO was closed except for checking the emails.

What’s their excuse for not providing access to Naviance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious...how much do teachers get paid?

Not enough.

15 year teacher 70-80ish

My nanny makes more than that with overtime and bonuses. Although she works year round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SFS should do exit interview surveys with students and parents after graduation. They might find it useful.

+1

Unfortunately it will not happen. Like 14:11 said "I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that Mamadou said this morning that they do not formally ask for feedback from parents about the college counseling office and that they are not planning to do so this year" SFS even doesn't want to have feedback from parents about the college counseling office. How do you expect the school will do exit interview?

At least he's honest. I'm going to get torched on here, but it won't make what I'm about to say any less true. I have worked in higher education administration, including admissions, for over a decade. Do we solicit feedback from those who wish to provide it, either among prospective applicants, accepted students, or students looking for advice and outplacement to grad school and/or employment? Yes. Is it helpful? Rarely. Most feedback self-selects for the happiest and grumpiest, and it more often than not includes personal preferences and complaints more than it does useful advice that could be applied department-wide. Almost never does it reflect expertise. Accordingly, does feedback change what we do? Almost never. Why? Because in the main, we know what we're doing, and in the main, we're good at it, and if we didn't and if we weren't, people wouldn't come to our institution. At the very least, they would view the administration (including admissions and career offices) as the downsides that they accept in exchange for an educational experience and outplacement track-record they are otherwise satisfied with. Is it a fair expectation that a long-standing institution will change long-standing practices and personnel in light of the feedback of families passing through? Also no.

The same is true at places like Sidwell. They could take your feedback. Would they find it helpful? Rarely, not never, but rarely. Would it self select for the happiest and grumpiest? Yes. Would it more often than not include personal preferences and complaints more than useful advice that could be applied broadly? Absolutely. Would it reflect broad-ranging expertise? It would not, especially since those who have enough expertise to offer the counseling department broad-ranging advice probably did well without their help in the first place and would hardly be inclined to take time to give feedback. Would it change what they do? Again, no. Did you know the career office was considered by some to be a downside in what is otherwise a tradeoff for either a good educational experience or prestige or both? If you did your research, then you knew that. You bought into the institution, warts and all, and it is not a fair expectation for you to change it or for them to cow to your wishes. If they did, they wouldn't be much of an institution, much less one you'd buy into. You bought the name. You bought the institution. I hope you bought it for reasons that go beyond the sweatshirt, but regardless, you bought an institution that was here long before you were and will be here long after you're gone.

You may not like it, but you knew. Don't pretend you didn't.

So this argument basically boils down to:

1. We are professionals, therefore we know what we are doing and don’t need to listen to any feedback.
2. Sidwell is an institution that will be around long after you are there, so we shouldn’t change anything.
3. You knew the CCO sucked when you enrolled in the school, so we shouldn’t change it.

I think that is a terrible argument. It is obvious based on the issues that the CCO has had in the past and continues to have that they are not so good at their jobs that they don’t need to listen to feedback. Institutions change all the time and it is not unreasonable to expect them to improve. It’s also not unreasonable for people paying over $50K a year to expect a school to improve on one of its weakest points rather than saying “too bad, you knew we sucked at that when you signed up.” The “we know better” attitude outlined in your post is exactly what prevents schools from improving in situations like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SFS should do exit interview surveys with students and parents after graduation. They might find it useful.

+1

Unfortunately it will not happen. Like 14:11 said "I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that Mamadou said this morning that they do not formally ask for feedback from parents about the college counseling office and that they are not planning to do so this year" SFS even doesn't want to have feedback from parents about the college counseling office. How do you expect the school will do exit interview?

At least he's honest. I'm going to get torched on here, but it won't make what I'm about to say any less true. I have worked in higher education administration, including admissions, for over a decade. Do we solicit feedback from those who wish to provide it, either among prospective applicants, accepted students, or students looking for advice and outplacement to grad school and/or employment? Yes. Is it helpful? Rarely. Most feedback self-selects for the happiest and grumpiest, and it more often than not includes personal preferences and complaints more than it does useful advice that could be applied department-wide. Almost never does it reflect expertise. Accordingly, does feedback change what we do? Almost never. Why? Because in the main, we know what we're doing, and in the main, we're good at it, and if we didn't and if we weren't, people wouldn't come to our institution. At the very least, they would view the administration (including admissions and career offices) as the downsides that they accept in exchange for an educational experience and outplacement track-record they are otherwise satisfied with. Is it a fair expectation that a long-standing institution will change long-standing practices and personnel in light of the feedback of families passing through? Also no.

The same is true at places like Sidwell. They could take your feedback. Would they find it helpful? Rarely, not never, but rarely. Would it self select for the happiest and grumpiest? Yes. Would it more often than not include personal preferences and complaints more than useful advice that could be applied broadly? Absolutely. Would it reflect broad-ranging expertise? It would not, especially since those who have enough expertise to offer the counseling department broad-ranging advice probably did well without their help in the first place and would hardly be inclined to take time to give feedback. Would it change what they do? Again, no. Did you know the career office was considered by some to be a downside in what is otherwise a tradeoff for either a good educational experience or prestige or both? If you did your research, then you knew that. You bought into the institution, warts and all, and it is not a fair expectation for you to change it or for them to cow to your wishes. If they did, they wouldn't be much of an institution, much less one you'd buy into. You bought the name. You bought the institution. I hope you bought it for reasons that go beyond the sweatshirt, but regardless, you bought an institution that was here long before you were and will be here long after you're gone.

You may not like it, but you knew. Don't pretend you didn't.

So this argument basically boils down to:

1. We are professionals, therefore we know what we are doing and don’t need to listen to any feedback.
2. Sidwell is an institution that will be around long after you are there, so we shouldn’t change anything.
3. You knew the CCO sucked when you enrolled in the school, so we shouldn’t change it.

I think that is a terrible argument. It is obvious based on the issues that the CCO has had in the past and continues to have that they are not so good at their jobs that they don’t need to listen to feedback. Institutions change all the time and it is not unreasonable to expect them to improve. It’s also not unreasonable for people paying over $50K a year to expect a school to improve on one of its weakest points rather than saying “too bad, you knew we sucked at that when you signed up.” The “we know better” attitude outlined in your post is exactly what prevents schools from improving in situations like this.

It's not an argument, because it's not up for debate. If you want to tell sidwell that it's position amounts to a bad argument, go ahead. If you think your view that it is a bad argument--or an argument at all--is important and change-inducing, go ahead.

The fact that you think this is an argument is kind of the point: You think it is, but they do not. They don't even think it's a discussion, really. You think you're part of a decisional process that you are not, in fact, a part of, but which you believe you are entitled to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+3 Try to schedule an appointment to check the Naviance Data and finalized the RD list prior to the winter break after knowing the ED result, but we were told her schedule was fully booked. COO was closed except for checking the emails.

What’s their excuse for not providing access to Naviance?

Many private schools don't because the small population makes it difficult to keep the data anonymous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - I agree with your sentiments. I think most students (and parents) are well aware of how fierce competition is and if the counselors were to be a little bit more transparent of how many kids with higher stats are applying to the same school while another similar (or even slightly lower ranked) school is being relatively overlooked, I think kids would consider pivoting to the alternative choice.

As an example, if tons of kids were applying Northwestern ED and didn't have a chance, maybe the CCO could let them know that Johns Hopkins/Rice/Notre Dame has less applicants that year from the school so would the student be interested in using their ED/EA slots and applying there instead. Of course, its up to the student if they want to drastically change their focus from Northwestern to one of these other schools but at least they would go in eyes wide open.

I strongly believe that kids today are genuinely more open to guidance than they were a few years ago. The reality of the pandemic has made people a lot more humble.

Another Sidwell parent. We even diplomatically asked for the information but was politely told they can’t give any hint. We didn’t go after it.

14:14. You should have asked more pointedly. We did, and were told what the situation was. No specific names of course, but that DC would be taking a long shot on this particular ED choice, and here is why.

I’m a different pp, but we also did not get that kind of information. And I question whether it really should be necessary to ask “pointedly” and whether pointedly might be interpreted by some counselors as confrontational. Especially since we all were lectured (yelled at?) by Bryan early on in the process about acceptable parent behavior, due to the events that had occurred in prior years.

I meant the we asked directly. Point blank questions. PP mentioned asking questions like this “diplomatically,” which sounds pretty vague and unclear to me. I found that the Sidwell CCO will be upfront with you but as another poster stated, that means they will say things that some people choose not to hear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - I agree with your sentiments. I think most students (and parents) are well aware of how fierce competition is and if the counselors were to be a little bit more transparent of how many kids with higher stats are applying to the same school while another similar (or even slightly lower ranked) school is being relatively overlooked, I think kids would consider pivoting to the alternative choice.

As an example, if tons of kids were applying Northwestern ED and didn't have a chance, maybe the CCO could let them know that Johns Hopkins/Rice/Notre Dame has less applicants that year from the school so would the student be interested in using their ED/EA slots and applying there instead. Of course, its up to the student if they want to drastically change their focus from Northwestern to one of these other schools but at least they would go in eyes wide open.

I strongly believe that kids today are genuinely more open to guidance than they were a few years ago. The reality of the pandemic has made people a lot more humble.

Another Sidwell parent. We even diplomatically asked for the information but was politely told they can’t give any hint. We didn’t go after it.

14:14. You should have asked more pointedly. We did, and were told what the situation was. No specific names of course, but that DC would be taking a long shot on this particular ED choice, and here is why.

I’m a different pp, but we also did not get that kind of information. And I question whether it really should be necessary to ask “pointedly” and whether pointedly might be interpreted by some counselors as confrontational. Especially since we all were lectured (yelled at?) by Bryan early on in the process about acceptable parent behavior, due to the events that had occurred in prior years.

I meant the we asked directly. Point blank questions. PP mentioned asking questions like this “diplomatically,” which sounds pretty vague and unclear to me. I found that the Sidwell CCO will be upfront with you but as another poster stated, that means they will say things that some people choose not to hear.

Well there are four counselors. I am glad your counselor is upfront with you as several posts indicated that their counselors didn’t provide such information.

[Anonymous]

The counseling department has been through a lot of change. You have to give them time to settle in and shine. Unfortunately that does not help the senior class but it will be a very different experience for the present 9th and 10th graders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - I agree with your sentiments. I think most students (and parents) are well aware of how fierce competition is and if the counselors were to be a little bit more transparent of how many kids with higher stats are applying to the same school while another similar (or even slightly lower ranked) school is being relatively overlooked, I think kids would consider pivoting to the alternative choice.

As an example, if tons of kids were applying Northwestern ED and didn't have a chance, maybe the CCO could let them know that Johns Hopkins/Rice/Notre Dame has less applicants that year from the school so would the student be interested in using their ED/EA slots and applying there instead. Of course, its up to the student if they want to drastically change their focus from Northwestern to one of these other schools but at least they would go in eyes wide open.

I strongly believe that kids today are genuinely more open to guidance than they were a few years ago. The reality of the pandemic has made people a lot more humble.

Another Sidwell parent. We even diplomatically asked for the information but was politely told they can’t give any hint. We didn’t go after it.

14:14. You should have asked more pointedly. We did, and were told what the situation was. No specific names of course, but that DC would be taking a long shot on this particular ED choice, and here is why.

I’m a different pp, but we also did not get that kind of information. And I question whether it really should be necessary to ask “pointedly” and whether pointedly might be interpreted by some counselors as confrontational. Especially since we all were lectured (yelled at?) by Bryan early on in the process about acceptable parent behavior, due to the events that had occurred in prior years.

I meant the we asked directly. Point blank questions. PP mentioned asking questions like this “diplomatically,” which sounds pretty vague and unclear to me. I found that the Sidwell CCO will be upfront with you but as another poster stated, that means they will say things that some people choose not to hear.

Not pp. we asked a similar question but got the same answer as pp. We thought it’s school’s policy. Apparently it’s not true and depends on who is the counselor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SFS should do exit interview surveys with students and parents after graduation. They might find it useful.

+1

Unfortunately it will not happen. Like 14:11 said "I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that Mamadou said this morning that they do not formally ask for feedback from parents about the college counseling office and that they are not planning to do so this year" SFS even doesn't want to have feedback from parents about the college counseling office. How do you expect the school will do exit interview?

At least he's honest. I'm going to get torched on here, but it won't make what I'm about to say any less true. I have worked in higher education administration, including admissions, for over a decade. Do we solicit feedback from those who wish to provide it, either among prospective applicants, accepted students, or students looking for advice and outplacement to grad school and/or employment? Yes. Is it helpful? Rarely. Most feedback self-selects for the happiest and grumpiest, and it more often than not includes personal preferences and complaints more than it does useful advice that could be applied department-wide. Almost never does it reflect expertise. Accordingly, does feedback change what we do? Almost never. Why? Because in the main, we know what we're doing, and in the main, we're good at it, and if we didn't and if we weren't, people wouldn't come to our institution. At the very least, they would view the administration (including admissions and career offices) as the downsides that they accept in exchange for an educational experience and outplacement track-record they are otherwise satisfied with. Is it a fair expectation that a long-standing institution will change long-standing practices and personnel in light of the feedback of families passing through? Also no.

The same is true at places like Sidwell. They could take your feedback. Would they find it helpful? Rarely, not never, but rarely. Would it self select for the happiest and grumpiest? Yes. Would it more often than not include personal preferences and complaints more than useful advice that could be applied broadly? Absolutely. Would it reflect broad-ranging expertise? It would not, especially since those who have enough expertise to offer the counseling department broad-ranging advice probably did well without their help in the first place and would hardly be inclined to take time to give feedback. Would it change what they do? Again, no. Did you know the career office was considered by some to be a downside in what is otherwise a tradeoff for either a good educational experience or prestige or both? If you did your research, then you knew that. You bought into the institution, warts and all, and it is not a fair expectation for you to change it or for them to cow to your wishes. If they did, they wouldn't be much of an institution, much less one you'd buy into. You bought the name. You bought the institution. I hope you bought it for reasons that go beyond the sweatshirt, but regardless, you bought an institution that was here long before you were and will be here long after you're gone.

You may not like it, but you knew. Don't pretend you didn't.

So this argument basically boils down to:

1. We are professionals, therefore we know what we are doing and don’t need to listen to any feedback.
2. Sidwell is an institution that will be around long after you are there, so we shouldn’t change anything.
3. You knew the CCO sucked when you enrolled in the school, so we shouldn’t change it.

I think that is a terrible argument. It is obvious based on the issues that the CCO has had in the past and continues to have that they are not so good at their jobs that they don’t need to listen to feedback. Institutions change all the time and it is not unreasonable to expect them to improve. It’s also not unreasonable for people paying over $50K a year to expect a school to improve on one of its weakest points rather than saying “too bad, you knew we sucked at that when you signed up.” The “we know better” attitude outlined in your post is exactly what prevents schools from improving in situations like this.

It's not an argument, because it's not up for debate. If you want to tell sidwell that it's position amounts to a bad argument, go ahead. If you think your view that it is a bad argument--or an argument at all--is important and change-inducing, go ahead.

The fact that you think this is an argument is kind of the point: You think it is, but they do not. They don't even think it's a discussion, really. You think you're part of a decisional process that you are not, in fact, a part of, but which you believe you are entitled to be.

The assertions that you are making about Sidwell’s outlook on this are not consistent with what Sidwell professes its outlook to be. They claim to want to partner with parents, which is different from the world of higher education you come from.

Now, in reality, do they actually care about what the parents think? Well, that’s the topic being discussed—whether they do, and whether they should. Also remember that, in contrast to higher education institutions, the principal philanthropic support for almost all independent schools comes from current parents. That doesn’t mean that a school should be rolling over for the parents. But a school that clearly isn’t even interested in listening to parents is not going to do very well on the fundraising front. In Sidwell’s case, perhaps that is part of the reason why the school has so much long-term debt and struggled with past campaigns. Perhaps it’s also part of the reason why annual fund parent participation was so low last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SFS should do exit interview surveys with students and parents after graduation. They might find it useful.

+1

Unfortunately it will not happen. Like 14:11 said "I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that Mamadou said this morning that they do not formally ask for feedback from parents about the college counseling office and that they are not planning to do so this year" SFS even doesn't want to have feedback from parents about the college counseling office. How do you expect the school will do exit interview?

At least he's honest. I'm going to get torched on here, but it won't make what I'm about to say any less true. I have worked in higher education administration, including admissions, for over a decade. Do we solicit feedback from those who wish to provide it, either among prospective applicants, accepted students, or students looking for advice and outplacement to grad school and/or employment? Yes. Is it helpful? Rarely. Most feedback self-selects for the happiest and grumpiest, and it more often than not includes personal preferences and complaints more than it does useful advice that could be applied department-wide. Almost never does it reflect expertise. Accordingly, does feedback change what we do? Almost never. Why? Because in the main, we know what we're doing, and in the main, we're good at it, and if we didn't and if we weren't, people wouldn't come to our institution. At the very least, they would view the administration (including admissions and career offices) as the downsides that they accept in exchange for an educational experience and outplacement track-record they are otherwise satisfied with. Is it a fair expectation that a long-standing institution will change long-standing practices and personnel in light of the feedback of families passing through? Also no.

The same is true at places like Sidwell. They could take your feedback. Would they find it helpful? Rarely, not never, but rarely. Would it self select for the happiest and grumpiest? Yes. Would it more often than not include personal preferences and complaints more than useful advice that could be applied broadly? Absolutely. Would it reflect broad-ranging expertise? It would not, especially since those who have enough expertise to offer the counseling department broad-ranging advice probably did well without their help in the first place and would hardly be inclined to take time to give feedback. Would it change what they do? Again, no. Did you know the career office was considered by some to be a downside in what is otherwise a tradeoff for either a good educational experience or prestige or both? If you did your research, then you knew that. You bought into the institution, warts and all, and it is not a fair expectation for you to change it or for them to cow to your wishes. If they did, they wouldn't be much of an institution, much less one you'd buy into. You bought the name. You bought the institution. I hope you bought it for reasons that go beyond the sweatshirt, but regardless, you bought an institution that was here long before you were and will be here long after you're gone.

You may not like it, but you knew. Don't pretend you didn't.

So this argument basically boils down to:

1. We are professionals, therefore we know what we are doing and don’t need to listen to any feedback.
2. Sidwell is an institution that will be around long after you are there, so we shouldn’t change anything.
3. You knew the CCO sucked when you enrolled in the school, so we shouldn’t change it.

I think that is a terrible argument. It is obvious based on the issues that the CCO has had in the past and continues to have that they are not so good at their jobs that they don’t need to listen to feedback. Institutions change all the time and it is not unreasonable to expect them to improve. It’s also not unreasonable for people paying over $50K a year to expect a school to improve on one of its weakest points rather than saying “too bad, you knew we sucked at that when you signed up.” The “we know better” attitude outlined in your post is exactly what prevents schools from improving in situations like this.

It's not an argument, because it's not up for debate. If you want to tell sidwell that it's position amounts to a bad argument, go ahead. If you think your view that it is a bad argument--or an argument at all--is important and change-inducing, go ahead.

The fact that you think this is an argument is kind of the point: You think it is, but they do not. They don't even think it's a discussion, really. You think you're part of a decisional process that you are not, in fact, a part of, but which you believe you are entitled to be.

Amen. And thank goodness for that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SFS should do exit interview surveys with students and parents after graduation. They might find it useful.

+1

Unfortunately it will not happen. Like 14:11 said "I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that Mamadou said this morning that they do not formally ask for feedback from parents about the college counseling office and that they are not planning to do so this year" SFS even doesn't want to have feedback from parents about the college counseling office. How do you expect the school will do exit interview?

At least he's honest. I'm going to get torched on here, but it won't make what I'm about to say any less true. I have worked in higher education administration, including admissions, for over a decade. Do we solicit feedback from those who wish to provide it, either among prospective applicants, accepted students, or students looking for advice and outplacement to grad school and/or employment? Yes. Is it helpful? Rarely. Most feedback self-selects for the happiest and grumpiest, and it more often than not includes personal preferences and complaints more than it does useful advice that could be applied department-wide. Almost never does it reflect expertise. Accordingly, does feedback change what we do? Almost never. Why? Because in the main, we know what we're doing, and in the main, we're good at it, and if we didn't and if we weren't, people wouldn't come to our institution. At the very least, they would view the administration (including admissions and career offices) as the downsides that they accept in exchange for an educational experience and outplacement track-record they are otherwise satisfied with. Is it a fair expectation that a long-standing institution will change long-standing practices and personnel in light of the feedback of families passing through? Also no.

The same is true at places like Sidwell. They could take your feedback. Would they find it helpful? Rarely, not never, but rarely. Would it self select for the happiest and grumpiest? Yes. Would it more often than not include personal preferences and complaints more than useful advice that could be applied broadly? Absolutely. Would it reflect broad-ranging expertise? It would not, especially since those who have enough expertise to offer the counseling department broad-ranging advice probably did well without their help in the first place and would hardly be inclined to take time to give feedback. Would it change what they do? Again, no. Did you know the career office was considered by some to be a downside in what is otherwise a tradeoff for either a good educational experience or prestige or both? If you did your research, then you knew that. You bought into the institution, warts and all, and it is not a fair expectation for you to change it or for them to cow to your wishes. If they did, they wouldn't be much of an institution, much less one you'd buy into. You bought the name. You bought the institution. I hope you bought it for reasons that go beyond the sweatshirt, but regardless, you bought an institution that was here long before you were and will be here long after you're gone.

You may not like it, but you knew. Don't pretend you didn't.

So this argument basically boils down to:

1. We are professionals, therefore we know what we are doing and don’t need to listen to any feedback.
2. Sidwell is an institution that will be around long after you are there, so we shouldn’t change anything.
3. You knew the CCO sucked when you enrolled in the school, so we shouldn’t change it.

I think that is a terrible argument. It is obvious based on the issues that the CCO has had in the past and continues to have that they are not so good at their jobs that they don’t need to listen to feedback. Institutions change all the time and it is not unreasonable to expect them to improve. It’s also not unreasonable for people paying over $50K a year to expect a school to improve on one of its weakest points rather than saying “too bad, you knew we sucked at that when you signed up.” The “we know better” attitude outlined in your post is exactly what prevents schools from improving in situations like this.

It's not an argument, because it's not up for debate. If you want to tell sidwell that it's position amounts to a bad argument, go ahead. If you think your view that it is a bad argument--or an argument at all--is important and change-inducing, go ahead.

The fact that you think this is an argument is kind of the point: You think it is, but they do not. They don't even think it's a discussion, really. You think you're part of a decisional process that you are not, in fact, a part of, but which you believe you are entitled to be.

The assertions that you are making about Sidwell’s outlook on this are not consistent with what Sidwell professes its outlook to be. They claim to want to partner with parents, which is different from the world of higher education you come from.

Now, in reality, do they actually care about what the parents think? Well, that’s the topic being discussed—whether they do, and whether they should. Also remember that, in contrast to higher education institutions, the principal philanthropic support for almost all independent schools comes from current parents. That doesn’t mean that a school should be rolling over for the parents. But a school that clearly isn’t even interested in listening to parents is not going to do very well on the fundraising front. In Sidwell’s case, perhaps that is part of the reason why the school has so much long-term debt and struggled with past campaigns. Perhaps it’s also part of the reason why annual fund parent participation was so low last year.

Annual Fund is doing great. We donated more than ever before because we recognized the enormous challenges many families and staff are facing. This is a great tell about where the majority thankfully departs from the OPs of these threads

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+3 Try to schedule an appointment to check the Naviance Data and finalized the RD list prior to the winter break after knowing the ED result, but we were told her schedule was fully booked. COO was closed except for checking the emails.

What’s their excuse for not providing access to Naviance?

Many private schools don't because the small population makes it difficult to keep the data anonymous.

Which schools? And that should be a manageable issue regardless. Show combined data aggregated over the most recent 2 years and you double the relevant population. Voila.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Annual Fund is doing great. We donated more than ever before because we recognized the enormous challenges many families and staff are facing. This is a great tell about where the majority thankfully departs from the OPs of these threads

Parent participation last school year was 62%. Not great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+3 Try to schedule an appointment to check the Naviance Data and finalized the RD list prior to the winter break after knowing the ED result, but we were told her schedule was fully booked. COO was closed except for checking the emails.

What’s their excuse for not providing access to Naviance?

Many private schools don't because the small population makes it difficult to keep the data anonymous.

Which schools? And that should be a manageable issue regardless. Show combined data aggregated over the most recent 2 years and you double the relevant population. Voila.

The provided scattergrams at SFS cover an aggregate of 3 years. Even with that, there might only be a handful of dots on a graph. Sure a place like Michigan might have something meaningful, but for the most part, individual dots can be easily recognizable if you are familiar with previous classes or know what to look for.