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Anonymous
Our DC will also be starting Kindergarten  Is your DC a Boy or Girl ?? I hope to meet you soon. We are also very excited about our choice. I think it is going to be a great learning opportunity for our DC. Did your family attend the reception for newly admitted parents in March?
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Anonymous
Very exciting!  We have a boy. Yes, we attended the reception in March - the other prospective parents seemed very nice.
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Anonymous
| To 16:54 and 16:15, are you both new families to Beauvoir? Do you have any idea how many new families were admitted for kindergarten? We're applying next year for kindergarten, and just wanted to get a sense of the numbers. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| PPs - Congratulations. We were waitlisted at Beauvoir for Pre-K, and I know the odds are slim and fading that we'll make it off the list, so we are already thinking about next year. Did you apply for Pre-K at Beauvoir last year? Would love to hear from anyone who did not make it to Pre-K, but tried again with success for K. Stressed Out UM |
Anonymous
| Hi - another mother of a wait listed pre-k'er here who would love to know as well. Beauvoir was our absolute first choice school for our daughter. We are planning to re-apply for K. Anything you can share would be most helpful. Thank you in advance! |
Anonymous
| 17:00 - Unfortunately, I don't have specifics onhow many new families were admitted to K this year. I know of two other new families, but that's it. We did not apply to Pre-K last year (we have a great daycare situation that goes through pre-K). I do know of one family that applied for pre-K last year, got waitlisted, applied for K this year and got in. I would certainly apply again next year. |
Anonymous
Yes, we are a new family We applied for Pre - K (waitlisted) Reapplied this year and got accepted. So I would encourage families to apply again especially if Beauvoir was your first choice school. Also, try to find out what caused your DC's application to be waitlisted; ask for specifics.
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Anonymous
Throw this in the pot. The other week, my DD second grader, who plays in a DC soccer league, played a game against a Beauvoir team. They walloped us. They had several exceptional players, were well coached, and had a huge cheering section of parents and siblings. Fine, I have no problem so far. And the fact that we got walloped without mercy, well, I'm not expecting them to just stop trying after a multi-goal lead. But this is what got to me. Granted, I was viewing this game, knowing that it was a Beauvoir team, through a prism clearly affected by some of the pointed comments on this forum about all of the Cathedral schools. What got me was that based on my observations of the players, coaches, and parents, what they valued above all -- above athletic ability, above soccer skills, above teamwork -- was raw, naked, aggression. I heard one seemingly disappointed dad counsel his son to be much more like some of the other boys on the team, aggressive. I'm not saying this is unsportmanlike. I'm not saying it's necessarily improper in a sports setting. But of all the teams I've ever observed in this league, no one has stood out in this way. Oh, incidentally, we played an all boys team. Many teams out there still seem to be coed. Maybe this is relevant, maybe it's not. But Beauvoir boys statistically grow up to be STA boys. It's pretty clear to me based on what I've heard, read, and personally observed, STA values naked, aggression. Not win at all costs. But win, do nothing but win, and accept no less. So, maybe this is something to do with Beauvoir's bad rap. It certainly has something to do with STA's. |
Anonymous
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Whoa... Hold on a sec there.
I'm certainly not going to dispute what you saw. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's true (if for no other reason than the current crop of second grade Beauvoir boys is... well... trying... though not representative of all Beauvoir students). I will also note that I don't like STA at all. I certainly think the culture there encourages unhealthy, overly competitive behavior (and doesn't particularly encourage other traits that I value). But that all said, if Beauvoir students are showing raw, naked aggression it is absolutely not because of Beauvoir. As you noted, though, Beauvoir is often just a stop along the way to STA, so it may be true that many parents buy into the STA culture and encourage overly competitive values at a young age (perhaps the dads especially, who we see far less than the moms at Beauvoir). Beauvoir has its problems; there are a number of things I would change, but I think the institution as a whole very much has its heart in the right place. This school is one where children are explicitly taught conflict resolution, where the Life Rules (Honesty, Kindness, Responsibility, and Respect) are a regular part of their lives from age four on, where little boys are supported in their decision to dress up in "girs' clothes" in the dramatic play areas, and where teachers actively try to promote empathy, tolerance, and compassion. There is a rich multicultural and social curriculum at Beauvoir, and they're also proactively working on an explicit anti-bullying/peace-making curriculum. This all said, by time Beauvoir boys pass through the third grade (their last year), there is definitely a very large number of overly competitive boys. It's really not that many, but for some reason they often seem to be the popular ones, so some of their peers get "dragged into it" so to speak. But, again, I honestly don't believe this has anything to do with Beauvoir, and I think Beauvoir actually actively seeks to counter this type of behavior. I will say that these students often play some very competitive games at recess -- touch football, basketball, etc. But I will also say this: When a boy falls down hurt, all playing stops. A group of boys almost immediately beats the supervising teacher to the boy's side. Sometimes they're crying; no one cares. They're always helped to their feet. And if someone does try to start playing before matters are resolved, the teacher doesn't have to say a word. A chorus of, "Hey, stop it!" will ensue. I really can't believe I'm writing this, but anyway... it's definitely true. The Cathedral Schools are laden with some egregious problems, but the system as a whole would be a far better place if all of the schools were like Beauvoir. |
Anonymous
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But here's an incident that does cast some blame on parents...
A current third grade Beauvoir soccer team started the fall season co-ed. Before the spring season started, the parents of all the boys got together and basically "fired" the girls from the team without consulting the girls' parents. Not the first time something like that happened. |
Anonymous
| I could not believe it when a fellow-Beauvoir parent alerted me to the soccer comment. I literally dropped what I was doing and rushed home to the computer. How unfair and misleading. The number of all boys second grade Beauvoir teams in a DC league, I'm assuming you are referring to Stoddert, is small, so I am reasonably sure I know which team you are referring to. My DS is on that team, and I know all the boys and families on that team. The boys who do "try" happen to be the most physical players on the team. If this is "aggressive," then they are aggressive. However, I have not once witnessed any bad sportsmanship by any one of those so called aggressive boys. To the contrary, whenever a member of an opposing team takes a tumble or is on the wrong end of a collision, it is always one of the "aggressive" players who rushes to the assistance of that fallen player. Moreover, the irony is that the "aggressive" players on that team not only display great compassion on the field, they are truly the sweetest boys on that team off the field. By the way, I'm not the mother of one of these aggressive boys. I woud never dream of telling my boy to be more aggressive, but I certainly think such thoughts to myself. I would like my boy to be more like them, those aggressive boys, who bring passion to everything they "try", but are also kind and respectful both on and off the field. |
Anonymous
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to the previous poster - that makes me feel much better - we're a new beauvoir family & have been getting nervous reading all of these negative posts.
we have a very non-agressive / not particularly athletic son who i'm hoping will be ok! thanks |
Anonymous
To the prior poster, if you do not mind, could you provide us with an update? Did you contact Ms. Carreiro? If so, how did she respond to any of the points raised? |
Anonymous
OP - any regrets given the issues raised on the other B thread? |