tell me about middle school at GDS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then doesn’t the student population start to skew toward those who thrive in an unstructured environment and then the kids who don’t are even more marginalized? Doesn’t GDS have an interest in supporting all kinds of learners? Don’t they want to show they value different ways of thinking?

Yes, it skews to people who thrive in a particular environment (which has nothing to do with ways of thinking). Do more structured schools worry about catering to those who don't like structure?

That's the thing about private school: you can pick one that works for you.

Sure it has to do with ways of thinking. One person does better where they have fewer distractions while another thrives. One person prefers to take time to think through a question or needs some encouragement to speak up while another thinks on the fly and impulsively shouts out their answer. One type is favored over another in the environment described above. Yes, there are some choices but it is disappointing to think a place like GDS doesn’t make room for the more thoughtful, less impulsive student.

If only there were multiple private schools with different learning environments for different kids.

[Anonymous]

My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then doesn’t the student population start to skew toward those who thrive in an unstructured environment and then the kids who don’t are even more marginalized? Doesn’t GDS have an interest in supporting all kinds of learners? Don’t they want to show they value different ways of thinking?

Yes, it skews to people who thrive in a particular environment (which has nothing to do with ways of thinking). Do more structured schools worry about catering to those who don't like structure?

That's the thing about private school: you can pick one that works for you.

Sure it has to do with ways of thinking. One person does better where they have fewer distractions while another thrives. One person prefers to take time to think through a question or needs some encouragement to speak up while another thinks on the fly and impulsively shouts out their answer. One type is favored over another in the environment described above. Yes, there are some choices but it is disappointing to think a place like GDS doesn’t make room for the more thoughtful, less impulsive student.

Not wanting/needing structure is not at all the same thing as not being thoughtful.

DCUM's dislike of GDS is odd.

No, this conversation is useful for knowing the MS approach there works for kids who already can make themselves heard but is less supportive of kids who are just finding their voices. The latter type of student can choose to go elsewhere, yes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It can be pretty chaotic. It works for some kids, not for others. I had a quiet, introverted kid who really did not like it. Other kids love it. I have a DS there now who is very happy there and even he comes home some time annoyed by some of the behavior. The HS is very different in the classroom. What grade are you applying into? If its 5th or 6th, that’s a long time to be somewhere that does not feel right for you.

Can you elaborate on the behavior in middle school? How is the high school different? I'm curious why the middle school is set up so differently than the hs. My kid also attended a shadow day and was unimpressed.

I did not mean “Chaotic” as a negative, necessarily. It’s a great place, and as another poster noted there is a lot of talk of kids having agency and advocating for themselves. That has a lot of positives, but since you are dealing with middle schoolers, the freedom to advocate for themselves creates an environment where kids are not necessarily raising their hands before they speak so there can be a lot of calling out, and a strong personality can send a discussion sideways. Some teachers harness that better than others while still offering kids that freedom to speak up. By the time you get to the HS, kids are better at moderating their impulses to speak out and take over, and the teachers are better at signaling the behavior that is appropriate in their classroom. So, the HS its not set up differently; its just that in the MS they are letting kids find their way, and by HS, they have largely found their way, at least in this one behavioral aspect. If you DC loved the shadow day then they are probably very well suited to the school. But a child who felt out of place may want to go with their instincts.

Is admin aware that the environment favors a certain personality type? Is there room for the more reflective student or do they spend MS being drowned out? Is there a balance of personalities?

I think they are. There is room for more reflective kids, and they do their thing. My one reflective kid did not like it and left, but I have other kids, equally introverted who liked the school for other reasons and they stayed through HS.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

Which Catholic school did he visit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

Which Catholic school did he visit?

I was just making the point that different schools work for different kinds of students and that's expected and ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then doesn’t the student population start to skew toward those who thrive in an unstructured environment and then the kids who don’t are even more marginalized? Doesn’t GDS have an interest in supporting all kinds of learners? Don’t they want to show they value different ways of thinking?

Yes, it skews to people who thrive in a particular environment (which has nothing to do with ways of thinking). Do more structured schools worry about catering to those who don't like structure?

That's the thing about private school: you can pick one that works for you.

Sure it has to do with ways of thinking. One person does better where they have fewer distractions while another thrives. One person prefers to take time to think through a question or needs some encouragement to speak up while another thinks on the fly and impulsively shouts out their answer. One type is favored over another in the environment described above. Yes, there are some choices but it is disappointing to think a place like GDS doesn’t make room for the more thoughtful, less impulsive student.

Not wanting/needing structure is not at all the same thing as not being thoughtful.

DCUM's dislike of GDS is odd.

No, this conversation is useful for knowing the MS approach there works for kids who already can make themselves heard but is less supportive of kids who are just finding their voices. The latter type of student can choose to go elsewhere, yes?

Yes, of course! That's why I don't understand the pp's criticism of gds for not being "accommodating" of students who need/want more structure and support.

I have one child at GDS and one child elsewhere because that child needs support and structure that gds doesn't provide. But that's not a knock on gds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

Which Catholic school did he visit?

I was just making the point that different schools work for different kinds of students and that's expected and ok.

And you chose Catholic?

Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

Which Catholic school did he visit?

I was just making the point that different schools work for different kinds of students and that's expected and ok.

And a little soft bigotry never goes amiss, right?

[Anonymous]

Longtime GDS parent here. Multiple kids at the school. The MS is the worst part of the GDS experience. why?

The MS just runs more poorly than LS and HS. Less organized. The MS administration (which is changing at the end of the school year) is frankly not as good as the HS or LS. Kids (not just mine but many) seem to think MS is the low point of the GDS experience

Surely some of that is endemic to MS everywhere - it's a hard and awkward age. But my kids - none of whom were introverts - were surprised at how little control teachers exerted in classrooms to tell disruptive kids to STFU. There are often 2-3 kids in a classroom (esp 7th and 8th grade) who are chatting, having side conversations, using their laptops to game - and 2/3rds of MS teachers seem to entirely ignore this and zero consequences are faced. Like none

The issue is that for the extroverted kids - no problem, but for an introvert, that setting can perhaps be intimidating or at least distracting.

The new building is viewed as being sterile and cramped by many of the kids who saw the old building.

There are some wonderful teachers and that is not the issue itself. I think the administration in MS is very lax on any form of discipline lest it be viewed as being unjust in some way. So lots of stuff slides in the classrooms and I know from some teachers in 1:1s that it frustrates them too

Now all of that said, the HS is wonderful. Like super duper. So you enter at MS if and only if you are confident you want to be there through HS. Else it's not worth it IMHO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Longtime GDS parent here. Multiple kids at the school. The MS is the worst part of the GDS experience. why?

The MS just runs more poorly than LS and HS. Less organized. The MS administration (which is changing at the end of the school year) is frankly not as good as the HS or LS. Kids (not just mine but many) seem to think MS is the low point of the GDS experience

Surely some of that is endemic to MS everywhere - it's a hard and awkward age. But my kids - none of whom were introverts - were surprised at how little control teachers exerted in classrooms to tell disruptive kids to STFU. There are often 2-3 kids in a classroom (esp 7th and 8th grade) who are chatting, having side conversations, using their laptops to game - and 2/3rds of MS teachers seem to entirely ignore this and zero consequences are faced. Like none

The issue is that for the extroverted kids - no problem, but for an introvert, that setting can perhaps be intimidating or at least distracting.

The new building is viewed as being sterile and cramped by many of the kids who saw the old building.

There are some wonderful teachers and that is not the issue itself. I think the administration in MS is very lax on any form of discipline lest it be viewed as being unjust in some way. So lots of stuff slides in the classrooms and I know from some teachers in 1:1s that it frustrates them too

Now all of that said, the HS is wonderful. Like super duper. So you enter at MS if and only if you are confident you want to be there through HS. Else it's not worth it IMHO

So some parents are just paying $$$$$ for their kids to play games on their laptop all day??

[Anonymous]

How’s the new US principal, the former history teacher or DEI Head from Dalton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

Which Catholic school did he visit?

I was just making the point that different schools work for different kinds of students and that's expected and ok.

That's not the point you were making.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

Which Catholic school did he visit?

I was just making the point that different schools work for different kinds of students and that's expected and ok.

You ignorance of Catholic schools and bigotry against them are noted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child visited a Catholic school. He was surprised at how structured and religious it was. Don't they care about supporting different ways of thinking, including my freewheeling, atheist child?

Our Catholic school has learning specialists for every level of school supporting different ways of learning. Students were encouraged to think critically and back up their arguments with evidence. Counselors were constantly helping students to navigate teen social dramas. They cared a lot.