Visi Performing Arts Problematic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here with my final comment. I am not the least bit critical of the earnest efforts made by the children who participate in the Visi program. They are doing their finest with what is actually offered at Visi.

I only warn others considering the school if performing arts is important to their daughter. As the wizened commenters accurately implied, I was a chump for having believed the misrepresentations and should have protected my daughter from these people.

Actually, you were outrageously critical. Of kids. And you got called out on it.

BTW: Wizened? Really? You should look that up.

[Anonymous]

Jackson Reed has a solid performing arts program if you’re in DC. If you want private - GDS or St Johns

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts on Burke, Field, or Sandy Spring theaters?

[Anonymous]

OP- you are likely already aware of this, but Gonzaga is hosting tryouts now for their spring musical.

[Anonymous]

PP here- I have heard BI has one of the better theater programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Visi but currently having this experience at another private school. As someone who has volunteered for admissions offices for years, I’m over the fake song-and-dance during admissions season and feel gross for being a part of it. Honestly, so much (all?) of what schools and even current families tell you is what they wished was true, and not what’s really going on. I feel incredibly cynical about it and now that my child is old enough to apply out, I’m wary of almost every pitch we hear.

The reality is that even in the biggest, richest cities, only 2-3 schools per city have the resources to really offer everything and at a high caliber. Everything else is going to be broadly mediocre with a few standout parts.

I grew up in public schools and really wanted more for my kid. I think private schools that aren’t truly elite are a waste and I’d rather have a well-funded public school from the 80s and the experienced faculty that used to come with that.

NP: Amen!!! We started a new private (not Visi) this year and both DC and I feel outright deceived. They are selling the heck out of these schools these days and the extent of fluff and BS is indeed, bordering on fraud (as another PP said). The saddest part is not only that resulting disappointment but the aftermath, having to consider transfers while managing a growing distrust. Current parents often pile on the misrepresentation;[b] it’s become very disheartening for us.

I’m the PP you replied to and I have some thoughts on why current parents involved in admissions do this. We applied to a certain school that supposedly offered certain programs. It didn’t happen the first year we were there. It was post-Covid so we shrugged it off. But no one in admissions updated the materials we were sharing with prospective families, and the administration never said X program isn’t happening- so the assumption is it will happen next month, this winter, this spring, etc. Then the next fall rolls around and we all think, hmmm, maybe X didn’t happen because there was that new program, or the teacher was on leave, or we missed it because it’s actually for grades Y and up?

There’s a lot of cognitive dissonance when you’re just a parent and not on the inside of the school and no longer an applying family. If you’ve worked hard to get your kid into a school, you don’t immediately assume the school isn’t delivering on its promises. I think that’s why parents stick around and even buy into the stretched truths and changes realities: are you going to apply out every single school year that doesn’t go the way you imagined it should?

Even worse, I was in a position of volunteer leadership with frequent interactions with divisional heads, and eventually realized that inept administrators were misleading the head of school about their plans and what they were doing. It’s weirdly easy for a teacher or division head to tell the head of school that a project or program will happen at a mid-year review and then when it doesn’t, it isn’t visible until the end-of-year review. And then that person has to have documented inaction before a performance plan can be triggered and they can have a non-renewed contract. So even if you have an energetic head with vision, teachers and admins have long runways for failure.

A year is a big deal in a child’s life, so it’s disappointing to me that school leadership is ok letting those years slip away while they shuffle around inside their bureaucracy. When people criticize others for scrambling to get their kids into better or elite schools, I now stay quiet because I get it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is justified in her disappointment. If her kid was specifically looking for performing arts opportunities and Visi oversold those opportunities and that sss the difference between her daughter attending Visi or somewhere else, then yes I would be pissed off too. And not all schools lie about their offerings - I’ve attended many fairs and open houses where the school will quite plainly say what they can and cannot offer or do. So for the representative from the school to have outright misrepresented the offerings and opportunities is a huge deal.

No one is saying people attend Visi for the arts - no one does. But if you are a very academic student and the performing arts is the one thing you want to do at school as a creative outlet and it is barely or non-existent, then OP has the right to be upset.

I think people would have been a lot more sympathetic if OP spoke in these terms, but she didn't. It's not that Visi doesn't have a drama department or a choir, it's that they don't live up to OP's standard.

Here's what she said about the young dancers: "The performances are painful to watch."

Here's what she said about the choir and the young instrumentalists: "The sound generated by these performing groups is awful."

Here's what she said about the theater production: "Despite efforts of some talented girls, the overall experience is disappointing and the results are far inferior to other private and public schools. Inexplicably, junior high students are allowed to perform."

Those are horrifying things to say about a bunch of 11-17 year olds (if we're counting the middle schoolers).

The truth is that very few high schools are going to offer the highest level of instrumental music, dance, or theater instruction. Duke Ellington is the exception, but otherwise all of those kids are getting private instruction, or are part of pre-professional programs. That's fine, and appropriate. We as parents should WANT school-level dance or theater to be accessible enough that a child can audition and participate even if they haven't been training since pre-school.

[Anonymous]

I encourage prospective families to visit the schools during nonadmission, public events - such as plays, musicals, concerts, art shows, sports events. That will give you a good sense of the arts programs, sports, and also school culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jackson Reed has a solid performing arts program if you’re in DC. If you want private - GDS or St Johns

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is justified in her disappointment. If her kid was specifically looking for performing arts opportunities and Visi oversold those opportunities and that sss the difference between her daughter attending Visi or somewhere else, then yes I would be pissed off too. And not all schools lie about their offerings - I’ve attended many fairs and open houses where the school will quite plainly say what they can and cannot offer or do. So for the representative from the school to have outright misrepresented the offerings and opportunities is a huge deal.

No one is saying people attend Visi for the arts - no one does. But if you are a very academic student and the performing arts is the one thing you want to do at school as a creative outlet and it is barely or non-existent, then OP has the right to be upset.

I think people would have been a lot more sympathetic if OP spoke in these terms, but she didn't. It's not that Visi doesn't have a drama department or a choir, it's that they don't live up to OP's standard.

Here's what she said about the young dancers: "The performances are painful to watch."

Here's what she said about the choir and the young instrumentalists: "The sound generated by these performing groups is awful."

Here's what she said about the theater production: "Despite efforts of some talented girls, the overall experience is disappointing and the results are far inferior to other private and public schools. Inexplicably, junior high students are allowed to perform."

Those are horrifying things to say about a bunch of 11-17 year olds (if we're counting the middle schoolers).

The truth is that very few high schools are going to offer the highest level of instrumental music, dance, or theater instruction. Duke Ellington is the exception, but otherwise all of those kids are getting private instruction, or are part of pre-professional programs. That's fine, and appropriate. We as parents should WANT school-level dance or theater to be accessible enough that a child can audition and participate even if they haven't been training since pre-school.

+1
It's one thing to express disappointment and even outrage at what you perceive to be a bait-and-switch. It's quite another thing to say terrible things about a kid's artistic effort.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps OP heard what they wanted to hear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Criticizing a specific production where specific kids spent a lot of time and effort to do their best and build a community and have fun together is actually mean.

I am beginning to believe the Visi rep. The bad one.

The criticism is directed toward the person directing the performance. Kids will do what they are directed to do. Given that other schools with similar aged kids can put on stellar performances, it's not the kids responsibility to direct themselves - it's the director who is at fault.

I think you criticism is unwarranted and your expectations are off the mark.

I don't have girls, but have had kids in various schools, public and private. The larger the class of students, the more likely you are to have talent among the ranks, and even in the bigger schools, sometimes your best performer is not that great. Small schools do not recruit for theater or the arts. You get what you get. The greatest benefit to a small school in the arts is that if you are good, you have a better shot at a lead, and if you are still learning and developing, you get to be in the show. Our public high school has fabulous shows, but friends' kids who are really talented get cut and give up theater because there are just too many talented kids trying out for too few spots, and often the director is choosing shows to support specific kids. Most private schools let everyone participate, because they can, and I prefer that model even if it brings down the overall quality of the show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the gold standard local private high school for performing arts? Sidwell?

It would be interesting if visi girls could do something at Duke Ellington a block away. But I’m guessing the gulf is too big

Kids at single sex school all try out and perform at the opposite sex schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is justified in her disappointment. If her kid was specifically looking for performing arts opportunities and Visi oversold those opportunities and that sss the difference between her daughter attending Visi or somewhere else, then yes I would be pissed off too. And not all schools lie about their offerings - I’ve attended many fairs and open houses where the school will quite plainly say what they can and cannot offer or do. So for the representative from the school to have outright misrepresented the offerings and opportunities is a huge deal.

No one is saying people attend Visi for the arts - no one does. But if you are a very academic student and the performing arts is the one thing you want to do at school as a creative outlet and it is barely or non-existent, then OP has the right to be upset.

I think people would have been a lot more sympathetic if OP spoke in these terms, but she didn't. It's not that Visi doesn't have a drama department or a choir, it's that they don't live up to OP's standard.

Here's what she said about the young dancers: "The performances are painful to watch."

Here's what she said about the choir and the young instrumentalists: "The sound generated by these performing groups is awful."

Here's what she said about the theater production: "Despite efforts of some talented girls, the overall experience is disappointing and the results are far inferior to other private and public schools. Inexplicably, junior high students are allowed to perform."

Those are horrifying things to say about a bunch of 11-17 year olds (if we're counting the middle schoolers).

The truth is that very few high schools are going to offer the highest level of instrumental music, dance, or theater instruction. Duke Ellington is the exception, but otherwise all of those kids are getting private instruction, or are part of pre-professional programs. That's fine, and appropriate. We as parents should WANT school-level dance or theater to be accessible enough that a child can audition and participate even if they haven't been training since pre-school.

+1
It's one thing to express disappointment and even outrage at what you perceive to be a bait-and-switch. It's quite another thing to say terrible things about a kid's artistic effort.

+1

The difference between “we were led to believe they had a robust and thriving performing arts department that included dance and theatre, but we were upset to learn that there are no dance classes, only part time staff, and theatre performances combine MS and US students” is miles away from “we were cringingly embarrassed by the horrible music, dance, and theatre attempts of the talentless students and the sub-par teachers.” One gets you sympathy, the other makes you a jerk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- you are likely already aware of this, but Gonzaga is hosting tryouts now for their spring musical.

Our understanding is that many of the girls at Visi participate (only) in the Gonzaga productions. I've also heard that will get you blackballed by the Visi theater director.

I don't know why they'd have junior high girls participate unless they needed bodies.