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Norwood: What do you love? Not Love?
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Anonymous
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Bullying ranges from verbal abuse to physical (a punch) to exclusion.
I am hopeful that the new head of the LS will get a handle on the problem. The school needs to do a better job of notifying the parents of the children who are the culprits. They might need to take more severe disciplinary action (but that could result in fewer donations from those families). I have a feeling that if things get bad at ANY of these private schools and people start to take legal action, the insurance companies will force the schools into a postion where they are compelled to act. |
Anonymous
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There is a interesting thread on bullying started by a GDS parent here: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/126948.page
Quoting from the OP there, "the school is responsive to bullying but it relies on the responsiveness of the bully's parents. Also, that the teachers and administration need to be alerted to it rather than proactively catch it particularly on the playground." I think that unfortunately this is true at many private schools (as opposed to MCPS, which I understand has a zero-tolerance policy). |
Anonymous
I agree. The public schools have been sued...so they act. I am not sure that private schools have had many suits. Every time you read about some kid who commits suicide who was a victim of relentless bullying, you can bet that there is a law suit coming to that school system. Any contact in MCPS is taken very seriously, and verbal abuse is treated similarly. I once overheard an assistant principal disciplining a child in public school for teasing a younger child on the bus. The younger child apparently told her mother that she did not want to ride the bus anymore b/c of some older kids' behaviour. The call came from the mother to the school at 9:00 am, and by 9:30, the older child was in the office hearing it. Then immediately, the parent of the older child was notified. |
Anonymous
| Back to Norwood . . . . Can the PPs who mentioned bullying describe how pervasive the problem in the LS seems to be? Also, can the PP who mentioned an anti-intellectual atmosphere please expand on that comment? |
Anonymous
| I know two children in my child's grade who have been bullied (to differing degrees). I would not describe the problem as pervasive, although the consequences in individual cases can be quite severe. Many children and families are probably unaware that there are any problems at all. |
Anonymous
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I would characterize the bullying problem as pervasive in all private schools, not just Norwood.
RE anti-intellectual, the school is a country club, so it is not the same atmosphere that you will find in a urban private school that serves children of ultra academic families. That does not mean that the academics are not there at the school, it is just that I don't meet too many children of college professors. Lots of families in business of one sort or the other. BTW, ultra academic families do not necessarily have higher IQs, just different priorities. |
Anonymous
| I find the anti-intellectual comment surprising. Among the parents I know, there are many Ivy/Top 5 Liberal Arts school grads, often with graduate degrees. There is at least one nationally recognized academic. Although I don't know the person, I also heard there was a nationally recognized composer/musician. Maybe it is a grade by grade thing. I doubt the parents at our local elementary would be more high powered, honestly, because everyone I know in the neighborhood with those kinds of credentials sends their kids to private. |
Anonymous
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I disagree with this characterization. The parents I know are by and large deeply and genuinely interested in their children's education.
And frankly, as someone who comes from a family chock-a-block with college professors, I don't think you'd meet that many more professors' kids at the more urban private schools. With rare exceptions, we don't make that much! |
Anonymous
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I don't mean to distract attention from the discussion on bullying, which by the way I have not seen in Norwood (though that could just mean we have not been exposed to it). I would like to make a small correction to something I said early on this thread, in the interest of not spreading inaccurate information on this forum.
The first grade class has 15-16 students with 1 (not 2) full-time teacher, but it is correct that they break out into smaller differentiated groups for reading and math. |
Anonymous
No one said that the parents are not interested in their children's education. The culture at the school is of money, and the richest families have businesses. These families are also influencial. |
Anonymous
| And business owners are not able to be intellectual? |
Anonymous
What exactly are you trying to say? |
Anonymous
What I just said. |
Anonymous
How'd ya make that connection? |
Anonymous
| During the Open House last year, we learned bullying was taken very seriously at Norwood. The teacher would stop the lesson and engage in a teachable moment if she witnessed questionable behavior. The school's motto is "How you live your life matters" and character education is a big component of the Norwood experience. We have been very pleased with the school thus far. I have full confidence that the administration will deal with any/all bullying if it is brought to their attention. |