Sidwell Vs Maret vs NCS

[Anonymous]

Parents of kids at Sidwell and Maret (since you have identified yourself in this thread), did any of you make these separate decisions for children starting in K? We have a child at one of these schools and we feel like the opposite would be best for our other DC who is now applying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents of kids at Sidwell and Maret (since you have identified yourself in this thread), did any of you make these separate decisions for children starting in K? We have a child at one of these schools and we feel like the opposite would be best for our other DC who is now applying.

No, for high school when it was apparent they needed different things in a school. In K we probably would have sent them to the same school because it was easier but that's also why we liked the K-8 model. Gave us more time to figure things out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very different. My daughter did not like NCS because it felt joyless and was single sex. Everyone was very nice but it felt like everyone was tired. Sidwell was opposite. Sort of intense happiness and coed. Had all the high school stuff we wanted except formal AP classes. Ruled out Maret immediately because it had a quirkier bunch of kids, felt a small (literally smaller grades), limited campus and sort of felt heavy with DEI —even more than Sidwell. And for my kid, she was tapped out on some of that. As she says “no hate but can we talk about something else for a change.” So OP you really need to visit and pursue and I think also cast a wider net. NCS and Sidwell are very hard to get into. Maret not nearly as competitive but it’s not a shoe in at all.

This is helpful about Maret and part of the reason we ruled out GDS. While we are progressive, given where we live I don't think kids here suffer from a lack of education about DEI.

When we toured Maret, it was far more in your face with DEI compared to the GDS tour. Maret is also very hard to gain admittance because it is so small.
Don't rule out GDS. They claim that part of being open is being open to all points of view. You should visit and see whether they walk the walk on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of kids at Sidwell and Maret (since you have identified yourself in this thread), did any of you make these separate decisions for children starting in K? We have a child at one of these schools and we feel like the opposite would be best for our other DC who is now applying.

No, for high school when it was apparent they needed different things in a school. In K we probably would have sent them to the same school because it was easier but that's also why we liked the K-8 model. Gave us more time to figure things out.

Agree. We are considering K-3/K-8s more seriously this time around and hope that it doesn’t screw us if our youngest ends up wanting to go to our oldest’s K-12 in the end.

Thanks for your feedback!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of kids at Sidwell and Maret (since you have identified yourself in this thread), did any of you make these separate decisions for children starting in K? We have a child at one of these schools and we feel like the opposite would be best for our other DC who is now applying.

No, for high school when it was apparent they needed different things in a school. In K we probably would have sent them to the same school because it was easier but that's also why we liked the K-8 model. Gave us more time to figure things out.

I second the K-8 model. Best decision we made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of kids at Sidwell and Maret (since you have identified yourself in this thread), did any of you make these separate decisions for children starting in K? We have a child at one of these schools and we feel like the opposite would be best for our other DC who is now applying.

No, for high school when it was apparent they needed different things in a school. In K we probably would have sent them to the same school because it was easier but that's also why we liked the K-8 model. Gave us more time to figure things out.

I second the K-8 model. Best decision we made.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of kids at Sidwell and Maret (since you have identified yourself in this thread), did any of you make these separate decisions for children starting in K? We have a child at one of these schools and we feel like the opposite would be best for our other DC who is now applying.

No, for high school when it was apparent they needed different things in a school. In K we probably would have sent them to the same school because it was easier but that's also why we liked the K-8 model. Gave us more time to figure things out.

Agree. We are considering K-3/K-8s more seriously this time around and hope that it doesn’t screw us if our youngest ends up wanting to go to our oldest’s K-12 in the end.

Thanks for your feedback!

DP, this is the way to go. Those schools focus exclusively on the younger years. It's quite refreshing for the kids to move on. But the best thing is that you are ensuring the best school/high school fit for your child by choosing later.

[Anonymous]

First and foremost consider how your kid will hold up in varying degrees of intensity and stress. Ncs seems to usually poll the highest and that’s certainly the experience of our friends who have kids at all of these schools. I’d personally take a hard pass. Maret is known for a bit less homework and seems to have college outcomes pretty much the same. For some kids that’s way way more impt than whether they have a bit too much DEI. Gds is definitely a lot of work but at least they try to put joy into the process and take the stress down a notch. Sidwell maybe somewhere in between gds and ncs. The most impt thing is where your kid will thrive - not things like cool buildings and who overcooks the dei.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: First and foremost consider how your kid will hold up in varying degrees of intensity and stress. Ncs seems to usually poll the highest and that’s certainly the experience of our friends who have kids at all of these schools. I’d personally take a hard pass. Maret is known for a bit less homework and seems to have college outcomes pretty much the same. For some kids that’s way way more impt than whether they have a bit too much DEI. Gds is definitely a lot of work but at least they try to put joy into the process and take the stress down a notch. Sidwell maybe somewhere in between gds and ncs. The most impt thing is where your kid will thrive - not things like cool buildings and who overcooks the dei.

Reality check for the win

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: First and foremost consider how your kid will hold up in varying degrees of intensity and stress. Ncs seems to usually poll the highest and that’s certainly the experience of our friends who have kids at all of these schools. I’d personally take a hard pass. Maret is known for a bit less homework and seems to have college outcomes pretty much the same. For some kids that’s way way more impt than whether they have a bit too much DEI. Gds is definitely a lot of work but at least they try to put joy into the process and take the stress down a notch. Sidwell maybe somewhere in between gds and ncs. The most impt thing is where your kid will thrive - not things like cool buildings and who overcooks the dei.

That's super helpful, we are also looking for joy! How would Holton Arms comapre to NCS in terms of intensity and stress?

[Anonymous]

I’m an earlier poster who said my daughter didn’t react well to NCS or Maret. We started at a K-8. We have no regrets. Our ability to search for schools was much better informed by knowing her academic strengths and weaknesses. The Madiera mod system would be terrible for her so nice as it is, it was off the list. She was very active in looking at the schools so it really was a much better informed decision than if we had chosen at k or even third grade. And, everyone is leaving st a k-8 so there isn’t this pull to stay. We did worry that if we had her at a k-12 in her early years and it wasn’t a great fit it would be hard to pull her out if she had lots of friends. Not an issue at all k-8. There is also a bit of randomness to who gets to high schools. And not everyone wants the same schools. It is fantastic dress rehearsal for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: First and foremost consider how your kid will hold up in varying degrees of intensity and stress. Ncs seems to usually poll the highest and that’s certainly the experience of our friends who have kids at all of these schools. I’d personally take a hard pass. Maret is known for a bit less homework and seems to have college outcomes pretty much the same. For some kids that’s way way more impt than whether they have a bit too much DEI. Gds is definitely a lot of work but at least they try to put joy into the process and take the stress down a notch. Sidwell maybe somewhere in between gds and ncs. The most impt thing is where your kid will thrive - not things like cool buildings and who overcooks the dei.

That's super helpful, we are also looking for joy! How would Holton Arms comapre to NCS in terms of intensity and stress?

I think it’s comparable. HA also has a strange culture I don’t totally get. See the skirts thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: First and foremost consider how your kid will hold up in varying degrees of intensity and stress. Ncs seems to usually poll the highest and that’s certainly the experience of our friends who have kids at all of these schools. I’d personally take a hard pass. Maret is known for a bit less homework and seems to have college outcomes pretty much the same. For some kids that’s way way more impt than whether they have a bit too much DEI. Gds is definitely a lot of work but at least they try to put joy into the process and take the stress down a notch. Sidwell maybe somewhere in between gds and ncs. The most impt thing is where your kid will thrive - not things like cool buildings and who overcooks the dei.

That's super helpful, we are also looking for joy! How would Holton Arms comapre to NCS in terms of intensity and stress?

This is so kid dependent. My child loves NCS and has had a ton of joy there. She’s not super intense. It really really depends on your kid.

[Anonymous]

None of the schools are actually that DEI heavy, particularly in the current political climate.

Reports (or concerns) of DEI driving the ships are vastly overblown and influenced by some community events like assemblies or student clubs and interest groups.

The actual day-to-day impact of DEI/CRT/choose your boogeyman is minimal anywhere, and DEI offices rarely have any real institutional power.

Of the three schools mentioned:

Maret will feel the most progressive because of the lack of a dress code, small campus, and visible racial diversity.

Sidwell is similar in lots of ways, but has a more rigorous reputation, college campus vibe, and bigger population.

NCS is the most traditional, being single gender and pressure cooker vibe, but has the pros/cons of single gender.

The other massive variable anywhere is how the particular grade a student is in feels and is composed.

TLDR: have a sense of what you're looking for, visit the schools, don't be afraid to ask hard questions of admissions teams and others in the communities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unsure of what entry year we’re talking about but if HS don’t forget that Sidwells new HS campus is scheduled to open and looks to be top-notch, exceeding the current ones. Not a small point to consider.

Personally - the new building wouldn't trump the culture issues we found there.