Schools with Nice Kids

[Anonymous]

I am not OP but, I have to respond "No, it is not wierd!" Niceness is one of he most under-valued qualities in our society today. I think we all know that the word "nice" conjures up visions these days of a bland, uninspired and boring personality or character but the opposite is the truth. One who is secure enough and happy enough to be nice to others is a very rare and lucky person with a very deep and strong character. Treating others with kindness, having good manners, and generally just being nice, are important aspects of a civilized society. Too many people in Washington are obsessed with all kinds of other things (like getting a 4 year old into the school with the name the out of town friends will recognize for instance) and they throw niceness and good manners right out the window the minute they sniff an supposed advantage for themselves. I certainly have my own theories about this but, as they would be offensive to some I will nicely keep them to myself. Regardless, we should encourage and praise niceness in our children and their friends and expect it in their role models. Niceness demonstrates strength of character and, as my mother would say, "good breeding," as no school, name dropping repertoire, nor anything else, will. Something for all of you climbers to keep in mind... Oops, that wasn't very nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience has been that schools most often described as having "nice kids" are the schools where the kids were rejected everywhere else - sorry. If parents start off saying that the kids are nice (and not the school is great -we LOVE IT) consider 'nice" to be the codeword for second rate (but not public....).

Wow-- incredible. We didn't even bother to apply to the schools populated by people with attitudes like that, not because we feared our children wouldn't get in (they're fabulous, talented kids with great grades and scores), but because who'd want to be in an environment full of parents or teachers with such obnoxious and ill-informed views?

In this thread, people are reporting that the kids are nice at certain schools because that's what OP ASKED about. She didn't ask for a report on college admission or on test scores or selectivity-- she asked about nice kids.

[Anonymous]

My kids go to Burgundy. They had top notch test scores and we did not apply anywhere else: for us, it was Burgundy or public. If we lived in DC we'd have applied to CHDS and Sheridan and probably nowhere else. Both parents very successful ivy league grads with ivy league Phds. both of us went to super-elite private schools. and to us, the single most important thing, looking at lower schools, was finding a school that was progressive, nurturing, and encouraged curiosity, creativity, and consideration for others. We found that at burgundy. We don't doubt that it exists elsewhere as well. But "niceness" of the kids was a very important factor for us-- far, far more important at this stage of our children's lives than variety of courses offered or average test scores or, God help us all, average parental incomes. We don't want our kids to be in a pressure cooker, and we don't want them to be snobs who value people based on either their money or their SAT scores or the "elite" schools they attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not OP but, I have to respond "No, it is not wierd!" Niceness is one of he most under-valued qualities in our society today. I think we all know that the word "nice" conjures up visions these days of a bland, uninspired and boring personality or character but the opposite is the truth. One who is secure enough and happy enough to be nice to others is a very rare and lucky person with a very deep and strong character. Treating others with kindness, having good manners, and generally just being nice, are important aspects of a civilized society. Too many people in Washington are obsessed with all kinds of other things (like getting a 4 year old into the school with the name the out of town friends will recognize for instance) and they throw niceness and good manners right out the window the minute they sniff an supposed advantage for themselves. I certainly have my own theories about this but, as they would be offensive to some I will nicely keep them to myself. Regardless, we should encourage and praise niceness in our children and their friends and expect it in their role models. Niceness demonstrates strength of character and, as my mother would say, "good breeding," as no school, name dropping repertoire, nor anything else, will. Something for all of you climbers to keep in mind... Oops, that wasn't very nice.

PP, I enjoyed reading your post. I guess because as a Mom, I always hear that I have such nice children. It makes me feel so proud. They're both in rather dificult academic environments; however, they've held their own. No indication that they've been changed by their schools for the worse. Nice kids usually seek out other nice kids for friendship.

[Anonymous]

loved the last two posts-

SO glad there are some sane parents in this area

[Anonymous]

CHDS????

[Anonymous]

CHDS: Cap. Hill Day School

[Anonymous]

Capitol Hill Day School.

Lowell.

Sheridan.

I think the common thread is that they are not a Big 3, and they seem to be have a strong liberal bent.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry but I don't see a common thread here. I don't think any schools have it over others when it comes to niceness.

[Anonymous]

"Nice" has alot to do with being able to understand another person's circumstances and treating them with a natural, unforced respect (as a person, not deferential authority or condesention); a combination of empathy and manners, even when parties disagree. I'm guessing teachers at all the school aim to encourage this in their students. School cultures probably vary.

[Anonymous]

In my experience it varies a lot within schools, from grade to grade. One grade can be full of great, "nice", kids, and the next grade is full of bullies.