Which of the top privates has the nicest kids in lower school?

[Anonymous]

Green Acres kids are both nice and empathetic. They are kind to each other and the school works hard to keep that up.

[Anonymous]

WIS. My theory is that because the students and their families come from all over the world, and the school's population is very socioeconomically diverse, there is no one standard for what is cool, or popular, where one should live, or vacation, how one should dress, or look, how much money one should have, etc. The teachers in the Primary School are very kind and loving, and they do foster confidence and comfort among the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a private school. Each graduating class has its own character. Most kids are nice. Some years have more than their share of entitled kids. And, yes, you can sometimes see them coming years in advance. Lower school teachers will tell us when a class is full of challenging kids.

+1

It really depends on the specific group of kids.

We know kind families/children at most of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry to say kindness and entitlement rarely go together. In my experience children at one school mentioned so far here tend to be so wealthy that their parents appear never to have said no to any request. This does not work well with classmates.

+1 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a private school. Each graduating class has its own character. Most kids are nice. Some years have more than their share of entitled kids. And, yes, you can sometimes see them coming years in advance. Lower school teachers will tell us when a class is full of challenging kids.

This.

Even at my child's low key NOVA private where most kindness is emphasized, there are differences between classes.

[Anonymous]

You can not judge a school on niceness. You have to look at the specific grade. In fact, I think when applying to a school in later grades, the make-up of a class is almost as important as the school itself.

The same for entitlement. I think everyone here will be shocked to discover that some years - while capital drives are on - kids from wealthy families have more an edge than others. NOTHING WRONG with wealthy families, it's just that entitlement gets reinforced in subtle ways that build up over the years.

Three or four kids can really upset the balance.

[pbraverman]

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a private school. Each graduating class has its own character. Most kids are nice. Some years have more than their share of entitled kids. And, yes, you can sometimes see them coming years in advance. Lower school teachers will tell us when a class is full of challenging kids.

This has been my experience in schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Yes pp ... apple and the tree...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one and the kids were pretty mean oh so long ago ... is there one with a reputation for kids who are just nicer and less social climbing? I'm totally fine if that means they are nerdier/geekier or something - I recognize this may.m be a true fantasy...

Nerdier/geekier does not translate to kinder/nicer. I wouldn't use that as your barometer.

It usually does, in my experience!

That was my own experience too and it is what I see with my DC's and friends!

Exact opposite here. The meanest kid in my kids grade is a geek. Much more difficult to navigate for others than the "cool kids". It has been an eye opener as I would have guessed the opposite. This is relentlessly antisocial behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd look for schools that are diverse, selective, and co-ed for the ones with the nicest kids. These are all generalizations but this whole topic is a semi-subjective, semi-vague topic.

Diverse schools are more likely to encourage inclusiveness and to take a strong stand against excluding or discriminatory behavior.

Selective schools are more likely to weed out at least some kids who, in lower school admissions play dates or interviews, don't display "nice" behavior.

Co-ed schools -- at least in lower school, girls are nicer and less competitive than boys. Not sure about this one but it makes sense to me.

And finally, niceness begets niceness. Good manners lead to others having good/better manners. "Warmth" begets warmth. Starts at the top, with the head of school and the school's mission/values statement(s). I'm a believer in the need for kids to be exposed to both good and bad, mean kids and nice kids, as part of growing up. But some schools seem less likely to have bad kid daily distractions than others and those are the ones I'd be looking to for my lower schoolers.

That's hilarious! -- Sidwell parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd look for schools that are diverse, selective, and co-ed for the ones with the nicest kids. These are all generalizations but this whole topic is a semi-subjective, semi-vague topic.

Diverse schools are more likely to encourage inclusiveness and to take a strong stand against excluding or discriminatory behavior.

Selective schools are more likely to weed out at least some kids who, in lower school admissions play dates or interviews, don't display "nice" behavior.

Co-ed schools -- at least in lower school, girls are nicer and less competitive than boys. Not sure about this one but it makes sense to me.

And finally, niceness begets niceness. Good manners lead to others having good/better manners. "Warmth" begets warmth. Starts at the top, with the head of school and the school's mission/values statement(s). I'm a believer in the need for kids to be exposed to both good and bad, mean kids and nice kids, as part of growing up. But some schools seem less likely to have bad kid daily distractions than others and those are the ones I'd be looking to for my lower schoolers.

That's hilarious! -- Sidwell parent

Oh goodness - why is that funny for Sidwell?! I've had a few parents tell me it can vary grade to grade but that it's a pretty nice school of kids overall??

[Anonymous]

Oh good grief. Do you really think Sidwell puts a premium on niceness in making admissions decisions? LOL.

politico I'm guessing the four year olds get extra points for hogging all the toys during the playdate (junior learned from mommy and daddy)

[Anonymous]

I bet a true Quaker school would be full of kindness. Any in the area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WIS. My theory is that because the students and their families come from all over the world, and the school's population is very socioeconomically diverse, there is no one standard for what is cool, or popular, where one should live, or vacation, how one should dress, or look, how much money one should have, etc. The teachers in the Primary School are very kind and loving, and they do foster confidence and comfort among the students.

+1 my kids are at WIS (lower school) and from what I've seen, the kids are really nice, good kids. My kids are very happy there.

[Anonymous]

There can be a huge variation by grade. My DD's go to an all girls school and there are always at least a handful of mean kids per class, but the others are overwhelmingly kind. One grade is a doozy, however, and the entitlement of those girls is a constant source of amazement to the kids in the older grades.

However, with a couple of exceptions we saw much worse behavior at the nwdc es they attended.