GDS Parent Interview and Tour

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or encourage GDS to do what Potomac does: all the kids take buses. You can't car pool or drive your kids, although you are still allowed to visit the campus when you are volunteering, etc.

Potomac's neighbors are adamant about the traffic to the campus - they even count the number of cars coming and going from the campus on some days.

Buses would eliminate the 45 minute wait for car pool, too.

Great way to entirely eliminate friendly and casual to and fro between parents. I can't imagine thats what GDS wants.

But as I said, parents are still volunteering and visiting Potomac - it just limits the number of cars driving through the neighborhood. I actually admire that they respect their neighbors - and it sounds as if GDS wants to respect theirs.

My kids don't attend either school, but I sympathize with the neighbors.

[Anonymous]

I think Potomac's student body is much less far-flung than GDS's, which makes bus service more problematic for GDS. There are also equity issues -- it's not economically feasible to serve the families who live farthest from the school and the people who can be served most cheaply are the clusters that are relatively near the school. So bus service would disproportionately benefit people who live in the most affluent neighborhoods.

Running a shuttle from the HS to the L/MS avoids these issues. It serves not only families that live near the HS, but also families who have kids at both campuses and parents who'd prefer to commute to work via Wisconsin or Connecticut Ave rather than via MacArthur/Canal/G'town.

[Anonymous]

http://www.potomacschool.org/about-us/transportation/index.aspx

[Anonymous]

That's impressive -- and a broader coverage area than I expected. Thanks for the info!

[Anonymous]

i did the tour which was conducted one on one by a parent volunteer. i then talked for about 20 minutes with an admissions person. all very casual. i wasn't overhwlemed by it...the parent wasn't as knowledgeable as some of the admissions staff who conducted group tours at other schools. the interview was ok...sort of a chat about your child and what you're looking for. any questions you might have...that kind of thing. i did wish they were not done at the same time personally since it was my first visit to the school and i wasn't particularly prepared to tell an admissions person why i knew this was the school for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i did the tour which was conducted one on one by a parent volunteer. i then talked for about 20 minutes with an admissions person. all very casual. i wasn't overhwlemed by it...the parent wasn't as knowledgeable as some of the admissions staff who conducted group tours at other schools. the interview was ok...sort of a chat about your child and what you're looking for. any questions you might have...that kind of thing. i did wish they were not done at the same time personally since it was my first visit to the school and i wasn't particularly prepared to tell an admissions person why i knew this was the school for my child.

When we did this a few years back, our interview was nearly an hour. Perhaps this was because we knew the school was our first choice (barring any unexpected discoveries), so we were very primed for the conversation. We were on for the all interviews, not knowing what the admissions odds would be for that year, so always wanting to put our best foot forward.

[Anonymous]

Edmund Burke also curtails parking around the school. When we went to visit, we were rather rudely accosted by a neighborhood resident (we had parked on the street) who asked us if we were Burke parents. We mentioned it to the Head of School, and he sighed. Apparently there's some tension there.
As for the GDS high school students, I know some personally and they are very nice, but I must say that some of them do not give a good impression when they are out and about in the area.

[Anonymous]

I have been a GDS parent for 4 years now and as far as I can tell nothing has really changed. The policy has always been in place we just got a reminder recently about it. What did change was that we now have big carpool stickers that we need to visibly put on our windshield (to make carpool run faster) and I suppose the neighbors can now very easily tell when cars park near their houses belong to GDS parents and can now complain about it directly to the school even providing the family's carpool number as proof. And let's face it if someone blocks your driveway and you can do something about it wouldn't you?
I have been at the school 3 times in the last month to volunteer for something or other, took my younger kid to his admissions playdate yesterday and went to the Halloween parade today with absolutely no problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is off topic a bit but I often see GDS students at the Safeway nearby and I find them to be rude, a bit strange, and pretty disrespectful. We live nearby a few other schools and I haven't found this to be the case with the students from those schools. Just this week two girls from the school were so rude to an older woman ahead of them in line - making snide comments etc... I couldn't believe it. Now I know why most people I know don't even look at the school.

NP here, and I agree 100% with this comment. I live in AU Park and frequently go to the Safeway across from GDS and while I am sure that highg school students need to let off steam during their break periods, their behavior in public is often appalling.

[Anonymous]

PP here--although in fairness, the behavior of the students from Wilson is worse!