GDS Student Newspaper posts about the horrible incident

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS parent here.

No parent that we know despises Russell. We think he's been a strong leader of the school.

Anonymous wrote:GDS parent here.

No parent that we know despises Russell. We think he's been a strong leader of the school.

Strong leader? The guy was intent on sweeping all this under the rug and had the parents never spoken up and asked for help no one would have ever even been aware this even happened. It would have been buried in the dungeons of GDS where they would have preferred it.

Do you not see the problem? They are playing this PR caring defense nonsense after the fact, they never had intention to play offensive. They never had any proactive intentions to actually do what their PR generated letter says. They had plenty of opportunities to alert people last year, summer, fall. MPD does not tell people that they can not talk about a crime because it will interfere with an investigation, that is complete garbage coverup. Just imagine, the police telling Ms. Guthrie, we the police want you to not alert anyone about the crime of your mother because it not allow us to do an investigation and figure out the criminals.  If this pathetic letter Russel sent was genuine it would have been sent in the spring 2025, Summer 20025 latest.

Russell was betting it would blow over with the student leaving and all would be forgiven. He was betting with the well-being of your child. So wakeup a little. 

The guy is basically a scammer and he is in charge of the school who is educating your kid and others. He is playing the Scammer Fake News game. This is 10x worse than anything Donald Trump is doing because it is with kids.  This is how people learn to become fraudsters when they grow up. 

DP. I don’t think there is any obligation to alert the entire school of a false allegation. If anything that threatens the privacy of the child who made the allegation.

It is wrong to say false allegation here. It is still an allegation.

Fine. Unsubstantiated allegation. Same result. Why would the school email about that?

The investigation seemed minimal. Why not ask anyone with info to come forward? Alert the school community and ask anyone who knows anything to help out. Otherwise, it seems like a pretty weak investigation. I would say without a public request like this, they really didn’t do much at all.

How many crime investigations involve a general ask to the community at large? Not many.

Are you not signed up for DC Alerts? I get requests to the general public regularly.

When they have an actual suspect or someone got shot!

I think the school has a name and a good idea on a lead. Russell is failure and MPD people are passive aggressive lazys that are not sharp to being with. GDS is clueless and MPD sucks at investigating anything unless there is a dead body. I can understand why this feels hopeless because the people you entrusted your most important thing with failed from A to Z and their pathetic letter is a testament how disingenuous these people really are that we entrust our most import thing with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:spectrum of hyptheticals

It’s ironic that someone using the term “spectrum” to make an argument has framed things in such a way that anyone who doesn’t believe that 100% of what the parents have alleged, believe 0% of it.

I’ve talked to lots of fellow GDS parents since Thursday and all of us are somewhere in between. And we all feel heartbroken for this family, no matter where we happen to be on the belief spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:spectrum of hyptheticals

It’s ironic that someone using the term “spectrum” to make an argument has framed things in such a way that anyone who doesn’t believe that 100% of what the parents have alleged, believe 0% of it.

I’ve talked to lots of fellow GDS parents since Thursday and all of us are somewhere in between. And we all feel heartbroken for this family, no matter where we happen to be on the belief spectrum.

Not at all.

PP posited that a false accusation was possible but couldn't comprehend that a cover up was also possible. If you play the odds in this scenario...

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of rumor and speculation here, but as GDS parent I heard there was no suspect. No leads. Camera footage /security tape would have been helpful by the bathrooms. In hindsight, it seems obvious to have more security cameras.

I also want to say that i can’t be quick to jump to any conclusions. I believe the 11 year old boy suffered a trauma, and something happened.

Even if it was uncorroborated, I think there were other ways Russell could have communicated in his emails that might have seemed less victim blaming.

It all seems very out of the norm though. GDS is a nurturing, loving community where my kid who is shy and might have been bullied at anothrr school has thrived. It is a placd where offbeat nerdy kids can feel at home, and artsy kids who love social justice. That is the vibe. I have not seen a culture of bullying. This is why this is so shocking to me, and horrifying to read. I just have to believe if something happened, it was an outsider who entered the campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:spectrum of hyptheticals

It’s ironic that someone using the term “spectrum” to make an argument has framed things in such a way that anyone who doesn’t believe that 100% of what the parents have alleged, believe 0% of it.

I’ve talked to lots of fellow GDS parents since Thursday and all of us are somewhere in between. And we all feel heartbroken for this family, no matter where we happen to be on the belief spectrum.

Not at all.

PP posited that a false accusation was possible but couldn't comprehend that a cover up was also possible. If you play the odds in this scenario...

Odds are that it’s neither a false accusation nor a cover up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:spectrum of hyptheticals

It’s ironic that someone using the term “spectrum” to make an argument has framed things in such a way that anyone who doesn’t believe that 100% of what the parents have alleged, believe 0% of it.

I’ve talked to lots of fellow GDS parents since Thursday and all of us are somewhere in between. And we all feel heartbroken for this family, no matter where we happen to be on the belief spectrum.

Not at all.

PP posited that a false accusation was possible but couldn't comprehend that a cover up was also possible. If you play the odds in this scenario...

Odds are that it’s neither a false accusation nor a cover up.

I agree. Which is why the school's response seems not optimal.

[Anonymous]

What evidence could the police or independent investigator (assuming the best of intentions and expertise) have found to substantiate the allegations, three to four months later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are current families concerned?

Yes, I learned about this last year through the grapevines. In the Spring 2025, I demanded to speak to Russell through his secretary but he would not take my call. I was appalled by the lack of accountability anywhere there and the handling of the security at the school because my child was also being bullied there. The school didn't have correct cameras at all key entrances, didn't hold video long enough, and did make any effort to retrieve past video. I found that the security there was silly and consisted of lazy retired MPD officers. No education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Through his secretary and the High School office I made it clear to Russell that if he didn't take my call I would pull my kid from the school at the end of spring and I would call every top 40 college and university in US and one by one speak with the head admissions about what was going on at GDS and the spin game Russell was trying to do to protect the reputation at GDS. Russell got my communication.

GDS wants a great reputation so parents keep endlessly paying these outrageous sums and parents keep paying because they FOMO to get their kids in the top 40 schools. It's a sick game and it's twisted on all fronts.

Here is the bad news and there will be collateral damage. Russell refused to take my calls even when I threatened with what I would do.I tried multiple times over a few weeks to reach him. Unfortunately, because of Russell's lack of leadership I spent 2 months last year talking to the heads and alerting all the top universities/colleges what had happened at the school, the culture of bullying, Russell's leadership and the fact that two prepataros that go there are still unaccounted for. Again, to parents no education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Parents, blindly paying irresponsible GDS with the hopes of top 40 is now going to be even harder because you chose a school with a sick guy at the head of the table educating your kids.

What is even more outrageous is that Russel makes +1 Million a year in income from GDS which is why it is a good idea to keep the gravy train going. The more GDS makes the more Ruesell would get rewarded by a clueless Board. The ridiculous part of this is that Russell makes more than the Georgetown University President who has to manage a campus, staff and student body 30x bigger. Seems to me Russell had the best scam going in all of DC.

Goodness you sound truly unhinged

[Anonymous]

I’m horrified - an 11 year old boy would not make this up. There is no benefit for him to do so. I’m not affiliated with GDS but maybe the perpetrators were not students.

In the future, parents should 100% go to the police first, just like in college sexual assault cases. Schools have shown time and time again they don’t care about victims, just liability. Not blaming the victim - GDS administration seems cruel and inept.

[Anonymous]

Please tell us what GDS (or any other school in this type of situation) acting properly would have looked like, when the parents reported last February.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m horrified - an 11 year old boy would not make this up. There is no benefit for him to do so. I’m not affiliated with GDS but maybe the perpetrators were not students.

In the future, parents should 100% go to the police first, just like in college sexual assault cases. Schools have shown time and time again they don’t care about victims, just liability. Not blaming the victim - GDS administration seems cruel and inept.

Assuming that GDS is concerned about liability - which they would be given all the high powered attorney parents - GDS would have expelled or counseled out any student strongly suspected of committing this crime for fear of the students doing this again. The fact that, as far as we know, no one has been expelled or counseled out suggests that there really is no clear suspect. GDS would be more motivated to find these students and get rid of them than to keep them precisely because of liability, which suggests that they would do everything in their legal power to cooperate with investigators to find these alleged perpetrators. The fact that both the police and the independent investigators found no one does not suggest a cover up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are current families concerned?

Yes, I learned about this last year through the grapevines. In the Spring 2025, I demanded to speak to Russell through his secretary but he would not take my call. I was appalled by the lack of accountability anywhere there and the handling of the security at the school because my child was also being bullied there. The school didn't have correct cameras at all key entrances, didn't hold video long enough, and did make any effort to retrieve past video. I found that the security there was silly and consisted of lazy retired MPD officers. No education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Through his secretary and the High School office I made it clear to Russell that if he didn't take my call I would pull my kid from the school at the end of spring and I would call every top 40 college and university in US and one by one speak with the head admissions about what was going on at GDS and the spin game Russell was trying to do to protect the reputation at GDS. Russell got my communication.

GDS wants a great reputation so parents keep endlessly paying these outrageous sums and parents keep paying because they FOMO to get their kids in the top 40 schools. It's a sick game and it's twisted on all fronts.

Here is the bad news and there will be collateral damage. Russell refused to take my calls even when I threatened with what I would do.I tried multiple times over a few weeks to reach him. Unfortunately, because of Russell's lack of leadership I spent 2 months last year talking to the heads and alerting all the top universities/colleges what had happened at the school, the culture of bullying, Russell's leadership and the fact that two prepataros that go there are still unaccounted for. Again, to parents no education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Parents, blindly paying irresponsible GDS with the hopes of top 40 is now going to be even harder because you chose a school with a sick guy at the head of the table educating your kids.

What is even more outrageous is that Russel makes +1 Million a year in income from GDS which is why it is a good idea to keep the gravy train going. The more GDS makes the more Ruesell would get rewarded by a clueless Board. The ridiculous part of this is that Russell makes more than the Georgetown University President who has to manage a campus, staff and student body 30x bigger. Seems to me Russell had the best scam going in all of DC.

Goodness you sound truly unhinged

+1000. Poster of the sick rant above: please get out of your basement and get some help.
Kids, including mine, seem to be getting into “top 40” colleges at the same rate as previous years and other private schools in the city. So my guess is that your calls to colleges have had zero impact, as anyone sane would have anticipated.

I actually would take you a bit more seriously. The unhinged incoherence of your post suggests you might even be a threat to the GDS community, someone who wishes real harm on parents and students alike and actually takes actions to cause harm. Get help for yourself before you end up doing something you truly regret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are current families concerned?

Yes, I learned about this last year through the grapevines. In the Spring 2025, I demanded to speak to Russell through his secretary but he would not take my call. I was appalled by the lack of accountability anywhere there and the handling of the security at the school because my child was also being bullied there. The school didn't have correct cameras at all key entrances, didn't hold video long enough, and did make any effort to retrieve past video. I found that the security there was silly and consisted of lazy retired MPD officers. No education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Through his secretary and the High School office I made it clear to Russell that if he didn't take my call I would pull my kid from the school at the end of spring and I would call every top 40 college and university in US and one by one speak with the head admissions about what was going on at GDS and the spin game Russell was trying to do to protect the reputation at GDS. Russell got my communication.

GDS wants a great reputation so parents keep endlessly paying these outrageous sums and parents keep paying because they FOMO to get their kids in the top 40 schools. It's a sick game and it's twisted on all fronts.

Here is the bad news and there will be collateral damage. Russell refused to take my calls even when I threatened with what I would do.I tried multiple times over a few weeks to reach him. Unfortunately, because of Russell's lack of leadership I spent 2 months last year talking to the heads and alerting all the top universities/colleges what had happened at the school, the culture of bullying, Russell's leadership and the fact that two prepataros that go there are still unaccounted for. Again, to parents no education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Parents, blindly paying irresponsible GDS with the hopes of top 40 is now going to be even harder because you chose a school with a sick guy at the head of the table educating your kids.

What is even more outrageous is that Russel makes +1 Million a year in income from GDS which is why it is a good idea to keep the gravy train going. The more GDS makes the more Ruesell would get rewarded by a clueless Board. The ridiculous part of this is that Russell makes more than the Georgetown University President who has to manage a campus, staff and student body 30x bigger. Seems to me Russell had the best scam going in all of DC.

Goodness you sound truly unhinged

+1000. Poster of the sick rant above: please get out of your basement and get some help.
Kids, including mine, seem to be getting into “top 40” colleges at the same rate as previous years and other private schools in the city. So my guess is that your calls to colleges have had zero impact, as anyone sane would have anticipated.

I actually would take you a bit more seriously. The unhinged incoherence of your post suggests you might even be a threat to the GDS community, someone who wishes real harm on parents and students alike and actually takes actions to cause harm. Get help for yourself before you end up doing something you truly regret.

DP: YOU lost all your credibility with that second paragraph of projection

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m horrified - an 11 year old boy would not make this up. There is no benefit for him to do so. I’m not affiliated with GDS but maybe the perpetrators were not students.

In the future, parents should 100% go to the police first, just like in college sexual assault cases. Schools have shown time and time again they don’t care about victims, just liability. Not blaming the victim - GDS administration seems cruel and inept.

Assuming that GDS is concerned about liability - which they would be given all the high powered attorney parents - GDS would have expelled or counseled out any student strongly suspected of committing this crime for fear of the students doing this again. The fact that, as far as we know, no one has been expelled or counseled out suggests that there really is no clear suspect. GDS would be more motivated to find these students and get rid of them than to keep them precisely because of liability, which suggests that they would do everything in their legal power to cooperate with investigators to find these alleged perpetrators. The fact that both the police and the independent investigators found no one does not suggest a cover up.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are current families concerned?

Yes, I learned about this last year through the grapevines. In the Spring 2025, I demanded to speak to Russell through his secretary but he would not take my call. I was appalled by the lack of accountability anywhere there and the handling of the security at the school because my child was also being bullied there. The school didn't have correct cameras at all key entrances, didn't hold video long enough, and did make any effort to retrieve past video. I found that the security there was silly and consisted of lazy retired MPD officers. No education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Through his secretary and the High School office I made it clear to Russell that if he didn't take my call I would pull my kid from the school at the end of spring and I would call every top 40 college and university in US and one by one speak with the head admissions about what was going on at GDS and the spin game Russell was trying to do to protect the reputation at GDS. Russell got my communication.

GDS wants a great reputation so parents keep endlessly paying these outrageous sums and parents keep paying because they FOMO to get their kids in the top 40 schools. It's a sick game and it's twisted on all fronts.

Here is the bad news and there will be collateral damage. Russell refused to take my calls even when I threatened with what I would do.I tried multiple times over a few weeks to reach him. Unfortunately, because of Russell's lack of leadership I spent 2 months last year talking to the heads and alerting all the top universities/colleges what had happened at the school, the culture of bullying, Russell's leadership and the fact that two prepataros that go there are still unaccounted for. Again, to parents no education on this planet is worth the well being of any kid. Parents, blindly paying irresponsible GDS with the hopes of top 40 is now going to be even harder because you chose a school with a sick guy at the head of the table educating your kids.

What is even more outrageous is that Russel makes +1 Million a year in income from GDS which is why it is a good idea to keep the gravy train going. The more GDS makes the more Ruesell would get rewarded by a clueless Board. The ridiculous part of this is that Russell makes more than the Georgetown University President who has to manage a campus, staff and student body 30x bigger. Seems to me Russell had the best scam going in all of DC.

Goodness you sound truly unhinged

+1000. Poster of the sick rant above: please get out of your basement and get some help.
Kids, including mine, seem to be getting into “top 40” colleges at the same rate as previous years and other private schools in the city. So my guess is that your calls to colleges have had zero impact, as anyone sane would have anticipated.

I actually would take you a bit more seriously. The unhinged incoherence of your post suggests you might even be a threat to the GDS community, someone who wishes real harm on parents and students alike and actually takes actions to cause harm. Get help for yourself before you end up doing something you truly regret.

DP: YOU lost all your credibility with that second paragraph of projection

Oh really? This is a poster who by her own admission, has been calling colleges for 2 months badmouthing GDS and its students. That meets any reasonable definition of taking action to cause harm. Projecting much yourself, or are you just the original obsessive ranter?