WES playdate and parent interview

[Anonymous]

could you please provide a general idea of what to do/ask/not do/not ask during a parent interview? also, what do the WES playdates look like? any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Regarding the playdate, we went to the library. Once everyone had gathered, the children were led into an adjcant room by about 3 women. The kids were back in about an hour. There were about a 10 or so kids on our day. The moms present spent the better part of the hour talking amongst each other about which NW DC schools they had visited and were applying to....and if they were using a consultant. I found it odd that with the exception of one other mom, no one was talking about the school at hand. FWIW, we liked WES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the playdate, we went to the library. Once everyone had gathered, the children were led into an adjcant room by about 3 women. The kids were back in about an hour. There were about a 10 or so kids on our day. The moms present spent the better part of the hour talking amongst each other about which NW DC schools they had visited and were applying to....and if they were using a consultant. I found it odd that with the exception of one other mom, no one was talking about the school at hand. FWIW, we liked WES.

Yes, that's the problem with WES. It's viewed as a safety school. It's a shame, as they do have much going for them. But the Cathedral Schools, and even St. Pats/NPS cast a wide shadow for the suburban school.


As for the playdate, seemed like just another day at school, though they seem to work hard to make sure DC comes back with a smile on his face and a "I wanna come to this school attitude."

[Anonymous]

For what grade were these playdates you're talking about. Doesn't sound like the one they described to us...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the playdate, we went to the library. Once everyone had gathered, the children were led into an adjcant room by about 3 women. The kids were back in about an hour. There were about a 10 or so kids on our day. The moms present spent the better part of the hour talking amongst each other about which NW DC schools they had visited and were applying to....and if they were using a consultant. I found it odd that with the exception of one other mom, no one was talking about the school at hand. FWIW, we liked WES.

Was this your first playdate? At every playdate we went to, the parents were sitting around discussing the other schools. Wouldn't read too much into it. The same pool of people are applying to all the same schools. These playdates are a great place to swap information.

[Anonymous]

At Beauvoir, all the parents were discussing Sidwell. Maybe now that the Obamas are going there, Beauvoir is the safety?

[Anonymous]

Hello...she's asking about what the playdates are like FOR THE CHILDREN, not the parents.

[Anonymous]

Like most schols, parents aren't allowed to be in the room during the playdate at WES. You wait with the other parents and compare notes.

All I know is that of all the schools (six!) where DC has had playdates, this was where he must have felt most comfortable. (He thinks that he gets to pick the school, not the other way around). He said that this is where he wanted to go. Could have just been all the art displayed all over the place. He's really into art.

[Anonymous]

DS had a great play date. As far as I could gather, he was just tagging along on a typical day of school for the other kids. He liked the day, the teachers, and the other kids. I'm afraid the footnote to this otherwise great day was that we chose to go to Beauvoir instead. Parents choice, not DS's.

[Anonymous]

My DC had a terrible play date. They took all of the children in to a room and after 25 minutes, he was the last one to have a 5 minute interview and, of course, didn't want to leave all of the fun things after all that time. It was very difficult for him to focus after 25 minutes of free play. The other part of the visit went well with the person evaluating verbal readiness, etc. WES was our original first choice and we were accepted, but chose to go elsewhere as we didn't think it would be the best fit after we visited.