Article on Maret in Washington Post

[Anonymous]

I just read this in the sports section and was very impressed. I'm a Maret alum and I'm happy to see my school doing well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/highschools/marets-senior-trio-jalen-barnes-steffen-davis-drake-goddard-have-frogs-boys-basketball-team-thriving/2014/01/22/c8a51fbc-7f92-11e3-93c1-0e888170b723_story.html

[Anonymous]

your school is trying to become a basketball factory!! don't think for a second your school dropped the academic standards to admit these boys.

So many folks on this website mock what Bullis, Landon, and GP and think so highly of the academics at Sidwell, Maret and STA. In reality, all of these school lower the bar to admit recruited athletes. Obviously Bullis, Landon and GP do it more so than others but you are foolish if you don't think Maret is not admitting kids for basketball and even football purposes. Sidwill did this a few years ago when the admitted xxxx.

Good article though! Based on the schools recruiting these boys, you don't see kids graduating from Maret who wish to attend Shepperd.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting this. This prompts me to think it may be time that parents on DCUM begin really thinking and talking about sports in independent schools in a more meaningful way.

I will take a shot a starting the dialogue and hope others offer meaningful comments without sarcasm. I preface this by saying I am not talking specifically about the students featured in this article or that school. Rather, this is a commentary on the issue of sports in independent schools generally.

1. I have come to the view that I do not want our independent school seeking out any students primarily for their athletic ability or even admitting such students unless they are expected to be at least average students in our school community.

2. Interscholastic sports involve a huge time commitment. Unless students are fairly strong in the first place, I don't see how they can juggle such a large commitment and their studies. If a school wants to recruit the next Bill Bradley (former Knicks player, US Senator, Rhodes Scholar), that's great -- a traditional scholar athlete. Presumably, very few students from independent schools will have professional sports careers as players, so are we really helping a student who would not be admitted academically absent athletic ability if we require him/her to invest so much time in athletics at our school?

3. For the same reasons and others, I do not want my tuition dollars going toward supporting any sports teams that are focused heavily on getting their kids into college sports teams - especially at Division I schools. There are plenty of public schools, Catholic schools, and other places students can do that if it is dream. As a parent at an independent school, this just isn't something I want to encourage. To the extent it is argued that sports are a way to get some student a college education, I would prefer to donate money to all sorts of worthy causes that help educate underprivileged children directly or help them pay for college. If a student meets high academic standards but loves a sport too, I understand the game of working through coaches to get a hook into college admissions all other things near equal, but even that should have some limits on reasonableness.

4. Some families choose independent schools in part because their child wants more opportunities to play on sports teams than they may get a large public school. If starting slots on teams are taken up by recruited athletes that do not otherwise meet the academic standards of the schools, in the long run independent schools actually take away one reason why some families think its worth spending 30,000 + annually in tuition.

5. We already have a culture that too instills in some athletes a certain sense of entitlement that is harmful in the long run to both the student athlete and others around him. There are many great things about playing sports -- I have no problem with sports. But if independent schools bend the admissions standards, financial aid packages, offer more tutoring to favor students athletes than available to other students, etc., the schools become part of the wider problem rather than the solution. I would rather have a less successful sports team playing in a league against teams from like-minded schools, then win by recruiting primarily to strengthen the teams.

Just my two cents -- others may have different views. And yes, my DC plays varsity sports in an independent school. But schools need to hear all perspectives.

[Anonymous]

12:32, I agree with just about everything you wrote. (I might make some small changes in approach to some items, but we are in agreement on the gist.)

But even so, I'd point out that while you and I might seek out a school that fits your tenets, I leave the door open to each individual school choosing its own approach. For example, some independent schools will want to put more emphasis on athletics and athlete victories. While I would not choose those schools because I want most resources devoted to academics, I don't begrudge other families their different choices.

That's part of the beauty of independent schools: Each school can choose its own particular mission and approach, and we parents can pick the school that best matches our values and our children.

If a school that's made its bones on academics suddenly shifts its resources to athletics (or vice versa), parents will presumably complain and potentially leave to find a school that matches their values, right?

The complication arises if a school shifts its focus without appropriate buy-in from its current families, because if those families feel it necessary to leave, they will lose the goodwill they have invested in the school over the years. So IMHO, a school needs to shift its focus only after having an open discussion among its families.

Do you agree? Disagree?

[Anonymous]

Recruiting 3 basketball players is not going to change the character of a school like Maret and basketball players provide as much diversity as any other category of student. Given the competition in the MAC, Maret is not risking the problems that come with Division I type prospects and recruiters. But, B average seniors with 1600 SATs means they have Academic Indices below the Ivy minimum and suggests that Maret might offer more in the way of academic supports.

[Anonymous]

Maret is just doing what Sidwell did a few years ago - admitting a few kids who would help elevate a particular sports program. Sometimes schools make concerted attempts to improve a particular sport, and the support/results continue for years.

Sometimes they don't. Look at Sidwell basketball right now.

[Anonymous]

13:36, this is 12:32. I agree with you that it is a matter for each school, and there is room for different strokes for different folks. Where it gets complicated are these leagues -- MAC, ISL, etc. -- because teams in the league want to be competitive with one another and, like the ivy league, it seems as if some of the sports league competition spills into other areas of competition (something I don't fully understand at independent schools).

I think the points made by both 14:15 and 14:54 are interesting and related to one another. Without commenting on those particular situations, I would note that when a school tries to bring up a team long term with this approach and it fails to take root, it has excluded an equal number of stronger students from the school as the number of recruits, benched an equal number of starters of other kids who may have been stronger students, etc. -- and that too has both short term and long term consequences. In addition unless the students recruited are full pay students, they are diverting financial aid dollars from other potential students who presumably have the better grades. So yes, 3 kids a lone won't change a school forever, but where does it stop? Three each year of recruits? Multiple teams?

One related issue we have not talked about is transparency. Are schools open with the parent body about what they are doing before they do it? I doubt it for a number of reasons. But should they be?

[Anonymous]

Given the list of colleges that are recruiting these kids, there's no danger of Maret being called a sports factory. These are the bottom of the barrel of college athletics.

[Anonymous]

But are these schools also recruiting black, male scholars? When I went to Maret in the late 80s we had 5 black kids in our class. Three of them were basketball recruits. You can argue that without basketball skills these kids would never have had a shot in heck at an education at Maret. Fair? It depends who you ask, I guess. It bothers me though.

[Anonymous]

It should bother you. It bothers me too. It perpetuates an ugly racial stereotype - that the black athlete is ok but what about the smart black non-athletic kid. Having racial minorities that ate only at Maret b/c of extraordinary athletic ability isn't ok if there aren't also regular, smart black kids. What the H#*& is the matter with a school like Maret perpetuating the reality of the smart minority kid?

[Anonymous]

There are many, many extremely talented AA students at Maret. Also, if you actually read the article or knew any of these students you would certainly understand that they are also smart kids who are not just basketball players.

[Anonymous]

It bothered me a little that the article only had these 3 players. I assume their are 2 other starters.

[Anonymous]

I was told by a school employee that in recent years Maret has implemented a separate and less accelerated academic track, and that the recent spate of recruits for football/basketball/baseball were often in this less accelerated academic track.

Is it accurate about the new(ish) and less accelerated track for students with more academic challenges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many, many extremely talented AA students at Maret. Also, if you actually read the article or knew any of these students you would certainly understand that they are also smart kids who are not just basketball players.

+1

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed this article. I have very young kids and have not yet gotten completely into the DC school scene, but I have to say that the more I hear about Maret, the more impressed I am. For whatever reason, lots of our babysitters are students or recent alums and I'm so impressed with all of them. And friends with older kids who are working the admissions cycle have confirmed that Maret is really a hot school right now. Thanks for posting this!