Does anyone have information about Grace Epispocal Day School in Silver Spring or Kensington?

[Anonymous]

If so please share positve and negative thoughts relative to curriculum, staff, diversity, and overall climate and culture of the school.
Thank - you

[Anonymous]

Great school- there was a short thread a week or two ago. LOVE it, very diverse and great administration. Couldn't be happier, and I'm really picky =).

[Anonymous]

Do take a look at the previous thread. Terrific school, warm, nurturing, diverse enviroment. Great academics balanced with art, music, etc. Kind of a hidden gem amongst the "elite" schools. They are also expanding to 7th and 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

How significant is the religious affiliation?

[Anonymous]

Slightly more than Beauvoir, less than, say, Catholic school. Chapel every week. Very welcoming of differences, non-christian holiday observances, etc. A number of the parents and students are non-christian, or in mixed-marriages. But there are crosses, and lots of songs about Jesus (whom my child told me was the music teacher's baby) . Not sure how it plays out in the later years. But the upside to the religous affiliation (I'm a strong atheiest) is that parents and teachers are very nice, and values are taught, which is something I do really appreciate.

[Anonymous]

We did not have that great of experience there. Many of my son's and daughter's classmates left after the preschool/kindergarten years. Grades 1-6 lack the academic vigor of many of the area independent schools. The director is not an effective leader, and half of their administration walked out on them a couple of years back for no explainable reason. Just our experience (and the experience of 3 other families, and 2 families still there who are looking to leave)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did not have that great of experience there. Many of my son's and daughter's classmates left after the preschool/kindergarten years. Grades 1-6 lack the academic vigor of many of the area independent schools. The director is not an effective leader, and half of their administration walked out on them a couple of years back for no explainable reason. Just our experience (and the experience of 3 other families, and 2 families still there who are looking to leave)

PP, can you possibly give more information? Which schools families leave for, what happened, did teachers leave, is it the Head of School who is ineffective, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Really - half the administration? I've been there 6 years and I was not aware of that.
No school is perfect, and there will always be families that aren't a perfect fit. That is why it is so important to visit a school yourself, look at the curriculum, look at the schools that their graduates attend, and make your own decision.

[Anonymous]

Am cracking up about the child believing Jesus was the music teacher's baby. That is priceless!

[Anonymous]

The school doesn't list the name of the head of the upper school. Has he/she left? I met with Donna Harshman, head of the lower school, as part of our son's application and wasn't incredibly impressed. Can you tell us more about the specific movements among the faculty and administration?

[Anonymous]

I must respond to 16:48 poster.
You obviously did not have a good experience at Grace, and did the right thing by finding a school that was a better fit for your family. But it the OP asked for your experience, not to extrapolate and include what you see as the experiences of five other families in order to bolster your argument.
You have misrepresented the normal and low turnover rate of the staff (due primarily to life changes -- move, pregnancy, illness) and fashioned it into some sort of nefarious mass strike. Simply untrue. Laughable really. We have three children there, and have been there six years. As I said in my 17:51 post, no school is perfect, and no school will be perfect for every family. So share your personal experiences, but the leave the exaggerations and misrepresentations out of it.