Feedback on Norwood School?

[Anonymous]

We missed this morning's coffee meeting in Norwood (our DD was recently admitted for grade 1) and we also got offer from WES. We loved both schools. would anyone give us some inputs/suggestions regarding the choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I must be the only one on this board who received a rejection letter from Norwood. for ds.

The question is, how many kids did Norwood accept?

[Anonymous]

To the PP asking about WES and Norwood. Norwood has nicer facilities. WES facilities are nice and appropriate for children but you have to get inside to really appreciate them. Norwood is considered more cliquey (sp?) among the parents. Many go to Congressional CC, etc. and run in similar circles. WES is more diverse and draws more from downtown Bethesda and NW than Norwood. They both have excellent placement for highschool. Norwood, per geography, tends to do more Landon, Holton etc. WES sends more to the downtown highschools (Sidwell, GDS), etc. But considered more a function of geography than anything else. Norwood is not religious, WES is. WES has uniforms, Norwood does not. WES has a very strong emphasis on international (language and experience), more so than Norwood. Both are considered traditional schools in terms of the academic approach. WES is more of an urban school in some ways (it is smaller, as well) and Norwood is very much a suburb school. I have heard that the headmaster at Norwood can be very rigid and that they make no bones about asking children to leave. WES does not have this reputation. WES teacher tenure is 15 years plus (average). Check on Norwood. This is all I know. We, too, are checking out both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP asking about WES and Norwood. Norwood has nicer facilities. WES facilities are nice and appropriate for children but you have to get inside to really appreciate them. Norwood is considered more cliquey (sp?) among the parents. Many go to Congressional CC, etc. and run in similar circles. WES is more diverse and draws more from downtown Bethesda and NW than Norwood. They both have excellent placement for highschool. Norwood, per geography, tends to do more Landon, Holton etc. WES sends more to the downtown highschools (Sidwell, GDS), etc. But considered more a function of geography than anything else. Norwood is not religious, WES is. WES has uniforms, Norwood does not. WES has a very strong emphasis on international (language and experience), more so than Norwood. Both are considered traditional schools in terms of the academic approach. WES is more of an urban school in some ways (it is smaller, as well) and Norwood is very much a suburb school. I have heard that the headmaster at Norwood can be very rigid and that they make no bones about asking children to leave. WES does not have this reputation. WES teacher tenure is 15 years plus (average). Check on Norwood. This is all I know. We, too, are checking out both.

thanks for sharing the information. as far as we know Norwood teacher alos has long tenure (typically) though I didn;t have aexact number. I was alittle bit surprised about WES is more diverse. I read from online, Norwood has 24% students of color and WES has only 16%...

there was another previous topic on the Norwood family ("is norwood a good fit for middle class families"), do you have any thoughts on this. Can you tell the difference between WES and Norwood families?

PS. have you already made a decision on WES vs. Norwood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP asking about WES and Norwood. Norwood has nicer facilities. WES facilities are nice and appropriate for children but you have to get inside to really appreciate them. Norwood is considered more cliquey (sp?) among the parents. Many go to Congressional CC, etc. and run in similar circles. WES is more diverse and draws more from downtown Bethesda and NW than Norwood. They both have excellent placement for highschool. Norwood, per geography, tends to do more Landon, Holton etc. WES sends more to the downtown highschools (Sidwell, GDS), etc. But considered more a function of geography than anything else. Norwood is not religious, WES is. WES has uniforms, Norwood does not. WES has a very strong emphasis on international (language and experience), more so than Norwood. Both are considered traditional schools in terms of the academic approach. WES is more of an urban school in some ways (it is smaller, as well) and Norwood is very much a suburb school. I have heard that the headmaster at Norwood can be very rigid and that they make no bones about asking children to leave. WES does not have this reputation. WES teacher tenure is 15 years plus (average). Check on Norwood. This is all I know. We, too, are checking out both.

I am a current Norwood parent and if you look at Norwood's HS placement you will find that a huge number of the students go to downtown schools (NCS, St. Albans, GDS, Sidwell, Field, Visitation) and not just Holton or Landon. Norwood's committment to world languages is also strong - spanish starts in kindergarten and in the middle school students can choose to take French, Chinese or Latin. or continue with Spanish They don't have the overseas trips that WES has but have established relationships with a few schools overseas and are planning on using their fabulous technology program (all students get their own tablets beginning in 5th grade) to have interactive experiences with these students. Norwood has a diverse population, more so than people give it credit for. Cliquey, I wouldn't say that. Instead, I would say that many families have made wonderful friendships as has my family has and are always excited to make new friendships. I actually don't know of any families that have been asked to leave so the comment about the head kind of baffles me! Long teacher tenure is a great thing and Norwood has many experienced teachers but they also have some younger highly talented teachers that bring energy and new fresh up-to-date perspectives on teaching. Teacher experience is nicely balanced at each grade. As you can tell I am a huge fan of Norwood. I don't usually chime in because I am always worried that people will misinterpret my comments but I just didn't want some of these inaccuracies about Norwood sitting out there.

[Anonymous]

Why is Norwood still using Everyday Math?

[Anonymous]

To pp 11:36 (and all current/past Norwood family):

thanks alot for your experience. do you have any comments on diversity of Norwood family. Do the current family like to interact/work with family with different background (say, economic, profession and color) or they more incline to interact with family in their own "circle"? we really appreciate any comments on this if possible...

[Anonymous]

Yes, we do need to know. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To pp 11:36 (and all current/past Norwood family):

Thanks alot for your experience. do you have any comments on diversity of Norwood family. Do the current family like to interact/work with family with different background (say, economic, profession and color) or they more incline to interact with family in their own "circle"? we really appreciate any comments on this if possible...

I am a current Norwood parent (not pp11:36).
I think that who you interact with at Norwood as a parent depends on many things- who your kids are friends with; how you volunteer at the school (helping in the library or community service drive or any of the many ways that parents can get involved- and the school is always looking for volunteers for something!!!!); whether your child plays on a sports team, does brownies/cub scouts etc or other outside of school activities; and whether you actually make an effort and spend time at the school.
I don't think that families only interact with families within their own "circle"- although parents who have kids in the same grades often gravitate towards each other.
To be honest, there are parents with whom I am very friendly and I have no idea what their profession is....

[Anonymous]

I am the parent of one Norwood student and I have an incoming Kindergartner. I think that Norwood would be a great place to be a non-traditional family. Norwood has a forum, through chapel, to talk about sometimes "sticky" topics for our society and the Principal is masterful in his ability to talk with / to the students. I hope that you will come to Norwood and I hope our children can get together.

Furthermore, as a Jewish family, we are very comfortable at Norwood and I enjoy chapel every time I go.

[Anonymous]

You mean Chapel in the morning with the students?

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

Are Norwood families mostly Jewish?

[Anonymous]

We'd like to know too.

[Anonymous]

No, Jewish families tend to go to Sidwell and GDS and to a lesser extent, Maret.