Bullis culture

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finding it hard to visit given their application pre-requisites. Other schools have been far more inviting and being able to physically visit campus and talk with people in person is important to us. DC was able to shadow and meet actual kids and then interview, for example, at another school. Now they are working on the other parts of the application and are excited about the school because they can envision themselves there. But even the interview at Bullis is virtual—how does DC even get a sense of the place if they can’t come to campus first? Watching the prerecorded admissions videos isn’t cutting it. We’ve been on campus for middle school sports but thats a very different experience. It’s too bad because on paper there’s a lot here that suggests Bullis could be a good school for DC but we are stalled at the gates and likely will not pursue further.

+1 I am looking at area schools for LS and crossed Bullis off my list because we can't visit without applying first. It's annoying.
If they can't have an influx of people on campus because of construction, that's understandable, but state that reasoning on your site or Ravenna. Will take my $50k a year elsewhere...

Completely agree. Any school that doesn't let you visit or shadow seems sketchy.

Norwood was the same. Had to apply before visiting. Unfortunate, as other schools do private tours without applying first and taking your money!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finding it hard to visit given their application pre-requisites. Other schools have been far more inviting and being able to physically visit campus and talk with people in person is important to us. DC was able to shadow and meet actual kids and then interview, for example, at another school. Now they are working on the other parts of the application and are excited about the school because they can envision themselves there. But even the interview at Bullis is virtual—how does DC even get a sense of the place if they can’t come to campus first? Watching the prerecorded admissions videos isn’t cutting it. We’ve been on campus for middle school sports but thats a very different experience. It’s too bad because on paper there’s a lot here that suggests Bullis could be a good school for DC but we are stalled at the gates and likely will not pursue further.

+1 I am looking at area schools for LS and crossed Bullis off my list because we can't visit without applying first. It's annoying.
If they can't have an influx of people on campus because of construction, that's understandable, but state that reasoning on your site or Ravenna. Will take my $50k a year elsewhere...

Completely agree. Any school that doesn't let you visit or shadow seems sketchy.

Norwood was the same. Had to apply before visiting. Unfortunate, as other schools do private tours without applying first and taking your money!

Try to think of it from other people’s perspectives. Application fee isn’t that high. My kid isn’t an animal at the zoo to be ogled while you take your tour. And I’m not performing for you on your tour unless you’re serious about going to the school. If you need a private tour before you apply you already don’t trust the school is honestly communicating who they are and you need to move on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finding it hard to visit given their application pre-requisites. Other schools have been far more inviting and being able to physically visit campus and talk with people in person is important to us. DC was able to shadow and meet actual kids and then interview, for example, at another school. Now they are working on the other parts of the application and are excited about the school because they can envision themselves there. But even the interview at Bullis is virtual—how does DC even get a sense of the place if they can’t come to campus first? Watching the prerecorded admissions videos isn’t cutting it. We’ve been on campus for middle school sports but thats a very different experience. It’s too bad because on paper there’s a lot here that suggests Bullis could be a good school for DC but we are stalled at the gates and likely will not pursue further.

+1 I am looking at area schools for LS and crossed Bullis off my list because we can't visit without applying first. It's annoying.
If they can't have an influx of people on campus because of construction, that's understandable, but state that reasoning on your site or Ravenna. Will take my $50k a year elsewhere...

Completely agree. Any school that doesn't let you visit or shadow seems sketchy.

Norwood was the same. Had to apply before visiting. Unfortunate, as other schools do private tours without applying first and taking your money!

Try to think of it from other people’s perspectives. Application fee isn’t that high. My kid isn’t an animal at the zoo to be ogled while you take your tour. And I’m not performing for you on your tour unless you’re serious about going to the school. If you need a private tour before you apply you already don’t trust the school is honestly communicating who they are and you need to move on!

+1
Also, Norwood is absolutely fantastic!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. I think a lot of teachers left last year because of the HOS

A number of low performers were pushed out.

You are incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. I think a lot of teachers left last year because of the HOS

A number of low performers were pushed out.

You are incorrect.

Agree. Bullis has lost a lot of great teachers and admin since the new Head. Morale is low. It’s a shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. I think a lot of teachers left last year because of the HOS

A number of low performers were pushed out.

You are incorrect.

Agree. Bullis has lost a lot of great teachers and admin since the new Head. Morale is low. It’s a shame.

🥱😴🥱😴

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. I think a lot of teachers left last year because of the HOS

A number of low performers were pushed out.

You are incorrect.

Agree. Bullis has lost a lot of great teachers and admin since the new Head. Morale is low. It’s a shame.

🥱😴🥱😴

you must b new to Bullis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Classes in the upper school are waaaaay too large. Not for almost $60k/year.

Did you mean class size as in grade size or specific classes as in 9th grade honors English (or whatever)? How many for both?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are currently touring and applying for 9th grade. We found all the admissions offices welcoming and responsive - with the exception of GDS. They just don't seem to care at all! They take forever to get back to us - and then it's often a condescending answer to (what we thought) legitimate questions. Very disappointing. But guess not surprising (we had heard this through the rumor mill before).

I'm curious what questions you need to ask the schools that can't be covered in the interview or tour? I don't think we ever contacted admissions to ask specific questions in the 4 times we applied to private schools for our children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finding it hard to visit given their application pre-requisites. Other schools have been far more inviting and being able to physically visit campus and talk with people in person is important to us. DC was able to shadow and meet actual kids and then interview, for example, at another school. Now they are working on the other parts of the application and are excited about the school because they can envision themselves there. But even the interview at Bullis is virtual—how does DC even get a sense of the place if they can’t come to campus first? Watching the prerecorded admissions videos isn’t cutting it. We’ve been on campus for middle school sports but thats a very different experience. It’s too bad because on paper there’s a lot here that suggests Bullis could be a good school for DC but we are stalled at the gates and likely will not pursue further.

+1 I am looking at area schools for LS and crossed Bullis off my list because we can't visit without applying first. It's annoying.
If they can't have an influx of people on campus because of construction, that's understandable, but state that reasoning on your site or Ravenna. Will take my $50k a year elsewhere...

Completely agree. Any school that doesn't let you visit or shadow seems sketchy.

Norwood was the same. Had to apply before visiting. Unfortunate, as other schools do private tours without applying first and taking your money!

I am pretty sure Norwood offers a variety of admissions events and open houses that you can attend before applying....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finding it hard to visit given their application pre-requisites. Other schools have been far more inviting and being able to physically visit campus and talk with people in person is important to us. DC was able to shadow and meet actual kids and then interview, for example, at another school. Now they are working on the other parts of the application and are excited about the school because they can envision themselves there. But even the interview at Bullis is virtual—how does DC even get a sense of the place if they can’t come to campus first? Watching the prerecorded admissions videos isn’t cutting it. We’ve been on campus for middle school sports but thats a very different experience. It’s too bad because on paper there’s a lot here that suggests Bullis could be a good school for DC but we are stalled at the gates and likely will not pursue further.

+1 I am looking at area schools for LS and crossed Bullis off my list because we can't visit without applying first. It's annoying.
If they can't have an influx of people on campus because of construction, that's understandable, but state that reasoning on your site or Ravenna. Will take my $50k a year elsewhere...

Completely agree. Any school that doesn't let you visit or shadow seems sketchy.

Norwood was the same. Had to apply before visiting. Unfortunate, as other schools do private tours without applying first and taking your money!

Try to think of it from other people’s perspectives. Application fee isn’t that high. My kid isn’t an animal at the zoo to be ogled while you take your tour. And I’m not performing for you on your tour unless you’re serious about going to the school. If you need a private tour before you apply you already don’t trust the school is honestly communicating who they are and you need to move on!

This is a bit harsh. I agree that families should be able to have some in person access without applying. We toured Norwood and every other school (or attended an open house) before paying an application fee. (Plus - I think Norwood does have events you can attend before paying application fee).

Bullis' application fee is much higher than most schools in the area and it's ridiculous that you can't get any access beforehand. They used to have an open house at least.

[Anonymous]

Someone above posted that they are changing their policy, so clearly they’ve heard the complaints and decided to act.

My 9th grader has one class of 18 kids- Honors Bio. All other classes are smaller. Just had parent teacher conferences and it’s quite clear that the teachers are getting to know my kid quite well, two months in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finding it hard to visit given their application pre-requisites. Other schools have been far more inviting and being able to physically visit campus and talk with people in person is important to us. DC was able to shadow and meet actual kids and then interview, for example, at another school. Now they are working on the other parts of the application and are excited about the school because they can envision themselves there. But even the interview at Bullis is virtual—how does DC even get a sense of the place if they can’t come to campus first? Watching the prerecorded admissions videos isn’t cutting it. We’ve been on campus for middle school sports but thats a very different experience. It’s too bad because on paper there’s a lot here that suggests Bullis could be a good school for DC but we are stalled at the gates and likely will not pursue further.

+1 I am looking at area schools for LS and crossed Bullis off my list because we can't visit without applying first. It's annoying.
If they can't have an influx of people on campus because of construction, that's understandable, but state that reasoning on your site or Ravenna. Will take my $50k a year elsewhere...

Completely agree. Any school that doesn't let you visit or shadow seems sketchy.

Norwood was the same. Had to apply before visiting. Unfortunate, as other schools do private tours without applying first and taking your money!

Try to think of it from other people’s perspectives. Application fee isn’t that high. My kid isn’t an animal at the zoo to be ogled while you take your tour. And I’m not performing for you on your tour unless you’re serious about going to the school. If you need a private tour before you apply you already don’t trust the school is honestly communicating who they are and you need to move on!

Nope this is garbage. I’m not asking for a private tour of a school with one building or popping into classes in session. I’m asking for something like an open house ON campus where students give a group of prospective families a tour of various spaces, we have a chance to hear from some different people in the community (eg a teacher, coach, student, head of school). This is pretty standard for upper school admissions. I’ve been to many of these (with other DC) and they did not require completion of a multi-page application with parent essays and application fee to attend. Requiring a preliminary application/fee submission for a shadow day/private tour/interview would be reasonable.

I’ve heard that they have gotten this feedback and are at least considering changing their policy so that’s good news. They have not made that change for this admission cycle—or at least not for the upper school.

[Anonymous]

To answer the original question, Bullis has an amazing culture and community. We are new to Bullis and found the community to be very welcoming. The admissions process was colder than expected but I am so happy that we still gave it a shot. The admissions activities worked well with our schedule. It’s been amazing to experience it! As others have mentioned, the head of school is very visible and engaged across the school. We are very happy with the school’s direction! Looking forward to more community at homecoming next week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finding it hard to visit given their application pre-requisites. Other schools have been far more inviting and being able to physically visit campus and talk with people in person is important to us. DC was able to shadow and meet actual kids and then interview, for example, at another school. Now they are working on the other parts of the application and are excited about the school because they can envision themselves there. But even the interview at Bullis is virtual—how does DC even get a sense of the place if they can’t come to campus first? Watching the prerecorded admissions videos isn’t cutting it. We’ve been on campus for middle school sports but thats a very different experience. It’s too bad because on paper there’s a lot here that suggests Bullis could be a good school for DC but we are stalled at the gates and likely will not pursue further.

+1 I am looking at area schools for LS and crossed Bullis off my list because we can't visit without applying first. It's annoying.
If they can't have an influx of people on campus because of construction, that's understandable, but state that reasoning on your site or Ravenna. Will take my $50k a year elsewhere...

Completely agree. Any school that doesn't let you visit or shadow seems sketchy.

Norwood was the same. Had to apply before visiting. Unfortunate, as other schools do private tours without applying first and taking your money!

I am pretty sure Norwood offers a variety of admissions events and open houses that you can attend before applying....

Yes they do. There are several opportunities to be in campus, meet leadership, and do a brief group tour before applying.