Merit Scholarship-Landon
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Anonymous
Well, the SAT scandal was technically "off campus". But, it was in an academic environment a few miles down the road at Landon's "sister school". Some of the criticism is unfounded. But the SAT cheating seemed to me to be reflective of the environment at the school and/or the character of the boys at the school. |
Anonymous
So even though there is a different headmaster, upper school head, middle school head, lower school head, director of admissions, athletic director, and not one of the boys that attended the school in the fall of 2002 when it happened is still there, you still believe the school is the same? You just want to believe the worst. Your choice but not sure how you can indict the kids and teachers that are there now. |
Anonymous
How certain are you that only Landon boys were cheating in the inadequately proctored room at Holton? We know that only one school disciplined its students for cheating, but if you think that only Landon boys cheated I've got an $888 million dollar parcel of land by the Grosvenor Metro station to sell you. |
Anonymous
You're right. We don't know what other boys cheated that day or any other day. But we do know that the Landon boys cheated and that they planned to cheat if they could. When they saw the "inadequately proctored" room they were going to take the test in one said, "This is perfect". Perfect for what? Perfect for respecting their own school's Honor Code. Perfect for doing their best on the test? Or perfect for cheating? I guess your defense is that others did it too. And what about the post-incident behavior of Landon administrators and board members in regards to this? If I were you, I'd let conversation of this fade into the past. You have a losing case. The Duke lacrosse players were found innocent. Landon had nothing to do with Y. Love's death. But the SAT scandal is different especially given who these kids were. This one sticks and it stings. |
Anonymous
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and what are your sources for Landon students being the only ones who cheated in the room.
Are you really going to point out the Washingtonian Magazine article back from 2004.... |
Anonymous
Whatever you say. Every parent must decide for themselves which school to trust their son to. I'm most troubled by incidents that reflect a failure of the school per se (such as hiring pedophiles or allowing fire arms on campus) as opposed to the failing of students or alum away from campus. I suppose there is an argument that school a person attends/attended contributes to their character and should therefore be somewhat accountable for the acts of students off campus or after graduation, but that is a lot more nebulous that the very direct obligation of a school to protect students on campus. I have enough confidence in my ability as a parent to not have to cede responsibility for character building to the school, but I can't possibly protect my child against the predator in their midst during the school day. I think it is helpful for people who read these forums to understand the track record of area schools on all these issues. The facts don't sting, they are the facts and we shouldn't hope the facts fade away. Even though it happened more than a decade ago, it is worth knowing that in 2002 a dozen Landon boys got caught cheating on the SAT. Some may even find it relevant that the UVA lacrosse player who brutally murdered his girl friend attended Landon for four years or that one of the Duke lacrosse players who was falsely accused of rape attended Landon. It's fair to take these issues up with Landon and you can't do so if you don't know about the issue. Schools should be prepared to speak to their role in the development of bad apples as well as the successful alum. Likewise, parents would probably want to know that Georgetown Prep, Sidwell and the Cathedral Schools have all had scandals involving school officials who molested children. The details on in threads on this forum and it is fair for parents to ask what these schools are doing to prevent a reoccurrence - it doesn't' serve anyone well to bury the story or hope it fades. Schools should be prepared to speak to how they failed to protect students entrusted to them. Without these threads I wouldn't know about the gun incidents at STA and Prep. the rogue Sidwell counselor, the mean girls at NCS and all the other "scandals" that you won't hear about at open house. Does any of this stuff matter in selecting a school? Decide for yourself, but don't try to hid information from those who come here looking for information they can't find elsewhere. |
Anonymous
What difference would it make whether anyone else cheated that day or any other day? The point you seem to not be getting is that we know for sure --- after ETS pointed it out --- that the Landon boys cheated. |
Anonymous
Actually, we know for sure that many others cheated as well - only Landon reported it. The issue wasn't just the cheating [which was wide spread in that essentially unsupervised testing room], but rather how Landon handled the incident. |
Anonymous
| Fact, ETS cancelled scores for many students at the Holton test site in areas of the Holton Test site where there were no Landon students. Landon found out who cheated from ETS and went after the perpetrators. Other schools were informed about irregular test scores, and chose to ignore the cheating of their students. These are irrefutable facts. Landon went after the cheaters and punished them. Other schools knew some of their students cheated and chose to ignore the events. |
Anonymous
The Middle School Head is great. Knew her when she was a history teacher and coach at GDS. She was also Dean of Students (responsible for discipline, etc.) at a DC Charter School before she was in NY at the Friend School. I actually think Landon was making a real statement by hiring her as a Division Head. And although I know the past issues associated with the school, I generally do assume that it is possible for institutions to change and move forward. For example, I've read enough to know that the Ivy of the pre-1960s that I attended in the 1980s was basically lily-white, mainly from private schools, and anti-Semitic. That's not the college I attended in the 1980s nor the college it is today. Put me in the camp of those who are a little suspicious of the new Landon merit scholarship, however. I don't think it's only for athletes -- I'm sure they'd be thrilled to use it to attract or hold on to more academic stars -- but I would be very surprised if athletic recruitment does not play a significant role in how this will be used. |
Anonymous
How sad that somebody angry at the shots Landon is taking (unfair shots) has to then take unfair shots at other all-boys' schools. |
Anonymous
Pure spin. Absolutely beautiful. The "story" is not that a bunch of Landon boys cheated on a SAT test (premeditately). It's how great Landon is for reporting it. Nice try. But no one is fooled. |
Anonymous
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Landon sent 11 out of 78 to Ivy League schools last year along with some other great schools: Duke, UVA, Wake, Colby etc. I am sure plenty other schools did the same or better. My point is not to brag about the list but rather point out that colleges do not care about this "reputation" Landon has. It is true all those events did occur but mistakes happen at every school and I would ague that the only scandal that would cause concern is the SAT but that happen 10+ years ago. Landon has had 2 grads recieve the Jefferson scholar at UVA (post Hugely) so I would guess that UVA looks at each student as an individual and not judge them based one the heinous act of an alumn.
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Anonymous
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LOL. The classic, "Landon is not the only school to behave poorly."
Give me a break. There is something in the water there that encourages and fosters bad behavior. That is irrefutable. |
Anonymous
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Instead of saying there is
'something" please tell us what it is. Faculty? Administration? Students? Why do the boys matriculate to great colleges if the school is evil? Not once has anyone mentioned the family and parenting. How do parents have zero accountability? Ridiculous... |