SSFS HOS leaving

[Anonymous]

Barrie School, Silver Spring, MD might be a great alternative for families considering other school options in the area. They have unique educational programs and large, wonderful outdoor spaces and opportunities. If interested, call the school to arrange a visit and tour.

I’m sure they will be eager to share the Barrie experience with families looking for a wonderful opportunity for their child(ren).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barrie School, Silver Spring, MD might be a great alternative for families considering other school options in the area. They have unique educational programs and large, wonderful outdoor spaces and opportunities. If interested, call the school to arrange a visit and tour.

I’m sure they will be eager to share the Barrie experience with families looking for a wonderful opportunity for their child(ren).

This has been suggested in this post before with some poster saying Barrie was terrible. I suspect that some folks may not want Barrie (which is literally down the street) entice students away For the record, I have heard great things about Barrie too and years ago had considered this along with SSFS, though settled on SSFS. But back then it was TGs SSFS, which is a far cry from what SSFS is today. But that's also why we have withdrawn from SSFS and chosen a different school as well. SSFS is hardly the only act in town. SSFS was never known for the rigor of it's program, but more for it's nurturing and welcoming environment, and focus on Quaker values. That is what drew us in. But what happened after RG took over was to turn this place into a campus where academics isn't valued at all, and if you're not the right type of kid, you're a target. Not the Quaker school we visited those years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barrie School, Silver Spring, MD might be a great alternative for families considering other school options in the area. They have unique educational programs and large, wonderful outdoor spaces and opportunities. If interested, call the school to arrange a visit and tour.

I’m sure they will be eager to share the Barrie experience with families looking for a wonderful opportunity for their child(ren).

From a prior suggestion of Barrie, it seems some SSFS families feel they are above Barrie. I thought academically they were peers but apparently not.

[Anonymous]

Barrie has a solid Montessori preschool-elementary program, and the strength of its middle and upper school is that it's very small and project based. Their classes of graduating seniors are usually under 20 kids. I think it's fair that many (most?) SSFS parents know that it's down the road but have ruled out those nontraditional pedagogies for their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barrie School, Silver Spring, MD might be a great alternative for families considering other school options in the area. They have unique educational programs and large, wonderful outdoor spaces and opportunities. If interested, call the school to arrange a visit and tour.

I’m sure they will be eager to share the Barrie experience with families looking for a wonderful opportunity for their child(ren).

This has been suggested in this post before with some poster saying Barrie was terrible. I suspect that some folks may not want Barrie (which is literally down the street) entice students away For the record, I have heard great things about Barrie too and years ago had considered this along with SSFS, though settled on SSFS. But back then it was TGs SSFS, which is a far cry from what SSFS is today. But that's also why we have withdrawn from SSFS and chosen a different school as well. SSFS is hardly the only act in town. SSFS was never known for the rigor of it's program, but more for it's nurturing and welcoming environment, and focus on Quaker values. That is what drew us in. But what happened after RG took over was to turn this place into a campus where academics isn't valued at all, and if you're not the right type of kid, you're a target. Not the Quaker school we visited those years ago.

What are you talking about? I get the RG drama, but neither of your statements reflect our experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barrie School, Silver Spring, MD might be a great alternative for families considering other school options in the area. They have unique educational programs and large, wonderful outdoor spaces and opportunities. If interested, call the school to arrange a visit and tour.

I’m sure they will be eager to share the Barrie experience with families looking for a wonderful opportunity for their child(ren).

This has been suggested in this post before with some poster saying Barrie was terrible. I suspect that some folks may not want Barrie (which is literally down the street) entice students away For the record, I have heard great things about Barrie too and years ago had considered this along with SSFS, though settled on SSFS. But back then it was TGs SSFS, which is a far cry from what SSFS is today. But that's also why we have withdrawn from SSFS and chosen a different school as well. SSFS is hardly the only act in town. SSFS was never known for the rigor of it's program, but more for it's nurturing and welcoming environment, and focus on Quaker values. That is what drew us in. But what happened after RG took over was to turn this place into a campus where academics isn't valued at all, and if you're not the right type of kid, you're a target. Not the Quaker school we visited those years ago.

What are you talking about? I get the RG drama, but neither of your statements reflect our experience.

I would imagine what that means is if your child has found a great learning environment and suitable academic rigor, and hasnt faced any bullying, then you're fortunate and hopefully your experience continues to go well. But that doesn't mean everyone has had a great experience here. It seems presumptuous to imply that your good experience means no one could have a bad one. With 80+ students leaving, 35+ staff leaving and a hos that is resigning, it should not be a surprise that people (both students and faculty) have had problems at this school relating to academics and/or culture/environment.

[Anonymous]

Wonder how many times the Big Three will book Rodney to speak this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wonder how many times the Big Three will book Rodney to speak this year?

Hopefully they’re following what he’s done to ssfs and the answer is zero

[Anonymous]

How have the listening sessions been going?

[Anonymous]

I’m in one now-badly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in one now-badly!

I want to expand on my comment-it’s completely underwhelming and if anything it’s undermining the scraps of confidence I had left in the governance of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in one now-badly!

I want to expand on my comment-it’s completely underwhelming and if anything it’s undermining the scraps of confidence I had left in the governance of the school.

It’s a listening session. Meaning the purpose is solely for the school to listen. It’s not a question and answer time. The school is taking questions and listening to what folks have to say and will respond with answers and more information when all the listening sessions are complete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in one now-badly!

I want to expand on my comment-it’s completely underwhelming and if anything it’s undermining the scraps of confidence I had left in the governance of the school.

It’s a listening session. Meaning the purpose is solely for the school to listen. It’s not a question and answer time. The school is taking questions and listening to what folks have to say and will respond with answers and more information when all the listening sessions are complete.

I know very well what a listening session is and this is a p1ss poor example. Particularly when it’s not like this was whipped up right after the events transpired. It has been weeks, they could have had a paragraph of info addressing some of parents most pressing concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in one now-badly!

I'm hearing a lot of thoughtful comments from the parents, so from that standpoint, I hope that it's instructive to the Board.

[Anonymous]

I know many, many people who ( while upset about the chaos) are thrilled Rodney is gone but it seems in the listening sessions the only people who specifically mention Rodney are disappointed he’s gone.