Norwood: What do you love? Not Love?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the bullying comments, both my children at different key grades have participated in proactive small group discussions and games with the counselors to discuss issues that may arise and brainstorm how to handle them. There is great information for parents on the website and frequent communication (by email) from the counselors updating parents on discussions so you as a parent can continue the conversation at home. Previous posters have said the school doesn't deal with these issues head on. I just haven't seen that.

This is all good and well, but when these efforts fail and bullying does take place, the LS administration has not always responded forcefully. I am hopeful that the new principal will be more effective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:some of these kids - especially girls - are uncomfortable in e.g. the top math group (if they get put there in the first place, which isn't frequent)

In my experience, neither of these statements has been true, but to be fair, our experience so far is limited to the lower school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Discussion turned to bullying and the perception of bullying. Unfortunately your responses indicate why Norwood is perceived as being unresponsive to this issue. Defensive much? You have no idea whether I have aggressive/physical kids. My kids may even be part of the group I am describing. Doesn't make it any less true.
I am not going to argue the sillyness of "athletic boys getting together to form rec teams" pre Kindergarten. Just ridiculous.

The playground issue sufaces every year. If you can't acknowledge that, I don't what school your are going to. Perhaps your should check your biases.

I used the word aggressive in order to attempt to deflate the bully discussion. You brought up athleticism. I could have been refering to physically aggressive kids who chase, push, hit.. In fact, I was? What is the athletic problem you are so quick to defend? Want to share more?

I think the conversation you are referring to is forn kids in lower school: Kindergarten up to 3rd/4th. Those kids have rec team options like Stoddert soccer, Bethesda Lacrosse, Riockville Football League, Baseball, etc... Recteams are usually formed when a parent decides to coach or manage and put a team together. I have been that parent and sent an e-mail to the entire grade letting parents know we were forming a (In this case soccer) team. In our case (not Norwood) the team ended up having mostly super athleteic kids because they were the ones who liked it. When other kids wanted to join they could not as we had a full roster and so another parent had to start a new team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Responding to 17:16 about how I know ... spent many years talking to people, etc. You may have a different experience. I'm just sharing my views. But just because your experience was different doesn't mean my head was in the sand and I have no perspective. A bit defensive you are.

There are plenty of pretty smart kids there. But some of these kids - especially girls - are uncomfortable in e.g. the top math group (if they get put there in the first place, which isn't frequent) may decide it is against their social interest to go the the top group (with support of parents). I know a boy who had the same reaction. To me, this says something about the culture.

17:16 here. If I sound defensive, it's because you purport to speak for how all parents at Norwood are in your earlier posts. We are not all that way. Maybe it's the crowd you hang out with, but it is not mine. My girl is in the top math group, btw. If you are so convinced this is the culture of the school, why would you leave your kids there? I sure as hell wouldn't. The Norwood my kids attend is apparently a much different place from the one you send your kids to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The Norwood my kids attend is apparently a much different place from the one you send your kids to.

Could be, could be. BTW, the response of "defenders" is so often "why don't you take your kids and get the hell out?" Seems to be a little limited, given that I was trying to answer sincerely. Maybe you are just applying your intellectual skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: 17:16 here. My girl is in the top math group, btw.

Yikes! Be careful - not gonna be hard to figure out who you are!

[Anonymous]

Look, OP, it is a fine school. We are very happy with everything.
The bullying has not affected my child, but I have heard just as much about this problem at Norwood as I have at Green Acres and other schools we looked at. Sidwell struck me as a place where the students were nice, but potential abuse could come from the staff. Private schools need to catch up with the public schools in attacking this problem.
WRT intellectual issues, indeed this is only a K-8, and that makes it hard to discuss quantum physics and Tolstoy, but rest assured, they have a great staff and they are working on tightening up even more.
I think that the parents do have a way of making the environment seem less intellectual. There are many people sporting very fancy clothes with glitter and bling. Some dress in dinner party clothes for a simple school function (maybe they just came from an event). Fancy cars and so on. Many make money in non-academic ways. They are just as smart if not smarter than the professors. At Norwood, glamour shows, and it seems stylish to be somewhat modest and understated wrt bookishness.
If you want more down to earth academicians, judges, and law professors, or tech geeks and engineers, then Norwood is not the place for you. Take a look at Green Acres, they have a great science program, but I was disappointed with everything else there. However, the new head of school might make big changes.
The biggest question for all parents looking at private schools, is after you remove the wrapping, are our kids learning, and are they happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Responding to 17:16 about how I know ... spent many years talking to people, etc. You may have a different experience. I'm just sharing my views. But just because your experience was different doesn't mean my head was in the sand and I have no perspective. A bit defensive you are.

There are plenty of pretty smart kids there. But some of these kids - especially girls - are uncomfortable in e.g. the top math group (if they get put there in the first place, which isn't frequent) may decide it is against their social interest to go the the top group (with support of parents). I know a boy who had the same reaction. To me, this says something about the culture.

17:16 here. If I sound defensive, it's because you purport to speak for how all parents at Norwood are in your earlier posts. We are not all that way. Maybe it's the crowd you hang out with, but it is not mine. My girl is in the top math group, btw. If you are so convinced this is the culture of the school, why would you leave your kids there? I sure as hell wouldn't. The Norwood my kids attend is apparently a much different place from the one you send your kids to.

You do sound defensive and the purpose of these forums is for people to respond with insight based on their own experience. You are entitled to yours as is the pp. And the "if you don't like it why don't you leave comment" is really uncalled for and nasty. Who's to say people wouldn't vote you off the island first.

To the op. Honestly, in spite of the snarky, defensive comments by some insecure parents, the thing I love most about Norwood is the kids. They are really very nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A bit defensive you are.

Yoda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, OP, it is a fine school. We are very happy with everything.
The bullying has not affected my child, but I have heard just as much about this problem at Norwood as I have at Green Acres and other schools we looked at. Sidwell struck me as a place where the students were nice, but potential abuse could come from the staff. Private schools need to catch up with the public schools in attacking this problem.
WRT intellectual issues, indeed this is only a K-8, and that makes it hard to discuss quantum physics and Tolstoy, but rest assured, they have a great staff and they are working on tightening up even more.
I think that the parents do have a way of making the environment seem less intellectual. There are many people sporting very fancy clothes with glitter and bling. Some dress in dinner party clothes for a simple school function (maybe they just came from an event). Fancy cars and so on. Many make money in non-academic ways. They are just as smart if not smarter than the professors. At Norwood, glamour shows, and it seems stylish to be somewhat modest and understated wrt bookishness.
If you want more down to earth academicians, judges, and law professors, or tech geeks and engineers, then Norwood is not the place for you. Take a look at Green Acres, they have a great science program, but I was disappointed with everything else there. However, the new head of school might make big changes.
The biggest question for all parents looking at private schools, is after you remove the wrapping, are our kids learning, and are they happy.

I did not realize one must dress down to be an intellect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many people sporting very fancy clothes with glitter and bling. Some dress in dinner party clothes for a simple school function (maybe they just came from an event).

These people are a very small minority, which is why they stand out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, OP, it is a fine school. We are very happy with everything.
The bullying has not affected my child, but I have heard just as much about this problem at Norwood as I have at Green Acres and other schools we looked at. Sidwell struck me as a place where the students were nice, but potential abuse could come from the staff. Private schools need to catch up with the public schools in attacking this problem.
WRT intellectual issues, indeed this is only a K-8, and that makes it hard to discuss quantum physics and Tolstoy, but rest assured, they have a great staff and they are working on tightening up even more.
I think that the parents do have a way of making the environment seem less intellectual. There are many people sporting very fancy clothes with glitter and bling. Some dress in dinner party clothes for a simple school function (maybe they just came from an event). Fancy cars and so on. Many make money in non-academic ways. They are just as smart if not smarter than the professors. At Norwood, glamour shows, and it seems stylish to be somewhat modest and understated wrt bookishness.
If you want more down to earth academicians, judges, and law professors, or tech geeks and engineers, then Norwood is not the place for you. Take a look at Green Acres, they have a great science program, but I was disappointed with everything else there. However, the new head of school might make big changes.
The biggest question for all parents looking at private schools, is after you remove the wrapping, are our kids learning, and are they happy.

I did not realize one must dress down to be an intellect.

Yes, dress down to look intellectual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, OP, it is a fine school. We are very happy with everything.
The bullying has not affected my child, but I have heard just as much about this problem at Norwood as I have at Green Acres and other schools we looked at. Sidwell struck me as a place where the students were nice, but potential abuse could come from the staff. Private schools need to catch up with the public schools in attacking this problem.
WRT intellectual issues, indeed this is only a K-8, and that makes it hard to discuss quantum physics and Tolstoy, but rest assured, they have a great staff and they are working on tightening up even more.
I think that the parents do have a way of making the environment seem less intellectual. There are many people sporting very fancy clothes with glitter and bling. Some dress in dinner party clothes for a simple school function (maybe they just came from an event). Fancy cars and so on. Many make money in non-academic ways. They are just as smart if not smarter than the professors. At Norwood, glamour shows, and it seems stylish to be somewhat modest and understated wrt bookishness.
If you want more down to earth academicians, judges, and law professors, or tech geeks and engineers, then Norwood is not the place for you. Take a look at Green Acres, they have a great science program, but I was disappointed with everything else there. However, the new head of school might make big changes.
The biggest question for all parents looking at private schools, is after you remove the wrapping, are our kids learning, and are they happy.

I did not realize one must dress down to be an intellect.

Yes, dress down to look intellectual.

Sorry, grammar police.

[Anonymous]

I didn't say if you don't like it why don't you leave? I said if you think this is how the school is, why would you have your kids stay there? It is a different question. There are three obvious answers to that question:

1. The poster doesn't have kids at Norwood.
2. The poster does have kids at Norwood but actually likes that it is "anti-intellectual" at the same time she posts about it in a way that it is perceived as a negative.
3. Her kids didn't get in to another school she wanted more, either at K or at some later point, so she feels she has no choice but to keep them there.

There are variations on these options as well, such as she would never have her kids go to public school but didn't want to drive very far, so she puts her kids in a close-by school she doesn't really like.

There may also be other options.

It is beyond me why someone would have a complaint about the school that for my family would be a deal-killer, and would continue to keep their kids there. I was asking her a serious question.

Somehow she is allowed to post about how stupid we parents all are and how our children will all be afraid to be in the top academic groups, but it is rude of me to ask her why she wants the environment she claims exists at Norwood for her kids? But please, continue to trash me. I was quite happy with the school, but I would be happy to take my family (and our time volunteered, our annual fund checks, auction donations and funds we had slated for the upcoming capital campaign) elsewhere. I will save you the trouble of voting us off the island.

If we leave, we can also join a parent community where trying to have pleasant conversations with other parents about things you have in common rather than a conversation about the impact the different translations of a particular Greek word in the first chapter of Acts would have on modern Protestant thought would be viewed as nice rather than pegging you as an idiot. It's now quite clear my family doesn't fit in at Norwood. We apparently miss big truths in life, like only dumb people have nice clothes, girls are supposed to be bad at math, and people will think you are anti-intellectual if you don't go around talking about complicated stuff all the time. Those are "truths" I don't want my children to learn, so I will take them out of Norwood before they do.

[Anonymous]

Wow, just wow, 14:57. Do you realize the damage you do to the reputation of the school with your sledgehammer, mean girl ,posture is worse than any legitimate concern over social climate?