Next chapter

[Anonymous]

Glad people are waking up to the realization that Beauvoir sucks. Subpar education to boot. What a scam.

[Anonymous]

Beauvoir parents living the ‘a fool and his money are soon parted’ proverb in real time.

[Anonymous]

“Being negative is natural but being 100% positive takes a lot of work.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCS parent here. It scares me to see the pipeline of students and parents that are coming/may be joining the NCS community. NCS has worked hard to focus on the whole child and an inclusive environment but the next batch of BVR parents/students gives me the ick. I'm sorry for your experiences.

#this. Our BVR experience was so profoundly different than what I am reading on this post. I am not negating any of it, just saying how profoundly sad these posts have made me feel. Both of my children had a really great experience at BVR. No, it wasn't perfect but is there such a place?

[Anonymous]

You should probably feel sad. You were duped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, my reflections on our experience at Beauvoir has left me deeply disappointed as we end the year.

What has frustrated me most is the apparent inability of the school community to engage constructively with criticism. Concerns raised by parents are often dismissed rather than addressed, creating an environment where honest discussion feels unwelcome. Indeed, any critical post of the school has been locked or erased from this site. I fully expect the same to happen with this thread.

One of the biggest problems is the quality of teaching is highly uneven. Our experience over the years has shown that quality varies dramatically from classroom to classroom, and that inconsistency can have a significant impact on young children during formative years.

The culture can also feel surprisingly insular and status-conscious. Rather than the warm and supportive community I expected, I have often found the parent community to be competitive, cliquish, and lacking (ironically) in empathy.

For families with boys, the transition process to the next schools can be especially stressful. Decisions regarding placement and admissions often feel opaque, and when children are not accepted to expected destinations, families are left searching for explanations. Whether or not those explanations exist, the lack of transparency can be painful for both parents and children with profound and lasting impacts.

I was also disappointed by the limited support available to families considering options outside the traditional Cathedral school pathway for our kids. At times, it felt as though families pursuing alternative routes were largely on their own. It seems that trend is starting to change, and for the better.

What saddens me most is that these dynamics affect very young children. This is an age when schools should be building confidence, curiosity, and a sense of belonging. Instead, the pressure, competition, and uncertainty can feel disproportionate to the age of the students involved.

I know many families have had positive experiences, and I respect that. Mine has been different. For us, leaving Beauvoir this week will be a relief rather than a regret.

Did your child not get accepted to their first choice school for the next school? That would be upsetting to me as well. What are the numbers for STA and NCS coming from BVR for the incoming 4th grade class?

About 25 boys to STA (out of 39 I think) and 31 girls to NCS out of 37 (only 34 applied)

only 30 boys applied to STA so only 5 did not get in

Still, that's more than 15% of those boys who applied that did not get in. Is that typical? I can see how that could cause some rough feelings if most send their kids to BVR with the expectation that STA will follow.

It fluctuates slightly from year to year but this doesn't sound a typical based on my kids time at BVR and now at STA/NCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that STA and NCS do a pretty good job determining which BVR students are likely to succeed at those schools. It can be difficult news to receive but they are doing you a favor early on, rather than being counseled out later when your child is already settled in.

Unfortunately Beauvoir isn’t strong at outplacement to other schools so if your child isn’t a fit for NCS and STA then you don’t get good outplacement support. This is true if you choose not to apply to NCS and STA as well (not just kids who are rejected by NCS and STA).

I don't know how accurate this is. When my kids were at BVR I remember families who didn't want STA/NCS (or were told it wouldn't be a good fit) generally ended up other good schools (NPS, St. Pats, Holton, Landon, WES, SSSAS, Maret, Sidwell, GDS, Stone Ridge, The Lab School, McLean, etc.) I recall the outplacement staff picking up the phone and making calls late into the summer for the 2 or 3 kids that were still on WLs at some of these schools. Certainly there were one offs here and there that ended up in public school. However, as I recall those parents opted for public instead of the private option they had.

So I guess my question is exactly what type of support did you expect but not get? Is it that you wanted Sidwell, Maret, and/or GDS and didn't get it? I can see how that might happen but it has a lot less to do with the outplacement staff and lot more to do with how many students can either of those schools actually absorb from Beauvoir is a non traditional entry year? It's not going to be a high number. The highest I can recall is GDS taking 4 in one year, but most often it's less than 2. Again, very little to do with anything BVR did wrong and everything to do with the needs (i,e., availability of spots/number of applications received) those schools have. Perhaps the one thing I can fault BVR with is not being more transparent with this information. We were at BVR doing the Amy years and she was very transparent about this -- and I suspect played a role in her contract not being renewed. Parents didn't want to hear the truth, they just wanted what they wanted. Fast forward, Cindy knows it won't serve her to be a transparent and so what have now are over generalized statements about a lack of outplacement support. The reality is that every year about 85% of the graduating class will go to STA/NCS. That's by design and STA/NCS rely on BVR to fill their entry 4th grade class. It's a give and take both ways between the schools. If you know that STA/NCS isn't what you want or is not a good fit for your kid, you have to also know that spots elsewhere will be limited and there is no guarantee that other top schools are going to take the other 15% of the graduating class. If STA/NCS is not a good academic fit for your DC you have to know that Sidwell, Maret, and GDS are likely not at all. While they all differ in terms of pedagody and approach, they are all still looking for children that can succeed in a rigorous academic environment. But all is not loss, because the "less rigorous" schools are still great schools and most certainly accept BVR children. Again, I recall the outplacement team definitely having these conversations with families. For many, not what they wanted to hear but I suspect if they were asked today if things turned out OK they would all say it actually turned out better than OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:As a parent who attended the transition meeting for rising third grade parents for next year I was impressed with the non-Cathedral school outcomes (3-5 accepts at pk-12 schools like Holton, Sidwell, GDS, Landon, Potomac) is pretty competitive! There used to be a time when only 1 or 2 went, if any from BVR.

Yes! A lot more kids from BVR are now applying to other schools. Not all parents want single sex/religious schools for their kids.

Which brings us back to the original question. If you know early on that you don't want single sex/ religious schools for your kids, why would you send them to BVR in the first place, if the teaching quality is so spotty and the curriculum turns out to be so weak?

Exactly- which is why I as a Beauvoir parent am posting in this thread. I didn’t realize the teaching quality was so poor and the curriculum weak and the administration out of touch and unwilling to work with parents. We weren’t sold on NCS/ STA. Only go to Beauvoir if you’re 100% sure that’s what you want and your kid will get in. There’s no other reason- Beauvoir isn’t a good school on its own.

That last sentence is not fair. It's not a good school for every kid. Period. No school is. It was a great school for both of my kids, who continued on the STA/NCS and are both doing well in their respective middle school and high school years. They both still speak fondly of their time at BVR. I don't discount your experience at all. But your bad experience doesn't make it "not a good on its own." That's blanektly false. For the right child, it's an amazing school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should probably feel sad. You were duped.

But I wasn't though. My kids are doing great at STA/NCS. Certainly has not been perfect, but the issues they have experienced exist at any and all schools. Clearly some had bad experiences and feel burnt. I don't negate that at all. But it doesn't change the experience we had and the current one we are having.

[Anonymous]

Looks like the Beauvoir team is back from vacation and bumping positive comments. Guess the person who was in the office last week to send the fundraising email asking for $9M didn’t have these comments on the to do list.

We had an extremely negative experience. Awful school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who attended the transition meeting for rising third grade parents for next year I was impressed with the non-Cathedral school outcomes (3-5 accepts at pk-12 schools like Holton, Sidwell, GDS, Landon, Potomac) is pretty competitive! There used to be a time when only 1 or 2 went, if any from BVR.

Yes! A lot more kids from BVR are now applying to other schools. Not all parents want single sex/religious schools for their kids.

Which brings us back to the original question. If you know early on that you don't want single sex/ religious schools for your kids, why would you send them to BVR in the first place, if the teaching quality is so spotty and the curriculum turns out to be so weak?

Exactly- which is why I as a Beauvoir parent am posting in this thread. I didn’t realize the teaching quality was so poor and the curriculum weak and the administration out of touch and unwilling to work with parents. We weren’t sold on NCS/ STA. Only go to Beauvoir if you’re 100% sure that’s what you want and your kid will get in. There’s no other reason- Beauvoir isn’t a good school on its own.

That last sentence is not fair. It's not a good school for every kid. Period. No school is. It was a great school for both of my kids, who continued on the STA/NCS and are both doing well in their respective middle school and high school years. They both still speak fondly of their time at BVR. I don't discount your experience at all. But your bad experience doesn't make it "not a good on its own." That's blanektly false. For the right child, it's an amazing school.

Exactly- great school in that it got your kids into STA/NCS. You just proved this point- it’s not a great school if you take that out of the equation. The education is poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who attended the transition meeting for rising third grade parents for next year I was impressed with the non-Cathedral school outcomes (3-5 accepts at pk-12 schools like Holton, Sidwell, GDS, Landon, Potomac) is pretty competitive! There used to be a time when only 1 or 2 went, if any from BVR.

Yes! A lot more kids from BVR are now applying to other schools. Not all parents want single sex/religious schools for their kids.

Which brings us back to the original question. If you know early on that you don't want single sex/ religious schools for your kids, why would you send them to BVR in the first place, if the teaching quality is so spotty and the curriculum turns out to be so weak?

Exactly- which is why I as a Beauvoir parent am posting in this thread. I didn’t realize the teaching quality was so poor and the curriculum weak and the administration out of touch and unwilling to work with parents. We weren’t sold on NCS/ STA. Only go to Beauvoir if you’re 100% sure that’s what you want and your kid will get in. There’s no other reason- Beauvoir isn’t a good school on its own.

That last sentence is not fair. It's not a good school for every kid. Period. No school is. It was a great school for both of my kids, who continued on the STA/NCS and are both doing well in their respective middle school and high school years. They both still speak fondly of their time at BVR. I don't discount your experience at all. But your bad experience doesn't make it "not a good on its own." That's blanektly false. For the right child, it's an amazing school.

Exactly- great school in that it got your kids into STA/NCS. You just proved this point- it’s not a great school if you take that out of the equation. The education is poor.

So if your kids don’t get into STA/NCS, you complain online. Got it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who attended the transition meeting for rising third grade parents for next year I was impressed with the non-Cathedral school outcomes (3-5 accepts at pk-12 schools like Holton, Sidwell, GDS, Landon, Potomac) is pretty competitive! There used to be a time when only 1 or 2 went, if any from BVR.

Yes! A lot more kids from BVR are now applying to other schools. Not all parents want single sex/religious schools for their kids.

Which brings us back to the original question. If you know early on that you don't want single sex/ religious schools for your kids, why would you send them to BVR in the first place, if the teaching quality is so spotty and the curriculum turns out to be so weak?

Exactly- which is why I as a Beauvoir parent am posting in this thread. I didn’t realize the teaching quality was so poor and the curriculum weak and the administration out of touch and unwilling to work with parents. We weren’t sold on NCS/ STA. Only go to Beauvoir if you’re 100% sure that’s what you want and your kid will get in. There’s no other reason- Beauvoir isn’t a good school on its own.

That last sentence is not fair. It's not a good school for every kid. Period. No school is. It was a great school for both of my kids, who continued on the STA/NCS and are both doing well in their respective middle school and high school years. They both still speak fondly of their time at BVR. I don't discount your experience at all. But your bad experience doesn't make it "not a good on its own." That's blanektly false. For the right child, it's an amazing school.

Exactly- great school in that it got your kids into STA/NCS. You just proved this point- it’s not a great school if you take that out of the equation. The education is poor.

So if your kids don’t get into STA/NCS, you complain online. Got it

I would never send my kids to STA or NCS after our BVR experience. Your response is literally what everyone says when one raises complaints about the school. They have such a racket going- built in demand because of NCS/STA and any criticism is negated because “your kids didn’t get into NCS/STA.” Beauvoir doesn’t have to stand on its own and couldn’t compete if it did. Wish I had that kind of job security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BVR was the only school we toured where we walked out and said absolutely zero chance we would apply. There’s just something deeply off about the place. They seem to have completely consumed their own kool-aid and the things they said on the tour were patently ridiculous. I’m convinced people only go their because they think it is some sort of status symbol to be “on the close.”

I agree. I am a teacher in grade 3 and an area independent school and Beauvoir is known as having really good kids but a horrible program. The kids are usually fine after a few years at their future schools. It's interesting that parents are recognizing it now. BVR has been coasting with good families but a low quality program for a while now.