Is Sidwell "joyless"?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, and don't come back.

[SAM2]

Anonymous wrote:OP here ... given what has transpired from a seemingly innocuous question directed at a discrete group, it's really making me think public school might be for us. Is the open rudeness and name-calling typical among private school parents, is it the anonymous nature of this board that makes people feel comfortable enough to do so? ...

OP, I think the underlined part is the reason for the rudeness. I'd really recommend that you judge this school (and any other school in the area) based on your own first-hand impressions, and not on anonymous third-hand comments on DCUM. On a positive note, those who self-identified as Sidwell parents did seem to give some pretty clear responses. But even for those, I'd really recommend that you get some first-hand impressions.

Good luck with your search.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:most of the people who chose Sidwell for their children didn't do so for the sports and don't care whether the football team wins or not.

That much is obviously. Sidwell - the administration and the parents - don't care about sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent at Sidwell and firmly believe this is a free country and you are entitled to raise any issue you want about the vacations Sidwell families take. But...
a) Why do you care?
b) Why do you care?
c) Why do you care?

Lesson to be learned here: if you don't have a kid at Sidwell, you have no business posting anything you may know about it, even if it is a hard fact. Only Sidwell parents are privileged to post about Sidwell. It's all about exclusivity....

Geez. Get a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, and don't come back.

Charming. Publics are looking better and better all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...said the Landon parent...

Anonymous wrote:Nothing is more joyless than Sidwell sports, that's for sure.

Excuse me. This Landon parent doesn't think that.

[Anonymous]

I hope these are trolls posting as Sidwell parents. Because they really don't represent the place well.

[Anonymous]

LOL.
Sidwell bashers: when you constantly create these threads about Sidwell, your goal is to put the school down. However, it's having the opposite effect. You're simply raising Sidwell above all the other schools in the area by provoking constant discussions. It's basically glorifying.

Another thing that bothers me: stop trying to make people believe Sidwell athletics are pathetic. All you have to do is look at their teams' schedules/results on the website and past accomplishments, and you'll see that while football struggles, most teams are very competitive and some are even great. There are tons of Sidwell athletes playing in college right now, especially for soccer, field hockey, baseball, basketball and cross country. Also, with the new athletic facility, good athletes (9th grade applicants) will be way more drawn to the school. Go see it for yourself if you don't believe me. Sports at Sidwell are certainly on the rise.

Also...just because someone is bashing Sidwell doesn't mean they're Landon-affiliated. I've been to plenty of Landon-Sidwell wrestling matches (Sidwell has destroyed them every time), and the Landon coaches and athletes all have great respect for Sidwell and display sportsmanship. In a very even basketball game between Landon and Sidwell the other day (Landon won by 5), both teams, parents and coaches were respectful. Any hate or bitterness that allegedly exists between the schools is either small and anecdotal, or just a complete fabrication.

If your kid didn't get into Sidwell, get over yourself. He/she probably is somewhere great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here -- I really just wanted to get some information from Sidwell parents on the overall feel of the school because we are an out-of-town family considering applying our children there for next year -- our children who, by the way, are neither dumb NOR too serious to have fun, but thanks for the accusations and assumptions. I hardly frequent this board, but given what has transpired from a seemingly innocuous question directed at a discrete group, it's really making me think public school might be for us. Is the open rudeness and name-calling typical among private school parents, is it the anonymous nature of this board that makes people feel comfortable enough to do so? Wow. Reading this whole exchange has been a real eye-opener for me. It's really quite sad.

As a Sidwell alum, private school parent and public school parent I will put in a pitch for public schools. 100% friendlier and more balanced than private schools. And quite "joyful".

[Anonymous]

HA! Troll.

[Anonymous]

Instead of debating the topic, the standard operating procedure for a defensive Sidwell parent is to attack the poster (e.g. "meathead", "troll") than debating the topic.

[Anonymous]

Well, it an anonymous board so nobody really knows who is attacking who. As we see on other strings, this isn't really a message board, its a virtual playground where people can pretend they are parents at any school. Or pretend they are not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As a Sidwell alum, private school parent and public school parent I will put in a pitch for public schools. 100% friendlier and more balanced than private schools. And quite "joyful".

I'm not a Sidwell alum but went to a top private in a less brainy/competitive area. It wasn't joyless, but there were some pretty horrific social norms there. Seventh graders would frequently discuss how lazy poor people were. Bullying was accepted by teachers and administrators (some of that was the time). Very rich children were admitted who were not nearly capable of working at the level of the other students. Scholarship kids were treated worse than other children by some teachers.

It's one of the reasons my son is in public school now - and thriving and loving going to school every day.

[Anonymous]

That is great for your child that they are thriving but many kids do not thrive in public school. If you are an out of the box kid, public school can be difficult. There is very little tolerance for "different" in public school as well. Classes are big and teachers have little time to work with individual kids.

Bullying is an issue in public school as well as private. Don't kid yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL.
Sidwell bashers: when you constantly create these threads about Sidwell, your goal is to put the school down. However, it's having the opposite effect. You're simply raising Sidwell above all the other schools in the area by provoking constant discussions. It's basically glorifying.

Another thing that bothers me: stop trying to make people believe Sidwell athletics are pathetic. All you have to do is look at their teams' schedules/results on the website and past accomplishments, and you'll see that while football struggles, most teams are very competitive and some are even great. There are tons of Sidwell athletes playing in college right now, especially for soccer, field hockey, baseball, basketball and cross country. Also, with the new athletic facility, good athletes (9th grade applicants) will be way more drawn to the school. Go see it for yourself if you don't believe me. Sports at Sidwell are certainly on the rise.

Also...just because someone is bashing Sidwell doesn't mean they're Landon-affiliated. I've been to plenty of Landon-Sidwell wrestling matches (Sidwell has destroyed them every time), and the Landon coaches and athletes all have great respect for Sidwell and display sportsmanship. In a very even basketball game between Landon and Sidwell the other day (Landon won by 5), both teams, parents and coaches were respectful. Any hate or bitterness that allegedly exists between the schools is either small and anecdotal, or just a complete fabrication.

If your kid didn't get into Sidwell, get over yourself. He/she probably is somewhere great.

There is no hate or bitterness between Landon/Sidwell students, parents, alum or admin. They are in different spheres and respect each other. The petty barbs and bitterness on these threads are from pathetic parents who really don't know what is going on.