Bullis School adding Second Grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis is adding second grade. They are putting it after Junior Year so they can attract athletes.

I believe someone else already made that particular joke. If you talk to admin at Bullis, however, they are open that it is to drive revenue. Nothing wrong with that, of course. What has people talking is the extent to which this urgent need to drive new revenue is driven by their wholesale handing out of athletic scholarrships for football, boys and girls basketball, and lacrosse. They don't have a big endowment and are below many peer schools in annual giving, so they need tuition revenue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bullis is adding second grade. They are putting it after Junior Year so they can attract athletes.

I believe someone else already made that particular joke. If you talk to admin at Bullis, however, they are open that it is to drive revenue. Nothing wrong with that, of course. What has people talking is the extent to which this urgent need to drive new revenue is driven by their wholesale handing out of athletic scholarrships for football, boys and girls basketball, and lacrosse. They don't have a big endowment and are below many peer schools in annual giving, so they need tuition revenue.

All of this is pure speculation, of course, since athletic scholarships are prohibited. However, admitting students who have athletic ability is not prohibited. All of the privates do this to some extent. When plush athletic fields and facilities are implemented, private schools have to pay for this. Appeals for more giving to the (insert) fund; tuition increases; adding grade levels, etc.is to maximize revenues. Nothing new here.

When a poster mentioned "PG County" the true intent of the griping was evident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bullis is adding second grade. They are putting it after Junior Year so they can attract athletes.

I believe someone else already made that particular joke. If you talk to admin at Bullis, however, they are open that it is to drive revenue. Nothing wrong with that, of course. What has people talking is the extent to which this urgent need to drive new revenue is driven by their wholesale handing out of athletic scholarrships for football, boys and girls basketball, and lacrosse. They don't have a big endowment and are below many peer schools in annual giving, so they need tuition revenue.

All of this is pure speculation, of course, since athletic scholarships are prohibited. However, admitting students who have athletic ability is not prohibited. All of the privates do this to some extent. When plush athletic fields and facilities are implemented, private schools have to pay for this. Appeals for more giving to the (insert) fund; tuition increases; adding grade levels, etc.is to maximize revenues. Nothing new here.

When a poster mentioned "PG County" the true intent of the griping was evident.

Bullis absolutely gives non-need based money to athletes. Multiple examples of this in recent years (parents have sometimes brought offers back to prior schools to see if they can be matched).

[Anonymous]

So a bunch of kids are paying full tuition at Landon and Prep and then they go to Bullis on a financial need scholarship.

Thou doth Protest too much, methinks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So a bunch of kids are paying full tuition at Landon and Prep and then they go to Bullis on a financial need scholarship.

Thou doth Protest too much, methinks.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So a bunch of kids are paying full tuition at Landon and Prep and then they go to Bullis on a financial need scholarship.

Thou doth Protest too much, methinks.

I know the Hamlet reference but don't get your application here. Usually it means that someone who protests so vehemently is guilty of doing the same thing. The senior transfer thing is only happening at Bullis -- that's verifiable. I guess you could be suggesting that Prep and Landon also give hidden athletic scholarships? They are not known for doing so -- right now all the accounts involve Bullis.

To reach back to the 90s, a lot more people heard of UNLV because of their winning ways in basketball. The notoriety didn't translate into increased academic respect for the institution.

Bullis is, I'm sure, still doing all the good things it's been doing in recent years, most notably offering high quality teaching and small class sizes in the setting of a co-ed, secular school in MoCo. My own view is that they way they're pursuing sports success will not help their overall standing in the DMV independent school market, but they may have marketing data to suggest otherwise.

[Anonymous]

I don't think anybody is giving sports scholarships I am suggesting that they boys that went to Prep and Landon pay the same at Bullis.

I do think you can't see the forest for the trees.

There are 100 freshman, 60 are from 8th grade and 40 are new students (20 boys and 20 girls). There are 25 sports.

I like Bullis's focus, I like the balanced curriculum, the arts, the learning center, the mentoring program, the small class sizes, etc.

SJC has always in the past gotten the same flack you are giving Bullis, taking transfers, and it has worked splendidly for them. (Kimsey and Plank)

(I have been in the Catholic school world for years - Catholics - 10 and 12 to a family - lots of Soph/Jr. transfers from my experience. Not everybody wants/likes the same school. Parents sometimes force what they think is best - the legacy school, the "best" academics, etc - it isn't always so.)

Many parents are just looking for a place for their kid to thrive and that does not mean getting the highest SAT and compete with their best friend for the limited spots that go to Ivy.

Maybe you have 1 kid that needs an IB program and one that doesn't but they want to be together. If kids chose to go to different schools that is their choice but calling yourself a community and then rufusing admission to a sibling does not feel like a community to me. Maybe your aren't looking for a community feel but many of us are.

That highly competitive environments really turns me off (personally) - though it seems to be really important to some. It is refreshing to see an institution (many acutally - SJC (Benilde), Paul IV (special education), etc) who open their doors to all students.

I actually think many schools are realizing there is a need - not quite Lab or McLean - but just small class size. The public schools have abandoned these kids. If you don't contribute to their IB and AP statistics you don't help their stupid rating in US News and World Report.

Maybe that's their market, really smart kids who have a sibling that needs more support. A place where kids can't wait to get back to school on Monday.

Have you gone to a Bullis open house? I did and I thought "I can't believe I wish I were back in HS." I have been to many open houses but did not think that. Now I just have to figure out which one makes my kids feel that way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So a bunch of kids are paying full tuition at Landon and Prep and then they go to Bullis on a financial need scholarship.

Thou doth Protest too much, methinks.

I know the Hamlet reference but don't get your application here. Usually it means that someone who protests so vehemently is guilty of doing the same thing. The senior transfer thing is only happening at Bullis -- that's verifiable. I guess you could be suggesting that Prep and Landon also give hidden athletic scholarships? They are not known for doing so -- right now all the accounts involve Bullis.

To reach back to the 90s, a lot more people heard of UNLV because of their winning ways in basketball. The notoriety didn't translate into increased academic respect for the institution.

Bullis is, I'm sure, still doing all the good things it's been doing in recent years, most notably offering high quality teaching and small class sizes in the setting of a co-ed, secular school in MoCo. My own view is that they way they're pursuing sports success will not help their overall standing in the DMV independent school market, but they may have marketing data to suggest otherwise.

[Anonymous]

14:03, I agree with a lot of your posts. I can say that I have some good inside knowledge about how Bullis has been doing their FA.

In some cases, the athlete would qualify for FA anywhere. There, the issue is that the IAC (in contrast to the WCAC) has not been a conference where schools seek out or even admit transfers in the senior year. There has also been a reluctance to poach good athletes from other league schools. Cries of "recruiting" per se leave me cold -- Landon and Prep do it aggressively, and the other league schools consistently if not to the same degree.

In some cases, however, some athletes are getting significantly more money than at their prior school (e.g., child with two working professional parents not on aid at all at prior school). I don't like that philosophically and it is also an example of tilting the playing field.

Maybe Bullis is just out in front and the other conference schools will all join the arms race and admit seniors transfers, recruit from opposing schools, use big FA packages to outbid other schools. Or maybe Bullis will get bounced from its leagues and/or find that the model is difficult to sustain financially. They went this route before in the late 1990s and after a few years families got turned off by the fact that their kid who was on the team in the younger years would be replaced in the starting line-up by a transfer in the latter years; they also couldn't sustain the level of financial aid.

It doesn't mean it might not work now. But it is a big change from the way they operated under their prior admin, and it is a big change in a publicly scrutinized area (sports).

So, time will tell. If nothing else, this current admin team will keep everyone hopping. They are not afraid to ruffle feathers.

[Anonymous]

18:18

Sorry for my rambling post at 14:03.

So the reason for the Hamlet quote. I alway though it referred to a person who argues against or disagrees so much with something that they lose credibility. I don't know you so I am not sure why you are so against this. Your statement that recruiting leaves you cold may be that you just hate recruiting of all kinds. It's almost like you hope Bullis fails because of recruiting to prove your point. You are so against it (maybe) that you could not see any good even if there is some.

All schools recruit. They recruit athletes and they recruit kids With high PSATs in hopes they get a NMF. Then they take credit for it, even though their parents have spend thousands on club teams and personal trainers. (or Kumon or whatever)

I the absence of a perfect model schools do the best they can for these athletes.

NCAA rules are more confusing than the tax laws. Thank goodness there are people that know how to navigate that course for these kids.

Some kids would never go to college without these sports scholarships. Girls soccer players in the DMV are going to Ivy league schools at a higher rate than NMF's. (okay I don't really know if that is true but it feels that way, right)

It's frustrating for smart kids that don't run a 4 40.

These kids' successes, though, do not truly affect the ability of my child to succeed. I don't want to help my kid do better by hoping somebody else does worse.

But I am not a Kumon regular chasing the ivy Dream.

I have a brothers who was a quarterback and a brother who is a genius. Guess who got accepted to an Ivy. Guess what, in the end (20 yrs later) it did not really matter. They both hate being a lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Different poster here - but you don't understand the hamlet quote. I'd drop it. Hurts your credibility. Just say what you mean in plain terms rather than invoking a quote you don't understand.

[Anonymous]

I am 18:18. I'm sorry I was not more clear. What I meant to say is that I don't hold with those who are criticizing Bullis for just "recruiting." Basically most of the independent schools in this area (including some of the girls' schools) recruit. I also happen to generally like high school sports and think that they teach a lot about teamwork, sportsmanship, learning to deal with disappointment; that they encourage students to form lasting bonds; that they teach healthy competition; and that they are good for physical fitness.

A good high school football or soccer or basketball or ice hockey or lacrosse game (and that includes girls' sports, not just the boys side of things) can really bring a community together.

My issue with Bullis is that I think there are indications that the sports/school balance is becoming skewed there. I don't think it is appropriate for a high school coach to talk to the star opposing middle school player after the game and encourage them to switch schools. I don't think you should use financial aid money just to land athletes if they wouldn't already qualify. I don't think having a student come to a school, play a season for four months, and transfer back out again, is a good thing for the student or the school.

I'm realistic enough to recognize that these things wouldn't be highlighted if Bullis were not achieving such success in sports, and I can also realize that there is probably some hypocrisy from parents/fans who complain about practices that may even occur at their own school. But Bullis has changed its approach, and changed it radically. I happen to be someone who liked what they had done under the prior Head of School and before this current sports push, and I don't think these recent changes reflect well on the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different poster here - but you don't understand the hamlet quote. I'd drop it. Hurts your credibility. Just say what you mean in plain terms rather than invoking a quote you don't understand.

Wow we went all whole few posts without an ad hominem post. I used it correctly, I just didn't want to sound snooty about it.

[Anonymous]

I think we agree that it needs to stay balanced and some decision may have gone south. But really the rest of their programs are very impressive - the theater has its own wood shop to build stages. It's quite amazing.

Anonymous wrote:I am 18:18. I'm sorry I was not more clear. What I meant to say is that I don't hold with those who are criticizing Bullis for just "recruiting." Basically most of the independent schools in this area (including some of the girls' schools) recruit. I also happen to generally like high school sports and think that they teach a lot about teamwork, sportsmanship, learning to deal with disappointment; that they encourage students to form lasting bonds; that they teach healthy competition; and that they are good for physical fitness.

A good high school football or soccer or basketball or ice hockey or lacrosse game (and that includes girls' sports, not just the boys side of things) can really bring a community together.

My issue with Bullis is that I think there are indications that the sports/school balance is becoming skewed there. I don't think it is appropriate for a high school coach to talk to the star opposing middle school player after the game and encourage them to switch schools. I don't think you should use financial aid money just to land athletes if they wouldn't already qualify. I don't think having a student come to a school, play a season for four months, and transfer back out again, is a good thing for the student or the school.

I'm realistic enough to recognize that these things wouldn't be highlighted if Bullis were not achieving such success in sports, and I can also realize that there is probably some hypocrisy from parents/fans who complain about practices that may even occur at their own school. But Bullis has changed its approach, and changed it radically. I happen to be someone who liked what they had done under the prior Head of School and before this current sports push, and I don't think these recent changes reflect well on the school.

[Anonymous]

20:07, I agree absolutely, they are doing some amazing things at Bullis in the arts, too. I also think very highly of the faculty and believe that overall Bullis is offers a challenging but nurturing educational atmosphere that does a great job in bringing out the best in its students.