Barrie School vs. GDS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure that I would consider GDS "progressive" in a ordinary sense. The list of truly "progressive" schools usually includes:

The Avalon School
The Barrie School
Edmund Burke School
Emerson Preparatory School
The Field School
Green Acres School
The Nora School
Parkmont School
Sandy Spring Friends School
Thornton Friends School
Washington Waldorf School

GDS tries hard to be like Sidwell. I don't see a truly progressive school worrying about "competition."

Make makes a school "progressive?" Commitment to diversity? Emphasis on liberal values and ideology? Alternative approaches to curriculum and classroom experience?

[Anonymous]

This is a new blog that mentions many of those schools and how to approach selecting a private school. It is a good resource.
http://process999.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/assessing-the-private-school-curriculum-what-does-better-look-like/

[Anonymous]

This is the page with the curriculum links http://process999.wordpress.com/selected-curriculum-pages-for-local-private-schools/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't try to compare. Schools are not remotely comparable with respect to prestige and college exmissions.

Here are the schools on Barrie's matriculation list and not on GDS's:

Delaware Valley College
Kalamazoo College
Prince Georges Community College
Ohio Northern University

Here are four schools on GDS's list and not on Barries:

Harvard
MIT
Stanford
Yale

GDS doesn't publish a "list," but nice try. GDS probably has better matriculation, but not from grade school - the PP was discussing Barrie School for elementary and transfer to GDS. If the brightest Barrie School students are transferring to high schools like GDS, you wouldn't see their "exmissions" on any Barrie School list. The schools have very comparable progressive environments.

+1 the fact that a small number of GDS kids (most with connections) have gone on to some top schools should be irrelevant to most families. GDS and Barrie School are mor similar than different.

[Anonymous]

We chose Barrie School over GDS for convenience and campus environment, but I'd say GDS is more rigorous in the traditional sense.

[Anonymous]

You people are fools! Barrie is a good school for MoCo parents who want the privilege of sending their kids to a private school and for PGCo parents who are looking for a better education that is not available in PG County. GDS is for parents who want rigorous academics with a progressive-like atmosphere. Don't try to compare the two. One is urban and elite the other rural and pedestrian. One sends kids to HYP Stanford and MIT. The other sends kids trade schools.

[Anonymous]

As PP noted, the schools are more similar than different, but the differences are real - far more real than the BS that GDS sends most of its grads to elite schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people are fools! Barrie is a good school for MoCo parents who want the privilege of sending their kids to a private school and for PGCo parents who are looking for a better education that is not available in PG County. GDS is for parents who want rigorous academics with a progressive-like atmosphere. Don't try to compare the two. One is urban and elite the other rural and pedestrian. One sends kids to HYP Stanford and MIT. The other sends kids trade schools.

This is very confused - are you suggesting that DC Public schools are better than MoCo schools? If so, that is simply absurd. MoCO parents don't need the "privilege" of private schools - public schools are a great option in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Both Barrie and GDS draw from nearby areas unlike schools such as Sidwell, STA, Holton and NCS that draw from a broader area. GDS draws mainly from NW DC with a little spill over across the MD border. Barrie draws from most of Eastern Montgomery County with a little spill over from DC. Neither school draws much from Virginia, or even Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are entitled to your own opinion but Barrie does not compare.

1. Barrie is near Delaware.
2. Barrie does not have a challenging academic offering.
3. Barrie does not matriculate students into the best in the nation (Harvard, Yale, MIT Stanford)

Barrie is probably in the 4th tier in terms of top school behind the following:

First tier: Sidwell, STA, NCS
Second Tier: GDS, Maret, Potomac
Third Tier: Whitman, Wooton, TJ
Fourth Tier: Barrie, Wilson

Near Delaware? You are out of your mind.

TJ, third tier?! No private school compares to TJ.

Including NCS with Sidwell and STA is the tell tale sign that the person posting this is an NCS booster. NCS is the "weak sister" of STA in every significant category: matriculation; campus; career success; student happiness. NCS isn't even the top all girls school.

So true. NCS parents refer to their school as "Cathedral" as one of the ways of trying to put NCS in the same class as STA. It would be like Landon trying to claim that it is a "River Road School" [Holton, Landon, PDS] on par with Holton. It just isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are fools! Barrie is a good school for MoCo parents who want the privilege of sending their kids to a private school and for PGCo parents who are looking for a better education that is not available in PG County. GDS is for parents who want rigorous academics with a progressive-like atmosphere. Don't try to compare the two. One is urban and elite the other rural and pedestrian. One sends kids to HYP Stanford and MIT. The other sends kids trade schools.

This is very confused - are you suggesting that DC Public schools are better than MoCo schools? If so, that is simply absurd. MoCO parents don't need the "privilege" of private schools - public schools are a great option in MoCo.

You obviously attended Barrie -- It is clear by your lack of analystical skills. I don't know how you get that DC>MoCo from my post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are entitled to your own opinion but Barrie does not compare.

1. Barrie is near Delaware.
2. Barrie does not have a challenging academic offering.
3. Barrie does not matriculate students into the best in the nation (Harvard, Yale, MIT Stanford)

Barrie is probably in the 4th tier in terms of top school behind the following:

First tier: Sidwell, STA, NCS
Second Tier: GDS, Maret, Potomac
Third Tier: Whitman, Wooton, TJ
Fourth Tier: Barrie, Wilson

Near Delaware? You are out of your mind.

Why are we discussion Delaware schools on the board. If you are going to send your kid to Barrie, you might as well consider the Hill School.

TJ, third tier?! No private school compares to TJ.

Including NCS with Sidwell and STA is the tell tale sign that the person posting this is an NCS booster. NCS is the "weak sister" of STA in every significant category: matriculation; campus; career success; student happiness. NCS isn't even the top all girls school.

So true. NCS parents refer to their school as "Cathedral" as one of the ways of trying to put NCS in the same class as STA. It would be like Landon trying to claim that it is a "River Road School" [Holton, Landon, PDS] on par with Holton. It just isn't.

[Anonymous]

Barrie School has a 45-acre, wooded campus that just can't be matched by the inner city schools.

The Upper School offers a rigorous academic and broad-based learning program that requires deep exploration of Humanities; Mathematics; Science; Modern Languages and
Fine or Performing Arts.

There is also a strong focus on Community Service.

Like GDS, there is no published matriculation list, but Barrie sends many (not all) grads to Top 25 schools.

[Anonymous]

There is a fair amount of similarity between the schools beyond the progressive philosophy. I know that some of the teachers at GDS once taught at Barrie School and I believe that Barrie School has staff members that came from GDS. I’d say that GDS attracts a higher caliber of student on the whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barrie School has a 45-acre, wooded campus that just can't be matched by the inner city schools.

The Upper School offers a rigorous academic and broad-based learning program that requires deep exploration of Humanities; Mathematics; Science; Modern Languages and
Fine or Performing Arts.

There is also a strong focus on Community Service.

Like GDS, there is no published matriculation list, but Barrie sends many (not all) grads to Top 25 schools.

Top 25 schools is simply not true. I sent my DCs to Barrie and pulled them out. I don't understand why this thread exists. Barrie has <20 kids in HS grades. GDS has ~125. Why would anyone compare the two?