Maret/GDS US - pressure cooker or more laid back but still academically rigorous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bump. Looking for feedback on Maret in particular in terms of pressure and homework load (MS and US).

Okay, I will answer your question, since I'm no longer sure what the rest of this thread is about! There is pressure and homework at Maret, but it is wrapped in very supportive faculty, a thoughtful curriculum, and a peer group to pushes the other kids, but not to the point of a breakdown. I've had two different kinds of kids there and they were both happy. They each felt the pressure to succeed, but also felt able to communicate with their teachers about problems. If you've been there you will see - for the most part - a very engaged and happy group of kids. The middle school classrooms are energetic and there is a lot of dialogue; the homework is not onerous, but gets them progressively used to more demanding work in high school. And the school is academically rigorous with excellent college placements.

[Anonymous]

Thank you above posters for your refreshing honesty. What many DCUM parents don't realize is that when they needlessly inflate this sort of stuff above what are already very, very impressive figures, it causes consternation and angst among many other parents (and students who shouldn't, but do, review these boards) about whether they hurt their future in attending other schools. I always remind my kids that schools are important, but individual effort is more important regardless of where you go to school. So from a non Big X parent to the above posters this a.m., hugs and a big thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DD is entering 8th grade and we are in MoCo, zoning eventually to BCC. She told us last night that she is interested in looking at private schools as well as BCC. We, and she, are hoping for a high school experience where she is pushed to excel but without 4 hours of homework on top of extracurriculars.

GDS is not that school -- unless DD will deliberately structure her schedule to leave herself time for other things and won't write herself off academically if she's not always taking the hardest courses and getting the best grades. The workload actually gets heavier -- not lighter -- for the (somewhat self-identified) very bright kids.

A substantial part of the GDS class is aiming for Harvard and Yale, not a cruise through high school.

God, you people really are awful. Who cares???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bump. Looking for feedback on Maret in particular in terms of pressure and homework load (MS and US).

Okay, I will answer your question, since I'm no longer sure what the rest of this thread is about! There is pressure and homework at Maret, but it is wrapped in very supportive faculty, a thoughtful curriculum, and a peer group to pushes the other kids, but not to the point of a breakdown. I've had two different kinds of kids there and they were both happy. They each felt the pressure to succeed, but also felt able to communicate with their teachers about problems. If you've been there you will see - for the most part - a very engaged and happy group of kids. The middle school classrooms are energetic and there is a lot of dialogue; the homework is not onerous, but gets them progressively used to more demanding work in high school. And the school is academically rigorous with excellent college placements.

Thanks, pp! This is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for! Not really interested into the percentage of kids who go on to Ivy League schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know any GDS kids who are really suffering under the pressure. The kids who take the rigorous schedule are the ones who love that sort of thing.

Wow, then we either know different GDS kids or have a different definition of "suffering." The rigorous schedule kids I know have been really stressed out junior year. Some of this is self-inflicted (course selection), but there are also structural and/or cultural issues. AP US History, for example, shouldn't be taught on a 3 day a week schedule. There are other U.S. History options, but the kids all seem to believe (and tell each other that) they would be taking themselves out of competition for top tier colleges if they passed on APUSH. So I don't really see the rigorous course schedules as coming out of love so much as out of fear, ego, competitiveness, etc.

Every college bound kid at every private school is stressed out junior year.

If that's true, then it's an argument for sticking with public. I've certainly seen high-performing Whitman kids get through junior year without being miserable. Then again, I've seen WIS kids do that too. I don't think it's a public vs. private divide -- it's more school-specific.

That said, to me one distinctive marker of parents at pressure cooker schools is how often their response to these issues is "it's normal" or "it's crazy but the kids love it," or "it's excellent prep for college and/or real life." No, it's not. Something's seriously messed up when bright, hardworking kids who by all objective measures are doing exceptionally well in school feel like failures, disappointments, or burnouts in HS and feel oppressed by and resentful of schoolwork. If a school community can't sustain the excitement and joy these same kids got from learning in the L/MS years, then something's wrong. And refusing to acknowledge that means that what's wrong is unlikely to get fixed.

OP here. Thanks for all the helpful comments. This post is what I am wondering about and why I singled out the schools I mentioned to ask about. The people we know who have kids at Maret (though truthfully it is all younger kids) talk a lot about how joyful a place it is. GDS posters here have mentioned that as well with some regularity. We will go tour and see - hopefully joyfulness and rigor can coexist and are able to be witnessed in a 1/2 day tour

DD went to Maret for a few years and did not find it to be a "joyful" place. She was not successful socially and she worked constantly for her good grades but was not able to achieve the straight A's she was used to getting. She is now at B-CC and has found her social "niche" and is getting A's in the IB program. She does not work constantly by any stretch of the imagination. She has plenty of time for her many extra creative projects and extra curricular activities. I am not saying that everyone would have this experience. Maret was not a good fit for her. She did not come from the same environment that the kids at Maret grew up in and there was no way she was ever going to "fit in."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exeter offers Calculus, multi variable calculus, Linear Algebra,... Looked it up. Wow.

So does GDS. It has the most post-calculus classes of any of the DC area privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exeter offers Calculus, multi variable calculus, Linear Algebra,... Looked it up. Wow.

So does GDS. It has the most post-calculus classes of any of the DC area privates.

+1. This is highlighted in a Yale University student review of GDS: "The [GDS] math department offers the most advanced curriculum of any private school in the D.C. area, with about six classes beyond calculus."

http://www.prepreview.com/school/georgetown-day-school-review-yale-university-359