GDS vs. Maret - cultural and curricular differences?
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Anonymous
| GDS and Maret are completely in different tiers. GDS is at the top or tied at the top of the first tier, aka the Big Three on DCUM. Maret is the next tier, along with peers like Potomac. Still very good schools. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
This. GDS better all around. |
Anonymous
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I could have written this post:
”I'm a Sidwell parent, but our kids have many friends who went to or are current students at GDS or Maret. Both are good schools, but Maret has always seemed to me to be less intense than GDS, Sidwell and the Cathedral schools. I mean that as a compliment to Maret -- parents and kids strike me as friendly and unpretentious." Our kids did not apply to Maret but should have. We considered Sidwl and GDS and chose Sidwell, but now I think I would prefer GDS. We do know a family who pulled a kid out of Sidwell even though the kid was doing very well and sent the kid to Maret. No regrets. Similar story for another kid who went from Sidwell to GDS. As for the "different tier" comments, I think there are plenty of intense and super smart kids at both schools but probably more at GDS. For some families, that means Maret is better, not worse. From what I've heard, most kids don't seem to mind the small school aspect of Maret, but finding a nice friend group may be harder there for some kids. The flip side is it has a more intimate and communal place according to some parents. |
Anonymous
Twice wrong. Much easier to get in to GDS than any of the other schools named. |
Anonymous
| Social (cultural?) downsides to Maret: the small size and the narrow range of student demographics can make it very insular which can be an issue for non-lifers in particular. If you fit in, you’re great. If not, it can be isolating and persistent. GDS, due to size and other factors, seems to look outward more. Though at GDS, it is always through a certain POV which not everyone is comfortable with. |
Anonymous
Maret has less openings, and is therefore often the hardest to get an admit, yes. However, it's not in the same league academically as GDS, SFS or STA/NCS. There's nothing controversial about that statement; it's just the reality. |
Anonymous
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How would you describe the “narrow range of student demographics?” Is there a type of kid who fits in more easily (or not) at Maret? And what about the parent community — is it more insular, snobby, friendly, down-to-earth?
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Anonymous
But what is that view based on? How specifically is Maret “not in the same league” as those other schools academically? |
Anonymous
Also there are some grades--e.g. 7th--where GDS has fewer openings than Maret and admissions are more competitive. |
Anonymous
| Are both schools progressive pedagogy? Whichever one is or is more that means each class will cover only a handful of topics of either teacher or student project discretion and discuss deeply, inquire deeply. The teacher must know how to extract lessons and teaching from these discussions for it to work well, and the students have to pay attention and extrapolate the takeaways. |
Anonymous
| We know more than a few kids who have left GDS for Sidwell, and a few other schools. Sometimes kids need or want a change — and their leaving one school for another need not mean the school is lacking. People have been so happy moving to Sidwell and to GDS and to Maret, and to other schools for a variety of reasons. It’s about fit, class makeup and feel. They have different vibes in some ways. Why put individual schools down in answering the question? |
Anonymous
| We know families that have kids in multiple schools and later make a very informed decision to move one or all to the same school. |
Anonymous
| GDS is weird and chaotic, and the parents are high strung and insecure. |
Anonymous
| What’s up with the literature and humanities reading lists at these schools? One has mainly classics, other has barely 1. What’s the agenda there? |