Petty incident or detail that turned you off a school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Admissions director told us they have adhd in response to us asking about fit for our adhd kid. Just bc our DC has adhd doesn’t mean we want the folks who run the school to have it. Friend who is a parent at the school then told me their DC’s advisor also has adhd and told parents that in a meeting. Same advisor that didn’t return emails. As we started to note how many alums are teaching at the school and also may have adhd we got concerned.

This is so biased. Reveals a lot about how you subconsciously view your own child. Your kid doesn't have much of a chance with parents like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our LS interview at GDS was really bad. The interviewer seemed really disinterested throughout, didn't pre-read anything about our kids, was just going through the motions. It was such a different vibe than what we had expected from the school and turned us off completely.

Same.

Hmm. All the GDS haters are out. Or are you trying yo discourage the competitions get your kid in?

The school is full of weird, socially awkward kids. That's just the truth.

So your child is there? How else would you know all the other students? Or was your child rejected and you need an excuse?

[Anonymous]

The director of admissions consistently used incorrect grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saw explicit instructions teaching children to read using 3-cueing on a 1st grade class whiteboard. Said nothing, but that was a total deal-breaker.

What is 3-cueing?

Teaching kids to guess words based on the first letter of the word and the picture on the page rather than actually reading.

Why is this a deal-breaker for you? It's commonly used and is an effective strategy for certain kids .

Goes against all current research; may help the student "guess" (not read) that particular word during that particular session, but stunts the acquisition of effective decoding skills. Disappointing that schools are continuing to push this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell. Great school and we have many friends with kids there who love it and are happy. Unfortunately, during our Zoom information session, a few of the 5th or 6th graders that presented (and were great - all of them were intelligent, well spoken, absolutely lovely) noted how their teacher(s) helped when they were feeling anxious. The fact those children referred to feeling anxious at all during that type of presentation worried me. I felt it wouldn't be a good fit for our child.

Well all of these schools with a Socio-Emotional Learning curriculum obsessively talk to kids about anxiety starting in Kindergarten. So now every poor kid thinks they have anxiety but what they really have is crazy left-wing indoctrination.

Bless your heart. Absolutely keep teaching your kids to suppress their negative feelings and hiding their difference. That’ll work out great.

You can’t read I guess. That’s not what I said. I said don’t tell kids they have anxiety when they don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saw explicit instructions teaching children to read using 3-cueing on a 1st grade class whiteboard. Said nothing, but that was a total deal-breaker.

Aren’t all schools doing this?

[Anonymous]

Red flag was when the school consistently admitted kids we knew with serious issues, including impulsive behavior in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Red flag was when the school consistently admitted kids we knew with serious issues, including impulsive behavior in the classroom.

What school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saw explicit instructions teaching children to read using 3-cueing on a 1st grade class whiteboard. Said nothing, but that was a total deal-breaker.

+1 yuck. And lazy teaching.

[Anonymous]

Admissions tour guide responded to my DC’s question about the strength of the women’s basketball team by saying, “why don’t you look it up on the interweb.” We completed the tour and withdrew our interest.

[Anonymous]

NYC….artsy school that has no grades, No PTA, allows children to make decisions on their own with no parental parental input turned me off on the tour.

They literally said the K class had no curriculum. We were like… excuse me? Yeah… whatever subject the teacher wants to focus on during the year is their focus 🥴 We tried again. Uhmn… at some point, the teachers come together and decide on a curriculum? No?

Crickets….

I withdrew my application on the way out the door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The transportation manager was off-putting.

The admissions office had told us this person was helpful it was surprising and made us think that there are people in the school who only treat some people well because they are wealthy or because of their race. It really made me look for other signs this was happening and we decided against the school after DD was admitted.

Transportation manager at our school seems pretty hopeless... maybe it's a thing. Or the same school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. When we were on a tour with the admission director of Holton for upper school, she came across a student and had her speak about her experience at Holton and student sized my DD up and down before proceeding with an answer.

2. While at open house last year at Georgetown Prep, volunteer parents were more interested in talking to people they knew than in helping a future family. Truly felt like I was an outsider in a country club.

#2 is not petty and is my peeve! I’ve experienced that before at multiple schools and it’s so unwelcoming and gross. I help with admissions tours now at another school and we have made a pact that volunteers will never talk to each other during mingling times unless every visitor has a current parent to talk to.

You sound like a sensitive/empathetic person PP. I hope you are at our school, and that this wisdom spreads. Most people tend to do what feels most comfortable, but they forget that others are not feeling the same.

[Anonymous]

When my 5th grade child shadowed SSSAS for MS several years ago, the religion teacher apparently covered circumcision in the class that day which was their official visiting day (so several kids visiting not just my child). It made for an interesting discussion on the car ride home. We were still fine with the school, but our child didn’t love it.

[Anonymous]

That says more about your feelings around bodies and religion than it does about the school.