Holton, NCS, Sidwell, Maret, Visitation or Stoneridge?
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Anonymous
Crew is a club sport run by parents at NCS . Paid for by parents and fundraising. Same at public schools. |
Anonymous
| I'm well-aware of the crew team at NCS. My daughter rowed at another prominent private school and was recruited to row in college. We know Amy Weatherby very well and think very highly of her. |
Anonymous
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"I'm curious -- how did you younger people even find out about this website? And why would you be interested in reading it?"
I expect a number of children, probably not young ones, but middle and high school aged, know about this site from their parents' web history. They may also see parents on it. And I'm sure it makes for very interesting reading. Parents (and others), PLEASE be cognizant of how much detail you provide. Things can easily get out of hand. |
Anonymous
Posts show up on google. I got hits on this website when using NCS Holton Maret . |
Anonymous
| O.k., that answers my question. I didn't mean to offend you, former NCS student. I was just interested in how you happened to be interested in the discussions on this website. My 15-year-old sees me on DCUM all the time, and couldn't care less about what DC Urban Moms had to say about anything. She'd much rather spend time on Facebook. By the way, the parent of an NCS senior last year, who is a good friend of mine, would concur with pretty much all of your observations. Her daughter was miserable there, socially. |
Anonymous
I'm the person you responded to. I apologize if my remarks seemed condescending; that was not my goal. I also think you're astute enough to understand that it's not a question of utterly throwing your views out the window, but rather of taking them with a grain of salt. I am generally suspicious/skeptical of most DCUM posts, because there is an enormous amount of misinformation and even disinformation, especially regarding private schools. More importantly, with complete respect, I still view many of your comments with healthy skepticism because of your age and lack of experience. I don't doubt that you are very perceptive, or that you're giving the best info you have available. However, I also know that your 3-4 years of adult experience (ages 12-16) can give you only a very narrow window on complex issues and do not allow you to put them in context in that way someone with 25+ years of adult experience (ages 12-37) can. This is particularly true when you get into non-student issues, such as the endowment, the long-term reputation of the school among DC parents, or the Head of School's performance. I do think you can provide many parents here with very valuable insight into NCS and Beauvoir, precisely because you spent so much time there. I hope you continue to share your experiences. However, I think your views will be most valuable if you focus on day-to-day student issues where you clearly have unimpeachable knowledge. For example, here are several questions I see asked time and again about the Cathedral schools (in no particular order): (1) How big a factor is religion at the schools? (2) How segregated by sex are NCS/StA? Is there opportunity to mix? (3) Lots of people accuse Cathedral schools of hushing up the Eric Toth situation. Did you perceive any hush-up? Were you discouraged from discussing in any way? (4) What math curriculum did the schools use? Did you find it effective as a student? (5) Do you consider the schools diverse? In what specific respects (race, geography, income, etc)? Did the schools make adequate efforts at diversity? (6) Do most students at Beauvoir/NCS enjoy it there? Do they talk about wanting to be at other schools instead? What do they like/dislike? (7) Did you perceive that certain VIP students are noticeably less-qualified than other students? Or about the same? (8) Knowing what you know now, if you could attend any school in the DC area, which would you choose? And why? Answer these questions, and I am sure many people will find it helpful. I suspect other people who (unlike me) are currently considering these schools for their children might have better questions, so please stick around. Thanks for you candor. |
Anonymous
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14:19 -- you said you didn't want to be condescending -- but that is how I read your comments. I believe many of today's students are much more perceptive than the parents. I considered myself to be pretty perceptive -- I thought certain girls in my daughter's class seemed like nice girls. My daughter rolled her eyes when I mentioned that...she said, "mom you just don't get it -- girls know how to act in front of the parents". These kids are much more sophisticated.
If the former NCS student is really who she says she is -- I believe she could probably distinguish --- more than many adults -- what is actually going on in schools such as NCS. |
Anonymous
You seem like you have are a creative and are not a conformist - you have an independant mind. Perhaps NCS was too traditional for you? Not progressive enough? I appreciate your incites, and am interested in your answer. When I went to NCS (back in the 80's) it was an excellent school but definitely did not appreciate girls who challenged/questioned the school's administration and were non-conformists. The school did encourage leadership but respect of the school's leadership was essential. Also, the school expected students to be strong academically across the board not just in the liberal arts and students that didn't meet all of their academic standards were not invited back. I am wondering if you chose to leave the school or did the school choose to not invite you back for personal or academic reasons. I realize this is a direct question. But, since you are no longer there, I cannot help but wonder if the feeling was mutual. Back in the day, the school had a low tolerance girls for girls who didn't play along. |
Anonymous
I don't question her greater ability to perceive which students are nicer, or even much more sophisticated judgments like the questions I posed. I just personally don't give her views as much credit when she's assessing topics like how the school's endowment is performing. Each of us is entitled to give her comments whatever weight we want. |
Anonymous
| Kids hear their parents talk all of the time. The stuff about endowments is posted on most pass-protected sections of the school's website. And, the stuff you question about college acceptances is also widely known throughout the school. In crew, all of the kids are literally "in the same boat". This girl did crew and I'd bet she heard people talking. It doesn't take rocket science to figure that out. Anyone who can score high enough to get into NCS is generally able to distinguish nuances regardless of their chronological age. |
Anonymous
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To Anon 00:16- Yes I do realize that I could be easily identified by my posts. If an NCS student does identify me I won’t really be bothered. What I’m saying is hardly new news to those within the NCS community and I never tried to hide my opinions about the school from the administration or other students even when I went there so I hardly think that anyone who did know me would be surprised to see this.
To Anon 15:17- I think that NCS probably was too traditional for me. What was especially frustrating to me personally and what led to me staying at the school for so long (and what is the cause of my personal dislike of Kathleen Jamison) was that the school tried to make it seem like it was changing. My parents met multiple times with Mrs. Jamison to discuss their worries about the school and the way it was run. Every time she would assure them that they were trying to change things and make the school more accessible for more progressive students. More than once she promised that she would me with me to personally discuss my problems with the school from a student’s perspective. And every time? I got nothing. She never actually followed through. The school remained exactly the same. Eventually I got tired of waiting and just decided to leave myself. I chose to leave of my own will. I was a strong student in all my classes(except for in physics…) although my best subjects were definitely history and english. However, I feel as if the feeling was somewhat mutual. I think the school was a little tired of my penchant for not being just another obedient gear in the machine as well as opening the eyes of other students to the problems within the school. To Anon 14:19 I would be more than happy to answer any specific questions about the school. Below are my answers to your questions. 1. Religion plays a fairly large factor at the schools. We attend a weekly Friday cathedral service as well as a weekly chapel that is run by a reverend and the student vestry. On more important religious holidays (easter, Christmas, etc…) the cathedral services are sometimes longer. As an atheist, it was somewhat annoying to attend these but it is one of the trade-offs of going to an Episcopalian school. Also, in general, all faculty and students are quite respectful of different religious views. The only time I can recall something coming up is when the director of the middle school tried to force me to sing a hymn (I usually stand silently). When I refused he tried to push the point and then dropped it when he realized I wasn’t going to sing. 2. Until middle school the two sexes are pretty much kept apart. In 8th grade there is a mandatory co-ed Ethics class. In high school there are a couple of co-ed classes but I am fairly sure they are all electives. For the most part, during school hours, there is pretty much no contact. However, those girls with boyfriends often find ways to see their counterparts during free periods or at lunch. 3. The only reason I knew about Eric Toth is because my parents pointed out an article about him to me in the Post shortly after the story broke. I don’t know if they talked about it at Beauvior at all but at NCS it was never mentioned except by students gossiping. 4. I think the NCS math curriculum was something of a disaster. At B-CC I am currently in a class with mostly freshmen taking Algebra 2 while all the sophomores I know are taking Precalculus. Students who came in from other schools to NCS were universally placed into the highest math track or even moved up to the next grade level because their own grade was behind. There are some very difficult math classes taught at NCS (I don’t think anyone would deny that BC Calc is NOT an easy class) but I think that the system should probably be restructured to work out some issues. 5. No. That is really the short answer. Racially, definitely not. The people are predominately Caucasian, with some African-Americans, and a few Asians. There are some students who are very wealthy but mostly I would say that the students are middle-upper class. Then there were a few students, such as myself, who fell solidly into the middle class, and relied on financial aid and scholarship money in order to pay NCS’s exorbitant tuition fees. In my eyes the school seemed pretty self-congratulatory for what little diversity they had. Most of the student body seemed to view it as a joke when the school would have celebrations of the school’s diversity because of the lack of it. 6. It’s somewhat hard to judge an elementary school like Beavior. I pretty much enjoyed my time there and I think it is a decent elementary school. At NCS it is much more divided. Some students love it. I would say that those people make up a very, very small minority of the student body. I think very few of the students who attend NCS would have nothing negative to say about it. Within my group of friends there is a lot of negativity toward NCS but it is hard to say whether that is a representative sample of the entire student body. I think that a lot of the students who have overachieving parents feel forced to stay at NCS because they believe, or their parents believe, that it will get them into a good college. A lot of students talk about switching to other schools but there is a lot of competition between the private schools which results in a lot of negative opinions and some nasty name calling. (GDS= general drug school, NCS girls are sluts, Landon “knows” boys, Field students are dumb etc. etc. etc.) I think a lot of the girls are unhappy at NCS. 7. Yes. Unfortunately this is one stereotype that was 100% true. Not only that but they are allowed to bend or even break the rules in ways that wouldn’t be tolerated for other students. I remember one incident in particular in which a wealthy girl verbally taunted the athletic trainer and, after the trainer threatened her with detention, left a tack on her chair (I had a sprained knee at the time so I was witness to this) the trainer found the tack, luckily before she sat on it, and shortly afterward I heard her on the phone discussing the incident. She said something along the lines of “Yes I know who did it but unfortunately she’ll never get in trouble because of her parents.” Her parents had just paid for a part of the athletic center. 8. I would go to B-CC. I really like it there. If I was going to go private then I’d probably choose Sidwell. Sidwell is known for it’s tolerance and I’ve been impressed with students and graduates alike. They are also known for taking students based on merit rather than money which is a quality I appreciate. I have a few friends who go to Maret who love it and that would probably be my second choice but they have pretty weak athletics. |
Anonymous
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I am 15:17 anon.
To 23:24 anon. Thank you for your candor and honestly. It sounds like NCS was not the right fit for you and visa versa. OK -I'm going to risk sounding highly uncultured but I feel this comparison to be on point. My gut tells me from that you were a Dru Berrymore with stronger academic creds - in addition to intelligent & pushing the behaviorial & intellectual envelope, engaged with life and learning in a bigger sense than conforming to high school rein deer games, rules and antics... - actually you had your own special antics that didn't bode well with the school... and from my own experience NCS is a Reese Witherspoon world (type A, high achiever and strong leader on and off campus but without upsetting the school's administration's apple cart). I have no doubt that you and the school struggled about how to handle you. Unfortunately you and NCS were a misfit. I am sorry to hear this. I am sorry to hear you did not feel the administration handled it well. While I do believe and appreciate you have been as objective as possible, your personal history with NCS is complicated and I feel that naturally there are two sides to the story. NCS has rigorous expectations for the behavior for the student body both in and out of the classroom while on the close (which is campus to those who don't go there) and it sounds like there were issues on both sides. Best of luck at BCC. I am happy to hear that it is working out for you. |
Anonymous
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14:19 here. Thanks BCC student for your comments. I'm sure many find them helpful. While we have your attention, I was trying to think of other commonly-discussed NCS/Beauvoir questions that you could answer. Here are a few:
(1) A hot topic among parents is "redshirting," where a young student is held back a year. Some think parents do this to gain competitive advantage for their kids. Did you see any evidence of that at NCS/B? In your experience, were the older kids in each class more successful? (2) Some people have wondered whether lower/middle-class students and families are treated with less respect at NCS/B. I heard your comment earlier about a few very wealthy VIPs getting unfair advantage, but does the flip-side hold true? Are you treated differently if you're less well-off than most other students? If so, does the poor treatment come from students, from faculty, or from administration? (3) Are there any Jewish families at NCS/B? (4) Is bullying or "mean girl" behavior at NCS/B any more common than in other schools, like B-CC? I can't think of any other questions, but perhaps others will post some for you. Thanks again for your input. |
Anonymous
| BCC -- why exactly did you leave? Did NCS ask you to leave? |
Anonymous
1. Actually I didn't see much of that. My best friend was almost an entire year younger than me but in my grade and I was actually one of the older kids. I wasn't a better student than her, if anything, she kept me focused and was much more well organized. I think success has more to do with where you put your priorities and how much time you are willing to put in (as well as natural ability). 2. This question and #4 are related in my mind. Basically, at NCS, there is an upper echelon of students who are quite wealthy and these same people tend to be the ones who display mean girl type behavior. Those students would be the ones to look down upon less wealthy students or to make snide comments about people's clothes, hair, etc. The good thing is that there are very few students like that and they don't really have any power over the students populace. Whereas, in Mean Girls, for example, the "Plastics" could control the students because of their popularity and the other students fawned over them, at NCS most students just think that the snobby girls are annoying and don't listen to them. 3. A couple. Not too many though. In my grade there were 2 Jewish girls if I am remembering correctly. 4. I think that it is more comment. More nasty things are said behind people's backs and more rumors and gossip are spread. I think that this is party because NCS is single-sex. Girls tend to fight dirty with words whereas boys tend to sort of lay their problems out in the open and deal with them in a more physical manner. |