Sidwell prom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are quick to call us Sidwell parents who pay tuition entitled, what they fail to understand is that by paying $50,000 a year in tuition we are entitled to have an opinion on how that money is spent. This is because we support the school financially and therefore have a right to be a part of (at the very least minor) school decisions (such as where a prom takes place), albeit not necessarily larger decisions such as buying a building despite remaining unable to sell the lower school building for financial reasons. For those struggling to understand this concept, think of it in the same way as to how shareholders have a say in companies they own stocks in. Personally, I have no issue with the prom being held at the gym, growing up in a developing country I was lucky to be able to attend a school at all in a place where the concept of "school dances" was as foreign as I was to this country before immigrating. Additionally, my son has had an amazing time at all the dances held at school and has no issue with the prom being held at the gym. Where I begin to take issue is when the school administration and even children attending the school, according to my son, (children who most certainly are not paying their own tuition I might add) not only disregard my fellow Sidwell parents' opinions but are also rather quick to resort to immaturely (at least to me) calling us Sidwell parents who have worked very hard in our respective fields to afford sending our children to this school names such as "spoiled" or "greedy" for wanting to have a say in our own children's education and lives. Additionally, while I personally have no need to worry about my very responsible son driving drunk or allowing a drunk student to drive him to an after-party, I understand some parents of less responsible children's concern with having prom at school where the kids cannot have an after-party directly upstairs in a hotel but rather have to drive to get to it (as I am sure they will have afterparties after the afterparty held at school), potentially doing so drunk. Is the Sidwell administration's decision to essentially (at least to the best of my understanding) detain students at school for the duration of prom and an additional afterparty an attempt to sober them up before they leave to other "after-afterparties"? Just kidding! But I do find it a little strange that holding prom at the four seasons is suddenly considered ostentatious despite such being the norm and custom for many years. I would hope this decision is not due to recent publications referencing the school as this would, at least in my opinion, demonstrate how the school may care more about how it is perceived by others than listening to the Sidwell parents who pay tuition to support the school. Ultimately, I would personally prefer if the prom was held at the gym with tuition-paying parents being reimbursed for whatever difference in cost results. Unfortunately, we all know this is next to impossible seeing as we tuition-paying Sidwell parents were forced to pay not just full tuition but increased tuition despite our children not receiving lunches or even attending the school at all during virtual and hybrid learning without reimbursement. I believe a large portion of our tuition was likely used to purchase an enormous amount of plexiglass which has since been discarded according to my son due to its tendency to worsen the spread of coronavirus as well as an HVAC ventilation system which does not allow for our children to eat indoors anymore. I was recently informed by my son that children who have cars (we personally do not believe in buying him a car as it is not the same as an education and he is therefore responsible for saving for it), are not even allowed to eat in their own cars alone for some reason and that a senior girl was administered points for doing so, despite (at least in my opinion) eating alone in one's own car not posing a threat in terms of spreading coronavirus. I find this last part especially funny given that I, as a licensed doctor myself, expect many kids to catch colds out in these conditions and therefore be forced to stay home out of fear that their symptoms are the same as those of the coronavirus. Who knows? Perhaps this is an elaborate administration plan to limit the number of kids coming to school to prevent further spread of the virus. Just kidding!

I’m a teacher and there is not enough money in the world for me to teach at this school with these parents.

The post you’re reacting to is obviously from a Sidwell student making fun of this whole thing.

If this is a Sidwell student, I'm even more impressed. They are witty kids!

If this is a Sidwell student, I would hope they would have the taste to not include this line: "growing up in a developing country I was lucky to be able to attend a school at all in a place where the concept of "school dances" was as foreign as I was to this country before immigrating."

Of course, it's not a student. The Occam's razor explanation is that this is a parent who thinks and writes without paragraph breaks. That, with the other identifying details, should be enough to narrow this down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:most of these posts are not sidwell parents. OP obviously was, but from there, I doubt it.

Why do you doubt it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are quick to call us Sidwell parents who pay tuition entitled, what they fail to understand is that by paying $50,000 a year in tuition we are entitled to have an opinion on how that money is spent. This is because we support the school financially and therefore have a right to be a part of (at the very least minor) school decisions (such as where a prom takes place), albeit not necessarily larger decisions such as buying a building despite remaining unable to sell the lower school building for financial reasons. For those struggling to understand this concept, think of it in the same way as to how shareholders have a say in companies they own stocks in. Personally, I have no issue with the prom being held at the gym, growing up in a developing country I was lucky to be able to attend a school at all in a place where the concept of "school dances" was as foreign as I was to this country before immigrating. Additionally, my son has had an amazing time at all the dances held at school and has no issue with the prom being held at the gym. Where I begin to take issue is when the school administration and even children attending the school, according to my son, (children who most certainly are not paying their own tuition I might add) not only disregard my fellow Sidwell parents' opinions but are also rather quick to resort to immaturely (at least to me) calling us Sidwell parents who have worked very hard in our respective fields to afford sending our children to this school names such as "spoiled" or "greedy" for wanting to have a say in our own children's education and lives. Additionally, while I personally have no need to worry about my very responsible son driving drunk or allowing a drunk student to drive him to an after-party, I understand some parents of less responsible children's concern with having prom at school where the kids cannot have an after-party directly upstairs in a hotel but rather have to drive to get to it (as I am sure they will have afterparties after the afterparty held at school), potentially doing so drunk. Is the Sidwell administration's decision to essentially (at least to the best of my understanding) detain students at school for the duration of prom and an additional afterparty an attempt to sober them up before they leave to other "after-afterparties"? Just kidding! But I do find it a little strange that holding prom at the four seasons is suddenly considered ostentatious despite such being the norm and custom for many years. I would hope this decision is not due to recent publications referencing the school as this would, at least in my opinion, demonstrate how the school may care more about how it is perceived by others than listening to the Sidwell parents who pay tuition to support the school. Ultimately, I would personally prefer if the prom was held at the gym with tuition-paying parents being reimbursed for whatever difference in cost results. Unfortunately, we all know this is next to impossible seeing as we tuition-paying Sidwell parents were forced to pay not just full tuition but increased tuition despite our children not receiving lunches or even attending the school at all during virtual and hybrid learning without reimbursement. I believe a large portion of our tuition was likely used to purchase an enormous amount of plexiglass which has since been discarded according to my son due to its tendency to worsen the spread of coronavirus as well as an HVAC ventilation system which does not allow for our children to eat indoors anymore. I was recently informed by my son that children who have cars (we personally do not believe in buying him a car as it is not the same as an education and he is therefore responsible for saving for it), are not even allowed to eat in their own cars alone for some reason and that a senior girl was administered points for doing so, despite (at least in my opinion) eating alone in one's own car not posing a threat in terms of spreading coronavirus. I find this last part especially funny given that I, as a licensed doctor myself, expect many kids to catch colds out in these conditions and therefore be forced to stay home out of fear that their symptoms are the same as those of the coronavirus. Who knows? Perhaps this is an elaborate administration plan to limit the number of kids coming to school to prevent further spread of the virus. Just kidding!

I’m a teacher and there is not enough money in the world for me to teach at this school with these parents.

The post you’re reacting to is obviously from a Sidwell student making fun of this whole thing.

Unless this is the most joyless kid there is, it is clearly not a Sidwell student. The post is not particularly funny, and devoid of any wit or sarcasm that I would expect of a Sidwell student.

Let's give our teenagers more credit.

It's a Sidwell student making fun of the crazy posters on this hell site generally, and on this discussion thread in particular. So I think in fact they nailed it.

[Anonymous]

Pretty clearly satire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are quick to call us Sidwell parents who pay tuition entitled, what they fail to understand is that by paying $50,000 a year in tuition we are entitled to have an opinion on how that money is spent. This is because we support the school financially and therefore have a right to be a part of (at the very least minor) school decisions (such as where a prom takes place), albeit not necessarily larger decisions such as buying a building despite remaining unable to sell the lower school building for financial reasons. For those struggling to understand this concept, think of it in the same way as to how shareholders have a say in companies they own stocks in. Personally, I have no issue with the prom being held at the gym, growing up in a developing country I was lucky to be able to attend a school at all in a place where the concept of "school dances" was as foreign as I was to this country before immigrating. Additionally, my son has had an amazing time at all the dances held at school and has no issue with the prom being held at the gym. Where I begin to take issue is when the school administration and even children attending the school, according to my son, (children who most certainly are not paying their own tuition I might add) not only disregard my fellow Sidwell parents' opinions but are also rather quick to resort to immaturely (at least to me) calling us Sidwell parents who have worked very hard in our respective fields to afford sending our children to this school names such as "spoiled" or "greedy" for wanting to have a say in our own children's education and lives. Additionally, while I personally have no need to worry about my very responsible son driving drunk or allowing a drunk student to drive him to an after-party, I understand some parents of less responsible children's concern with having prom at school where the kids cannot have an after-party directly upstairs in a hotel but rather have to drive to get to it (as I am sure they will have afterparties after the afterparty held at school), potentially doing so drunk. Is the Sidwell administration's decision to essentially (at least to the best of my understanding) detain students at school for the duration of prom and an additional afterparty an attempt to sober them up before they leave to other "after-afterparties"? Just kidding! But I do find it a little strange that holding prom at the four seasons is suddenly considered ostentatious despite such being the norm and custom for many years. I would hope this decision is not due to recent publications referencing the school as this would, at least in my opinion, demonstrate how the school may care more about how it is perceived by others than listening to the Sidwell parents who pay tuition to support the school. Ultimately, I would personally prefer if the prom was held at the gym with tuition-paying parents being reimbursed for whatever difference in cost results. Unfortunately, we all know this is next to impossible seeing as we tuition-paying Sidwell parents were forced to pay not just full tuition but increased tuition despite our children not receiving lunches or even attending the school at all during virtual and hybrid learning without reimbursement. I believe a large portion of our tuition was likely used to purchase an enormous amount of plexiglass which has since been discarded according to my son due to its tendency to worsen the spread of coronavirus as well as an HVAC ventilation system which does not allow for our children to eat indoors anymore. I was recently informed by my son that children who have cars (we personally do not believe in buying him a car as it is not the same as an education and he is therefore responsible for saving for it), are not even allowed to eat in their own cars alone for some reason and that a senior girl was administered points for doing so, despite (at least in my opinion) eating alone in one's own car not posing a threat in terms of spreading coronavirus. I find this last part especially funny given that I, as a licensed doctor myself, expect many kids to catch colds out in these conditions and therefore be forced to stay home out of fear that their symptoms are the same as those of the coronavirus. Who knows? Perhaps this is an elaborate administration plan to limit the number of kids coming to school to prevent further spread of the virus. Just kidding!

I’m a teacher and there is not enough money in the world for me to teach at this school with these parents.

The post you’re reacting to is obviously from a Sidwell student making fun of this whole thing.

Unless this is the most joyless kid there is, it is clearly not a Sidwell student. The post is not particularly funny, and devoid of any wit or sarcasm that I would expect of a Sidwell student.

Let's give our teenagers more credit.

It's a Sidwell student making fun of the crazy posters on this hell site generally, and on this discussion thread in particular. So I think in fact they nailed it.

And Sidwell parents.

[Anonymous]

Silver lining appears to be that our regular SFS dcum troll may be graduating from Sidwell and moving on to troll whatever college DC goes to next

The campus is gorgeous. Night for Scholars is beautiful and held in the gym so no clue why Hyatt is any better? But there’s never a good reason for the perennial grievance brigade on dcum beyond just that — letting us all know they’re still aggrieved and dragging the school for no rational reason

[Anonymous]

To the PP, SFS community is very nice. Don’t let the 2 dcum-obsessives sway your thinking. They’ve complained about everything over and over again. Should you dare to disagree they’ll tell you to go to your basement or call you a “teacher” which they seem to think is a put-down. What more is there to say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once again, Sidwell squashes student joy. Is it aware that students call it "Sadwell"? What is wrong with this administration?

For those who don't know yet, SFS decided to move prom from a hotel to on campus. Yaay Sidwell.

It's sad because there are some great things about the school, but it can't get out of its own way in letting kids have fun.

They did this last year and the kids had a great time. Can't win. People complain about the school being ostentatious, but when it does this, people complain it is being cheap.

Who complains about it being ostentatious? It's for the kids.
As for the parents, we could use a nicer back to school night, if we ever go back to having them.
Want to charge over 40k and then nickel and dime in these situations?
Don't get me started on Bryan Garman hobnobbing in MV for "fundraising".

tons of people complain! every other post about Sidwell on dcum is some version of how it fails to live up to the quaker value of simplicity. Sidwell really can't win. That's partly because their oscillation between austerity and lavishness can seem arbitrary, but mostly it's because people love to hate.

I disagree. I think it’s because all these absurd threads are brainchildren of a couple of unhappy people with little social awareness

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once again, Sidwell squashes student joy. Is it aware that students call it "Sadwell"? What is wrong with this administration?

For those who don't know yet, SFS decided to move prom from a hotel to on campus. Yaay Sidwell.

It's sad because there are some great things about the school, but it can't get out of its own way in letting kids have fun.

They did this last year and the kids had a great time. Can't win. People complain about the school being ostentatious, but when it does this, people complain it is being cheap.

Who complains about it being ostentatious? It's for the kids.
As for the parents, we could use a nicer back to school night, if we ever go back to having them.
Want to charge over 40k and then nickel and dime in these situations?
Don't get me started on Bryan Garman hobnobbing in MV for "fundraising".

tons of people complain! every other post about Sidwell on dcum is some version of how it fails to live up to the quaker value of simplicity. Sidwell really can't win. That's partly because their oscillation between austerity and lavishness can seem arbitrary, but mostly it's because people love to hate.

I disagree. I think it’s because all these absurd threads are brainchildren of a couple of unhappy people with little social awareness

There is definite tension between $40k+ per year and Quaker values.

[Anonymous]

Awe mommy and daddy can not have a special prom

Omg you people are absurd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silver lining appears to be that our regular SFS dcum troll may be graduating from Sidwell and moving on to troll whatever college DC goes to next

The campus is gorgeous. Night for Scholars is beautiful and held in the gym so no clue why Hyatt is any better? But there’s never a good reason for the perennial grievance brigade on dcum beyond just that — letting us all know they’re still aggrieved and dragging the school for no rational reason

Please stop

[Anonymous]

I went to an elite school. Events on the campus are what attracts students and alumni. Parents too. Anyone can have an event at a hotel. But how many people can have one at SFS? The pedestrian logic of the OP et al astounds given they see themselves as somehow elite but their attitudes betray the massive chip on the old shoulder. Unless they genuinely think hotel galas are elite events? For annual fundraiser I want to go to my kids campus. It’s about the kids.
Come on. Stop kicking off these threads and yet staying schtum in every community meeting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silver lining appears to be that our regular SFS dcum troll may be graduating from Sidwell and moving on to troll whatever college DC goes to next

The campus is gorgeous. Night for Scholars is beautiful and held in the gym so no clue why Hyatt is any better? But there’s never a good reason for the perennial grievance brigade on dcum beyond just that — letting us all know they’re still aggrieved and dragging the school for no rational reason

Please stop

Why? It’s true. Others never kick these drag-a-school-thons. You always get a push back. Read the room

[Anonymous]

Parents should just stop posting and bickering about this publicly especially when they don't know what they are talking about.

Some of the seniors are unhappy about the gym. But they are actually handling things much more responsibly than the crazy dcum parents on both sides who are arguing on a public web site. They are addressing it within the school and whatever happens will happen. Please stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silver lining appears to be that our regular SFS dcum troll may be graduating from Sidwell and moving on to troll whatever college DC goes to next

The campus is gorgeous. Night for Scholars is beautiful and held in the gym so no clue why Hyatt is any better? But there’s never a good reason for the perennial grievance brigade on dcum beyond just that — letting us all know they’re still aggrieved and dragging the school for no rational reason

Please stop

Why? It’s true. Others never kick these drag-a-school-thons. You always get a push back. Read the room

You are crazy. I think you need some reflection time in the beautifully simplistic RLS meeting room. Where you can reflect and smile smugly about the beautiful campus and no one will have to listen to you.