Why is everyone at SR leaving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is so bizarre. I have two daughters at SR, it is not a perfect school but we think it's a great fit for our family. Leadership is accessible and warm, the girls have normal teenage girl drama and are also getting a strong education. I can't imagine why people are attending the school and paying upwards of $50k per year to go on an anonymous message board to say it's spiraling. Maybe this place is not for you? Enrollment is at an all time high and they are turning away a lot of applicants so if you really think it's awful perhaps give your spot to one of the many girls on the wait list right now. There are so many other options for you to complain about!

My thoughts exactly! SR isn’t for everyone but I wouldn’t be paying $50k a year for a school that was “spiraling”

I wouldn't pay $50,000 a year for SR when MCPS is beyond better. STEM alone, Science, college acceptances...

Great, sounds like this is not the right place for your family. I wouldn't send my daughters to MCPS for accelerated STEM classes given everything else I know about our public schools. It sounds like we have different priorities and I'm glad there are different schools for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is so bizarre. I have two daughters at SR, it is not a perfect school but we think it's a great fit for our family. Leadership is accessible and warm, the girls have normal teenage girl drama and are also getting a strong education. I can't imagine why people are attending the school and paying upwards of $50k per year to go on an anonymous message board to say it's spiraling. Maybe this place is not for you? Enrollment is at an all time high and they are turning away a lot of applicants so if you really think it's awful perhaps give your spot to one of the many girls on the wait list right now. There are so many other options for you to complain about!

My thoughts exactly! SR isn’t for everyone but I wouldn’t be paying $50k a year for a school that was “spiraling”

I think two things can be true. The school has legitimate problems that need to be addressed AND this is not the place to address them. But I don’t ascribe to the “if you don’t like it, leave” mindset as if it’s a binary choice. I’d say just don’t complain here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SR is a mess and has been for years. They can’t keep teachers or administrators to save their life. Last year, they had three admin leave alone. The old MS head left for the same assistant head role they had available at SR. The fact that she wouldn’t stay to do that same work is pretty telling. There seems to be a lot of instability that makes it hard for people to actually want to stay. This unfortunately affects the girls and the quality of the programming.

I see that they just posted for an EA role to the HOS office AGAIN!!!! Didn’t they just hire for this position at least twice this school year??? Did the new one leave already?

[Anonymous]

Why is the admission director crass?

[Anonymous]

We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

this is similar to our takeaway about our experience. I can't really speak on the social culture piece. Yes, SR is known for its strong Athletics program, but we want to pay for a place where academics are seen as a priority. From the experience at the open house, and taking time to examine the curriculum in the US, it didn't seem like it would be a good fit. It may work better for others, and that's the beauty about being able to choose a private school. I know they've been mentioning the STEM building that is coming in a few years, but there are no robotics, research, or truly advanced offerings that would challenge DD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

This was our reason to go elsewhere also. Our daughter is a strong student, somewhat introverted, and a generally good athlete, but not specialized in a specific sport. We simply did not feel the social culture + intensity of the athletics would be a good fit for her. We enjoyed every faculty member we interacted it. The issue is what we saw in the students and their parents after attending several sports events and watching the sideline scene.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

This was our reason to go elsewhere also. Our daughter is a strong student, somewhat introverted, and a generally good athlete, but not specialized in a specific sport. We simply did not feel the social culture + intensity of the athletics would be a good fit for her. We enjoyed every faculty member we interacted it. The issue is what we saw in the students and their parents after attending several sports events and watching the sideline scene.

Have you ever attended a similar boys' school athletic event? There are at least 5x the attendees, lots of enthusiasm and school spirit usually with a shirtless student section screaming for their school. SR has a more enthusiastic athletic culture than other girls schools and that's one of the things we most love about it, celebrating young women athletes is definitely a plus. The intensity is nowhere near what you would see at a Landon / GP / Gonzaga boys event but I guess the girls and their parents could cheer even less if that would make visitors feel better. Of course we also have participated in and supported school plays, orchestra performances, and academic competitions. One of my daughters is not an athlete and I don't think she's felt left out, she's found her group there. It is not a perfect school, there are some mean girls / moms, but I think that's true everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

This was our reason to go elsewhere also. Our daughter is a strong student, somewhat introverted, and a generally good athlete, but not specialized in a specific sport. We simply did not feel the social culture + intensity of the athletics would be a good fit for her. We enjoyed every faculty member we interacted it. The issue is what we saw in the students and their parents after attending several sports events and watching the sideline scene.

Have you ever attended a similar boys' school athletic event? There are at least 5x the attendees, lots of enthusiasm and school spirit usually with a shirtless student section screaming for their school. SR has a more enthusiastic athletic culture than other girls schools and that's one of the things we most love about it, celebrating young women athletes is definitely a plus. The intensity is nowhere near what you would see at a Landon / GP / Gonzaga boys event but I guess the girls and their parents could cheer even less if that would make visitors feel better. Of course we also have participated in and supported school plays, orchestra performances, and academic competitions. One of my daughters is not an athlete and I don't think she's felt left out, she's found her group there. It is not a perfect school, there are some mean girls / moms, but I think that's true everywhere.

People shouldn't be loud for girls sports, it is unseemly. The girls schools schools should only focus on academics and the arts, leave the enthusiasm for sports to the boys. Also some girls and moms are mean, unlike the boys schools where everyone is universally kind.

[Anonymous]

I think there should be strong girls sports and enthusiasm for them. AND I think academics should be more of a priority than SR currently shows. More $$ to replace a turf field would be better used to pay more $$ for some better faculty. Academics should be the first priority.

SR got away from recognizing academic achievement. MS girls used to be recognized for their academic honors (honors, high honors, highest honors) by name at Prize Day, which was the only time those were publicly honored. That stopped to avoid making some girls feel bad. But they still regularly recognize athletics achievements. I don't mind recognizing athletics achievements. I do mind recognizing ONLY athletics achievements.

And before anyone asks/insults, I have daughters who ARE recognized for athletics achievements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

This was our reason to go elsewhere also. Our daughter is a strong student, somewhat introverted, and a generally good athlete, but not specialized in a specific sport. We simply did not feel the social culture + intensity of the athletics would be a good fit for her. We enjoyed every faculty member we interacted it. The issue is what we saw in the students and their parents after attending several sports events and watching the sideline scene.

Have you ever attended a similar boys' school athletic event? There are at least 5x the attendees, lots of enthusiasm and school spirit usually with a shirtless student section screaming for their school. SR has a more enthusiastic athletic culture than other girls schools and that's one of the things we most love about it, celebrating young women athletes is definitely a plus. The intensity is nowhere near what you would see at a Landon / GP / Gonzaga boys event but I guess the girls and their parents could cheer even less if that would make visitors feel better. Of course we also have participated in and supported school plays, orchestra performances, and academic competitions. One of my daughters is not an athlete and I don't think she's felt left out, she's found her group there. It is not a perfect school, there are some mean girls / moms, but I think that's true everywhere.

People shouldn't be loud for girls sports, it is unseemly. The girls schools schools should only focus on academics and the arts, leave the enthusiasm for sports to the boys. Also some girls and moms are mean, unlike the boys schools where everyone is universally kind.

Why are you two comparing SR and other all-girls to any all-boys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

This was our reason to go elsewhere also. Our daughter is a strong student, somewhat introverted, and a generally good athlete, but not specialized in a specific sport. We simply did not feel the social culture + intensity of the athletics would be a good fit for her. We enjoyed every faculty member we interacted it. The issue is what we saw in the students and their parents after attending several sports events and watching the sideline scene.

Have you ever attended a similar boys' school athletic event? There are at least 5x the attendees, lots of enthusiasm and school spirit usually with a shirtless student section screaming for their school. SR has a more enthusiastic athletic culture than other girls schools and that's one of the things we most love about it, celebrating young women athletes is definitely a plus. The intensity is nowhere near what you would see at a Landon / GP / Gonzaga boys event but I guess the girls and their parents could cheer even less if that would make visitors feel better. Of course we also have participated in and supported school plays, orchestra performances, and academic competitions. One of my daughters is not an athlete and I don't think she's felt left out, she's found her group there. It is not a perfect school, there are some mean girls / moms, but I think that's true everywhere.

People shouldn't be loud for girls sports, it is unseemly. The girls schools schools should only focus on academics and the arts, leave the enthusiasm for sports to the boys. Also some girls and moms are mean, unlike the boys schools where everyone is universally kind.

Why are you two comparing SR and other all-girls to any all-boys?

Because the criticism of SR is generally sexist and focused on the notion that girls shouldn't focus on sports. Agreed that they could do more to be more academically challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there should be strong girls sports and enthusiasm for them. AND I think academics should be more of a priority than SR currently shows. More $$ to replace a turf field would be better used to pay more $$ for some better faculty. Academics should be the first priority.

SR got away from recognizing academic achievement. MS girls used to be recognized for their academic honors (honors, high honors, highest honors) by name at Prize Day, which was the only time those were publicly honored. That stopped to avoid making some girls feel bad. But they still regularly recognize athletics achievements. I don't mind recognizing athletics achievements. I do mind recognizing ONLY athletics achievements.

And before anyone asks/insults, I have daughters who ARE recognized for athletics achievements.

Absolutely agreed that they are too worried about hurting someone's feelings for not getting an academic award rather than hurting the girl who actually earned an award and wasn't publicly recognized. It seems like a generational problem, and one that doesn't help our students when they will be expected to be judged on achievement and merit in college and beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in but decided to go elsewhere. We did not want our daughter to experience the social culture which students report is full of mean girls/moms. Plus we were concerned about the emphasis on the extreme athletic culture. BTW it had nothing to do with ability- our daughter is an outstanding athlete.

This was our reason to go elsewhere also. Our daughter is a strong student, somewhat introverted, and a generally good athlete, but not specialized in a specific sport. We simply did not feel the social culture + intensity of the athletics would be a good fit for her. We enjoyed every faculty member we interacted it. The issue is what we saw in the students and their parents after attending several sports events and watching the sideline scene.

Have you ever attended a similar boys' school athletic event? There are at least 5x the attendees, lots of enthusiasm and school spirit usually with a shirtless student section screaming for their school. SR has a more enthusiastic athletic culture than other girls schools and that's one of the things we most love about it, celebrating young women athletes is definitely a plus. The intensity is nowhere near what you would see at a Landon / GP / Gonzaga boys event but I guess the girls and their parents could cheer even less if that would make visitors feel better. Of course we also have participated in and supported school plays, orchestra performances, and academic competitions. One of my daughters is not an athlete and I don't think she's felt left out, she's found her group there. It is not a perfect school, there are some mean girls / moms, but I think that's true everywhere.

People shouldn't be loud for girls sports, it is unseemly. The girls schools schools should only focus on academics and the arts, leave the enthusiasm for sports to the boys. Also some girls and moms are mean, unlike the boys schools where everyone is universally kind.

Why are you two comparing SR and other all-girls to any all-boys?

Because the criticism of SR is generally sexist and focused on the notion that girls shouldn't focus on sports. Agreed that they could do more to be more academically challenging.

So you immediately jump to comparisons with all boys? No. Compare to other all girls like Madeira and Holton.

Focus.