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Anonymous
| Which aspects of the outplacement process are a problem? |
Anonymous
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It's just like applying to college, actually probably even more intense, except the kids are 8 or 9. It's a huge amount of pressure, and a lot of kids get very anxious/nervous/downright fearful about it. I would have kids come back to visit me and talk about it, and I could really tell that they were stressed.
There are always a handful of parents who don't help too. Some of these parents are so obsessed about getting their kids into NCS or STA (sometimes, I think, not even because they truly believe that it is the best fit for their child) that this really affects the kids and exacerbates whatever pressure or anxiety they were already feeling. The kids also all talk among each other, and you can imagine some of the totally inaccurate, unkind, or otherwise off-the-wall things they say. And, of course, kids always believe each other! |
Anonymous
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2 questions for the former Beauvoir teacher:
What private schools do you like and why? Also- What years were you at Beauvoir? Were you there recently? Thanks so much! |
Anonymous
| This sounds like a bitter teacher or a waitlisted parent offering awful advice to get accepted parents to think twice about their decision which would free up a space for their child. Please consider the source when reading these post. During the actual admissions process everyone was in love with Beauvoir now their are so many negative posts. Seems very ironic. |
Anonymous
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To the post above, I wasn't offering any advice, just expressing my opinion.
I'm certainly not a wait-listed parent. Whether or not I'm a bitter teacher is, I suppose, open to debate. I'm a teacher who was once idealistic who certainly isn't anymore because of my experience. As a teacher who left completely on my own terms to pursue other opportunities in the field of education, I think that if I'm bitter it's for good reason. There's nothing wrong with being bitter if it's justified, although I'm not sure that I am. Disillusioned is perhaps a better word. I don't know if this will convince you that I'm not a wait-listed parent or not, but here's a quick scrap of knowledge that may help: The role of recent past primary grades division directors is Karen Falk, Debbie Williams, and Cindi Gibbs. During that time Paula Morse remained the early childhood grades division director. As far as I could tell, that information isn't available on the school's website or anywhere online. Here are a couple of more tidbits just in case: In 2004-2005, the K-2 grades adopted the Lucky Calkins writing workshop curriculum. Third grade didn't adopt the program but may have sense. In 2005-2006, third grade adopted the Words Their Way program. No other grades did but may have done so since. Here's another odd tidbit: Every year there's a vocal group of first through third graders who complain vociferously that the teachers get much better food than the students (especially desserts). For those who don't know, starting in first grade Beauvoir students eat at tables of 6-7 students with a teacher in the dining room. The students and teachers are served separate lunches. Well, except for Fridays. On Fridays, all students eat lunch in their classrooms, alternating between pizza and turkey sandwiches as the main entree each week. The students were served pizza, chips, and ice cream every Friday until some parents (rightfully, I think) complained about the nutritional ramifications of said routine. In any case, to answer another poster's questions, here are some of the schools in the DC area that I really like, in no particular order. Potomac. I think that this school does a wonderful job of focusing on the whole child. They have strong academics, but they also stress other important skills like public speaking and performances. I have been particularly impressed with the head of their lower school. She has done a marvelous job of being an educational leader by seting a professional development vision for her faculty and encouraging them (and providing them the funding) to pursue it. This is different from many schools with provide funding but little to no vision or coordination. In the lower school there's is a leveled books library, and every child is given a set of "just right" books for them to read to work on developing reading fluency. Potomac uses the Everyday Math program like most area independent schools do, but they very consciously recommend its limits and have been working hard on finding and developing supplemental material where appropriate. The school is also a little less cocky than most NW DC schools with which I'm familiar. Kids seem very happy to be at school but also know what it means to work hard and be respectful. In other words, they're not pampered. The campus is also a natural gem, and students receive lots of exposure to the woods. Maret. I don't think Maret is for everyone, but the small school, warm community is great for many students. Class sizes are very small, and the teachers know how to take advantage of this to do small-group instruction, to meet the specific learning needs of their children, and to get to know the children and their families really well. Maret is very honest about students' progress and doesn't hesitate to admit that they need to find ways to challenge a student more or that parents need to look into supplementary services beyond what the school has to offer. The faculty and administration are very responsive to parent, student, and community concerns. They aren't the type that are pushed or bullied into doing things, but they're more than willing to enter into a dialogue with constituents to talk about how to potentially make something happen if parents/students/other are really excited about it. Students are encouraged and taught how to be self-directed and aren't automatons who have to await teacher directions to do anything. St. Patrick's. I am not a huge fan of the fact that St. Pat's is a parish school, but they at least have an extremely inclusive message and try to make students of all faiths comfortable. This school is one which really values the idea of "research-based best practice." In other words, their faculty and administration are abreast of the fields of education, cognitive science, developmental psychology, etc. and truly use that to inform their teaching and policies. There are some slightly traditional elements that I don't think are wonderful, but they don't really hurt either. For example, there's a (in my opinion) fairly random rule that boys in grades fourth and higher have to have their shirts tucked in. I also think that the head of St. Pat's, a man by the name of Peter Barrett, is perhaps one of the most honest and genuine, as well as talented and well-informed educators, that I have ever met. He has certainly impressed me as no other head of school has. I encourage you to read some of his writing at www.stpatsdc.org. There are several articles/essays written by him there. I also would like to like Washington International School based on what I know, but I haven't visited the school and only know a couple of faculty members there only slightly, so I don't have as strong enough of a background in the school to make any solid conclusions. I like GDS and Sidwell more than I like Beauvoir, but I'm not a huge fan of either. I like Sidwell's middle and upper school more than I do their lower school. Sidwell's lower school has a model in many classrooms where they have either two part-time co-teachers or one full-time and one part-time co-teachers. I've just gotten the sense that some of these teachers aren't the most invested and are definitely teaching part-time for a reason. There's also little coordination or alignment in curriculum, so students can have vastly, vastly different experiences at Sidwell depending on the series of teachers they have. There's a little bit of a sense that Sidwell's lower school is riding on their coattails. I was also surprised when I found out that starting in third grade, students don't do much reading in class. They do most of it as homework and then discuss what they read in class. I'm sympathetic to the limited class time some of these schools seem to have, but I think reading is important enough that a lot of it should be being done in school! GDS I like in general, but I think they give too much homework (perhaps because that's what parents expect a good school to do, even in the elementary grades, sadly enough... despite the overwhelming research that says otherwise.) I'm also just a little uncomfortable with how forcefully they address diversity. I'm pretty liberal, but some things they do -- *at the age they do* -- makes me a wonder a bit, though not to the extent that it would cause me not to send my child there. The one thing about GDS is that it has always come across as far less arrogant and pretentious to me than Beauvoir and Sidwell are. |
Anonymous
| By the way, I'm the poster above and apologize for all the typos. Late at night, and I should've been in bed long ago! |
Anonymous
| Anyone who has been in the city long enough could have known the information you provided. You may provide good point but parents skill need to discuss their concerns with Beauvoir not an unknown person on DCUrabn Mom. JMO |
Anonymous
| Pardon typo above it should state still not skill. |
Anonymous
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To 23:43--thanks for taking the time to share your impressions of these schools.
Do you have any thoughts--positive or negative--on Norwood? |
Anonymous
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Former teacher here -- I agree that people should discuss their questions and concerns with the schools to which they are applying. I also must say that admissions officials at most schools are salespeople and are usually going to put a positive spin on things, especially if they want you to come to their school. I think this resource is one of very many and that no decision should be made based on the information provided herein.
As for Norwood, I don't have a ton of information about the school, but I do know someone who teaches third grade there (former first grade Beauvoir associate teacher) and a few Beauvoir students who have gone on to Norwood. The school trends perhaps slightly more traditional than is my preference, but they are doing some pretty neat things there with their curriculum and technology. At the very least, everyone I know over there is happy. |
Anonymous
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My view on the previous teacher poster is that he/she is just one voice against what seems like the majority of the most popular schools in the DC metro are - Beauvoir, Sidwell and GDS. These schools have the reputations they have for good reasons and these reputations have been developed over several years with the results to show for them. This teacher has obviously had a bad experience at Beauvoir, and who knows what other schools, and we do not have access to Beauvoir’s reasons for their differences so we do not have the full picture. As a parent I would not listen to an obviously bitter EX teacher over current and previous Beauvoir parents and students when making this very important decision about where to send my child/ren. Not every teacher or child will be a good fit for these schools.
A perceived culture of superiority will definitely rub some people up the wrong way, especially of they have a chip on their shoulder. This appears to be the case with this poster as he/she mentioned a few schools where this perceived culture grated on her/him and praised Potomac where this does not appear to the poster to be the culture. This is a crucial time for parents making decisions about where their children are likely to spend the next 12 years and it is curious that this teacher has only appeared now that so many are on waitlists for these schools. I am not saying that the poster is not who he/she says she is but this is an anonymous board so we have to be extra cautious. I would be very suspicious of the poster on many levels and I would not use his/her view only to make my decision on whether to send my child/ren to one of these schools. |
Anonymous
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I think the ex-teacher is for real and I thank him or her for the perspective. I think that poster raises some valid points and definitely prefers a less traditional approach than what Beauvoir offers. We think our child will do well in a traditional environment, so I'm still thrilled that my child will be attending Beauvoir next year. We loved the school and the teachers we met and the parents we know there have great things to say about it. We're planning to be very involved parents so will hopefully get to know the school quickly.
All viewpoints should be welcome here - doesn't mean we all have to agree. |
Anonymous
| I have a question for the teacher that replied. Why do these school seem so resistant to go with cutting edge curricula like Singapore Math instead of Everyday Math, and synthetic phonics instead of the traditional type. Why do the recommendations by the researchers take so long to be implemented? I must say that my dd wil be entering private school next year, but I am disappointed that we have no curriculum advantage over the public schools. |
clarabow
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I'm appreciating his/her thoughtful and detailed posts. Much more informative than the generic "School X is too liberal" or "Everyone at School Y is a snob." Can we PLEASE not scare this person away with personal attacks and conspiracy theories? |
Anonymous
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Former teacher again...
To the poster who mentioned appreciating my detailed responses, thanks, I appreciate it. As for being scared away, that's not likely to happen. And just for the record, I'm also a parent. To the person who suggests that listening to current Beauvoir parents' and students' perspectives is more valuable, there's merit to what you say. Though, I'm not sure that listening to the students' perspective is all that helpful since they are rather young... though by third grade many are pretty savvy. The thing about faculty, of course, is that... well... we're the ones who are there every day making it what it is (or isn't). The tone, of course, is set by the administration (and, by a lesser extent, the board), but students' experience are really most affected by what the faculty does. In that regard, I think faculty members' perspectives can be pretty valuable. I will note that I initially posted a relatively short message. I mentioned not being a huge fan of Beauvoir, but I gave a positive review of the kindergarten reading program and was very complimentary of a specific teacher (while being critical of none). In response to someone's question, I referred to a post that was written by a Beauvoir parent and said that I agreed with the points made. The points that I made primarily expressed my frustration with the children's and families' experiences. I didn't complain about working conditions or teachers being treated badly or unfairly or administrators going off the deap end or anything like that. If I'm bitter, it's because I don't think it's fair that families are promised, in many cases, much more than what they get. I don't think Beauvoir is a bad school; nor do I think Sidwell or GDS are bad schools. I think they are all solid schools with various imperfections that the schools and families should be talking about and fixing. There's this mistaken notion in many circles, I think, that if you spend $25,000 or $30,000 on an education that everything must just be great. Unfortunately, that's not true. Parents need to learn how to politely but firmly hold their teachers and schools accountable... or, as one poster suggested, you're not going to get the innovative practices and cutting edge curriculum that many people seem to desire. I'm a tough critic because I really care about kids -- especially my students -- and I want what's absolutely best for them. Because I'm a tough critic, I'm particularly critical of what I perceive as an unjustified air of superiority (as a poster suggested) because I think it's downright professionally unethical and unhealthy to the long-term success of the institution. I think that schools like Beauvoir, STA, NCS, Sidwell, and GDS walk a dangerous line in that if they celebrate their past successes too much, they lose sight of how to make the future even better. And they definitely spend a lot of time celebrating their past successes. Maret and Potomac are, on the other hand, examples of big name schools who send kids off to great colleges who have a much more grounded view of themselves and work really hard at always improving. Just as a couple of examples, Potomac realized that maybe Everyday Math isn't the best math program, so they got a math curriculum expert to develop with their faculty a grades 5-8 math curriculum specific to the school's and its students' needs. I think they're also planning on working on their lower school curriculum as well. They also did a huge revamp of their language arts curriculum over the past several years to bring it in line with the best research they could fine on reading instruction. Beauvoir does some of this, but at a much more glacial speed, and only in response to big agitators. Other schools, like Sidwell and St. Albans, can be even worse. This doesn't make them terrible schools. It just means that they have an attitude that impedes progress... which is sad given all of the tangible and intangible resources these schools could bring to bear if they wanted to. Whatever you do, I wouldn't give schools' reputations a whole lot of credence. Reputations are built over decades and generations at many of these schools and may not at all reflect what they're actually doing right now. With the way that both teacher and administrative turnover can happen at area schools, things can change in virtually an instant. At Beauvoir, for example, let's look at four years ago: There's been a division director change, two of the four third grade teachers are the same, none of the second grade teachers are the same, none of the first grade teachers are the same, and none of the kindgarten teachers are the same. Even a lot of the curricula has been totally changed (and probably has continued to be changed since last I saw it). For that reason, my perspective may not be tremendously valuable... but the perspective driven by reputation is even less valuable. |