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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can parents who have had kids attending for several years or who graduated recently speak to what the community and administration is like?

Some threads here on DCUM suggest an intolerant community mired in group-think. A friend whose child is also applying this year had a very negative experience with the administration. This is someone I've known for a long time and she is not prone to exaggeration. Now I'm concerned.

We were so impressed during our visit, but are now wondering if we saw a Stepford facade. In particular, we're wondering how the administration deals with parents if there is challenging situation, for example, a specific situation concerning DC or maybe with an issue like bullying or perhaps a child who is consistently disruptive? Are parents' input sought or are parents expected to shut up and accept whatever the administration decides?

We are coming from a preschool where the administration is just amazing. They treat parents as partners and work in a very cooperative way with them. Based on what happened to my friend, I got the sense that the Burgundy administration is more "our road or the high road." I would not want DC to attend if that is the attitude.

I did talk to other friends with children there, but they've only been ther a year or two, are very gung ho Burgundy, and very defensive about what happened to our other friend. Frankly, their defensiveness reinforces the sense of a group-think that makes it wrong to be critical in any way of Burgundy.

Hoping to get more measured responses here. [/quote]

We were at Burgundy, and we withdrew.  We were very unhappy.  Burgundy seemed to us to be a very high teacher/admin-turnover environment.  Academics are not the key emphasis.  Bullying seemed to be openly encouraged, as were ostentatious displays of wealth.  The administration refused to respond to concerns that we and other parents brought to them, and at year-end more than 1/3 of the families in two adjacent grade-levels withdrew, for various reasons and expressing various frustrations.  There was also a great deal more unhappiness with the academics than we had expected.  Burgundy was completely up front with us about the emphases and priorities -- they told us that they aren't the school for a kid with an overwhelming academic drive.  Well, they were right, but what we didn't realize is that their program is among the least structured progressive programs in the region.  As late as 5th grade, the kids had never even seen what a standardized test looked like, and had not performed evaluated, individual projects.  They all sat solely at group tables, because that's how all work was performed.  Years later, many -- many -- Burgundy kids seem to do very well, but an alarming number seem to be permanently locked-in to alternative programs.  We also found the faculty to be incredibly uneven.  A few seemed terrific; a few seemed socially presentable but not at all capable; a few seemed to be overgrown hippies who had nothing but bad days (one of whom enforced classroom order by throwing pencils – admins did nothing).  Burgundy seems to have fierce defenders on this board, and also seems to have fierce critics.  No one seems neutral about Burgundy.  We didn’t realize, until we were out, what a polarizing, hostile place it felt like to us (and we’re relatively lefty, as were other parents who pulled, so it isn’t simply a matter of parent socio-political leanings).  We also became aware of legal disputes between families and the school, and we encourage a thorough research job.  
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