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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are at Beauvoir and considering next steps.

We recognize that St Alban's and NCS are among the very best schools in DC but are struggling with the question of if these are the environments we want to raise our kids.

I had friends in college who attended NCS and spoke about what a toxic environment it was - unhealthy competition, eating disorders. I remember thinking how glad I was this wasn't my experience. That was decades ago - is it better now?

We hear people rave about St. Alban's. But when we went on a tour it also felt a bit off to us. -- the high schoolers we interacted with on the tour seemed like great kids but all had this vibe of a bit neurotic and overwhelmed.

I have no doubt that these kids are getting excellent educations and learning how to navigate a high-achieving culture. But are these happy environments? Do kids emerge from schools well-adjusted and ready to thrive and enjoy life?

What do these schools do to actively support this healthy mindset, beyond teaching them to achieve academically?

Are there parents of kids at these school who have had similar doubts? Were those fears confirmed or were you pleasantly surprised?

Please do not respond if you have no experience with the school. [/quote]

I find NCS and St Alban very strange. They pretend they still live in some traditional bubble from 100 years ago.[b] But the building,  the single sex, the location, and the tradition are so out of place in the current time.[/b] I got that they want to imitate Oxford or Cambridge. But they never really were contemporary. The  Close feels so odd. Just a reminder: the National Cathedral was built in 1893. My grand-grandmother's chair was older.

[/quote]

Well, I find this statement (bolded) very strange. How is the location out of place in the current time? Single sex schools are more popular than ever, so you're wrong about that. And what "tradition" is so out of place in the current time?

Your entire post is based on personal feelings (a grudge?) that most people do not share. [/quote]

First of all, the National Cathedral was built in modern times in a Gothic style.  So, all of its associations are not part of a natural time.
All of the service, cathedral, and uniform are all things of the past. It is classic, maybe. But it is just so out of place in Teleytown. 
Single sex schools are somewhat popular. Not than ever.

[/quote]

It’s not in Tenleytown. And only the youngest girls (4-6th grades) wear uniforms. The National Cathedral is one of the most progressive churches around. Weird comments to make when they’re not even accurate. [/quote]

But the whole vibe is repressive and strange.  Most [b]progressive church.[/b]  I just don't get why being on the Close is a good thing. Fake old building and tourist spot. 
[/quote]

The oldest buildings are well over 100 years old. The cathedral itself, finished in the 1990s, is Gothic Revival. But I wouldn't call it fake. [/quote]

Just a very vibe, old-man (though NCS is a woman) vibe of old money and power and glory to a certain past. No doubt the education is great. But I wonder how the students feel.

[/quote]

DC has little old money.  Almost none in fact.  Lots of interlopers and visitors have come though but nothing like NYC or Boston areas.  Don’t make things up to drive your prejudices.  [/quote]

🤣never heard money talks and wealth whispers? There is tons of whispering in this city, you just probably aren't close enough to hear it.[/quote]

Name names.  The richest residents for the last 200 years came from somewhere else.  The “old” money just watched them come in a push them around because the “old” money didn’t have the juice to do much about it.  Because this never was a town of native old money.  While some of the descendants of the 18th century wealthy families are still around, most of them are hustling to get by these days.  Meanwhile, since the beginning, the likes of  Vanderbilts, Dodges, Rockerfellers, Merriweather Posts, McLeans, etc etc etc up to the Bezos types, have showed up in town and rolled the likes of Charles Carroll Glover as if they were mere clerks.  And don’t act like you are aware of some inside scoop and I am not.  [/quote]

THIS!  This forum is so enamored with the idea that there's this secret club of old money folks running around this area (that you'd never know about because they drive Fords and never buy new clothing) and it's not true.  Most wealthy people live like wealthy people for one, and two, in DC there are not that many old families that have been able to keep their wealth.  The intersection of the wealthiest families in DC and "old money" families is like 3.  [/quote]

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