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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sure, you wouldn't hear it in those contexts (or from teachers).  Fundraising, campus consolidation, HS course offerings, discipline, extra-curriculars, and admissions are the contexts in which I've heard parents and administrators bring Sidwell up. [/quote]

Campus consolidation - come on.  Many schools on one campus were mentioned - Maret, NCS, Sidwell, StA.  Please.[/quote]

GDS's consolidation was originally touted as a way to gain a competitive advantage over Sidwell specifically.  Obviously, it wouldn't have given us an edge over Maret or the Cathedral Schools, each of which already had a single campus (or close to it).  Nor did anyone claim that GDS had been losing students to Maret or STA/NCS over our split campus set-up.  And no one mentioned WIS as a (two campus) school GDS would compete more successfully with if it consolidated.  It really was all about Sidwell for some advocates.  Sounds foolish now because Sidwell will consolidate faster and cheaper, with much less disruption and much more space than GDS will -- but that was one of the big selling points for the project at the time the land sales wereammpunced.[/quote]

There is really not a lot of overlap b/t GDS and WIS.....[/quote]

There's quite a bit of overlap in applications to those two. They were the only two private schools we applied to (got into both, chose WIS for a variety of reasons), and we've heard that from a number of others. Admission rates are very similar. According to an educational consultant we talked to, GDS is easier to get in to for middle and especially high school, and WIS is somewhat easier to get into for primary school if you are open to either language program. We also know several students who have switched from one to the other for middle or high school.

Everything we've heard about GDS this year has made me glad we chose WIS, but I think the social issues at GDS will work out if/when they get stronger leadership and decide to focus on the things they do well rather than on the non-educational things that they are apparently doing very poorly (becoming real estate tycoons, for one). It's a school with a strong educational history and an explicit social justice mission, which makes it pretty unique in DC, but the whole-school group therapy sessions everyone has heard about and the poorly managed expansion are leading down some pretty perilous paths. Very happy with our decision for these reasons and because we think the community at WIS is less status-crazed.

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