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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]GDS is not at all unstructured.

I have one child at GDS, and one who attended another top three prep school and their experiences have been very similar; rigorous courses - though my student at GDS takes more challenging and advanced math and science classes - a rich selection of electives, an athletic program that welcomes and encourages participation by all students, academic teams that compete and achieve locally and nationally, an outstanding visual arts and theater program, a strong music program grounded in a classic jazz education, a commitment to society, and extracurricular clubs and choices to meet every interest and need.

I think that some people confuse a more relaxed and independent student ethos for an unstructured one.  GDS students are relaxed, and generally happy, because the school fosters the message - and the students know - that there is more than one path to the same outcome (e.g., the great universities), or even to separate goals (e.g., acting in Chicago).

This is not a one-path-fits-all school, and GDS students are encouraged to pursue their own individual and very diverse talents, ways of thinking, interests, strengths, abilities, and goals.  As a result, the students feel less that they are competing against one another, and more that they all share in the high school experience together.

The school does, however, expect its students to work to the best of their abilities, to commit themselves fully to their endeavors, and to act responsibly.  GDS hopes that its students accomplish these things independently, with a little guidance, but the teachers will step in when students need more help.

A few examples of the structure I have observed in my student's years at the Upper School:

(1)  GDS has a meaningful public service requirement that it takes very seriously.  My student wanted to pursue a public service option that had not been done before, but which better used their talents.  They approached the GDS public service coordinator with their idea in order to have it pre-approved.  You cannot just do anything you want.  Additionally they have to be able to substantiate their service hours.

(2)  A student who has to miss an athletic practice or event must communicate that, and generally the reason for doing so, to the coach.  When DC sustained a stress injury the coach followed up, asked about the medical recommendation, and helped structure individual practices in the workout room to keep DC active as part of the team, even if not competing.

GDS athletes know that you cannot just drop or walk away from a sport during the season, and that if you do so you will not be allowed to compete on any of the following season's (fall, winter, or spring) athletic teams.

(3)  GDS takes academic counseling and course selection very seriously. Each winter in January and February the students meet with their academic advisers, teachers, or college counselors to discuss their proposed course selections for the next year.  Often they discuss the reasons for those choices, the goals they hope to achieve with those selections, or frankly, just what class do you really want to take (even if you think that you shouldn't).

After the students have led the selection, in consultation with their advisers, the parents are asked to review and sign off on those decisions.  As a parent who has at least once pushed my child to take a different course, or a full 8-period course load, it has been important for me to hear the adviser's perspective on why my student's independent decisions are in fact the better choice. And thus I have not once overruled those choices.

(4)  GDS takes a student's obligations and responsibility very seriously, and the teachers will approach students with an issue. (Here is where I "out" my student.)

GDS occasionally devotes a non-class day or half-day to seminars led by students, faculty, and administrators.  Sometimes they might delve into STEM topics, and other times they may address issues of social importance.  On one such day my student decided that no classes meant no school.  And thinking that this was akin to a Senior Day we let them stay home.

Within an hour of the start of the school day their adviser had called both me and my spouse, until he reached one of us, and informed us that that days activities were as important to a student's GDS education as any class.  When our student finally arrived at school, their teacher met with them to ask where they had been and what they had been doing (our student of course admitted to skipping school).  The teacher explained to them how they had let down not only their teacher, but also their entire seminar group.

This lesson came from one of my student's favorite teachers (and an important one in their area of study), and it was a real wake up call to know that they had really angered them. [b] Students may call their teachers by their first names, but make no mistake about it, the teachers are not their peers[/b] and will step in to hold students to the expectations they have for them, to help students when they struggle, and to intervene when they see a student issue.

Yes GDS students display a hardworking, but independent and often more relaxed spirit.  But so to do Californians and that ethos has brought us - among other things - Berkeley, Caltech, Pomona, Stanford, UCLA, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Getty Museum, Walt Disney Hall, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the Aerospace giants, the Internet, Steve Jobs, the vanguard of the fight for Immigrant and Human rights, and the Environmental movement.  If GDS students can similarly aspire to such innovation, creativity, and regard for our fellow woman and man, then what more could you ask for in an education.[/quote]

Why do students at GDS call teachers by their first names? I've never understood the point of this. [/quote]

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