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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was a member of the Woods community, and I can provide a bit of insight. However, I should note that my experience was before the current head of school began her tenure, so it may be a bit stale.

The Woods is a small community. Some of the faculty are alumni, and some of the faculty and staff over the years have been related to each other. As well, many students’ families attend a handful of Catholic parishes in Montgomery County. This creates a bit of a “family business” environment with all of its attendant benefits and risks. While many liked the cozy social closeness, it’s easy to feel on the outside. This is also the sort of environment that makes it difficult to address challenges, be they bullying among students or conflicts between staff, because it’s easy for people to experience criticism as a social betrayal rather than a necessary aspect of running a school business. I think also that the closeness of the community has been somewhat limiting when recruiting faculty, staff, board members, and students.

It is true that girls tend to leave in the middle school years. Some of the girls who stay do well in a small peer group. Other girls have had the difficult experience of feeling socially unmoored from a clique of other girls in their grade. Years ago there was a two-fold reason for girls leaving before 8th. One was families’ concern that waiting until 8th grade put them at a competitive disadvantage for applying out to secondary schools. The other was challenges with perception of boys’ behavior. While some of the boys’ parents complained about the school having a “boy problem,” in that they believed that The Woods did not offer developmentally appropriate academics or behavioral expectations, some of the girls’ families perceived the boys’ behavior as distracting or even bullying or harassing. It’s hard for me to say exactly which is the truth, and I do not know if that is a continuing factor for the school and the gender gap in middle school enrollment.[/quote]

Yep, this observation is spot on.  I was a parent who now has a child in HS.  My child was a lifer.  Although he enjoyed his time overall, I witnessed many of the things the PP stated above. True, it was a nurturing environment and very supportive. But, the one downfall was having a student in my childs grade who was the child of a faculty member - a bully who never any consequences for it.  My child was never targeted but knew it was happening to others.[/quote]

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