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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This post reeks of racist gaslighting.[/quote]
Try harder. I despite lazy accusations of racism.
Do you believe that the principal is immune from criticism because she's Black?
The fact of the matter is that the principal had ZERO principal experience before she held this position. How does a school of GDS' stature put in place a HS principal with no principal experience whatsoever? She is hardly visible around school. I have yet to see her at a regular sporting event. The students don't find her engaging. When I've seen her, she's not been enthusiastic, warm, or friendly. A HS principal has to be able to connect to students, and she does not.
A lot of people at GDS, including parents like myself who shell out $50K per year for the GDS experience, sincerely believe in the goals of DEI. But many of us are increasingly critical at the lack of effectiveness of DEI as it has played out in schools and colleges across this country. DEI programming is not working. Staffing schools with DEI people who seem to replicate what a good teacher already does seems wasteful. (That money would be better spent to pay teachers better and to fund scholarships, IMHO.) Students are afraid to have real conversations about diversity because the DEI administrators shame people into conformity and silence, and that's what they are modeling for the children as the appropriate response to different points of view. GDS has strayed away from its freewheeling intellectual roots, and it's a damn shame.[/quote] And this is the way of changing things? Public shaming the individual on “DC Urban Mom”? You try harder![/quote]

Try mentioning any of this directly to anyone in the administration or board. Go ahead. Let's see how that goes for you. I've tried. No one responds in a timely way unless you take it to 100. Regular requests to chat are pushed downward to the advisors and grade deans who have no power.

Posting here seems to me to reflect a bubbling over of frustrations of some parents (and kids) being heard by the admin while they watch the admin cater exclusively to a small agenda and subset of the students

Read the posts here - there are a number on this 20 page thread that give specifics about bad policies and bad administrators. Yes overall, the teaching and prep for college and life is quite strong, but the school seems to not want to hear anything but nice nice validating talk from parents

GDS is not a culture that allows people to speak up in small and large ways. (same goes for opposing political views amongst the kids despite oped after oped by students in school paper begging for more openness to diversity of thought)

My example:  on a recent 9th/10th CCO zoom, a parent dared to ask about GDS' poorly timed, poorly executed AP testing policy in the last 5 min and the CCO went off on how the CCO knows better. So no, they want zero IRL feedback. And no one wants to be that complain-y parent IRL bc you know that the same CCO is checking one of 5 boxes on the common app counselor recc as to whether your kid is amazing, excellent, very good, or ok.

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I have mentioned many things to the Administration and to the Board. My experience is that they listen. The point is that we are a diverse community and what is red for you, might look green to me.

The sense of entitlement is incredible. Trashing an individual in a public forum does not serve any cause.

20 opinions, of whom? We do not know if these opinions are from fellow parents, kids, a competing school or an angry ex-boyfriend.

Yeah, I think you can come up with a better strategy… or maybe not, maybe I am asking too much…

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