Reply to what is the biggest diffenerence between sidwell and gds?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sidwell is Quaker. This is a cultural difference that is worth noting. We love the Quaker education there. [/quote]
How does that play out in day-to-day experience of students? And is there any worship or chapel?[/quote]
Diff poster. The most obvious comparison is a weekly "meeting for worship" which translates to sitting together in a group in silence for about 30 minutes, with occasional short statements by kids speaking their minds.  But I assume what PP mean by the "Quaker education" is much broader than that.  Quaker values are woven throughout the lesson in subtle ways.  Those values are not much different from the basic human respect preached by many other religious and secular philosophies, so it's not like the kids are being indoctrinated into some strange cult.  Quakerism IMHO is a lot lighter on ceremony than most other religions, so it's not too obvious until you know what to look for.  It also has a lot of non-authoritarian elements in the teachings (because Quakerism grew in part in reaction against the authoritarian nature of other religions).  One sometimes frustrating way you see that at the school is an emphasis on getting the sense of the whole community before making any decision, which can be maddening if you just want the school to act quickly on a policy position.  If you're interested in the specific values promoted, a quick search of the Sidwell website or the internet generally for "Quaker SPICES" will bring them up.  HTH[/quote]

I find GDS to be more Quaker in spirit than Sidwell these days.
-Quaker school alum[/quote]

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