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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Slightly different perspective here. All of my US kids are lifers, so maybe that's why I come from a different place. Daily life at US is, despite the advertised virtues, short on the Quaker values implied to be at the core of the school's identity. The virtue signaling is over the top.

It's all relative to what other schools may be like. I don't know any other school so cannot speak to that. But my view is that the school's policies around academics (teacher's interactions with students) are draconian. Definitely not warm.

Also, the school's recent turn of focus to sports has undermined the atmosphere of academic excellence. That, again, just in my opinion, has suffered.

Socially, based on what I have heard from my kids over the years and what some acquaintances have shared, there's as much of a mean-kid culture at Sidwell as at any other school. There are the popular kids, the ahtletes, the mean girls, the 'try hards', and the senior whose mom is on the Board and by all accounts should have been kicked out right now for a few nefarious acts, not to mention running the (against the school policy) poker enterprise in the senior center.  And sure, the basketball playoffs are good-spirited. They're the playoffs and attendance at any sporting events at Sidwell do not draw the kids who are not part of the 'in' crowd, or even the generally happy kids.

Have my kids come out with a good education? They graduated (as recently as last year) seem to have. But do I think it is any different than elsewhere, no. [/quote]

I don't think it is a "recent turn to focus to sports" - sports has always been important at Sidwell, but a few of the teams had a rough go in recent years. Look at the banners from the 1950's to 2000's hanging in the gym. Yes, basketball is high profile, but reality is, it just takes one ot two kids in a grade to turn that sport and both varsity coaches understand the academic rigor of the school and are not going to push to admit kids who cannot handle the work and the faculty certainly are not giving anyone a pass.[/quote]

To be fair to PP - I think these new basketball teams is beyond what you are referring to as a few kids can sway one way or another. There is a clear recruiting push.

But on the flip side - our child didn’t feel it affected academics or academic focus of the school.

The part we found off putting was that in every other way Sidwell points to Quaker values for not celebrating the successes of students to put one above others - yet somehow this went out the window for basketball - not a peep to encourage community to go support a soccer team in state championship but ones for basketball. And no academic awards - but sports awards for seniors. And it’s not like it’s even a huge sports focus school so it was just weird. [/quote]

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