Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, it’s the drag the SFS again thread; on the eve of the admission decisions. 🙄

Not at all. Nor is it a DEI-related jab, as a previous kneejerk post suggested. I have had kids at the school for more years than I care to admit (a decision I question often).

I am honestly sad about where the environment there seems to have gone. From my perspective. Not speaking for anyone else.

To that end, I will add that the expanded extent of the sports culture is alienating many families.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, it’s the drag the SFS again thread; on the eve of the admission decisions. 🙄

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend that teaches at a public school and has said that this cohort of kids is the most difficult they have had to manage since the pandemic.

I think it is really a product of COVID and the bump that will smooth out for both faculty and students, but parents really need to look at their current middle and high school kids and think about socialization gaps that may exist because of the pandemic, distance learning and devices.

It is hard for everyone.

Anonymous wrote:The head of the middle school is a terrible manager who plays favorites and is not honest with those that work for and with her. This is a huge contributing factor to the issue OP raises. Many have walked out and said “ enough”.

Anonymous wrote:Since the days of the pandemic, it seems like the quality of a disconcerting quantity of teachers at Sidwell Middle School has suffered. I recall reading that a lot of teachers left the profession of teaching generally during/after the pandemic. Indeed, our principal was still filling teaching positions Three to four weeks before the start of the 2022 school year. I don't know if the profession has rebounded (if it is true that it suffered).

I am casting around for reasons to contextualize the undue irritability of some teachers at the school. I hear more and more stories about teachers being short with students or even shaming them in front of their class for standard fare.

On the other hand, maybe this is in some part attributable to the students’ behavior. And I recognize that teachers are human beings and get frustrated just like everyone. But it seems like the commitment to respecting other people, an SFS community value, is rather weak in some of these teachers.

If I thought it would make a lick of difference, I would raise this with the administration.

Can anyone else offer observations? Did you have similar observations at SFS SM or other schools?

You should raise these issues with the administration, even if you don’t think it will make a difference. You will not know whether it would make any difference if you don’t try. Posting here will certainly not change anything.