Diversity of talents, diversity of goals. Isn't that part of what makes a school community?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. The message is that if you are a good athlete, you get preferential treatment. Very disappointing and hopefully not a trend for Sidwell.

Your interpretation seems incorrect. First, no preferential treatment by the school, because the school was ready to dismiss him for low grades, despite his athletic success. According to the article, what saved him was a group of parents willing to lobby on his behalf and volunteer time to help him improve. Plus, most importantly, his own willingness to work hard.

Reads like a success story to me. I'm not sure why you'd work so hard to see the negative here.

According to the article. He WAS dismissed. It was then rescinded after lobbying by parents and students. Do you think there was any reason beyond his athletic ability that caused the lobbying? Would parents have lobbied for other students as well?

I just don't understand why Sidwell parents give a shit about whether the basketball team wins or not. Being competitive is one thing, but you are undermining your school's ethos.

Truthfully, after reading the article a person would not need to try hard to reach that conclusion. It seems pretty obvious there was a lot of preferential treatment going on and you would have to be blind not to see that!

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. The message is that if you are a good athlete, you get preferential treatment. Very disappointing and hopefully not a trend for Sidwell.

Your interpretation seems incorrect. First, no preferential treatment by the school, because the school was ready to dismiss him for low grades, despite his athletic success. According to the article, what saved him was a group of parents willing to lobby on his behalf and volunteer time to help him improve. Plus, most importantly, his own willingness to work hard.

Reads like a success story to me. I'm not sure why you'd work so hard to see the negative here.

I disagree. The message is that if you are a good athlete, you get preferential treatment. Very disappointing and hopefully not a trend for Sidwell.

It's great that the headmaster at Sidwell was open to giving this kid a second chance. It looks like it worked out well for the kid and the Sidwell community as a whole.

Anonymous wrote:21:58 here. It is clear the school didn't/doesn't have a transition in program, but they could have easily tossed the kid out. Instead, he worked his tail off to ensure he could qualify for the NCAA's. Whether it was one parent or a whole community, he has realized his dreams of making a Division 1 program from both a basketball and academic perspective. It isn't our business, but I don't think Sidwell is lowering academic standards for athletes.

+1

Pathetic article. The school should be embarrassed.
How often does a headmaster retract a dismissal?
I wonder about the other academically qualified applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds that got bumped by this kid's acceptance.
If this was happening at Maret, GDS or STA, all you Sidwell boosters would be crying foul big time.

Anonymous wrote:It isn't our business, but I don't think Sidwell is lowering academic standards for athletes.

Unlike football, you can drastically improve a basketball program with just 1-2 kids. Would Sidwell have admitted this kid if he hadn't played basketball? Be real.

As for comparing them as a smaller scale DeMatha, it should be noted they are nowhere near lowering their standards as many other schools do. Of course, they are far from being competitive with those schools as well.

21:58 here. It is clear the school didn't/doesn't have a transition in program, but they could have easily tossed the kid out. Instead, he worked his tail off to ensure he could qualify for the NCAA's. Whether it was one parent or a whole community, he has realized his dreams of making a Division 1 program from both a basketball and academic perspective. It isn't our business, but I don't think Sidwell is lowering academic standards for athletes.

STA takes a very good approach to athletics, but I promise you they have taken athletic ability into consideration n admissions too. Hats off to a very good Sidwell team that has already beaten Prep and Gonzaga. (If people can write 50 pages on DCUM criticizing the football at Sidwell I guess a few posts noting success in basketball are fair.)

Signed,

--An STA person

If this kid wasn't great at basketball, would the Headmaster have been deluged by emails asking for him to reverse the dismissal? Obviously not.

Sidwell sold its soul for Hart and some other recent recruits. Unlike a school like STA, Sidwell lowers its admissions standards to help its weak athletic program. It is no different than a DeMatha or Prep - just on a smaller scale.

Wait a minute, parents wrote in and asked Sidwell to let him stay, but I wouldn't say Sidwell "ensured this kid could reach his potential". A current parent helped out, and that was it. But there clearly isn't a program like the Skip Grant program at STA to help students transition to a school of Sidwell's caliber. This reeks of a school taking a kid to make a particular program more illustrious, without having any plan in place to actually make sure that kid survives the academic/social expectations. And just because I feel obligated to, I'm at all connected to the community at St. Albans, nor am I a disgruntled parent/former faculty member/alum at Sidwell.

It is nice to see that a community came together to ensure that a child could realize his potential and his dreams. It is a stark contrast to schools who use kids for athletics and are not concerned with what happens after four years of eligibility.

http://www.google.com/gwt/x?wsc=vb&source=reader&u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/highschools/josh-hart-makes-the-most-of-second-chance-at-sidwell-friends-on-and-off-the-court/2012/12/25/892c5bc8-4aa7-11e2-b709-667035ff9029_story_1.html&ei=kknaUMa5OpLDmgffw4HgDQ&ct=pg1&whp=30

I was prepared to be cynical ... but it's a nice article. I must be getting soft because of the holiday season.