All? Obama and Clinton. It’s was the rich, liberal school for journalists back then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard that the Obamas preferred GDS but the secret service asked them to chose Sidwell b/c they were already familiar with the school and knew how to work with it.

I recall this was reported in news stories at the time.

Really? Do you have a cite?

Obviously, security issues were important (eg, Biden's grandkids were at Sidwell) but where is the reporting that they preferred GDS?

https://www.nbcwashington.com/local/obama-family-chooses-sidwell-friends-school/1844476/

You really think they are going to search for your news cite from 13 years ago? lol.

It was a rumor posted in this forum at the time. It has never been validated, but it makes the GDS crowd feel better about things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard that the Obamas preferred GDS but the secret service asked them to chose Sidwell b/c they were already familiar with the school and knew how to work with it.

I recall this was reported in news stories at the time.

Really? Do you have a cite?

Obviously, security issues were important (eg, Biden's grandkids were at Sidwell) but where is the reporting that they preferred GDS?

https://www.nbcwashington.com/local/obama-family-chooses-sidwell-friends-school/1844476/

You really think they are going to search for your news cite from 13 years ago? lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's just two presidents.

Nixon too

Also a son of Teddy Roosevelt

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard that the Obamas preferred GDS but the secret service asked them to chose Sidwell b/c they were already familiar with the school and knew how to work with it.

I don't have any insider information but based on what I know about USG bureaucracies which like to stick with what they know, this would not surprise me.

I think this is more in line with we can defend that place and we can get in and out easy and by many different ways. the same was not true at GDS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t Gore’s daughter(s?) go to NCS? Only a VP, but presumably they needed security, too?

Bush’s son went to St. Albans and his daughter went to NCS. He was also on the ncs governing board. Gore’s daughter went to NCS and son to STA for a few years.

This article lists the big prep schools and who famous went there: scroll to the bottom

https://www.washingtonian.com/2006/05/01/prep-schools-of-the-power-brokers/


Sidwell Friends

Albert Gore III son of Al Gore 2001
Chelsea Clinton daughter of former president Bill Clinton 1997
Oleg Alexandrovich Troyanovsky former Soviet ambassador to the UN 1937
Bill Nye TV’s “science guy” 1973
Doug Gansler Montgomery County state’s attorney 1981
Charlie Gibson host, ABC’s Good Morning America 1961
Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon daughters of former president Richard M. Nixon 1964 and ’66

Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh it’s not that many presidents that have even had school aged kids.

People here who are not that old remember that before Clinton, Sidwell was not that special or well known outside DC. Chelsea totally changed how people perceived it.

Sidwell is not “well known” outside of DMV. I don’t think any high school is well known outside of its region or commonwealth. I’d assume Philips Andover, Exeter, Stuyvesant and Beverly Hills High School are about the only ones with some national name rec — and even then, not much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t Gore’s daughter(s?) go to NCS? Only a VP, but presumably they needed security, too?

Bush’s son went to St. Albans and his daughter went to NCS. He was also on the ncs governing board. Gore’s daughter went to NCS and son to STA for a few years.

Roosevelt’s son also went to STA and well as Robert Kennedy’s and Neil and Marvin Bush all went to STA.

And President Johnson’s daughter went to NCS. Sorry Sidwell only had Obama and Clinton who I love but it’s an overstatement to say all presidents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t Gore’s daughter(s?) go to NCS? Only a VP, but presumably they needed security, too?

Bush’s son went to St. Albans and his daughter went to NCS. He was also on the ncs governing board. Gore’s daughter went to NCS and son to STA for a few years.

Roosevelt’s son also went to STA and well as Robert Kennedy’s and Neil and Marvin Bush all went to STA.

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t Gore’s daughter(s?) go to NCS? Only a VP, but presumably they needed security, too?

Bush’s son went to St. Albans and his daughter went to NCS. He was also on the ncs governing board. Gore’s daughter went to NCS and son to STA for a few years.

Didn’t Gore’s daughter(s?) go to NCS? Only a VP, but presumably they needed security, too?

I have no doubt that Chelsea having gone there and that the Biden granddaughters, who the Obama girls had become friends with, played heavily into that decision. More than anything else, a school with a track record of no leaks of grades or other personal info as Sidwell has, is going to be highly attractive. Why roll the dice when you have one that you know can provide a safe and as normal as possible experience? St. Andrew's now has that track record too and appears to be as viable an option as Sidwell for a future President or VP kid in terms of security and privacy, which is great. I have no doubt there are other schools around here who could do the same, but if it were me in that position, I wouldn't risk an untested school unless both of these two really felt like the wrong fit for my kid for other reasons.

I was a lifer a long time ago- Bush Sr used to run around the track. I also heard that they asked the Obamas to consider bc the security perimeter was better but also Biden’s grandkids were already there. Clinton chose it bc HRC was very close to Marian Wright Edelman, who had both her kids there. People ask their friends for advice- Sidwell has always had a good reputation, but if anything I think it has changed for the worse since Clinton.

How old are you? When Carter had his daughter in DCPS, the press wouldn't leave her alone. I don't think any future POTUS with school age children will use DCPS again.

Though Nixon was Quaker, astonishingly.