18:02 yes, its true! its not to late to choose another school. Let someone on the extensive waitlist an opportunity to attend the school of their dreams.

Yes it is true. Just check out some of the other "progressive" schools in the area for the lower grades....GDS is not on board with modern progressive education. They think they but as an educator who did her thesis on the subject - trust me - they are doing their own thing. Not a bad thing but would not be my first choice for our kids.

Is this true? We are new to gds community. Can anybody familiar with the curriculum of gds comment on this?

Anonymous wrote:And you are talking just about the building. the whole LS school can use a revamp in terms of their approach to Progressive education. It seems they didn't get the memo about the current trends and are still hanging on the "Progressive"tag of the 60's. I have never spoken to more traditional teachers in my life.

We are lucky to have so many good choices. Getting all the above is attainable in this area....choose your all above and if it includes an organic lunch go for it! Don't be surprised if that may not be as important to someone else. Some may actually see something special in kids bringing in their lunch provided by their caregiver and eating with their peers outside of a traditional setting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well to be fair. and I am a GDS alum, the lower and middle school are now right on top of the new houses that have built since I graduated. GDS was there first, but how do you expand without reducing the already small footprint for outdoor play. One could argue that the school outgrew that space a long time ago. I wish that it had been able to buy Mt. Vernon when it was for sale or bought the old Cafritz estate which eventually became Field.

Yes, it's interesting how both Field and St Pats managed to buy such beautiful and expensive properties and GDS got nothing. Wonder what that says about the GDS community - both current and alum. Why so unwilling to spend some cash for better facilities?

I have no dog in this fight but some schools choose to focus their investments more on the intangibles - curriculum and programs, staff compensation and professional development, scholarships/financial aid, etc. I don't know if that's the case with GDS...

Best lunches in the area - Sidwell and Sheridan. They use the same service - organic and locale. That is something we pay for at home and expect in our school as well. American apples are currently banned in the EU because of the level of pesticides. Put your money where your mouth is people!

We had to decide between another school and GDS and lunch facilites was a factor in our decision. Just seemed like a hassle for a HS udent to go off campus and find/bring their own lunch every day. Maybe its a GDS thing to have it not so easy because the sports facilities are a hassle too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When it comes to food service, all of GDS is utterly bizarre. There isn't even a lunch room or cafeteria in the brand new upper school. In my opinion, that completely removes it from the list of top schools. That is an important feature of a top academic facility. Kids should have a designated place to buy and eat healthy lunches ( and at many private high schools also breakfast) on campus. It is a basic requirement. The lack of a dining facility in a brand new building is just flat out weird.

My observation of HS kids: they do not avail themselves of a lunchroom if it's available. They either buy or bring lunch to eat somewhere they can be cool. GDS offers that on those large steps in the common area (though I'm mystified how they keep that carpet clean). There are also some tables/chairs at the top level. So I don't think it's that bizarre. Building a cafeteria for a high school is kind of a waste of resources.

My info comes from an exchange student at Walls. He tells me they don't eat in the cafeteria if it's a reasonably nice day.

Anonymous wrote:When it comes to food service, all of GDS is utterly bizarre. There isn't even a lunch room or cafeteria in the brand new upper school. In my opinion, that completely removes it from the list of top schools. That is an important feature of a top academic facility. Kids should have a designated place to buy and eat healthy lunches ( and at many private high schools also breakfast) on campus. It is a basic requirement. The lack of a dining facility in a brand new building is just flat out weird.

My observation of HS kids: they do not avail themselves of a lunchroom if it's available. They either buy or bring lunch to eat somewhere they can be cool. GDS offers that on those large steps in the common area (though I'm mystified how they keep that carpet clean). There are also some tables/chairs at the top level. So I don't think it's that bizarre. Building a cafeteria for a high school is kind of a waste of resources.

Anonymous wrote:Well to be fair. and I am a GDS alum, the lower and middle school are now right on top of the new houses that have built since I graduated. GDS was there first, but how do you expand without reducing the already small footprint for outdoor play. One could argue that the school outgrew that space a long time ago. I wish that it had been able to buy Mt. Vernon when it was for sale or bought the old Cafritz estate which eventually became Field.

Yes, it's interesting how both Field and St Pats managed to buy such beautiful and expensive properties and GDS got nothing. Wonder what that says about the GDS community - both current and alum. Why so unwilling to spend some cash for better facilities?

Anonymous wrote:We are new to the GDS community and came from a school with a stunning campus by comparison.

GDS has been perfect for my ds. He likes eating packed lunches and is super engaged academically. We would not choose some of the other schools typically discussed here because we saw too much focus on superficial values masking unbridled competition. This thread tends to support our analysis.

Perhaps those worried about GDS's campus should spend time worrying about truly dangerous or substandard schools plaguing our communities beyond NW DC. Just saying.

It is exactly this sort of bleeding heart superficiality that is so painful about GDS. Are you folks over there paying $40k a year really concerned about failing schools in DC? Maybe you send your kids over to help paint a needy elementary school every so often but that's about it. If you really cared about raising the standard of failing schools you would put your kids into DCPS. Don't preach to me about being superficial when by sending your kids to a very fancy private school you are certainly not walking the walk.

Anonymous wrote:We are new to the GDS community and came from a school with a stunning campus by comparison.

GDS has been perfect for my ds. He likes eating packed lunches and is super engaged academically. We would not choose some of the other schools typically discussed here because we saw too much focus on superficial values masking unbridled competition. This thread tends to support our analysis.

Perhaps those worried about GDS's campus should spend time worrying about truly dangerous or substandard schools plaguing our communities beyond NW DC. Just saying.

Truly dangerous?

Not aware of any schools in the DC metropolitan area that have metal detectors.

Some of us would consider the lack of hygiene inherent in kids eating in their schoolrooms as something more than a superficial value. It's great that your child is very happy at GDS and it's working out for your family, but don't be so defensive that others make different choices. Would hazard to suggest that you reflect on the thought that many, many kids who do not attend GDS and manage to thrive beyond the confines of NW DC are also super-engaged academically and have lunchrooms. It's typical to have both.

Well to be fair. and I am a GDS alum, the lower and middle school are now right on top of the new houses that have built since I graduated. GDS was there first, but how do you expand without reducing the already small footprint for outdoor play. One could argue that the school outgrew that space a long time ago. I wish that it had been able to buy Mt. Vernon when it was for sale or bought the old Cafritz estate which eventually became Field.

It's the fault of the NIMBY neighbors -- they oppose any plan to renovate and expand the building.

Just saying, I want to change the subject.