Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend with two kids there. They are stressed and stretched to the max with 3-4 hours of homework a night, which started in 7th.. They are thinking of leaving because of the stress, but the kids adamantly want to stay for social reasons - they love their friends.

Real dumb ass comment.

Everyone is different. My kid is a 9th grade @Sidwell and he also spends 4 hours of homework a night which is OK by me. He also has tennis, piano and guitar lessons during the week and more tennis lessons + tournaments + private tutoring on weekend so he has to manage his time wisely. Since he is not the smartest kid in his grade, he needs to work three or four times harder than the smart one. What's wrong with working hard? This country is built on hard work.

Anonymous wrote:MY 2 boys love Sidwell and have wonderful supportive friends. My boys feel like a member of a community. The classes are hard, but they are learning a lot ( middle school and upper school). The actual content of their classes is incredible and they are never bored. The teachers have very high standards and there is grade deflation ( compared to public school where their older sister got straight As with what now seems like very little effort). At Sidwell there is lots of homework. I would say about 2 hours for MS and 3-4 hours plus some weekend time for US for my kids. We have no tutors. I personally feel like the homework level could be reduced without sacrificing rigor. My boys do feel stressed at times, but the main competition is with themselves, not with other students. As far as I know, they have no idea what grades other students get, except maybe for their closest friends. The school culture, at least for my kids classes does not include comparing grades. I can honestly say that both boys have classes that have inspired them. As to joy, they have a blast with sports, music, art, school plays, all the out of town trips and wonderful field trips. What I personally love about the school is that the time in organized so they can do everything, including private music lessons, drama, clubs, and sports at school and there is no need to drive all over the place. The schedule is organized so kids can be active on a lot of fronts at the same time. The food is great. My kids love having yummy lunch with friends. At home we still try to encourage them to go to bed as early as possible because they are so busy. Finally, they do get nice vacation breaks, and in US a study week before exams. My boys are great students, but not perfectionists, so they shrug off some of the academic pressure. On the other hand, Sidwell might not be a good fit for an anxious, perfectionistic child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life’s too short to put your kid through that pressure at such a young age. My friend interviews for Harvard and she says the Sidwell kids have not been very impressive particularly around a self congratulatory and entitled attitude.

“Interviews for Harvard.” What a joke. Speaking of self congratulatory.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend with two kids there. They are stressed and stretched to the max with 3-4 hours of homework a night, which started in 7th.. They are thinking of leaving because of the stress, but the kids adamantly want to stay for social reasons - they love their friends.

Real dumb ass comment.

Everyone is different. My kid is a 9th grade @Sidwell and he also spends 4 hours of homework a night which is OK by me. He also has tennis, piano and guitar lessons during the week and more tennis lessons + tournaments + private tutoring on weekend so he has to manage his time wisely. Since he is not the smartest kid in his grade, he needs to work three or four times harder than the smart one. What's wrong with working hard? This country is built on hard work.

Your poor kid. When do they have fun?

No way the above comment comes from is a Sidwell parent.

I agree. No Sidwell parent cares if their kid is having fun.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend with two kids there. They are stressed and stretched to the max with 3-4 hours of homework a night, which started in 7th.. They are thinking of leaving because of the stress, but the kids adamantly want to stay for social reasons - they love their friends.

Real dumb ass comment.

Everyone is different. My kid is a 9th grade @Sidwell and he also spends 4 hours of homework a night which is OK by me. He also has tennis, piano and guitar lessons during the week and more tennis lessons + tournaments + private tutoring on weekend so he has to manage his time wisely. Since he is not the smartest kid in his grade, he needs to work three or four times harder than the smart one. What's wrong with working hard? This country is built on hard work.

Your poor kid. When do they have fun?

No way the above comment comes from is a Sidwell parent.

I agree. No Sidwell parent cares if their kid is having fun.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend with two kids there. They are stressed and stretched to the max with 3-4 hours of homework a night, which started in 7th.. They are thinking of leaving because of the stress, but the kids adamantly want to stay for social reasons - they love their friends.

Real dumb ass comment.

Everyone is different. My kid is a 9th grade @Sidwell and he also spends 4 hours of homework a night which is OK by me. He also has tennis, piano and guitar lessons during the week and more tennis lessons + tournaments + private tutoring on weekend so he has to manage his time wisely. Since he is not the smartest kid in his grade, he needs to work three or four times harder than the smart one. What's wrong with working hard? This country is built on hard work.

Your poor kid. When do they have fun?

No way the above comment comes from is a Sidwell parent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend with two kids there. They are stressed and stretched to the max with 3-4 hours of homework a night, which started in 7th.. They are thinking of leaving because of the stress, but the kids adamantly want to stay for social reasons - they love their friends.

Real dumb ass comment.

Everyone is different. My kid is a 9th grade @Sidwell and he also spends 4 hours of homework a night which is OK by me. He also has tennis, piano and guitar lessons during the week and more tennis lessons + tournaments + private tutoring on weekend so he has to manage his time wisely. Since he is not the smartest kid in his grade, he needs to work three or four times harder than the smart one. What's wrong with working hard? This country is built on hard work.

Your poor kid. When do they have fun?

Anonymous wrote:our dc loves it and doesn't want to leave. the community of kids/classmates and families is wonderful. it's very rigorous and the demands build as kids get ready to transition to high school (for example, in 8th grade a 10 page research paper in history with thesis, formal biblio, cites etc). it seems like a lot of work to me, but apparently it prepares them well for high school. no tutor for our dc and don't hear much about them. our dc loves sports, arts and social, and so for him, life will stay balanced because he likes and needs the mix. but that also means he won't be the highest academic achiever in the class which is ok with him. my sense is that if your child is a perfectionist and really needs perfect scores on everything, that could make for some unhappiness because it will be a big grind (ie there are kids who will study over 10 hours for a history test--in 8th grade). these kids are so talented, but also really nice and interesting and supportive.