one school in particular is know as the Band of Misfits.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have multiple kids at GDS and have seen no evidence over the years that supports what you’re claiming.

Of course not. It would be unwoke to notice that African American kids are treated with kid gloves compared to other racial groups.

Except that widely available evidence suggests the complete opposite about how African American kids are treated in schools.

Op, you might want to take a look at this thread about GDS, before you go gung ho on it.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/957625.page

GDS has serious management issues.

Anonymous wrote:I have multiple kids at GDS and have seen no evidence over the years that supports what you’re claiming.

Of course not. It would be unwoke to notice that African American kids are treated with kid gloves compared to other racial groups.

DH found sidwell a little nerdy (in a good way).

Anonymous wrote:A lot of geeks at GDS

+1...there is no place with more nerds and fewer sporty kids.

A lot of geeks at GDS

I hate to tell you that there is not one school full of nerds or "corky" kids. School balance their student body to represent the full spectrum of talents.

Green Acres

I have one of those and she is thriving in GDS

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS
I'm a nerd with a non-nerd kid. I loved GDS when we toured. My kid (jock) was accepted to the rest of the Big5 schools but not GDS. His close friends (nerds) were accepted to GDS.
It seems to be a type of kid that they select (of course not entirely (there are non-nerds there!), but in my kid's cohort it's completely what happened when all other things like grades and extracurriculars were even).

Thank you! Nerds unite.

For all the GDS posters (seems to be a consensus here) - are they good about dealing with bullying? That's a big concern of mine too, especially in MS.

They will be good about it as long as the child being bullied is African American. If it’s an African American kid doing the bullying, they will not be good about dealing with it. The school’s social justice mission creates blind spots.

Hmm, saw this even in the lower school with false accusations. Very stressful and mishandled situation. Hard to “brush off” those several weeks when they automatically sided with one side and only disproved it after being made to actually look into it beyond a young child’s accusation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maret is very small, and it’s your son doesn’t fit in, he will be miserable.

Maret .... The school is unusually responsive to wealth, more so than other privates.

I’m not the earlier poster who said stay away from Maret, but would guess these are some of the reasons why they said stay away.

Another entirely new poster who completely agrees with this assessment. I will add, Maret rewards sportiness compared to the other schools in NWDC, save STA.

And one more agreeing with this position, though I will say it’s worse the older the kids get.

OP, since you live in Chevy chase, I would think about sticking with public. The CCCES program starting in 4th grade is pretty much exactly what you are looking for and is right there in walking distance.

Anonymous wrote:Maret is very small, and it’s your son doesn’t fit in, he will be miserable.

Maret allows a lot of ugly social aggression to go unchecked, especially if the parents are wealthy. The school is unusually responsive to wealth, more so than other privates.

I’m not the earlier poster who said stay away from Maret, but would guess these are some of the reasons why they said stay away.

I would actually say the same thing for Sheridan. The classes are so small that it can be hard for some kids to find a cohort. My DD loved her teachers there so much but socially it was a bit of a wipeout just because she never found other girls to bond with.

OP, the odds of getting a spot anywhere for 2nd grade are long odds. Most schools accept students in 2nd grade only through attrition.

For the few who intentionally grow the 2nd grade class by, say, 4 kids ... they'll be attempting to balance what they already have. So if their current 1st grade is very boy-heavy, those 4 new admits will be girls . They may also be hoping to add diversity in key areas they perceive to be non-diverse. You can't possibly assess these parameters as an outsider and non-administration employee.

So do apply but have realistic expectations. And good luck, I mean it -- my son sounds a lot like yours. If you don't get a spot in 2nd, try again at 4th, because several schools grow intentionally at 4th.