Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:huh. I have many friends at GDS and they are very down-to-earth. We're at another Big3 which always seems much wealthier in comparison. I think of GDS as having the largest contingent of public school transplants and "normal people" among the Big3 (a good thing).

+2 It seems like tons of Deal kids go to GDS in 9th

Not anymore. More difficult admissions with each passing year - to all the NWDC schools.

Anonymous wrote:“Liberals aren’t allowed to be materialistic” is one of the most illogical takes I see posted repeatedly on DCUM.

Liberals generally are concerned about inequality. How do you presume that inequality manifests? It’s obviously the quality and quantity of goods and services. It’s kind of hard to be taken seriously as someone concerned about unequal if you’re living like Louis XVI. Not to say that affluent people are required to live impoverished, but there is a morality to living humbly and frugally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the GDS students that I know are anything but competitive.

Too kumbaya to develop competitive spirit, even in sports or test taking. That will have to be developed elsewhere or by parents.
The meeting children where they’re at includes not pushing students who don’t push themselves.

Wanted to emphasize this post, b/c this is a big GDS Fact (and why we ultimately did not send one of our DC’s to GDS). GDS is *great* for a self-starter. In fact, that’s kind of the learning model. One of our DC’s was self-starting for some things, but for a lot of things, we felt like it would be failure to launch if we left it up to DC. We’re all for growing the plant you have, but some plants will shoot up out of the ground on everything no matter what, and others need more fertilizer. GDS is a dream for a kid who is brimming with self-motivation, because the sky’s the limit. Less so for a kid who needs a little nudging and structure to meet their potential.

I am the PP who said GDS meets kids where they are at, and I don't disagree with either comment above. I will say however, that another way to look at this is that some top schools push every kid as if they are going to Harvard, when most are not. I would not necessarily say that less motivated kids are not pushed. They are pushed by the work product they are expected to produce and by the cohort they are part of, which includes many, many hyper-motivated, and yes, competitive kids. Also the teachers have the bandwidth to get to know the kids and suss out their strengths so that maybe a kid is not an A student, but he or she has other great qualities that should be acknowledged. What GDS does not do is make the less motivated (or less capable) kids feel bad about themselves or like they are failures. Russell likes to say that they are trying to raise healthy thirty-five year olds, and its one of my favorite Russellisms. It's an acknowledgment that while some 17 and 18 year olds are ready for lift off, others are still percolating, but that does not mean they don't have potential to do great things. I have a DC at a different top school whiich they love, but the whole ethos is to push, push, push constantly with a refrain of "this was good, but why wasn't it better?" That works for some kids and my kid loves it, but there must be kids at that school who feel crushed by the expectations. I think GDS balances that well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the GDS students that I know are anything but competitive.

Too kumbaya to develop competitive spirit, even in sports or test taking. That will have to be developed elsewhere or by parents.
The meeting children where they’re at includes not pushing students who don’t push themselves.

Wanted to emphasize this post, b/c this is a big GDS Fact (and why we ultimately did not send one of our DC’s to GDS). GDS is *great* for a self-starter. In fact, that’s kind of the learning model. One of our DC’s was self-starting for some things, but for a lot of things, we felt like it would be failure to launch if we left it up to DC. We’re all for growing the plant you have, but some plants will shoot up out of the ground on everything no matter what, and others need more fertilizer. GDS is a dream for a kid who is brimming with self-motivation, because the sky’s the limit. Less so for a kid who needs a little nudging and structure to meet their potential.

This really resonated with me. I’m going to start another thread in this topic. Thanks

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the GDS students that I know are anything but competitive.

Too kumbaya to develop competitive spirit, even in sports or test taking. That will have to be developed elsewhere or by parents.
The meeting children where they’re at includes not pushing students who don’t push themselves.

Wanted to emphasize this post, b/c this is a big GDS Fact (and why we ultimately did not send one of our DC’s to GDS). GDS is *great* for a self-starter. In fact, that’s kind of the learning model. One of our DC’s was self-starting for some things, but for a lot of things, we felt like it would be failure to launch if we left it up to DC. We’re all for growing the plant you have, but some plants will shoot up out of the ground on everything no matter what, and others need more fertilizer. GDS is a dream for a kid who is brimming with self-motivation, because the sky’s the limit. Less so for a kid who needs a little nudging and structure to meet their potential.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since when are Mercedes SUVs ostentatious? It’s just a car. Nobody cares about what people drive. It’s not the 1980s.

Mercedes suvs, BMW x series, range rovers, denalis, suburbans. That is the big 3 fleet.

Not really. Lots of double income Wash DC urban families with smaller city cars.
The big SUV ppl are up in MoCo schools. Better parking lots for shopping, school and living…

I spend way too much time in the carpool lines at two of the big 3 schools talked about here. Sure, add Teslas in there. But this is the carpool line.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:huh. I have many friends at GDS and they are very down-to-earth. We're at another Big3 which always seems much wealthier in comparison. I think of GDS as having the largest contingent of public school transplants and "normal people" among the Big3 (a good thing).

Agree given our 7 years since Pk thus far.

Look at what/who you comparing it to. Damning with faint praise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The wholeness is a gloss over the fact that it’s a schools of massively rich people who are conflicted by their money in really strange ways.

+1 And a smattering of scholarship kids and no one in between.

Does GDS give scholarship? I thought it is all need-based FAs.

It's all need based. And as a parent, I have no idea who received financial aid and who doesn't. There is no social divide as far as I can tell.

Anonymous wrote:With the lack of testing and group interviews, what does it take to be admitted in lower school? Are we just throwing our $75 away ?

Have you actually been to the GDS admissions page? It's all spelled out quite clearly, including how the visits are taking place.

It's funny to me how in a fact vs. fiction thread you have one poster saying GDS students are very competitive and another claiming that they're too kumbaya to be competitive.

Anonymous wrote:huh. I have many friends at GDS and they are very down-to-earth. We're at another Big3 which always seems much wealthier in comparison. I think of GDS as having the largest contingent of public school transplants and "normal people" among the Big3 (a good thing).

Agree given our 7 years since Pk thus far.

Anonymous wrote:Most of the GDS students that I know are anything but competitive.

Too kumbaya to develop competitive spirit, even in sports or test taking. That will have to be developed elsewhere or by parents.
The meeting children where they’re at includes not pushing students who don’t push themselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since when are Mercedes SUVs ostentatious? It’s just a car. Nobody cares about what people drive. It’s not the 1980s.

Mercedes suvs, BMW x series, range rovers, denalis, suburbans. That is the big 3 fleet.

Not really. Lots of double income Wash DC urban families with smaller city cars.
The big SUV ppl are up in MoCo schools. Better parking lots for shopping, school and living…

Anonymous wrote:Very, very competitive students and the parents are helicopters with sharp elbows and large checkbooks.

Not in Pk-8. There are some “sleeper families” doing math tutoring since K and travel sports and language classes on the weekends. Probably more of these type As in upper school. Will have to see how gets counseled out by then, if anyone.

Anonymous wrote:GDS’ mission is anti-racism. They take it very seriously and it will be incorporated into their teaching everyday. If you don’t believe strongly in that mission and how they teach it, you probably won’t be happy there. The admissions team will basically tell you this in your parent interview.

They didn’t in ours. We are one of the very few international families.
But agree they spend a lot of man hours and project hours a week on their social Justice mission. Every Friday assembly is race, lgbtq or SJW focused.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they not allowing tours? All of the VA privates are allowing tours

And doing in-person student visits/playdates

We are a current GDS family. For better or worse, they are very, very covid conservative. It's not affecting the kids, but they will be the last to let non-students onto campus or drop masks. They also require vaccines for 12+, are encouraging the younger kids to get vaccines when they can (and are hosting a vaccine clinic), and will require vaccines for everyone next year.

+1. Very “conservative” on the eventual reopening last year.