Anonymous wrote:The school system has become so pussified by the helicopter, trophies for everyone, my kid can't bike without full body armor, parents and this is what you get. Kids never learn the word "No", they never have to work for a grade because their parents will argue for them, they can never get knocked down on an athletic field, because the parents will yank them off the team claiming that the older, bigger kids are cheating and playing too rough. Get a grip parents, you're raising little pussies.

Prep, Landon, Gonzaga-they produce well rounded kids who are tough enough to survive in the real world.

And if I ever had a kid come and sit down for a job interview with me, and he called me by my first name, because after all, he was told it was ok by Mommy and Daddy, I'd throw his ass out, as would most serious working professionals.

Now go back to coddling your little wimps

Anonymous wrote:The school system has become so pussified by the helicopter, trophies for everyone, my kid can't bike without full body armor, parents and this is what you get. Kids never learn the word "No", they never have to work for a grade because their parents will argue for them, they can never get knocked down on an athletic field, because the parents will yank them off the team claiming that the older, bigger kids are cheating and playing too rough. Get a grip parents, you're raising little pussies.

Prep, Landon, Gonzaga-they produce well rounded kids who are tough enough to survive in the real world.

And if I ever had a kid come and sit down for a job interview with me, and he called me by my first name, because after all, he was told it was ok by Mommy and Daddy, I'd throw his ass out, as would most serious working professionals.

Now go back to coddling your little wimps

Anonymous wrote:The school system has become so pussified by the helicopter, trophies for everyone, my kid can't bike without full body armor, parents and this is what you get. Kids never learn the word "No", they never have to work for a grade because their parents will argue for them, they can never get knocked down on an athletic field, because the parents will yank them off the team claiming that the older, bigger kids are cheating and playing too rough. Get a grip parents, you're raising little pussies.

Prep, Landon, Gonzaga-they produce well rounded kids who are tough enough to survive in the real world.

And if I ever had a kid come and sit down for a job interview with me, and he called me by my first name, because after all, he was told it was ok by Mommy and Daddy, I'd throw his ass out, as would most serious working professionals.

Now go back to coddling your little wimps

Anonymous wrote:I think the terms "progressive" and "structured" can be very confusing to parents, who often assume "progressive" equals "anything goes" and structured equals "rigid."

In fact, a school can be both very progressive and highly structured.

"Progressive" in pedagogical terms usually implies a commitment (at least in theory) to experiential learning, differentiated instruction, a willingness (again, in theory) to be pedagogically experimental, a willingness to consider multiple kinds of assessments (portfolios, project oral reports, etc. rather than mainly tests and papers), and a strong emphasis on colaborative learning and community. Schools can be "educationally progressive" but still have uniforms, teachers called by last names, and so on.

"Structure," meanwhile, relates more to predictability and clarity of rules, methods and expectations. In a school that is highly structured, students understand what is expected of them in terms of behavior, what it takes to get a good grade, etc., what will happen when, roles of various people, and so on. A school can celebrate Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day and have kids call teachers by their first names but still be extremely structured.

In my opinion, *all* of the top DC area privates, including the, um, ten schools in the "big 3," are at least *somewhat* progressive. And all are fairly structured. It's more a question of where on the continuum they fall.

Schools like Field are actually quite structured: classes are small, kids don't have tons of choices about what classes to take, and expectations are very clear. WIthin this structure, there is a relatively progressive approach to learning and assessments.

Schools like Sidwell or NCS lean towards greater structure and less progressivism in the upper schools.

Schools like the New School are highly progressive and much less structured.

And/but, a school that works for one kid may be horrible for another.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you are conflating a few things here. GDS is not particularly structured - the school teaches to the individual student and tries to make learning fun. The kids themselves are straight-laced for the most part: they do their work, want to succeed, etc., but they are allowed to express themselves. They dress how they want, walk themselves to and from classes, and have some academic freedom, even in middle school. If your son needs to be told what to wear, what classes to take, and wants everyone around him to be similar, GDS isn't the best fit for him.

Contrary to the remarkably offensive suggestion of the post reprinted immediately above, one does not have to choose between a so-called "progressive school" (as in the educational progressive movement from which GDS arose) where "learning is fun," there are no dress guidelines, first names are used, etc. OR a school where children "need to be told what to wear, what classes to take, and wants everyone around him to be similar." Just as some posters noted that calling teachers by first or last names is a matter of preference or comfort, so too is whether one prefers an environment where students can daily wear jeans, hang out around the school with few limitations, etc. There is nothing wrong with that approach in my view for certain children, but what is offensive is the suggestion that is inherently a superior form of education than somewhat more traditional modes. In fact, there are many schools in the DMV area that do not consider themselves "progressive" -- they may require students to use teacher last names, they may have a dress code, they may impose more restrictions on student's hanging out wherever they like in their free time on campus -- but guess what, sometimes these schools also have wonderful teachers who make learning interesting and fun. And some kids appreciate a little structure, not because they can't hack it without it or need someone to tell them what to do, but because they are happier in a more structured environment for any number of reasons -- so much of the success of a less structured school is dependent upon the faculties ability to execute the program with the kids that they have enrolled. Students who attend schools that are not "progressive" are just as capable of independent work as those of their counterparts taking attending more progressive schools. One system is not inherently better than the other. Signed -- Parent of children who attended both a "progressive" and a more "traditional" independent school at different stages of their education.

Anonymous wrote:I think you are conflating a few things here. GDS is not particularly structured - the school teaches to the individual student and tries to make learning fun. The kids themselves are straight-laced for the most part: they do their work, want to succeed, etc., but they are allowed to express themselves. They dress how they want, walk themselves to and from classes, and have some academic freedom, even in middle school. If your son needs to be told what to wear, what classes to take, and wants everyone around him to be similar, GDS isn't the best fit for him.

Anonymous wrote:
+1,000- this liberal bullshit mentality and up in your face gayness sucks. I'm a man, married a woman, and have kids. That's how gay kids got here, hetero parents.

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Anonymous wrote:If you want your kid to be a liberal, transgender basket case, this school is right for you

+1. No way for our kids.

Again, if you believe that a school can make a kid transgendered, then GDS is not the right school for you. You might as well not apply to any of the other highly-regarded independent schools in the region, either.

Disagree. We are looking many of the DC area indepenents for MS next year. Very few, if any, come close to GDS on the "out and proud and isn't this cool!" message.

You are a dinosaur. It won't be long before your kids cringe when you open your mouth, just like kids in the 70s did when their racist grannies talked about non-whites and Jews.

That doesn't make me wrong!

+1,000- this liberal bullshit mentality and up in your face gayness sucks. I'm a man, married a woman, and have kids. That's how gay kids got here, hetero parents.

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Anonymous wrote:If you want your kid to be a liberal, transgender basket case, this school is right for you

+1. No way for our kids.

Again, if you believe that a school can make a kid transgendered, then GDS is not the right school for you. You might as well not apply to any of the other highly-regarded independent schools in the region, either.

Disagree. We are looking many of the DC area indepenents for MS next year. Very few, if any, come close to GDS on the "out and proud and isn't this cool!" message.

You are a dinosaur. It won't be long before your kids cringe when you open your mouth, just like kids in the 70s did when their racist grannies talked about non-whites and Jews.

That doesn't make me wrong!