At this point in the school year most upper school girls (and their parents) know which girls and families are regularly disregarding the community covenant. Shutting the upper school down for 2 weeks was like the nail in the coffin for the families who have been adhering to the guidelines all along. Since many of the offenders are children of trustees, medical board, alumni, big donors, etc., there is a clear sense of favoritism going on from the admin in terms of there being consequences to violating behavior. The admin's focus on finishing out a major capital project (the new student center) in the midst of all of this is likely contributing to the lack of enforcement. To most, it seems there are certain families the admin has made clear they want to keep happy. it's a shame it's that way. The upper school curriculum is rigorous and the faculty is terrific. These girls get a great education, but the "clubby" vibe that comes from the admin really takes away from so much that is promising about the school.

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I never brought up the Administration at all, others did, and I can understand being frustrated about people breaking the recommendations. Although, there, I'm not sure what the proper accountability would be - maybe requiring those students to be virtual for the next month? Don't have an answer there.

Something, anything, would be better than nothing. What message is being sent by doing nothing? Tough words from HoS in the email ("this is non-negotiable"), but actions always speak louder than words.

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Anonymous wrote:It's not a question of being happy with the school. There is much about the school that I'm very happy with. Your assertion that the Administration would be happy to tell me everything that's going on is the comment that rang the least true.

My issue is that the head of school constantly reiterates how important it is that we follow community expectations regarding COVID and when a group does not (openly and regularly...this was not an isolated incident and everyone knows it), there is no accountability.

Exactly and since there have been no repercussions, we can expect to keep happening.

That would be my assumption. In fact it was those in the town hall who complained who seemed to be the focus of more criticism than the partiers.

I agree and left feeling the same way. It's so frustrating and frankly disappointing. I truly expected more.

Anonymous wrote:It's not a question of being happy with the school. There is much about the school that I'm very happy with. Your assertion that the Administration would be happy to tell me everything that's going on is the comment that rang the least true.

My issue is that the head of school constantly reiterates how important it is that we follow community expectations regarding COVID and when a group does not (openly and regularly...this was not an isolated incident and everyone knows it), there is no accountability.

I never brought up the Administration at all, others did, and I can understand being frustrated about people breaking the recommendations. Although, there, I'm not sure what the proper accountability would be - maybe requiring those students to be virtual for the next month? Don't have an answer there.

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Anonymous wrote:It's not a question of being happy with the school. There is much about the school that I'm very happy with. Your assertion that the Administration would be happy to tell me everything that's going on is the comment that rang the least true.

My issue is that the head of school constantly reiterates how important it is that we follow community expectations regarding COVID and when a group does not (openly and regularly...this was not an isolated incident and everyone knows it), there is no accountability.

Exactly and since there have been no repercussions, we can expect to keep happening.

That would be my assumption. In fact it was those in the town hall who complained who seemed to be the focus of more criticism than the partiers.

Anonymous wrote:It's not a question of being happy with the school. There is much about the school that I'm very happy with. Your assertion that the Administration would be happy to tell me everything that's going on is the comment that rang the least true.

My issue is that the head of school constantly reiterates how important it is that we follow community expectations regarding COVID and when a group does not (openly and regularly...this was not an isolated incident and everyone knows it), there is no accountability.

Exactly and since there have been no repercussions, we can expect to keep happening.

It's not a question of being happy with the school. There is much about the school that I'm very happy with. Your assertion that the Administration would be happy to tell me everything that's going on is the comment that rang the least true.

My issue is that the head of school constantly reiterates how important it is that we follow community expectations regarding COVID and when a group does not (openly and regularly...this was not an isolated incident and everyone knows it), there is no accountability.

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Anonymous wrote:LOL I really am a parent. Happy with SR and know they will address any concerns I have!

Maybe you're admin AND a parent??? There are a few.

Why would one need to be a part of the Admin to be happy with the school? We are new to the school, definitely not part of the Admin, and are happy so far.

Anonymous wrote:LOL I really am a parent. Happy with SR and know they will address any concerns I have!

Maybe you're admin AND a parent??? There are a few.

LOL I really am a parent. Happy with SR and know they will address any concerns I have!

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As a SR parent I don't know what you are talking about. And no, it's not bc I'm in the "in" group - we don't know that many people to be honest. I feel like the school community is warm and welcoming to all. My US girls were not involved in this incident but we trust the administration to be fair and do what is best for the school. I don't understand ppl who come on here and complain on an anonymous forum. Please call the school to discuss if you are unhappy - I'm sure they'd be glad to explain what is actually going on.

Are you really a parent? You sound like an Admin sock puppet.

I agree. Several posts on here sound that way.

Anonymous wrote:

As a SR parent I don't know what you are talking about. And no, it's not bc I'm in the "in" group - we don't know that many people to be honest. I feel like the school community is warm and welcoming to all. My US girls were not involved in this incident but we trust the administration to be fair and do what is best for the school. I don't understand ppl who come on here and complain on an anonymous forum. Please call the school to discuss if you are unhappy - I'm sure they'd be glad to explain what is actually going on.

Are you really a parent? You sound like an Admin sock puppet.

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Anonymous wrote:Yes some SR girls are at parties every weekend, but not all of the girls do that. My daughter attended the town hall. She said the comments section was blowing up with girls directing their anger towards the offending girls who had violated the community standards. Everyone seems to know who the offending girls are. There is also consensus among girls (and parents) that the admin was not firm enough in the response.

Well they aren't hiding it. It is plastered all over their social media. No masks, more than 10 kids, drinking, etc.

Not sure why the school isn't monitoring their accounts that are open like vsco. It's not that hard.

+1

As with PP, my daughter at SR has never had a "mean girl" encounter. She has a great group of friends who are down to earth and supportive. I saw the chat that went along with the town hall. Just as we adults do, the girls debated whether those who had COVID b/c of their reckless conduct should apologize to all for shutting down the US, or whether we should be more forgiving and understand that everyone makes mistakes. I hope that SR enforced some consequences for these girls and their families, as it is deeply reckless to violate so blatantly COVID protocols, putting teachers and students at risk. So, I share the severe disappointment in these girls' conduct, but I also trust that SR has addressed it, and I don't think the school needs to tell me what the consequences were, just like I don't have a right to know how they treat discipline issues with students and staff. We are very happy at SR.

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Anonymous wrote:13 cases?! What grades? Was it community spread?

Yes, it was community spread NOT from school. Only one student had even been on campus and did it not spread from her at all.

Not a ding against SR the school, as this is ALL on the parents, but the other way to look at this is that the school community DID spread it among themselves, just not on school campus or on a school event. If 13 kids at a single school tested positive from a single event, clearly there is no respect for social distancing measures and this is why it's hard to get schools to open and stay open.

It does seem rather pointless to insist on appropriate protocols at school, when they're being ignored by a small percentage of students outside the school.

Unfortunately there was no accountability following this, and no consequences. The vast majority of students who are diligent about their exposure outside school were rightly furious about having to pay the price with the rest of the Upper School for the actions of a few.

You don't know that there was no accountability. If I had to guess, CRK had very blunt conversations with the offending families / girls. What do you want, for her to expel 13 kids? Not gonna happen, anywhere. She did send a very clear note that these cases could have been avoided and that this kind of behavior by a few ruins it for everyone.

Did your daughter attend the town hall?

Haven't heard about it--I asked her about this and she seemed clueless. But then again, she doesn't tell me anything. She doesn't swim in the rich / Chevy Chase / party circle; it's like a different world to her.

My DD is new to Stone Ridge this year in 9th grade and attended the Town Hall. She did let us know that the comments between the girls were something else to see and after awhile they did have to turn off the chat box. Because of COVID and having to go virtual so much and wear masks actually in school, she does not really have a group of girls she is friend's with or hangs out with so she does not not know any of the girls that were supposedly involved in the outbreak. I hope its the last time that the Upper School has to shut down for an outbreak - especially one that was not caused by a school event or in person learning.

It won't be. A lot of SR girls can be ruthless and mean. That is why they had to turn off the chat box.

That has not been the experience for my daughter since she has been there. I think this had more to do with girls being frustrated that some of their classmates didn't take the proper precautions. Not sure that would have been different at other schools.

Oh it's the that isn't our experience so it must not be happening response. SR sadly has a mean girl reputation and I wish we had learned of this earlier.

PP - do you have a daughter currently at Stone Ridge?

I can only speak for my daughter's experience, and so far she has not personally encountered or had to deal with any mean girl situations. I'm sure there are some at SR, just like there are at other schools too.