Anonymous wrote:As someone that had a kid enrolled at St. Bernards in NYC, these outplacement lists are misleading.

First, you have no clue what connections the parents have. Some parents are literally on the board of the schools their child gets admitted to. Many kids also have siblings at the schools they eventually matriculate to.

I wanted my son to go to Dalton, and they tried to talk us down to Grace Church school. I ended up pushing him to boarding school.

Never trust "matriculation lists". The success of the list is usually the result of factors outside the school's control.

Question about St. Bernard's: I know they go through 9th, but do they assist families who apply out during 8th grade? Also, what's the general consensus among families about going through 9th? Is it similar to what happens at schools around here?

As someone that had a kid enrolled at St. Bernards in NYC, these outplacement lists are misleading.

First, you have no clue what connections the parents have. Some parents are literally on the board of the schools their child gets admitted to. Many kids also have siblings at the schools they eventually matriculate to.

I wanted my son to go to Dalton, and they tried to talk us down to Grace Church school. I ended up pushing him to boarding school.

Never trust "matriculation lists". The success of the list is usually the result of factors outside the school's control.

The poster who noted that GDS over-enrolled in prior years and so had an enrolment cap is correct. However, the cap was not because they were full, but rather it was a zoning requirement.

GDS expanded their campus recently. They only got zoning approval for a stepped increase in enrolment over several years. During that time, they were required to take certain steps, to be confirmed by a traffic study, to ensure that there was no undue increase in vehicle traffic in the surrounding neighborhood.

GDS ignored both the stepped increase rule and the undertaking of the study and went straight to the max enrolment. The ANC complained to the Zoning Authority and lawyered up. As a result, GDS was required to not just cap enrolment but actually reduce it for 2023/24 and thereafter until such time as they had met their traffic requirements. Hence all the trouble getting into GDS last year.

This has now all been resolved and the enrollment is now allowed to increase to the cap again. Hence after a worse than usual placement year into GDS last year for all schools, this should be a better than usual year.

Further info can be found here:

https://anc3e.org/resolution-finding-enrollment-violations-by-gds-of-its-zoning-order-and-mou-and-authorizing-administrative-legal-action/

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