My quite average DS (mostly Bs; 70% on the SSAT) will be attending GDS HS next year. He loves the social aspect of school and skates by academically. He hates homework but loves class discussion and debate. Will he be in over his head? We are not sure what to expect work-wise next year. I'm sure kids like him must do well or they wouldn't have accepted him.

One very nice aspect of the school is that the social grouping don't seem to fit particular stereotypes such as jocks or nerds, the athletic kids may hang out with many non-athletes. There is also a huge percentage of kids that are involve with at least one varsity team (track /X-country being one reason, the program is popular and successful, in the spring something like 100 kids participate, they have won MAC and been at top of ISL for years in both fall and spring). I have noticed that some of the boy athletes particularly from soccer and lacrosse or track do hang out together, less so with the girl athletes. Anyway, there is quite a lot of school spirit in terms of kids showing up for important games (ie anything against Sidwell or Maret) even in sports like volleyball or girls basketball, which is really nice as well, so the athletes do get recognition and positive feedback, but participating doesn't restrict or define them socially.

Not really. It's an academic driven school. That's not to say there are not a handful of good athletes at the school.

Is there a discernible athletic/jock clique at GDS?

FWIW, i have a very normal, high acheiving and social teen who occasionally lurks on the DCUM message boards. May not be as strange as you think.

Urns, yes. Coffee no. The pots on the Middle School campus contain hot water and packets of caffeine free tea are available during lunch/recess.

Relax. I'm sure it was just an adult pretending to be a current student. This is DCUM.

Really 18:38? I would actually rather have my kids play video games or tweet Other KIDS their own age during their down time rather than writing to a bunch of obsessive helicopter parents. It definitely seems strange and a little depressing to me.

Oh, and, FWIW, 23:55 is saying just what my GDS freshman said when I asked her about social climate.

And, while my best guess is that GDS kids end up posting here while procrastinating/taking a break from studying, I'd much rather see them waste time by thinking and writing about group dynamics at school than by playing a videogame or tweeting (which are, no doubt, more age-appropriate pastimes).

Anonymous wrote:The truth is that anyone from DC knows that as recent as 2002 GDS would NEVER be considered a close contender to Sidwell/STA/NCS. In fact, several family friend of mine whose kids graduated 2002-2004 were pleasantly surprised (confused) that GDS would even be mentioned with those schools now as that certainly was not so back in 2002. They

That said, apparently since DCUM and the head of school who was married to the head of Beauvoir arrived... GDS has moved mountains. I have heard from many insiders it was the head of school - the progressive school matched with an excelleent traditional administrator who respected the school's profound dedication to progression which changed the course of GDS for the better. That said, this is alll very recent, and GDS is a school to watch in terms of trends.... it was a B minus school ten years ago. Recently became a true contender A/B school, but if administered improperly could fall to B minus... that said... riding on its recent surge... could stay in on the A list.

BS. I graduated from Harvard in the 1970s and knew GDS kids there then. It's been an excellent school for a long time. What it hasn't been is a mainstream choice. It's becoming more so. And the question is whether it'll do so at the expense of its distinctive vision/model of excellence.

I think these are grown-ups masquerading as students to give their posts more "credibility."

While the posts are informative am I the only one who finds it a little weird that GDS students are hanging out on a Moms (and Dads) message board? I would hope my kids had better things to do with their time than post long messages here and I think it might say something about the school that kids are posting here rather than to their own peer group.

The truth is that anyone from DC knows that as recent as 2002 GDS would NEVER be considered a close contender to Sidwell/STA/NCS. In fact, several family friend of mine whose kids graduated 2002-2004 were pleasantly surprised (confused) that GDS would even be mentioned with those schools now as that certainly was not so back in 2002. They

That said, apparently since DCUM and the head of school who was married to the head of Beauvoir arrived... GDS has moved mountains. I have heard from many insiders it was the head of school - the progressive school matched with an excelleent traditional administrator who respected the school's profound dedication to progression which changed the course of GDS for the better. That said, this is alll very recent, and GDS is a school to watch in terms of trends.... it was a B minus school ten years ago. Recently became a true contender A/B school, but if administered improperly could fall to B minus... that said... riding on its recent surge... could stay in on the A list.

I'm a previous poster (23:55 from last year), and I can comment on the social climate/bullying...maybe. I'm hesitant because being social has never been a priority for me. I'm mostly a social loner, even though I'm involved in a ton of activities - and it doesn't bother me (send your kid here if (s)he is like me!).

In the middle school, there is quite a bit of bullying and a lot of social pressure. I have a younger sibling in eighth grade who has been bullied several times throughout the MS, and I know that it happens quite frequently. When I was at the MS, I was bullied a couple of times (for being a very serious male singer) and the old MS principal put a stop to it immediately. According to my sibling, the new principal seems to shun the topic as somewhat of a non-issue. Also, the whole bar/bat mitzvah thing in 7th grade can get quite hectic - you always knew about every party, about who was invited and who wasn't, and people would judge and rank partities. There will also be several doubleheader weekends, when you have to choose whose party to go to - weekly social catastrophes waiting to happen. So, there's clearly work that needs to be done there.

I don't really hear about bullying in the high school (it's not a very commonly discussed topic school-wide), and I don't know how it is handled. I can say that the social climate tends to be very clique-y from what I can tell, as 00:55 says. Some cliques definitely form in the normal way, but a lot form from time-intensive activities. I think theater is the best example (both performers and techies). I was involved in theater for my first two years in high school, and while the shows were fantastic and awesome, and while sets while amazing (it is hard to find a better HS performing arts department around), much of rehearsing/teching is social. It makes sense - theater people stay at school doing theater for hours and hours, sometimes until 10:30 or 11:00 - it's their lives. Same with people who do sports, quizbowl, math team, debate, singing...all of that stuff.

Also, it definitely depends on the class, as posters have mentioned. I would say that both my sibling's class and my class are pretty clique-y socially, compared to other classes.

In my opinion, middle school is iff-y in terms of socially-conscious children currently, but the high school is amazing. Social stuff is a major priority in every teenager's life. But ultimately, the majority of the people at GDS HS spend 75%+ of their time in class and doing schoolwork, and the remaining time is all used up on extracurriculars. I think I'm pretty typical in that I do not have a single break or activity period free, and I do things after school almost every day. And I love it. The fantastic teachers, the fantastic academics, and the fantastic activities that you have access to make GDS, in my opinion, well worth attending in most circumstances. This becomes more and more true as you progress through the high school. The classes become harder, but more tailored to your interests and passions - and you meet new, interesting people, who share those interests. The same thing happens with extracurriculars. That is my "social life," and the social life of many others.

I could see the social climate at GDS HS being very restrictive for students who are generally uninvolved with school stuff. There is quite a bit of pressure to do things at the high school. At the same time, however, I can see it being liberating for many people - a chance to finally enjoy passions with other people at school. That's what it's been for me.

An interesting tidbit for LMS parents who just loooove waiting in the carpool line: There is no such thing at the high school. The vast majority of the students stay at school past 3:15 for one reason or another, as evidenced by the significant lack of cars at that time.

Take this post with a grain of salt - I am one person, and 00:55 sounds like a very different person. Hopefully, our perspectives are helpful either way!

While the sheer number of Jewish students, at least in some grades, can be a bit overwhelming particularly in MS (7th grade primarily during bat/bar mitzvah season), our culturally and ethnically (but not observant) Muslim kids never felt excluded, discriminated against etc, and particularly in high school enjoyed open back and forth and debate about political issues in an open and overall respectful (as respectful as teens can be) way. There are more than a handful of staff members/teachers who are Muslim and/or from the Muslim countries, and a few are really beloved and prominent teachers/coaches, which helps I am sure. Even the LS has tried hard to recruit Muslim teachers and now has a few I believe. As parents, we never found other parents at least outwardly judgmental or dismissive of our background. Most of the Jewish families seemed to be politically pretty liberal on issues to do with the settlements and Israel.