Comments

This is the best Obama as our president no way this is awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Ufuoma, Jan 04, 2009 02:16:25 PM

I believe that the Obama’s have made the first mistake choosing Sidwell. I know how they must have been convinced that this was the best place for the girls, but the fact is that a lot of the children and parent’s are not only racist, but look down on family’s that are not of the same social status. I move my children because they were totally unhappy. They were not welcomed with open arms. I’m sure their experience will be different given their status, but I feel like the reception they will receive will not be true to how most of the people there really feel. I don’t think they are worthy of having the Obama children as students. I don’t know much about Maret, but hopefully they are more receptive to people of color. I moved my children to Washington Episcopal School and I could not be happier with my choice!! Although there are parents and students there with the same social status as Sidwell, you could never tell by the way the children are treated...or our entire family!!! All I can say is GOOD LUCK!!!

Posted by: Concerned Parent, Dec 31, 2008 02:29:13 PM

YAY!! So excited and happy that the girls chose Sidwell!! What a great choice!! I know that they will love it!!

Posted by: Woo Hoo!!, Nov 24, 2008 11:59:33 AM

I wish Garrett Graff had been a sporting fellow given how wrong his predictions were.

Posted by: hobo, Nov 22, 2008 06:10:33 AM

I also go to the Maret School.
This is my fifth year at the school.
I just wanted to say that I have never felt more welcomed in my life, than the day I came to Maret. I was that typical awkward, shy teenager that was terrified for the first day of school. I was entering the Maret middle school. I was so afraid of not making friends, getting lost, or embarrasing myself in front of everyone. But Maret has a buddy system where all the new kids are placed with a buddy who is a current (old) student at the Maret school. I met my buddy outside of school, and she showed me around the campus and helped me find my classes so I couldn’t get lost. She introduced me to all of her friends, who became my friends too. There were "breaking-the-ice" activities and I got a chance to really get to know my future classmates and teachers. Everyone was so welcoming. Maret goes above and beyond in making sure everyone feels welcomed. After only a day, I felt like I had been part of the community since Kindergarten. Maret has that affect on people =]

Posted by: Anonymous, Nov 16, 2008 03:59:39 PM

I am a current 10th grade student at the Maret School. I just wanted to say how much I LOVE this school. The students are incredibly warm and it is known for its diversity. The teachers are the best teachers in the world and I couldn’t be happier with this school. The single campus is great, because it connects the highschoolers to the lower schoolers. I happen to love being able to see the little lower schoolers going to lunch and laughing with their friends. The single campus creates a strong sense of unity between students of all ages. We had a mock election, along with GDS, and Obama won by a landslide of 90%. Maret would be honored to have Malia and Sasha as students at our school.

Posted by: Anonymous, Nov 16, 2008 03:49:55 PM

maret is the shizz

Posted by: will, Nov 14, 2008 07:11:22 PM

All these schools are great schools. To suggest that one is better than another is only personal bias. It will probably come down to logistics, connections and feel. It won’t be a nw public school because the white house school district is not in upper nw.

Posted by: private school snob, Nov 14, 2008 08:46:26 AM

another issue regardinging ncs- it starts in 4th grade. the elder obama girl would be on one part of the cathedral close while the younger would be at another part (beauvior, the lower school for NCS and STA). given recent events at beauvior i think the number of applications has dropped significantly.

Posted by: dc-er, Nov 13, 2008 07:05:43 PM

I went to NCS. I will be forever grateful for the amazing academic education I received there -I believe it is one of the best schools in the world. Intellectually, it is a wonderful environment. However, the social atmosphere is pretty toxic and the stress levels are out of control. First year of law school was NOTHING compared to junior year at NCS. Spending your formative years is such a stressful environment is not healthy. Half of my friends from NCS are on anti anxiety medicine - and those are only the ones I know about....Of course, Malia and Sasha don’t have to worry about getting into college (the main source of stress), so maybe they could stay above all this. The other issue with NCS, tho, is that it is a very open campus - no gates or walls, with public roads running through campus. Not very secure. I would imagine that this is the main reason the Clintons and now reportedly the Obamas have avoided NCS.

Posted by: DCgirl, Nov 12, 2008 09:55:16 PM

Yo, i just wanna say that DC really does have some quality public schools, especially on the elementary level. Rep Janney, best elementary school in the district. They wont go to Sidwell, because they dont want their kids to be seen as following in the footsteps of the Clinton’s. GDS, while it is a good, and respectable school, has very little security and has different campuses for the lower/middle school and the high school. I doubt the Obama’s want to risk doubling the security by sending their children to two different campuses. Maret has one campus, and while its fences are not shut closed, there is a reasonable amount of space between the fences and the actual school itself, which will provide an easily patrolled perimeter for the secret service the maintain. The only border that has limited room is the border with Maret’s next door neighbor, the Swiss Embassy, and I ver much doubt the Swiss are interested in harming the Obama girls.

Posted by: michael, Nov 12, 2008 07:16:48 PM

NCS is not brutally competitive, just brutal. to succeed at that school you need a strong sense of self, pure intelligence will not get you by. it is a high speed environment and "i’m stressed" is not an uncommon thing for an ncs girl to say. it is a great school for those who can stand it but i would not choose it for my girls.

Posted by: washington native, Nov 12, 2008 04:24:25 PM

NCS does have a reputation for academic excellence but it also has a reputation for having the most brutally competitive environment of any private school in this area.

Posted by: Private Schooler, Nov 12, 2008 09:43:24 AM

if someone can afford it, the best education for young women available in DC is at NCS. please, look at the alumnae. people move to those other schools when they cant hack it at NCS, where the academic excellence is well known, well maintained, and clearly the best choice for students who need extra security and consideration. yes, i am an elitist who went to NCS, and when i got released into the world i was THANKFUL AS HELL i didn’t go anywhere else. NCS raises women who think, speak their mind, and achieve in all aspects of life, professional and domestic. it is the path to raising women who are the smartest people in the room, and gives women their best chance at being strong in the face of a changing world. GO OBAMA.

Posted by: someone who knows, Nov 12, 2008 07:35:18 AM

I think if they were going to go to public school, they should go to whatever the public school the White House is zoned for - having them switched out of their district to go to another public school creates a host of pr problems and is just not the right way to work with the system - if normal people are not allowed to switch out of their districts, then the Presidents kids should not be either.

Back to the private schools, I agree that the Bethesda-based Sidwell lower school is not ideal, but what about their new green middle school? It is the greenest school in the country!

Posted by: Thoughts, Nov 11, 2008 06:50:06 PM

Adding on to my last comment, I reread the beginning of the article where it talks about DCPS a little. The fact of the matter is that DCPS schools are not unsafe. When they talk in here about Maret’s gated campus, it’s not as if the gates are closed, there is no security at the gates while they sit open one day. When i was in school someone said to me our school was safer than Maret despite gun scares, becasue at Maret someone could "just walk on campus with a gun, take a kid and leave and no one would notice." Its true the Obama kids will have loads of security around them at all times, but a school that has security like DCPS is just more added protection.

And im not saying that DCPS is safer than Maret or Sidwell, but schools like Lafayette or Janney in upper Northwest are not dangerous.

Posted by: DCPSer, Nov 11, 2008 05:50:36 PM

Why is no one considering a DC Public school? Seems to me there are pleny of decent public schools in the city and it would speak very highly of the Obamas. Schools like Lafayette, Janney, Oyster... not bad at all...

Posted by: DCPSer, Nov 11, 2008 05:31:59 PM

As someone who was raised in the DC private school community I’ve been very interested in this story. I agree that Sidwell is a much less likely choice because its lower school is so far away from the middle/upper school campus. Isn’t GDS’ lower school on a different campus, or has that changed in recent years?

I’ve been out of school for more than ten years now so I really don’t know what the various schools’ current reputations are, but it does sound like Maret might be the most logical choice. Those girls are going to be smart and will have their choice of colleges/universities regardless of where they go to school in DC, so their parents are probably more concerned with finding the school that will be the best fit for the girls as well as being safe.

Any word on why NCS isn’t being considered? Are the Obamas not into single sex education or is it something else?

Posted by: HC, Nov 11, 2008 04:08:19 PM

How about Edmund Burke?
Just kidding - that school is a total joke and an insult to the real Edmund Burke.

Figure every school that does not get the Obama daughters will be free of pesky presidential caravans and security.

Posted by: OCDC, Nov 11, 2008 01:51:27 PM

Are there any rules at Washingtonian about using anonymous sources?

"The school is a warm, diverse, caring environment where everyone is treated the same," says one Maret parent who begged anonymity. "The
kids are fiercely loyal to the school and each other. Students are valued for themselves and not for their parents occupations or bank
accounts."

Wow, those are some pretty risky positions this parent is taking. There is a clear need to allow this whistle-blower to remain anonymous

Posted by: anonymous, Nov 11, 2008 01:26:27 PM

I wouldn’t consider GDS, but Sidwell’s lower school is in Bethesda, has everyone forgotten about this? Having their lower school in the District would make Maret the top choice.

Posted by: Man, Nov 11, 2008 01:03:10 PM

I would love to know why you found Sidwell ’absurd.’ That said I do agree that a charter school might be the way they end up going. Somehow I feel like it is too expected for them to choose Sidwell or Maret. I could not even include GDS in that choice.

Posted by: To DCexpat, Nov 11, 2008 10:26:43 AM

I went to Sidwell & found it absurd. How come we are not discussing some of DC’s excellent charter schools?

Posted by: dcexpat, Nov 11, 2008 08:33:21 AM

I love how "diversity" is now of equal importance to academics, athletics, college counseling, etc., when considering schools. What a joke.

Posted by: JW, Nov 11, 2008 07:49:41 AM

I don’t think it matter which school they go to, they will be handled with white gloves and treated like gold at either. They’ll end up going to Ivy colleges either way.

Posted by: Patricia, Nov 11, 2008 07:40:06 AM

Prediction confirmed! (See post #3)

I love how Washingtonians get in bitter fights over what elite private school they attended. Only in DC, good stuff. And by the way, all your overpriced private schools stink. Go to a Catholic school, pay half as less, and go to the exact same college as GDS, Maret, and NCS kids :-P

Posted by: dcer, Nov 11, 2008 07:29:38 AM

Posted by: R, Nov 10, 2008 11:11:06 PM

Oh, please. I went to GDS and am hardly blind to its flaws, but the contention that the school is academically inferior to Sidwell is baseless. No school in the DC area--or elsewhere--has an English department stronger than GDS’; its performing arts department is incomparable; and even its math team is now competitive with STA’s and Sidwell’s. GDS’ program is holistic, and its merits--equal to or exceeding those of its peer institutions--are beyond refute.

GDS is the youngest school of the three options most commonly floated as possibilities for the Obama children. When it opened its doors in 1945 (nine years before Brown) as the first racially integrated school in the District, Sidwell had been in existence for 62 years, Maret for 34. The idea that GDS might be in the same league as its older and (in Sidwell’s case) more prestigious counterparts may be a difficult claim to grant, especially for those who rely on age alone to support their argument for superiority. (See the use of phrases like "long been" and "reputation for academic excellence" above.) Removed from the prejudice that comes with having a chip on one’s shoulder, however, there is no question that GDS has earned a place among DC’s academic best. The success of its graduates alone attests to that fact. That it reached those ranks in half as many years as Sidwell has existed is a testament to the worth of the school’s mission and its culture: to the collaborative relationships forged between students and staff (reflected in the policy of calling teachers by their first names), the requirement that students be original in their thinking and never are taught by rote, to the value assigned to able linguistic expression, and to the steely confidence students have in their ideas and their worth, irrespective of their background, beliefs, or appearance (as it has been from the start).

GDS isn’t a perfect place, neither is Sidwell or Maret, but it is a school that should be judged on its culture, its atmosphere, its students and its teachers, not its imagined academic deficits. Pulling "rank" over GDS in this discussion should be acknowledged for what it is—a prejudicial red herring, unfounded in reason or fact.

Posted by: R, Nov 10, 2008 11:07:16 PM

GDS is a nice quiet low key liberal school that cares for their students. Interactive learning is stressed and students can call teachers by his or her first name. Individuality, all races, religions and sexual preferences are welcomed. Being the first integrated independent school is historic. GO HOPPERS!!! HOP HOP HOP
A perfect school for the Obama girls. Another option should be HOME SCHOOL. Think about it future Mr. President.

Posted by: nunya, Nov 10, 2008 07:56:17 PM

Maret is a happy place, where kids laugh, play and learn. It’s a place where all are accepted by and all encouraged to take their own path. When visiting GDS we felt that the diversity component was forced and not natural. Maret has all that GDS has in a much more natural setting.

Posted by: Maret Fan, Nov 10, 2008 05:30:12 PM

Posted by: Maret Fan, Nov 10, 2008 05:29:30 PM

What about Holton-Arms?????

Posted by: SMelander, Nov 10, 2008 05:26:09 PM

One thing for sure...those beautiful girls will definitely go to a school that is well represented with diversity. No sprinkling of diversity here and there.

Posted by: Bob, Nov 10, 2008 04:56:07 PM

All of the above mentioned schools are excellent and the Obama daughters will do just fine wherever they end up. All the carping and comparing and dissing is counterproductive - seems like many of the posters have not left their own high school
experiences far enough behind. Demonstrate some maturity and welcome Malia and Sasha to DC.

Posted by: GDS parent, Nov 10, 2008 04:45:52 PM

I wouldn’t say that Sidwell is synonymous with arrogance. It is a school that has long been the top coed school in the area for academics, community service, and diversity. It should be interesting to see where they decide to go but I would be shocked if it is GDS. Maret would definitely be a contender as it is a very ’in’ school right now.

Posted by: Private Schooler, Nov 10, 2008 04:05:55 PM

Obviously the arrogance surpassed the Quaker values.

Posted by: JJ, Nov 10, 2008 04:02:17 PM

Sidwell is synonymous with arrogance not Quaker values. They had no moral problem picking up Al Gore Jr. after he was expelled from St. Albans. Education is more than academic service.

Posted by: wow, Nov 10, 2008 03:57:01 PM

Sidwell has a tendency to exclude parents who are not in the same "social and power" circle. Bethesda maqazine ran an article about this and the principal had to scold parents who were part of this despicable practice. I think Maret is a far better choice.

Posted by: JJ, Nov 10, 2008 03:56:53 PM

I remember a time when we said 1-2-3 PVAC. Hey, let’s all go to Georgetown Day and drop acid in the Safeway parking lot. Then when we go back to school we can call our teachers by their first names. Nice school.

Posted by: PVAC, Nov 10, 2008 02:57:21 PM

Maret I agree with the above poster. GDS shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as Maret or Sidwell...NCS yes.

Posted by: Don, Nov 10, 2008 02:54:37 PM

Why would anyone go to Georgetown Day?

Posted by: Luke, Nov 10, 2008 02:43:37 PM

Maret is probably the best hoice due to the size of the school/campus. As to the prior comment made about Sidwell being a better school, that just isn’t the case. All of the mentioned schools are pretty much equal in terms of academics. The true difference is that GDS is much more liberal, to a detriment, and Maret has the strongest art department of the 3. Sidwell has the best athletic facilities, though the difference is not shown by their performance. And, GDS doesn’t even have a football team.

Posted by: DC Native, Nov 10, 2008 02:42:01 PM

I strongly disagree that Sidwell is academically superior to Maret. I have had children at both schools and the academic rigor is equally strong at both. Sidwell is more elitist about its academics, however, and more rigid about many things. Maret is more attentive to the needs of its students while providing them with an excellent education. For the sake of Sasha and Malia, I hope the Obamas choose Maret. They will love it.

Posted by: Sidwell and Maret parent, Nov 10, 2008 02:31:18 PM

This has the makings of a passive aggressive, elitist private school blog fight!

Posted by: dcer, Nov 10, 2008 01:37:25 PM

I disagree completely. Georgetown Day absolutely has a reputation to equal Sidwell’s and not the negative association to the Clinton’s or their various advisors.

Posted by: X, Nov 10, 2008 01:21:29 PM

There might be personal connections with Maret but Obamas seem like the type of people who would choose a school based on where their daughters would get the best education. This really seems to be Sidwell - neither Maret nor Georgetown Day have the reputation for academic excellence that Sidwell does. Also, Sidwell has been through it before as Chelsea Clinton went there so they understand the logistics of having the first children as students.

Posted by: Thoughts, Nov 10, 2008 12:19:03 PM

Will Malia and Sasha Obama Go to a DC Public School?

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