Which School Will Pass the Obamas' Test? Sidwell, Georgetown Day, Maret Hope for the Score

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Which School Will Pass the Obamas' Test?
Sidwell, Georgetown Day, Maret Hope for the Score
By Valerie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 14, 2008; C01


Maret School
(Marvin Joseph/WP)

....It's the talk of the town, in coffee shops, workplaces and classrooms: Where will President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, decide to send 10-year-old daughter Malia and 7-year-old daughter Sasha to school when they move into the White House?

Those in the know believe the search process has been narrowed to three pricey and prestigious private schools that all have connections to the Obamas: Sidwell Friends School, Georgetown Day School and Maret School. Michelle Obama thrilled the denizens of Sidwell and GDS by visiting on Monday -- she squeezed in a visit to the White House with her husband between schools -- and is believed to have made a stealth visit to the Maret campus in recent months. She had planned on visiting there Monday, too, but did not show up.

The future first lady and the girls are planning to visit at least two of the three schools next week, according to sources close to the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the Obamas, who want to conduct the search in private....

***

"In New York, it's all about money," said an official at one of the schools, who would not agree to be named. "Washington is about power and who you know."

Well, money figures in, too: If the Obamas choose any of these three schools, they can expect a stiff price hike. They currently send their girls to the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where tuition goes up by grade -- $18,492 a year for second-graders like Sasha and $20,286 for fifth-graders like Malia. Meanwhile, merely enrolling one's child in pre-kindergarten at Sidwell, long the choice of many of Washington's most elite families, costs $28,442 a year.

The institutions the Obamas are considering are already deluged with more applications for each spot than they can handle -- and some years they are harder to get into than an Ivy League school. It's a safe bet, though, that they'll all be able to make room for two new transfer students from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

All three schools tend to be politically liberal, although Georgetown Day, where students call their teachers by their first names, has traditionally been seen as the most progressive of the three. It was founded in 1945 as the first integrated school in the city -- public or private -- and has retained diversity as its mission. Even the curriculum is wrapped around issues of diversity and justice; middle school students do a whole unit on the Harlem Renaissance. About 37 percent of its population identify as students of color. (Sidwell: 39 percent. Maret: 35.) GDS has more than 1,000 students and two five-acre campuses....

Sidwell, founded as a Quaker school, landed both Chelsea Clinton and Al Gore's son, Albert III, and when Chelsea graduated in 1997, the commencement speaker was none other than her dad, the sitting president. The school of more than 1,000 students has developed a strong emphasis on environmental issues -- even having its new middle school recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council. The educational environment at Sidwell can be highly competitive, and admissions officials have told prospective parents not to apply if their children cannot handle a tough academic load....

Maret, which was founded as a French primary school for girls in 1911, later became a coed school, and was for many years known for its country club atmosphere and powerful social cliques. That changed decades ago, and it has risen in prestige since Marjo Talbott took over almost 15 years ago as head of the school, toughening the standards and expanding the curriculum. (Talbott is the sister of foreign policy adviser Strobe Talbott, whom the Obamas are reported to admire.)...

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The District's public school system has long been troubled, although there are some high-performing schools, and city officials say Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee have spoken with the president-elect's family about public school options. The last presidential child to attend a public school was Amy Carter in the 1970s (and she was the first for 71 years). The Clintons were criticized for not choosing a public school, though last year Hillary Clinton said the couple's decision arose at least in part from a desire to protect their daughter from scrutiny: "I was advised, and it was, unfortunately, good advice, that if she were to go to a public school, the press would never leave her alone."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/13/AR2008111304169_pf.html

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. I would tend toward saying they should go to public school

It's important for people like the Obamas to support public education. OTOH, I can see Sen. Clinton's point about security issues.

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. They cared more about their daughters' future to send them to private school in Chicago

I suspect that they will do the same in DC.

[CTyankee]

2. At first glance, it would seem that GDS would be foremost in the Obama's thinking

given that school's emphasis on diversity but I have long admired Sidwell Friends.

Thanks for posting this. It's very informative.

[monmouth]

3. I had a friend as a child who went to Friends School, wow, it was

wonderful and she received a beautiful education. I was a guest many times and wished, wished...LOL