The Obamas have selected Sidwell Friends

[MANative]

for their daughters' education. According to David Shuster on MSNBC.

[ecstatic]

1. good choice, but why is this public information? nt

[MANative]

8. Don't really know, but it would be nearly impossible to keep

secret. You couldn't keep hundreds of schoolmates from spilling the beans for more than 1 minute. IIRC, Chelsea Clinton went there, too.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

26. The schools of the children of presidents are always always known - it's general knowledge nt

[marshall]

38. It's great PR for the school

I'm sure the administration couldn't wait to crow about it.

[glowing]

2. $30,000.00 per child for tuition.. Man, that's my entire sallary for the year.

Guess, it does pay to be President.

[SuperTrouper]

4. Expect attacks from Ron Christie and Company

[glowing]

12. I don't blame them, if I had the choice, my child would attend the most prestigious

schools I could afford.. I can't.. so its public school and paying attention... AND really, it would be too dangerous for them to attend a public school.

[MANative]

11. That's not an uncommon amount for this level of school...

my SIL is Chief Development (fundraising) officer for a similar school in CT, and they are definitely in the same ballpark.

[LynneSin]

29. And how much tax dollars tracking down those girls if someone nabs them?

Sidwell has been the school of choice for several children of presidents including Chelsea Clinton and children of both Nixon and Eisenhowser.

So clearly this is a school that has the capacity to provide a great education for their children and protect them from harm that might be out there looking for them.

Malia and Sasha were not elected by us nor does it matter where they go to school except someplace where the Obamas feel they can best be protected and received a good education.

[glowing]

33. I understand private school.. and I agree with it.. It just puts my value in perspective.

And everyday, as I age, I realize how insignificant I am in this world.

[LynneSin]

35. Something I found on wiki about this school

38% of the school is minorities and 21% of the school receives financial assistance to attend.

Sidwell's is part of the Quaker education system which are excellent schools. And although Quakers are a religion, we're (cause I'm one too) some of the most liberal of Christians out there. And they don't impose their faith within the school systems.

[glowing]

41. good for them.....

[iamthebandfanman]

59. he can afford it with the salery of the president

and its his money... so why not?

60grand a year is a drop in the bucket when everything else in ur life is payed for AND you have a high salery.

i do it for my kids as well.

[CreekDog]

61. it pays to be wealthy

you don't need to be the president to be able to afford 30k/yr/child

[bluestateguy]

3. Here come the politicizers, on the Left AND the Right.

Anyone who politicizes a family decision concerning a 10 year old and a 7 year old's school choice should be ashamed of themselves.

[Lyric]

5. Same school that Chelsea Clinton went to. Good for them.

:thumbsup:

[tekisui]

37. OHH NOES!!!! JUST ANOTHER CLINTON TERM!!!

:P

[lessthanjake1234]

6. Argh I hate Sidwell

I always had to debate against people from there, and they were pretty good.

I dont actually understand why its 30,000 dollars a year and considered so amazing. I've been there and the facilities are nothing special. I guess the teachers must rock.

[ecstatic]

10. That figure is a bit high... have they turned out any famous

scholars besides Chelsea? :shrug:

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

18. Yep they sure have... (from wikipedia)

Notable alumni of Sidwell Friends include:

* Anne Applebaum ('82), journalist and author
* Jon Bernthal ('95), actor
* Ann Brashares ('85), author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series of books
* Oteil Burbridge ('82), bassist for the Allman Brothers Band
* Setsuko Chichibu ('28), Princess of Japan
* Chelsea Clinton ('97), daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton
* Tricia Nixon Cox ('64) daughter of former President Richard Nixon<2>
* Barney Frank, current member of U.S. Congress.
* John Dickerson ('87), journalist, political commentator, and writer.
* John Deutch ('56), CIA Director, MIT professor
* Margaret Edson ('79), Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Wit
* Dan Froomkin ('81), journalist and Washington Post columnist
* Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. ('69), Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman
* Ana Gasteyer ('85), actress
* Doug Gansler ('81), State's Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland (1999—2007), Attorney General of the State of Maryland, (2007- )
* Charles Gibson, ABC World News Tonight anchor, former host of ABC's Good Morning America.
* Walter Gilbert ('49), Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry
* Paul Goldstein ('94), professional tennis player, 4-time NCAA Champion and All-American at Stanford, 2-time USTA 18 & Under national champion.
* James K Glassman ('65), editorialist, syndicated columnist, and author
* Hanna Holborn Gray ('47 or '48), historian and Provost of Yale University and later the President of University of Chicago
* William Henry Harrison ('14 or '15), Republican Representative from Wyoming (note: this was President William Henry Harrison's great-great-grandson)
* Clara Jeffery ('85), Editor of Mother Jones magazine
* John Katzenbach ('68), author
* Philip S. Khoury ('67), Ford International Professor of History & Associate Provost, MIT
* Jair Lynch ('89), Gymnast, 1996 Olympic Silver Medalist in parallel bars
* Campbell McGrath ('80), poet and winner of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award"
* Daniel Mudd ('76), CEO of Fannie Mae
* Bill Nye ('73), television personality and scientist
* Archibald Roosevelt ('12?), son of Theodore Roosevelt
* Susan Shreve, professor, author and novelist
* Andrew Szanton ('81), author, memoir collaborator
* Oleg Alexandrovich Troyanovsky, Soviet ambassador to the United Nations
* Robin Weigert ('87), actress

[pnwmom]

36. I'm sure they have small class sizes. Teachers' salaries are the biggest item

of the budget in a school like this.

[DCBob]

7. Sidwell is a great school from what I have heard from the wealthy locals.

I think Chelsea went there, right?

[redstate_democrat]

14. I think Georgetown Day would have been better

but it's their decision, so whatever.

[JoFerret]

27. Agreed - on both points

...we can't remake the Obamas in our own progressive image.

[MANative]

16. That's my recollection, too.

It has a great reputation among the private school mavens. My SIL works in this field, and as I'm also in an Education-related field, we talk about them often. She says it's definitely top tier.

[kwenu]

9. Great choice. I have a friend that teaches there.

[LostinVA]

13. TERRIFIC school

[Patsy Stone]

15. Yay!

The Middle School is completely green. Good on them.

http://www.sidwell.edu/green_tour/

[MANative]

22. That's a HUGE trend in private day schools.

My SIL's school also has a big push to produce their own energy, developing a vegetable garden for spring, BIG outdoor education focus.

[Patsy Stone]

56. That's a good thing

I happened to see a TV program on Sidwell Friends last week. It's amazing what they've done, and it's wonderful to see how serious they are about it.

:thumbsup:

[Renew Deal]

17. That is a PNAC, School of Americas training ground. What kind of change is that? I'm Outraged!!!!1

:argh:





:rofl:

[Generator]

24. Yep they can grow up and become hedge fund managers

just like Chelsea. It's inspiring work.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/real-work-clint.html

The former first lady's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, works for New York-based hedge fund Avenue Capital Group. She previously worked in New York for McKinsey & Company, her first job after graduating with her master's degree from Oxford University.

[Renew Deal]

44. Are you suggesting that there's something wrong with that?

[Mass]

19. Well, this is their decision. They chose what they thought was best for their daughters and

it should not be criticized (though I am sure some will).

[JoFerret]

20. Not a surprise

Georgetown Day probably came across as too progressive for them.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JoFerret]

49. Rant all you want sweetie

These are both wonderful schools and neither of them could be called "traditional". However - GDS is a more "progressive" on most educational scales. I do know quite a bit about both of these wonderful schools.

I am sorry you are so ignorant that you need to rant on this rather unimportant matter. But - as you clearly do not know - there ARE differences between the two schools. In NYC it would be the difference between Trinity and Dalton or Riverdale and Fieldston. All great schools. Similar picks in Chicago and other big cities.

Fact is - the Obama children will probably succeed wherever they go to school.

[FrenchieCat]

21. I sent my daughter the best Private high school in California

which was also rated 6th best in the nation in the WSJ's latest ranking.
http://niketalk.yuku.com/topic/23413


She's in her last year at Harvard today.

Investing in education does have its pay offs.

I say that as an African-Americn (actually French bi-racial) who
grew up understanding what a superior education is the only
answer to overcoming racial barriers....for which Barack Obama
has proven accurate.

[tigereye]

30. isnt' it amazing how much they cost - almost as much as some good colleges

I have to decide where to send my son to high school - and the secular private high schools here are in the 20s. That's a lot of money!


I'd rather pay for education than for an expensive house or car, though.

[pnwmom]

40. When I decided to put my daughter into a private high school

(because of academic needs that couldn't be met in any of the public high schools), I told a neighbor that I'd rather spend the money on her education than on remodeling the kitchen or something. "WHY?" she said, looking shocked. I was kind of shocked that any parent in that situation wouldn't feel that way.

[AlCzervik]

45. i used to get the same reaction from my neighbors who tapped their homes to buy

land yachts and pools.

[pnwmom]

47. Yeah, this particular family also took expensive vacations twice a year,

which we never did. And drove nice newer cars! (Often our youngest car was more than 10 years old.)

I always explained to my kids that we were saving our money so they would have more options for education instead, and even as young kids they understood this.

[tigereye]

51. we have paid for private school for about 8 years, my son is in 7th now

so that he could go to a good, small, kind elementary school that has progressive values.


That's more important to me than fancy stuff - I always say the only newer furniture we have around here, other than the couch - is bookcases!


:rofl:

[pnwmom]

55. You can never have too many

bookcases, can you?

[tigereye]

63. not as far as I am concerned

:hi:


I'm always stunned when I go to people's homes and see no books.

[ecstatic]

52. I feel the same way.

I don't have kids, but when I do, they won't be stepping one foot into a Georgia public school. I will make the necessary sacrifices for their future.

[FrenchieCat]

46. Exactly.....

My husband and I certainly did sacrifice!

Not too many shoes in my closet!

The school cost $23,000 per year at the time.
18 students on average per class.
and unlimited resources, ski trips, and an excellent extra curriculum programs.

For Applicants, getting into that school had a smaller success rate than getting into Harvard....
cause the graduating classes were teeny; 80 on the average at that school.

It wasn't called The College Preparatory School without good reason.

[MANative]

32. You are very right in your view about investment in education making

a big difference. My nephews, who both graduated from a private day school, are both doing very well in large part as a result of their exposure to progressive and creative education. The younger one is being recruited (as a Junior) by more than 20 colleges and universities. Among them are Ivy League schools and the Naval Academy (which he visited and has decided NOT to attend.) He'll have a commitment by January 1st somewhere.

I can't speak to the specifics of helping to overcome racial barriers, but it seems to me that it would be a positive factor. Congratulations on your daughter's achievement, and in your wisdom and foresight in investing in her bright future! As an educator, it would be my fondest dream to be able to provide that level of quality education to every student, the cost be damned. :hi:

[JoFerret]

54. Ah - "the best"

The best is not the best.

[galaxy21]

23. I think its a security thing more than anything else

I'm sure they would have liked a public school, but a private one makes it easier for the secret service.

[alwysdrunk]

25. I wish they would have gone public

Not realistic I know, but I hope they at least considered it. In Britain two years ago it was a big deal when one of the Labour Party ministers had her kids in private school. A different situation I know, but I like that sentiment.

[VADem11]

28. They considered

but considering the state of DC public schools, it was obvious that they would go private.

[LynneSin]

31. I think it's more the level of security

Sidwell has smaller classes which would make it easier to protect those girls. And this has been a school used to educating the children of presidents. Not only did Chelsea go there but so did children of Nixon and Eisenhowser.

[pnwmom]

43. I don't. I don't think kids should be used as political pawns or to make

political points. Picking a school based on anything other than the girls' individual needs would be unfair to them. They're going to have to make huge adjustments as it is.

[CreekDog]

62. exactly right.

:applause:

[WI_DEM]

39. OMG!! another Clinton influence!! Chelsea went to Sidwell Friends.

[Jennicut]

42. Didn't Chelsea go there? Its a great place.

[Undercurrent]

48. Good choice. Long history of

protecting the privacy of kids of famous people.

[Are_grits_groceries]

50. Biden's grandkids go there.

Malia apparently has made friends with one of them and wanted to go to Sidwell.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/?hpid=artslot

[Undercurrent]

58. Oh I didn't know

the Biden grand kids are at Sidwell. That's good. Sleepovers at the White House would be so cool!

I'm so looking forward to our White House being a real family home again, full of light, laughter and children. It's been such a dark, almost foreboding place of late.

[livedemocarticordie]

53. GDS (Georgetown..

Day was in the finals but not chosen which does not surprise me. My son goes there and it is very progressive including a Fairness to gay, bi and transgendered persons assembly. The school puts alot of emphasis on peace, equality and social justice starting in the lower grades. They also have a more diverese racially and ethnically teacher corp and more gays teacher at both the lower and high school. Tuition is same as Sidwell, crazy high.Sidwell is a safer choice with a history of taking in presidential kids and it will get mucch less scrutiny by the right for its elite Quaker background. GDS does not have alot of repub kids and parents and was founded by wealthy Jewish and Black families whose kids were not accepted into many of DC's private schools in the 40s and 50s. Mary Landrieu's son attends, Eric Holders daughter too.

[AZBlue]

60. GDS is a good school too but I think SF is much safer.

They have just about any other school beat by a mile on that end.

[qwlauren35]

57. Same School Amy Carter Went To.

I knew people there - it's a great school. Quaker, tolerant but moral.