Obama daughters to attend Sidwell Friends

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: CNN

(CNN) – Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter confirms to CNN the Obama daughters will attend Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC.

"They looked at a lot of great schools but they felt Sidwell fit their best interests," spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter told CNN.

Chelsea Clinton also attended the school when her father was in the White House.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/21/obama-daughters-to-attend-sidwell-friends/

[Drunken Irishman]

1. MORE CONNECTIONS TO THE CLINTONS! THIS IS NOT CHANGE!

IT'S MORE OF THE SAME!!!!!!!!!!1

[VeraAgnes]

2. Oh stop it!

Look how great Chelsea has turned out..a fine young lady! She is well educated too.

[gorbal]

19. It looks like a wonderful place

Check out this documentary made by the students there, it really gives an idea of what it is like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q30Ggqtu6Q&feature=related

[sniffa]

11. Ha!

I should have read the thread first.

:rofl:

[peacebird]

25. Sidwell Friends is a great school.

[Dorian Gray]

29. LOL

It's a freaking school. And a good one, too.

[MikeE]

3. That's the one I thought they might select

My former boss's daughter went there. It is a great school.

[Fridays Child]

4. Actually, I'm glad they did. I don't think it's fair to burden a public school, whose...

...students don't have the choice to leave, with all of the security issues surrounding a president's children. And Sidwell Friends already knows what adjustments will need to be made. They won't have to re-invent the wheel.

[MidwestTransplant]

8. Exactly. It would be very tough to provide them security in a public school

with likely many more children per class, etc. On the bright side, if she did go to a public school, that school would become safer.

[MoJoWorkin]

5. I believe Biden's granddaughters go to Sidwell Friends---Hunter's daughters.

So the Obama girls would already know someone there. I bet that was one consideration among many. Security was probably a big issue as well.

[elleng]

16. Its one of the issues

mentioned in Post story, probably my favorite! Selecting schools such a pain in the neck!

[northernlights]

6. I'm not surprised

I really didn't think they'd go to a public school, based only on security. I figure it will be easier to protect them in a smaller, private school.

Given the pathetic state of this country, that has to be a paramount consideration.

[DFW]

7. I attended Sidwell Friends for a few years when I lived in the DC area

I hope for the Obama kids it has become a better place than it was when I was there.
Back in the sixties, the atmosphere there was, to put it mildly, repressive.

[kestrel91316]

9. In the ensuing FORTY YEARS, my guess is, it has changed, lol.

[DFW]

20. Maybe, but some places like Sidwell take pride in not changing at all.

That was their big mantra when I was there. A nominally Quaker school, they
enthusiatically supported the war (Vietnam then) and outspoken opponents
were discouraged from overtly making their views known, and boys were harassed
every day by nasty staff to get their hair cut. I hope for the Obama kids that
it has indeed lightend up in the 40 years since.

Ten years ago, I met up with the new Headmaster of Andover. She assured me that
it has changed from the repressive place it was when I attended, and asked me
to consider it for my daughters (and maybe some alumni contributions). I politely
declined. A school like that should not focus exclusively on pleasing alumni by
making it to conform to their whitewashed memories of what it was. It should also
remember that the generation currently there is the one of future alumni donations
and the one that will decide to send their own kids there or not. Of course, this
was only my point of view. One guy who graduated a few years before me must have
had a great time there. His dad was the one who interviewed me when I applied. He
was a "legacy" acceptance, who probably fit right in. His name was George W. Bush.
I was definitely the outsider there!

[Hannah Bell]

21. Bush 1 interviewed you for prep school admission? Why?

[DFW]

22. He was an alumnus. They do that. I'm sure the choice was purely random

I didn't even know he was in government until my Dad told me afterward.
He was just George Bush, period.

Don't forget, this was 1969, and he was just a TX congressman at the time.
He seemed such a plain boring guy. For all I knew, he could have been the
corner pharmacist. If you had told me that later on he would head the CIA
and then become VP and president, I would have told you at the time to cut
down on your consumption of hallucinogenic drugs.

*on edit--there's also the possibility that he checked me out, thought to
himself, "here's a kid who's even more boring than I am" and decided to
do my interview himself.

[Hannah Bell]

23. The alumnus interview the applicants? all the alumnus, or just special ones?

have you?

[DFW]

24. I think any of them can do it. You just make yourself available.

Bush I was at Andover at the time, and so I got him. Maybe he was on the
way to or from Kennebunkport, who knows? It's a day's drive.

I'm stationed in Europe, so I don't really count as someone they can call
on to do this for a school like Andover, where most students are from the
Western Hemisphere. Their overseas program, Schoolyear Abroad, which I also
attended as a high school student (Spain, 1968-1969) has asked me to do
interviews for prospective students, but, again, this is mostly for American
kids to get an experience overseas. Since I'm already overseas, I'm not in
a convenient location to do that. Back when I was in Spain, they only had
overseas programs in Spain and France, and took us over to Europe on a
converted World War II Italian freighter. It was for students only, and
was a wreck. The first word I learned in Swedish was seasick (sjösjuk).
Now, they are not only in Spain and France, but in Italy, China and India
as well, and they take planes now. Best thing that ever happened to me
(schoolwise, that is). At the time, they offered students a chance to apply
to one of the sponsoring schools, which back then were Andover and Exeter.
Several more are now sponsors. I left Sidwell to go to Spain and never looked
back, although Andover seemed like a concentration camp after the freedom of
movement we enjoyed in Spain. Luckily, I was a "first-year senior," and so
didn't have to contemplate enduring another year there.

[Hannah Bell]

34. interesting, thanks.

[DeepModem Mom]

26. I read that all three of the schools they considered -- Sidwell, Georgetown Day...

and Maret -- are considered liberal/progressive schools. The roster of parents mentioned would confirm that. I know that many kids had horrible experiences at some of these schools in the past, but more recent graduates of some of our finest preps that I know well have been educated in an atmosphere that is very liberal politically. The schools are extremely tough academically -- maybe too much so -- but the thought in many if not most, I think, is now both humane and liberal.

That's just our personal experience, of course.

[DFW]

27. Could be. My experience was 40 years ago

I spent one year at Georgetown Day, and it was anything BUT elite. Lots of inner-city kids,
extremely mixed, both racially and socially. Sidwell was almost purely white. First black
kid in my class didn't show up until after I did. There were maybe five altogether above me,
including one guy who had an IQ off the charts. His name was Roger Ferguson, and kids followed
him around the halls asking him questions on all subjects. I ran into him again about 8 years
ago, and after catching up on old schoolmates we both knew, he casually mentioned he was Alan
Greenspan's #2 guy at the Federal Reserve. I knew then, and know now, zip about Maret other than
that it was there. I found neither Georgetown nor Sidwell especially challenging academically,
but maybe I lucked out with my teachers. If they have all changed for the better, then good for
them. My experience was what it was at the time, and I can't speak for those who came after me.

[DeepModem Mom]

28. You've had amazing experiences, DFW! And I wanted to add --

that, of course, in a perfect world, ALL children would have opportunity for excellence in education, which is so far from the case.

[DFW]

33. If ALL children had a shot at a good education there wouldn't be Republicans

Or at least not as many rabid-rightists of the kind who froth at the mouth
and call us "soshalists," "kommanists" and "libbruls," and think they have
called us the worst names in the book.

It is no accident that Republican administrations give education such a low
priority. They probably deem it (and probably correctly so) to be detrimental
to the future of their party.

[DeepModem Mom]

36. You are correct, Sir! nt

[Dorian Gray]

30. Andover and Sidwell

Some pretty high fallutin' schools in your past!

[DFW]

32. I'll tell you what, it sure didn't seem so at the time.

Just more places with teachers and staff with idiosyncrasies to get used to, and
rules to follow. Check this out: at Andover, we were given a roll of printed tickets,
like the ones you get when you go to the movies. The individual tickets were labeled
from A to W or something like that. On Sundays, we were forced to attend religious
services. They had a big chapel there, and the tickets they gave us were "religion
tickets." I swear I am not making this up. We were told to hand in "religion ticket A"
for the first service, etc etc, so they could count and make sure we all went. Kim Il
Sung would have been proud of their forced indoctrination practices. After the first
time, I nearly gagged. The only out was if you declared yourself to be of a religion
offered in a church (or synagogue, or whatever) somewhere nearby. I despised the
Protestant stuff they made us sit through at Andover, so I said I was a Unitarian,
and hoped for the best. I lucked out. The members of the Andover Unitarian church were
cool as cucumbers, and the first thing I was asked when my ride dropped me off at the
church was if I wanted to be in the chapel during the service or hang out with the kids
my age who hung out in the kitchen during the service. Guess where I hung out.

Better yet, I got a special dispensation to leave campus on Sunday nights (forbidden
under Andover rules, at least then) to go to "meetings" at the church of the Unitarian
Youth group, the LRY (Liberal Religious Youth). Liberal we were. Religious we were not.
But we got to spend 2 hours every Sunday night with coffee and cake, and making cool music
in the church. You can imagine the fun I had playing Light My Fire (the long version) on
their huge church pipe organ!! The faculty at Andover never figured it out. I told some of
the guys there that I trusted about what was going on, and the ranks of Unitarians swelled
from one (me) in the first semester to about ten. I was the official attendance taker,
so anyone who didn't want to get out of bed was told to stay out of sight until the rest
of us got back from the Unitarian church, and marked "present." I didn't even make them
show me their religion tickets. The local kids thought I was exotic because I preferred
hanging with them than with my fellow "preppies," and the Andover guys (most of them,
anyway) thought I was weird for the very same reason. I learned early not to care a whole
hell of a lot if people started putting labels on me.

But you get the idea. Rules and regulations were more important than academics, although
they were tough in their own right--made Sidwell seem like nursery school. But hi-falutin?
Hardly. Some fancy names and a few paintings on the walls of guys who haven't been around
for a century or two, but if there was any prestige involved, it sure went right past me.

[sniffa]

10. The same school that Chelsea attended?

That's not change!

[democracy1st]

12. ur being ugly like that avatar !

[midnight]

13. Look at how well Chelsea turned out. She is the very best of

Mom and Dad. I don't see how this could not be a great move.

[Divernan]

17. She IS very bright and HAS made a LOT of money out of hedge funds

but what has she ever done for anyone besides herself or her parents? I'm talking about public service jobs, even for a year, or being a spokesperson for any charity or political cause - that kind of thing. She could have gotten a lot of valuable publicity for any group for which she expressed support. But she hasn't made time in her life to do so.

She has been successful in her career (did I mention hedge funds?), using her parents' connections to get well paid jobs for which she did not have the normal academic qualifications or prior experience.

"In 2003, Clinton joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in New York City; she was the youngest person hired in her class, hired alongside those holding MBAs (she has neither a Bachelor's or grad. degree in business/economics/finance or the like. Must have been a lot of on the job training going on.) In the fall of 2006, she left McKinsey and went to work for Avenue Capital Group, a hedge fund run by Marc Lasry, a donor to Democratic causes and supporter of the Clintons." (from Wikipedia)

She could have used her parents' connections to get a job with international relief groups, or something at the United Nations - but the money would have been far less. Her father is beginning to make noises about how Chelsea is the best politician "in the family". Gues that depends on what your definition of "best" is.

[burrowowl]

14. Go QUAKERS!

PEACE is the THEME!

[nolabear]

15. It's a different kind of security

that will benefit the Obama girls at Sidwell. They're not emblems of change; they're not symbols of the common folk; they're little girls, who will have a lot to deal with over the next, I hope, eight years. It's hard enough to be the child of a powerful figure. Such kids often wonder if people like them for themselves or for the status of being associated with them. At a school where many of the kids are the children of politicians and other influential people, they stand at least a better chance of feeling comfortable. I feel for them. This isn't going to be easy, and I get every indication that Barack and Michelle will try to do the best they can for them in a situation where it's going to be hard to grow up "normal."

[mwei924]

18. They said the girls had already become good friends with Biden's grandkids

That was one of the reasons why they chose it.

Awww, that's so cute. Their families already love each other.

[clear eye]

31. I looked into their high school course books

and found that it is better than those chosen in public schools, but not particularly Quaker. http://bookstore.mbsdirect.net/vb_buy.php?ACTION=top&CSID=Q2K0QUK0CKD0CDDCMMKO22D2D&VCHI=1 They seem to be studiously avoiding controversy by not offering a course on either economics or current affairs. The history books are better-written, better organized versions of the standard U.S. curriculum. One of the books does include a little more than usual on Judeo-Christian relations w/ a subtext of religious tolerance, but that is not its main focus.

They have a senior elective called "Political and Philosophic Thought", but the readings are Aristotle, Cicero, Dante, Hobbes, St. Augustine, Abelard and Heloise, de Pizan, Plato. Nothing w/i the last 300 years!

They teach Latin, but also Chinese.

The books required for their courses on Latin America and the Middle East are refreshingly free of judgementalism of the people and institutions of those areas, but perpetrate the bizarre idea that the U.S. has been a constant source of support and encouragement for "democratization" in those areas, which has steadily increased and succeeds only to the extent that they are able to take U.S. advice. Hardly the sort of info I got in the late 60's from the Friends National Service Committee (now the American Friends Service Committee).

I don't know how much that politically avoidant orientation affects the lower grades the Obama girls will be attending, but I doubt the children are encouraged to take a pacifist stand, in contrast to the atmosphere at some other Quaker schools. The good news is that the school is very pro-environmental responsibility for oneself, but it doesn't pass judgement on the actions of our government or industry.

A background there would foster a well-meaning attitude. It would also encourage graduates to believe that anyone who dissents from U.S. policies is either an unreasonable troublemaker, or simply doesn't understand how our government always does its best to improve things for everyone everywhere.

[JoFerret]

38. AND - they don't rank. No NCLB for Sidwell

(from Wikipedia) The school does not rank its students, as this conflicts with the Quaker Testimony of Equality.

[JoFerret]

35. Let's hope Obama takes Sidwell education values national

Why I'm Scared to Death About Obama's Education Policies

This is why (click to read article) despite contributing to his campaign and voting proudly for Barack Obama, I have trouble sleeping at night in anticipation of his education policies.

The only times I've heard Obama speak about education, he has called for merit pay, increased accountability, praised D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee (check out this fine article about her) In other words, President-Elect Obama (unless I am proven wrong) believes the same BS that drove NCLB and many of the other bad ideas oppressing children and teachers.

Here is an idea for President-Elect Obama...

""The $29,000 per year Sidwell Friends School is a fine learning environment and institution with a proud history of excellence. His daughters will be very happy there.

President and First Lady Obama should study everything done at Sidwell Friends School and copy it in every school across America. If it's good enough for his daughters, it's good enough for the children they are leaving behind.

Here is a most stunning principle of the school the Obama children and Biden grandchildren will be attending:

(from Wikipedia) The school does not rank its students, as this conflicts with the Quaker Testimony of Equality.


What? Not ranking students??? No winners or losers? No AYP? Where is the accountability in that?

Perhaps there are other ways of identifying educational accomplishment?

You wouldn't think so if you listened to President-elect Obama speak about public education.

From: http://www.stager.org/blog/2008/11/why-im-scared-to-death-about-obamas.html

[elleng]

37. I understand that Linda Darling-Hammond

has played a large role in his 'education' group.

http://ed.stanford.edu/suse/faculty/displayRecord.php?suid=ldh