11.07.09, 09:14 AM 23 replies
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how is the parent interview at Grace Church? Who is it with?

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11.07.09, 09:14 AM Flag ]
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  • how is the parent interview at Grace Church? Who is it with?

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    11.07.09, 09:14 AM Flag ]
    • DOA - She is a lttle odd

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      11.07.09, 09:26 AM Flag
    • doa - margery. ours was very typical stuff. what is dc like? what kind of school are you looking for. nothing more probing or specific. then she pitched the school to us (for what seemed like the majority of the interview). I would say it was one of our worst interviews. we felt like we didn't connect with her about anything substantive. but maybe she wasn't interested in us.

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      11.07.09, 09:51 AM Flag
      • np--Asking what kind of school you are looking for can be answered in very specific ways. Perhaps your answer was vague. Grace is a religious school that focuses on the whole child. Kids being nice is as important as kids learning to read. It is a traditional school, with the belief that kids learn specific sets of knowledge. There's a video on the website in which the head of school talks about the school's philosophy.

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        11.07.09, 10:47 AM Flag
        • ^^^ Grace has around 50% male teachers--another good point to touch on if that is important to you. Also, there are school exchanges with schools in China, India and Japan. Do your homework before you visit a school and interviews can have a lot of interaction.

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          11.07.09, 11:09 AM Flag
          • or: believe me she told us all about this (and we had just heard it all on the tour and seen a presentation from the head). We knew loads about this school but still thought the interview was blah. We have had other good interviews at schools we liked less. The chemistry was not there.

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            11.07.09, 11:14 AM Flag
          • We are parents there and I don't think of Grace as a religious school-- there is a weekly non-denominational chapel, but that is it. Lots of diversity of religion, and the school is no longer associated with the church.

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            11.08.09, 03:25 PM Flag
            • Have you attended the school's Christmas pageant?

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              11.09.09, 03:20 PM Flag
              • do you mean the Church pageant or what the 8th grade does? I have been to latter. Grace is quite clear saying they are non-denominational.

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                11.09.09, 03:52 PM Flag
                • Non-denominational does not mean non-religious. It means not adhering to any particular Christian denomination. And, yes, I'm talking about the school pageant where the 8th graders re-inact the nativity. I find the school mildly religious, (and, as an atheist, I can handle it for my dc), but it is misleading to say it is not religious.

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                  11.09.09, 07:58 PM Flag
      • ITA.... Margery was pleasant enough but also didn't feel we connected at all. She didn't really try to sell the school on us so maybe she *really* wasn't interested in us. Was our second worst interview -nothing can match the duo Trinity interview for sheer social awkwardness!

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        11.07.09, 10:49 AM Flag
    • how long was your interview with Margery?

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      11.07.09, 12:37 PM Flag
    • Tangent: what do people think of Head of School? Is he new-ish?

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      11.07.09, 12:48 PM Flag
      • he's not new.

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        11.07.09, 02:20 PM Flag
      • definitely not new... think he said he

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        11.09.09, 08:36 PM Flag
        • whooops... think he said he'd been there something like 15 years. DH and I quite enjoyed him and thought he had a clear vision for the school. Also liked the fact that he stayed connected with the kids by teaching a science class in addition to being HoS. However, he has a type of quirky personality that I could see a lot of people disliking. We personally thought he was one of Grace's best assets.

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          11.09.09, 09:09 PM Flag
    • np - interesting. i felt the same way, that she wasn't interested in us, and/or that we didn't do well. i didn't feel like we had much opportunity to talk about how/why we liked Grace. I guess we were nervous but feel like we bombed.

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      11.07.09, 02:28 PM Flag
    • thanks all! did she give you feedback on playdate?1

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      11.07.09, 02:29 PM Flag
      • our playdate is after interview so I can't comment, but I did see the playdate leaders come down with a group of kids and their only comment to the waiting moms was "we had fun!"

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        11.07.09, 06:01 PM Flag
    • In addition to the questions mentioned above we were also asked how we disciplined our DC. Also, I wonder if she has less "say" than other DOAs because she doesn't do anything with the playdates (it seems as if it's just the teachers in there). At all our other schools so far, the DOA has been around and in the class for the playdates.

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      11.07.09, 06:30 PM Flag
      • that might explain how she can be so terrible and still at the school.

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        11.08.09, 02:06 PM Flag
    • The DOA there was awful, we didn't think she even knew that much about the school and she wasn't interested at all in us. At one point she told us she couldn't answer a question and to ask the Head! I can't imagine how she got that job.

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      11.08.09, 02:00 PM Flag
    • You also meet with the Headmaster, but in a group with other parents. The parent interview with DOA is one on one.

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      11.08.09, 02:30 PM Flag
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