Student rejected by 13 schools case may go to Supreme Court

Parent Cafe
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But their lawsuit was about a claimed breach of an earlier mediated settlement in a lawsuit or complaint they had brought when the student was still enrolled. So the point is that the family was suing the school while the student was still enrolled there.

So the whole point is that they did indeed sue over a math grade when the kid was still at the school and there was an ongoing relationship.

And then down the line they are apparently complaining because some LOR (from another math teacher?) used the phrase “powering through” instead of “gifted.”

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I have no doubt that, where college admissions is concerned, there is a severe disconnect between the attitude of parents like the Adetus (and they are hardly alone) and the attitude of the faculty and administration at Sidwell Friends. (Here, let me make clear that I am assuming that Sidwell Friends is the same as the very similar school with which I was intimately familiar.)

The Adetus’ attitude is more or less “It is the school’s job to get our child accepted at the best institution possible.” The school’s attitude is, “We love your child and fully appreciate her unique light. Our job is to make certain she has the opportunity to attend a college that will truly nourish her light.”

There’s always the possibility of a trainwreck there. Often, the results wind up satisfactory to both, notwithstanding their differences. But sometimes not.

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Wise words, JHS, and applicable everywhere.

You make a valid point, calmom. I had in mind the continuation of the suit with the petition to the Supreme Court. Not surprising that it is not going anywhere.

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Assuming Forbes is considered a decent enough source to quote
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2019/06/15/not-getting-into-13-hyper-selective-colleges-isnt-a-good-reason-to-sue-your-dc-high-school/#25c67c5a49b7
The opinion/point is similar to JHS - and suggests that the reason for Sidwell focusing on Spelman was to maximize a chance of admission, given an EA waitlist from Princeton and a list otherwise full of reaches.

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Yes, the Adetus certainly have had no qualms about creating a negative relationship with Sidwell while their children were still enrolled I believe the order of events during the period while the children were enrolled was.

2010 – Sidwell Math teacher sends Lola (older sister) to Sidwell Honor Committee on “trumped up charges.” Honor Committee exonerates Lola. The Adetus file Charge of Discrimination with the OHR against the School due to "Sidwell engaged in disparate treatment, and retaliation for Lola having engaged in protected EEO activity, by providing inaccurate, disparaging information regarding Lola generally and specifically during the college applications process. In that case, Lola was rejected for admission by each University to which she applied and Sidwell submitted commentary. Conversely, she was accepted by each University, which Sidwell did not provide either commentary or letters of “recommendation,” e.g., Georgetown University and the University of Michigan. "

2011-12 – Dayo begins sophomore year. The Adetus claim Dayo first notices retaliatory grading practices in Math II. They claim the grading practices resulted in Dayo receiving a “C+/C,” which successfully prevented Dayo’s matriculation to Math III—which entrance into required a minimum grade of “B.”

Summer – The Adetus complain to headmaster about math II grade and not being allowed to take Math III. The headmaster repeatedly denies requests, allegedly saying "“this is a good lesson for Dayo to learn that she cannot always get what she wants” and that he was “sure that Dayo already [knew] more math than Obama.”

2012-13 – Dayo begins junior year including “calculus” (appears to be a pre-calc type class). The Adetus repeatedly appeal to the headmaster over the Math II grading. They claim, “Mr. Farquhar, having clearly grown frustrated by the Parents’ advocacy on behalf of Dayo, angrily blurted out during a meeting “all of the teachers want the Adetus gone, gone, gone from the School,” and that “non-retaliation [against Dayo] is now off the table.””

March 2013 – Dayo receives a (pre)calculus grade short of the threshold for senior year BC and requests that her calculus grade be re-computed. The math teacher states that her grade is correct and she is a good fit for AB instead of BC.

April 2013 – The Adetus file a Complaint of Discrimination and Reprisal on Dayo’s behalf with the D.C. Office of Human Rights, relating to grading in Math II and Calculus, and wrongful math course placement. After receiving the complaint, Sidwell permits changes position and allows Dayo to enroll in Calculus BC.

July 2013 – Dayo requests the raw scores from her calculus class and how they factored in to her 2nd semester B+ calculus grade. The Adetus claim the computation was incorrect, including double counting senior exam and homework weighting. The Adetus and Sidwell participated in mediation at OHR, which resulted in the entry of a Settlement Agreement, pursuant to which Respondent agreed, in part, to: “(1) pay Petitioners $50,000; (2) not retaliate against Dayo; (3) to recalculate “in good faith” “with explanation” Dayo’s “Fall and Spring Semesters-Calculus 2012-2013” and “Math II 2011-2012” grades by September 30, 2013; (4) record any grade “increases” in “Dayo’s official record and transcript with [Sidwell]” by September 30, 2013; and (5) not make any “disparaging or negative statements or comments” about Dayo to “any business, organization, individuals or other persons regarding matters relevant to this Agreement.””

2013-14 – Dayo begins senior year, including college applications.

Sept 2013 – The Adetus claim Brown track and field coach says, “Brown’s track coach informed Dayo that based upon the “feedback” from Sidwell officials, the recruitment effort must cease and desist.”

Oct 2013 – The Adetus claim transcript was not updated per Sep 30th settlement deadline. After contacting the headmaster, they claim he said, ““I am aware of the deadline.” The Adetus claim Sidwell told the National Achievement Scholarship Program, “Dayo was intellectually incapable of performing well in advanced courses.” The Adetus meet with GC and ask about Brown. They claim GC “proudly” tells them that Brown dropped Dayo like a hot potato.

Nov 2013 --The Adetus file a Petition for Breach of Settlement Agreement due to "Sidwell’s failure to in good faith accurately and timely recompute Dayo’s Math II and Calculus grades and failure to timely provide the mandated written explanations. " The petition was pending or litigated for the remainder of Dayo’s senior year, with a variety of discussions between attorneys, the Adetus, and persons at Sidwell.

Nov 2013 to Early 2014 – Dayo applies to colleges.

2014+ – Lawsuits and appeals continue

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Sidwell’s math courses are described at https://www.sidwell.edu/uploaded/public_site/academics/upper_school/Curriculum_Guides/Curriculum_Guide_2019-20_-_Google_Docs.pdf .

Looks like they have a regular sequence:

Geometry → Algebra 2 → Precalculus → Calculus 1 (ready for AB exam) → Calculus 2 (ready for BC exam)

and an honors sequence:

Math I → Math II (ready for calculus) → Math III → Math IV (ready for BC exam)

Math I + II appear to cover Geometry + Algebra 2 + Precalculus at an accelerated pace and at a higher level. Calculus 1 lists a prerequisite of either Precalculus or Math II. Note that Sidwell is one of those schools that disdains AP, so the Calculus 1 and 2 courses are not officially AP courses, even though they cover the AB and BC content (over two years – yes, Sidwell appears to be one of those schools which apparently overaccelerates some students in math and then slows them down in calculus).

In other words, it looks like the student was pushed down from the honors math sequence to the regular math sequence.

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As it happens, my own kid was a commended on the PSAT and got a 720 on a SAT II science. She attended a very competitive public high school neither of them were viewed as great scores. The PSAT score told us she had to ramp up prepping for the SAT, while the 720 score put her at 80 percent of all test takers
 When she submitted her college applications, she didn’t even submit the 720 unless she had to.

So, in other words, Dayo’s SAT II and PSAT scores are good, but not quite Ivy without some sort of hook. Sounds like around the top 10-12 percent of Sidwell got into the Ivies, but these test scores indicate that Adetu wasn’t in that top 10 percent. Sounds like maybe she got into Penn later because of the running, which wasn’t amazing, but maybe good enough for UPenn that year.

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@Data10 You’re taking most of that from the parents’ claims, right? They claim X was done and Y was said. No evidence.

The form in question where she was rated higher for Spelman is the standard Secondary School Report/SSR. The suit refers to this. In general, it’s an abstract for this one kid in the class context. My understanding has always been, not for the individual college target. (But again, we’re forced to rely on the parents’ accusations.)

“Compared to other students in his or her class year, how do you rate this student in terms of
” The higher ratings are "Excellent (top 10%,) “Outstanding (top 5%,)” and “One of the top few encountered in my career.” Agree with QM that Excellent isn’t enough, for tippy tops. This isn’t just a matter of the competition for a TT seat, but this rating falling down several notches. Not just one, but several.

On the Counselor Recommendation/CR (and as part of the teacher LoRs,) among other things, they get to enter: “the first words that come to mind to describe the applicant (short response.)” I’m having touble linking any of this, but you can google.

QM: “I am willing to agree that we don’t exactly know what the student’s academic qualifications were, but I would not say that I have zero idea.”

Well, I have no idea. National Merit status isn’t a tip for a tippy top. One chem score doen’t tell us the chem or other grades. Or even the overall rigor, outside math. Much less, how the counselor rated her on comparative rigor in the class (eg, Most Demanding,Very Demanding," etc.)

And we have no idea how she got into Penn. One document says she later applied outside the SF context (whatever words,) but Iagree with others that that’s difficult to imagine. It’s possible she got some very specific gap experiences and LoRs from those folks. It’s possbile a private counselor revamped her entire app.

Lol, I would have said maybe Rick Singer was involved, a Varsity Blues touch. But that’s doubtful since he spoke for SF in the legal actions.

So, we know little and imo, a big mistake to rely solely on the parents’ legal wording.

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Most of my post was direct quotes from the legal documents in post #1. Each statement beginning with the words “the Adetus claim” was a claim made by the Adetus for which there was not clear evidence and/or dispute. Some of the summary comments in the post were disputed. Some were not.

Other statements in quotes are direct quotes from the referenced legal filings, which often have similar meaning. For example, the quoted “trumped up charges” was the only reference to the details of the Lola’s honor committee charge. We don’t know exactly what the charges are, only that the referenced Adetus’ legal filing called them “trumped up” and say the honor committee exonerated Lola of these charges. The lack of detail is consistent with these charges not being officially recorded on Lola’s transcript. There is not enough information to know whether the honor committee charges were justified or whether they were truly “trumped up.”

The goal was to show the timeline of events, not to show who is correct.

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I find it really hard to believe that Brown coach would say anything close to this:
“based upon the “feedback” from Sidwell officials, the recruitment effort must cease and desist.”

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I’m surprised this thread has so much attention. This case obviously isn’t going to get cert granted. Unless your kids go to Sidwell, why does anyone else care?

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I did not state that the student was academically qualified for a “tippy top,” just that I have more than zero idea about her qualifications. National Merit Commended + 720 Chem SAT II (which seem likely to be correct) do indicate a certain level of qualification. If she was Commended as a National Achievement Scholar, rather than being named a National Achievement Scholar outright, that is a weaker academic accomplishment, but it is still “not nothing.”

Why I care about this is that a lot of people on this thread have been dumping on the student, when we really don’t have much information about the situation, other than that a suit was filed and it went nowhere. The fact that the Supreme Court would not hear the case does not surprise me, nor does it cause me to conclude that the case was totally without merit–just not important enough for the Supreme Court to spend time on.

I will generally come to the defense of any student who appears to me to be under attack from so many parents, if I happen to read the thread.

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All the kids on CC who ask if their high xxx score will make up for other issues? NMF is not a tip into tippy tops. Just not.

It’s nice to come to her defense, but I still ask, based on what? No tippy top admits based on the PSAT and one sat 2 score.

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^^It’s not that posters here are judgmental. The family is clearly litigious and the case clearly doesn’t have the significance to be heard on the Supreme Court. People generally don’t have sympathy for frivolous lawsuits.

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Disclaimer, I didn’t read this whole thread (I skimmed and found it confusing, so I apologize if I missed some details), but I did read the original CNN article, which basically says this:

  • Student goes to an elite private prep school.
  • The elite private prep school always gets EVERYONE into Ivies.
  • She didn’t get into an Ivy!
  • Student sues, because by going to that school, she’s guaranteed acceptance into an Ivy.

Seriously? How entitled. Her school can’t make her smarter than she is, and I doubt that she had a very humble attittude in her essays. Even if her argument about discrimation/unfairness from the teachers were true, 99.999% of students would not imagine pleading this sort of case, they’d just accept it (our school missed important deadlines all the time; I guess we should start a class action lawsuit!).

However, I’m not shocked the DC court might want to hear the case
many children of important politicans attend Sidwell, after all!! :wink:

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As emphasized in my earlier post, the long history of legal disputes between Sidwell and Adetus began well before Dayo applied to any colleges. The original settlement agreement and petition for breach of settlement lawsuit both occurred before Dayo received admissions decisions from any colleges. Some news stories may make it sound like the simple summary quoted above – parents are suing because their kid wasn’t accepted to an Ivy, but this is not an accurate view of the events.

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Just a refresher on what @jonri posted back in #219.

“The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a case brought by a former student at a prestigious Washington, DC, prep school who alleged discrimination affected her chances for college admission.”

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/17/politics/sidwell-friends-supreme-court/index.html

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No – the assertion is that the elite private prep school always gets EVERYONE into a 4-year college. NOT Ivies or Ivy equivalent. (Top students get into Ivies, the rest go to different colleges. Probably the majority end up at schools they perceive as low matches or safeties).

And no court “wants” to hear this case. The DC Court threw the case out on summary judgment, the DC Court of Appeal sustained the trial court, and the US Supreme Court has refused to hear the case on appeal.

The problem obviously is that this particular student didn’t apply to any safeties. She did apply to one match school that probably would have accepted her, but she applied late and then withdrew her application.

Obviously, none of us can know all the details, but we do know this from the paperwork:

We also know that her counselor testified that the practice for preparing the SSR was " to compare students with the peers applying to the same school." The plaintiff asserted that she should have had the same ranking of “excellent” for all, under the rationale that the SSR should be identical for each college – comparison against all students in her class, not just the ones applying to the same school. The logic of that argument escapes me, since the obvious result of such a unitary policy would have been a “good” or “very good” rating for Spelman as well.

I find it very hard to believe that a counselor at a fancy private prep school would have failed to tell a student that her chances of admission were weak at the schools where she ranked below the students against whom she was competing, and suggest some match/safety schools. Obviously, the colleges will see the transcripts & submissions of all the students applying, so there is no way that any counselor could get away with ranking a student with weaker qualifications as “excellent” against a pool of applicants with much stronger qualifications.

So I’m guessing the counselor encouraged other apps and either the student or her parents refused to listen to reason.

I don’t think the issue is whether the student had a chance of admission with her stats --we can’t know that. The point is that she had no reason to expect or assume admission— and someone messed up when it came to application strategy.

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And remember, at every school, including Sidwell, someone has to be st the bottom of the class. Not saying it’s the plaintiff, but someone has to.

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Of course NMF is not a tip for the “tippy top” schools. They have plenty. They reject plenty. Of course one can score 800 on every SAT one takes, and not get into an Ivy. I have seen that happen, to a wonderful student who has justified my faith in him with all of his subsequent work.

Am I claiming that I thought the young woman was justified in expecting to be admitted to an Ivy the first time around? No. But she did get into an Ivy after a gap year, which would not be the case for everyone who was rejected the first time around.

So I don’t object to people arguing that her list should have been more balanced in the first year. It is claimed that she was waitlisted ED at Princeton. It is also claimed that she was waitlisted at UVa. If true, those are probably indicators that her admissions packet was somewhere in the ballpark, taken overall, in the first go around. It seems like a prudent reaction to interpret a waitlist in the SCEA/REA process as an indicator to add more safe schools to the application list.

However, there have been a lot of very uncomplimentary comments made about the young woman and her family, and I do object to those. The fact that her family sued, the fact that she was not entirely realistic the first time around–neither is a reason to dump on her.

Furthermore, if her goal was really “Ivy or bust,” she accomplished it. She might have been a great engineering student at the University of Michigan, had she added it to her list in the first year, but that was apparently not what she wanted.