<p>Hey CC forumites,</p>
<p>I am writing an article for my school newspaper, and I was wondering, what private schools in Baltimore/Baltimore area, are of great quality and which one(s) do you consider the best? A list, in order, or tiers, would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I no that St. Paul's School for Boys and St Paul's School for Girls are both rather good schools in Baltimore</p>
<p>This is far from complete, and basically off the top of my sister's head (she lives near "Bawlmer"), but Gilman and Holton Arms have to be near the top of the list. Bryn Mawr and Park School follow closely behind, with a bunch of schools clustered in the next tier, like Glenelg, Loyola Blakefield, McDonough, ND Prep and Roland Park.</p>
<p>Hopefully that gives at least a little guidance, however incomplete.</p>
<p>B-more is chock full of prep schools. Loyola, Gilman, McDonugh, Boys Latin, Georgetown Prep, St. Pauls, Dematha, Friends, Calvert Hall, Bullis are just to name a few.</p>
<p>Loyola is a college. Georgetown Prep, Dematha & Bullis are all in Washington DC Area</p>
<p>Loyola is also a prep school. Its name is Loyola Blakefield. I listed those three, which you are correct in their location, because the OP could be located further out from Baltimore, but still essentially in Baltimore County.</p>
<p>We iive in Baltimore and Gilman is perceived as the best boys school and Bryn Mawr (not the college in PA) is the best academic girls school. Mc Donough is probably the highest ranked coed school. After Gilman, St Paul, Boys Latin, Loyola Blakefield and then Calvert Hall roughly in that order are the better boys schools for sports and academics. After Bryn Mawr comes roland Park country school, notre dame prep, garrison forest, maryvale, then oldfields. For coed schools after Mc donough,come Friends, Park, and Glenelg...This is relatively un- biased because our son goes to Deerfield!</p>
<p>I live in the Baltimore area. There are several very good private schools in this area:
To add to the list of schools that have not been named:</p>
<p>Ruxton Country and Gerstell Academy</p>
<p>I've heard that Park School is the best school in Baltimore.</p>
<p>Park School is very good but it is also very progressive. It is much different than all the other prep schools in the area. No uniform, no grades, very unstructured program but many students from there go on the the ivy's or other top Universities. I am looking there for my son. He did a shadow there, McDonogh, St. Paul's, and Gerstell and his top pick is McDonogh. We will see how it all goes down in March.</p>
<p>Are there any parents out here with direct experience with Gilman, Loyola Blakefield, Mc Donogh or any other top high schools? We are thinking or relocating to Baltimore and/or DC surroundings. Any direct information will be very helpful.</p>
<p>I had to take a test at the Friends School of Baltimore, and it was awesome! Everybody was so nice and the buildings had a home-y feel to it. I highly recommend looking at it!</p>
<p>@Mom2Move - I’ve quickly typed up a list of schools based on how good they are in terms of academics, athletics, and the arts. I have given special preference to the schools with better academics. PM me if you want more details on some of these schools.</p>
<p>For girls:</p>
<ol>
<li>Bryn Mawr
After Bryn Mawr, I find there to be a large gap in the quality of girls’ schools.</li>
<li>Garrison Forest</li>
<li>St. Paul’s School for Girls</li>
<li>Roland Park Country School or Notre Dame Prep</li>
</ol>
<p>For boys:</p>
<ol>
<li>Gilman</li>
<li>St. Paul’s School for Boys
After these two, I personally would opt for a coed school.</li>
<li>Loyola Blakefield or Calvert Hall</li>
<li>Boys Latin </li>
</ol>
<p>For girls and boys:</p>
<ol>
<li>McDonough
McDonough is by far the best coed school (with a high school) in Baltimore.</li>
<li>Friends</li>
<li>Waldorf</li>
<li>Park</li>
</ol>
<p>If you aren’t looking for a school with a high school or simply a high school, I would suggest Calvert School, my personal favorite elementary and middle school. It is a very small school but has perhaps the best academics. Good luck and hope I helped :)</p>
<p>ONe other note - Baltimore is very unusual in that where you went to high school is more important than where you go to college. Baltimore magazine had an article about this phenomenon a couple of years ago. IF you work in Balto and are asked, “where did you go to school?” the person is really asking about high school.</p>
<p>So, I find that many more people go to private schools than would, say in Philadelphia. The private schools don’t all send their kids to Ivy and private LACs. If you go to Loyola, you are just as likely to go to Loyola, St. Joe’s or Scranton, all Jesuit sschools, or perhaps Univ Maryland. People are not sending their kids to private schools as a fast track to a brand name university, it’s just what people do in Baltimore, perhaps because the public schools are not as good?</p>
<p>Public schools aren’t too bad - City College and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute are actually quite good - but mostly I think a lot of people have legacies and choose certain schools because of that.</p>
<p>futureboarder / surf city,
The information is very interesting and helpful.</p>
<p>could anybody please let me know what are the pro and con of the top 2 boy schools: Gilman vs. St. Pauls</p>
<p>Academic: Gilman has AP; St.Pauls has IB</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is yes the best academic girls school in the Baltimore area, but the social life there is extremely weak. If your child’s overall school experience is what matters to you I don’t suggest Bryn Mawr. Another thing is they are very one sided in the way they teach. They do not welcome questioning or difference of opinion.</p>
<p>Mcdonogh and gillman have already been listed…but I’m a fan of Calvert hall and boys Latin also</p>