Our oldest two children went to the local public school (a top ranked institution) and did very well. They did well academically, played a sport, joined clubs and were accepted to their first choice college (an Ivy league school). However, the only thing they liked about high school was their friends. They felt that it was a large, impersonal place with a few good teachers and many mediocre ones (who didn’t seem to care about the kids). They worked until 1 am on a regular basis and did homework every weekend, all weekend. They would sleep in on most Saturdays and Sundays to try to catch up on their sleep, make social plans on Saturday night, but Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday were devoted to homework. We couldn’t even go out for family dinners on Sunday evenings anymore. They even had to bring homework on family vacations during school breaks and were assigned a ridiculous amount of summer work for their upcoming courses Since they didn’t really enjoy high school at all, we want something different for our third child. He is just as good a student as his older siblings and could excel academically at the local high school, but we actually want him to be happy and enjoy school as well. To this end he has applied to four private schools: Morristown Beard, Golda Och, Newark Academy and Pingry. He has been accepted to all of them except Pingry (we haven’t heard from them yet). We are trying to strike a balance for him but don’t want to give up academic excellence or his ability to get into a top tier school. Has anyone had children that have gone to these schools? My questions are: what was the typical homework load? what type of schools did they get into after high school? How was the adjustment to college - were they prepared? were they happy at high school? Would you send them there again? How competitive is the environment - cutthroat or collaborative? We would appreciate any feedback on this. Thanks!
Check out the Prep School Admissions forum on CC. It’s under Pre-College. There are lots of excellent resources there including a parent section.
Are you hoping your student will have LESS work to do at one of these prep schools? That does not seem likely to me.
Thanks. I will.
I know that at MoBeard and Golda Och he will have less work. Pingry will probably be the same and I am not sure about Newark Academy (although I am sure it will be very close). I am comparing these schools to Millburn High School which is a total sweat shop for kids who take all accelerated classes and APs. The prep schools all have a block schedule and time during the day to do work or meet with teachers, the public school does not.
Some public schools pile on busy work homework. Rigorous classes don’t necessarily mandate a lot of homework. So a private school may be more selective about what it assigns.
Seems like your public school is one of those “more work just to have more work” type of schools.
Moved to Prep School Admissions
Hello! I sent you a direct message with my personal experience 
thanks. sounds like you loved private school. We are going to definitely send him to private school just trying to decide which one. My son feels that Golda Och is a bit small for him - he is used to 400 kids in a grade and GOA only has about 50. He thinks that MoBeard will be more “chill” (his words) but isn’t sure of the quality of education there and the acceptance into top schools. He is having a hard time differentiating Newark Academy from Pingry. If anyone has any insights that would be great.
Hi - just curious if you decided on a prep school.
I am familiar with all of those except Golda Och. Pingry and Newark Academy are excellent schools - and will also be a lot of work, from what I have heard. NA has IB program. I think Pingry is traditional. MoBeard will offer a more reasonable workload but is not as prestigious.
Let us know what you heard and if you decided. We may consider a couple of them as day schools and also several BS, for next year.