Episcopal Academy or Haverford School?

<p>Good thoughts… Which did you choose?</p>

<p>HI so which did you choose? my son is wait pooled at Haverford and EA, he was accepted to Shipley… but I did not feel lower at Shipley was a good fit for him… I would prefer EA as I like a spiritual component to education adn the people there are just so courteous and respectful, I feel like it is a very warm yet vigourous community… great combo… Haverford was very impressive as well and the all boys component may be a great thing, I do not know… so now I am widening my travel distance and looking into other schools up to 18 miles away… Chestnut HIll, Friend’s Select, Germantown Academy… I want him to have a school this fall and all that I feel are good fits from him are full!.. .its so frustrating…</p>

<p>To FaithAlive:</p>

<p>Before coming to where my son went, I would like to add something to your school list. Along with the 3 schools which accept boys, one more name should be pronounced as ‘academic powerhouse’. That is Germantown Friends. For girls, you need to take Haverford out and can replace that with 2 other schools.
I think all of them (Haverford, EA, Shipley) are faith and values-based school, NOT a religious school per se. All of them have monthly assemblies, similar to chapel in EA. These help in the development of soul, spirit of a kid as (s)he is growing. I attended Chapel in EA and all-school assembly in Shipley. I am a believer, but NOT a Christian. I felt good in both schools. All of them make plenty of successful citizen for future. </p>

<p>I don’t know why you did not like Shipley. Indeed, Shipley is the v good all-inclusive school. In fact they are the most inclusive among all-3.<br>
My son went to Shipley in his Fifth grade, which is on-going. It is an wonderful school, they also almost customize to the childs’ need in order to induce confidence in the kids’ mind. It’s safe to say here, the kids who may be ‘picked on’ or ‘bulleyed’ for no faults of their own in other places, Shipley integrates them. For advanced academic kids, they provide opportunities to various ‘advanced academic try-outs’. </p>

<p>I may not be best person to talk about other schools, but what I learn… so much of customization may not be the case in other 2 schools. It’s nothing good or bad: it’s just the way Shipley separates out from the other. In fact I know boys who transferred from these 2 schools to Shipley. I know to girls who transferred other all girls schools. The key thing is they and their parents are happy for the ‘all-inclusive’ paradigm.</p>

<p>My son, in 6th Grade, is transferring to EA in the 6th Grade (middle school) from the Fall. The sole reason for our decision is competitive sports: He is a competitive athlete in tennis, he wants to play in Middle school A team & in “inter-Ac” league and beyond. </p>

<p>Dear FaithAlive, We could chat off-line in terms of getting into a good school for your son. Sooner the better for you… I think that would be more productive.</p>

<p>I went to EA for many years, back in the single sex days. These are all good schools, all a bit different. A next generation of cousins went to Shipley and liked it very much. These were the reputations back in the day:</p>

<p>Haverford - strong academics, rough and tumble/sink or swim, all-boys, good sports programs, too small a campus, blue blood, moderate to very WASPy, religion not a big day-to-day component</p>

<p>EA - strong academics, study of religion more instituionalized (school largely Christian, some Jews, one or two Muslims), went co-ed (smart), more mannered than Haverford, also blue blood, huge new Newtown Square campus (miss the old, less “white bread” campus on City Line!), strong sports programs, moderate to very WASPy</p>

<p>AIS - the athletic girls, good academics, steeped in tradition (like the others), nice campus but nothing extraordinary, very WASPy, religion not a big day-to-day feature</p>

<p>Baldwin - the smart girls, academic powerhouse, nice campus, but nothing extraordinary, more Jewish and inclusive than the others, not religious at all</p>

<p>Shipley - the bluest blood girls, now co-ed (did a very good job assimilating boys), nice campus but nothing extraordinary, excellent academics, not religious</p>

<p>Love to chat offline… how do we do that? Is there a private
Message Link?</p>

<p>FaithAlive</p>

<p><a href="mailto:debashisg@comcast.net">debashisg@comcast.net</a></p>

<p>To Rabelangle,</p>

<p>Nice way to summarize all schools. All of them are academic powerhouse. By published list: EA has the cumulatively most #s Ivys in 2009-11. 2012 list is not out yet. But considering Best LACs & Schools like Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, Barkley all of them will be similar. All girls schools have less MIT/engineering students, as expected. </p>

<p>I would say among all these schools, Shipley has the most tranquilizing environment. Even more than all girls schools described above. That’s how Shipley is distinguished than the others.</p>

<p>Sorry if it is bad form to resurrect such an old thread. I am considering Haverford for my son who will be junior next year. Here is the rub. My son has Aspergers and hence socially challenged. He is a shy kid. He doesn’t play sports. He has near 4.0 GPA but for my taste doesn’t show enough self motivation. I would need to push him as classes get tougher in Junior and Senior years (currently Soph). I may even have to hire tutors. The last thing I want to do is put him in an environment that doesn’t fit him. He may not do well in an environment where he is subjected to bullying. I can take him farther away into NJ to schools such as PDS or Hun if need be. What do you folks think about Haverford as a fit for my son? I hadn’t looked at Episcopal, etc. Not sure about religious school since we aren’t christians. Thanks.</p>

<p>While both Haverford and Episcopal would attempt to be loving in their accommodations of your son, I would never send a child with a disability to either. All well-intentioned ministrations to the contrary by alumni or school administrators, these schools are designed for high performance and high conformance - social, athletics, extracurricular, academics. In no way am I suggesting that the student body would be anything other than loving. But, when you’re a kid, happiness is often the product of inclusion and since the raisons d’etre of these schools are performance and conformance, you need to examine carefully whether either choice will be a happy environment.</p>

<p>pcotten: Out of your two NJ options mentioned above, I would consider Hun…they also have a small boarding program, if the commute is a deal breaker.</p>

<p>My daughter went to a private middle school and many of her classmates ended up at private schools for high school. She goes to our local public school, but we did briefly look into the private options and heard what others were saying - when they were looking and now that they are attending. </p>

<p>The only schools we would have considered were Shipley and Westown. For the reasons people have said here - the most friendly, inclusive environments. My daughter has friends that currently go to Episcopal, Shipley, Devon Prep, and Agnes Irwin. The only one that doesn’t like where she is going is the one going to AI - but her parents made that decision for her, so it’s predictable that she wouldn’t end up happy about it.</p>

<p>@SansSerif, Shipley looks like a good school. I will check it out next week.
@SevenDad, distance isn’t a problem. I am OK with considering either Hun or PDS.</p>

<p>My son is in lower school at The Haverford School and it was a tough decision to make since there really are so many good schools in the region. We did not look at Episcopal because of the religious component and were between Shipley and Haverford. We were skeptical of Haverford because our son is small and non-athletic. But I met so many parents whose kids go there who said their kids are not into sports either. I think that Haverford is trying to rid itself of that reputation, it is definitely a much warmer school than in years past and the new headmaster is trying to make it more loose and fun. To all the people talking about bullying at Haverford, I can’t speak for the high school or middle school but I have found none of it in lower school. In fact, I know it is not tolerated and have heard about kids (middle school plus), being kicked out of the school for good due to that. My son is small and not the least bit athletic. He has many friends and the kids are all kind, inclusive, welcoming as is his teacher. His teacher is warm and nurturing and easy to reach. She sends information and pictures every week. They talk about good sportsmanship and they are all very accepting of each other. There are also plenty of after school activities in the lower school for non-athletic kids such as lego robotics, chess club, game clubs, humane society club, etc. We thought Shipley was a good school, but we were more impressed at Haverford personally. Also to whoever is looking at Shipley, the upper school is very old and outdated. </p>