It is not unusual to see smart hard-working kids receive low grades at DA - there are very demanding teachers with their unique expectations. It is something that new students at all schools (not just ours) must figure out during the first half of the term - what does the teacher expect and like? You can get the correct answer in a science or math class, but if you do not explain it well enough or have notation they do not like it will be marked as incorrect. In Humanities classes, you must elaborate and argue your point well. It is true preparation for college. Granted, there are some teachers who are more lenient (usually new teachers to the school). Some teachers will allow you to make corrections and give you some credit, but others are not so kind. When my kid misunderstood test instructions on a Spanish vocabulary test as a Freshman, it resulted in a F even though each vocab word was correct because pronouns were not included. Dumb mistake. Kiddo demonstrated correct knowledge and explained the misunderstanding. Wrote the correct pronouns down in front of the teacher. But the teacher said âYou have learned your lesson and guess you wonât do it next timeâ.
Itâs not Montessori Pre-K. Itâs Deerfield and IMHO itâs not warm & fuzzy. Thatâs an honest criticism (not complaining). Honestly, kiddo has had only ONE teacher who nurtured a passion for a subject and was verbally encouraging. For some reason, people have this misperception as a sports school - well it is heavily sports focused but it is academically rigorous. New students are surprised. So, know what you are getting yourself into. Worse than that, IMHO colleges have no idea how academically demanding the school is. Oh, one more thing. In case any of you feel the urge to post that âyour kid must have sour grapesâ or is a poor performer. Not the case. High Honor Roll. Just being honest with you guys in a way that was lacking when we chose the school.
I have said my peace for nowâŠ.more after graduation.
I feel very similarly about Groton. Although I think teachers are more warm and fuzzy in terms of their relationships with kids the system is very harsh and the grade deflation is overly intense.
Having had kiddos at a local public (Blue Ribbon) High School for 3+ years, I can say it is not warm and fuzzy either. No redos, even if instructions were mis-read, if your homework is a day late it is an automatic 50%. And most teach over 100 kids so youâre lucky if they know your name. Also, there are more than a handful of just plain bad teachers. Yes, if itâs honors or AP the report card is weighted.
Despite the demanding nature, my kiddo is loving the classes! Her favorite is a humanities class with tons of reading, note taking and analysis and explaining stuff. Thatâs the teacher who shared the really nice comments. Thankful for teachers like that who let kids know their hard work is not going unnoticed.
Question about the parent weekend schedule. On Saturday the calendar says DPN meeting with Continental breakfast at 8:30. Is that for all? There is also breakfast at 7am?
Hi there! I believe the DPN breakfast is for parentsâŠ.but you should check - the students should have the breakfast schedule on the Bulletin also for that day.
We are eating an early dinner Friday at the Inn
. The family weekend schedule says there is a dinner Saturday, so we just canceled our reservation for Saturday.
OK - fun! You might want to also make a back-up reservation somewhere off campus if your kiddo would like a special dinner with you - there is a good Italian place in South Deerfield (Gianni Figs) and a good speciality pizza place (Mag Pie) and a good place (Hope & Olive) to dine for varied fare in Greenfield. There is also an Asian/Japanese place between South Deerfield and Sunderland (Goten Japanese restaurant). Sometimes, students like to go off campus for dinner even though there is a buffet offered on Saturday.
Hopefully everyone had a great family weekend! We had a wonderful time. Kiddo has been after little brother to apply. He was uninterested until we visited. Now it looks like we will be going through the application process again. But only to Deerfield, which goes against every piece of advice on this forum I know. I would prefer he stay here. Canât imagine both of them leaving home early. This was never in our plans.
I am not so sure that is the case when the current student receives significant FA? It may do the opposite . But thing one is doing really well there, so who onows
Does any seasoned DA parent know if the Averages and Quintiles tab on the grade page gets updated at the end of each term or only at the end of the year?
Right now the published stats show âaverages and quintiles for the 2020-2021 school year.â Do you know if we get to see the averages and quintiles for the grades that were released yesterday?
Kiddo heard from the dorm proctor that grades were slightly higher last year vs previous years because DA knew that kids were under significant stress due to learning during covid restrictions. Is there any truth to this?
I believe that the quintiles are not yet out for current grading.
Last year, the grades may have been higher in some classes because students only had 2 courses per term last year. This year, the students are juggling 5 or 6 courses. If you had 2 stem courses at the same time last year, it was easier to get a higher grade. In general, it is more difficult to get higher grades in Humanities courses. It is interesting to see the course mediansâŠ.that should tell you a lot. There are many courses where the median is 89 or 90 at this school. The school needs to do a better job of getting the word out.
Here is my poem for all DA parents (and those students applying)
If you attend Deerfield
Do not whine
Remember I warned you
About âMr 89â!
No matter how hard
You work and try
The mean is low
So donât you cry!
If you want easier Aâs
If you seek a high GPA
It ainât gonna happen
If you come to DA!
Check out the school profile
DAâs a tough place to score
A 92 is a strong grade
Did you expect more?
So remember I warned you
If a GPA makes you queasy
Apply somewhere like Choate
Where Aâs do come easy!
. But thing one is doing really well there, so who onows 
