<p>iriseyes,
HM has lots of sports. Some are excellent, some much less so. Tennis seems to be perpetually great, as does soccer. Wrestling is generally excellent. Football and baseball are up and down. They do have lots to choose from - You can see for yourself how they are doing this year. <a href="http://athletics.finalsite.com/horacemann/%5B/url%5D">http://athletics.finalsite.com/horacemann/</a></p>
<p>I don't go to Horace Mann, but I have cousins there, friends there, etc. And every parent and kid I've ever met who's ever gone there/had a kid go there has said that. </p>
<p>It's a wonderful school, but it's very intense (there's lots of pressure) and they have obvious drug and alcohol problems, possibly because of it. Like, in every grade, there are always maybe 10 kids who end up leaving for rehab sometime during their high school careers, whether it be fore drugs, alcohol, anorexia, etc. There's a lot of pressure, and it's not just academic. My friend's little brother has just started going (my friend goes there, too) and while we were having lunch, he was saying how he saves all his best clothes for school because the kids actually look at what he (and everyone else) wears. I mean, I know it's like that at every school, but it's all magnified at Horace Mann. There's pressure to be thin, to do well, to have sex, to try drugs, alcohol, etc. It's crazy. For all you parents who thinks it's heaven on earth, I can assure you that 80% of you wouldn't survive a year there today. It's not like school was when you were young.</p>
<p>Horace Mann's not the only school to have this problem. Riverdale, Fieldston, The Lycee and Dalton also have this problem (other schools do too, but not to this extent). I just think it's something to note before writing Horace Mann off as the holy grail of high schools.</p>
<p>PurpoisePal,
I'm sorry that the people you know who go to HM feel all this pressure in academics, how they dress, etc. I have never heard of any kids who have left to go into rehab, let alone 10 per year, so perhaps we know very different people who attend the school. I think it is absolutely true that HM has a drug and alcohol problem, but so does every suburban high school I know. No one here has said it's the holy grail of high schools, but you do seem to be prone to exaggeration to try to make a point. I really don't care to debate this with you anymore, because you don't go to the school. Again, I am truly sorry that the people you know feel so stressed by going to school there.</p>
<p>The kids I know that go there haven't been to rehab (or even close) but they have told me of many classmates that have gone. </p>
<p>Everybody experiences the pressure in academics. Even the girl who won/was a finalist at Intel last year felt pressure. There is pressure in how to dress there, but that's just because of the amount of wealthy kids that go there. There are plenty of schools of the same caliber as Horace Mann that don't have drug/alcohol problems. </p>
<p>No one has called it the holy grail of high schools, BUT:</p>
<p>
[quote]
am convinced that academically it is by far the best day school in the area. I also believe that its reputation as a competitive pressure cooker is unwarranted. As far as I can tell, the environment is collegial and cooperative.
...
Our experience is that they serve to inspire and motivate their classmates, rather than beat them down.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you really had child(ren) go to Horace Mann, then you'd never argue that it wasn't a pressure cooker. If you had children go there and you still say that, then you obviously weren't around for much of your child's life or your child wasn't very bright or you're in denial. Where did your child go to college, by the way?</p>
<p>"If you had children go there and you still say that, then you obviously weren't around for much of your child's life or your child wasn't very bright or you're in denial. Where did your child go to college, by the way?"</p>
<p>PurpoisePal - That posting was totally uncalled for. Please stop the personal attacks. Completely unnecessary - fine if you want to debate the merits of HM's academics, sports, even if there are drugs at the school, but don't turn this into a National Enquirer and PLEASE STOP THE PERSONAL ATTACKS of people you do not know. Thank you.</p>
<p>I'm sorry. You're right. That was pretty harsh and definitely uncalled for. I got carried away. </p>
<p>The truth is that although the pressure is very intense at Horace Mann, some people are better at handling it than others, so perhaps her child(ren) were simply good at working with pressure. </p>
<p>The question about college was completely unrelated. I'm just curious.</p>