<p>I was advised to edit my question. First of all I want to apologise for any strange words because English is not my native language.
I am a parent of a 14 year old boy. He is now in the 8th grade and is planning to go to prep school this year (low chances) or next year. He is quite smart and is in one of the best schools in the country (Russia) for gifted kids, but he is now at the peek of the teenagers' crisis and his GPA is not going to be very high. So probably the top 10 schools will not even consider him.So we have to look for a school which is going to be challenging for him and which looks at the kid not just at the papers and grades.
We have looked at the NMH and have received a lot of emails from them and the package and the video. Everything looks very inviting to me.
So may I ask the parents of NMH to please share with me some more personal info and maybe smth that is not possable to understand from the ads. Also maybe someone could recommend me some other schools to look at?</p>
<p>I would recommend Mercersburg, it's still one of the best. You may want to take a look at it. :)</p>
<p>Thank you. I did not look at this school yet because I mostly search the New England area.</p>
<p>It's ok. For the new england area i would recommend Taft, Loomis Chaffee and the ISL. :) Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Milton Academy could still be considered a top school along with some of the elites, however, their acceptance rate is closer to 1/3. you may want to look at them.</p>
<p>Milton acceptance rate WAS 1/3. Then alumni Deval Patrick was elected Mass governer and applications went through the roof. Very tough now, and for the past two years no one has moved off the waiting list.</p>
<p>Other schools, outside the Hades group:</p>
<p>Sheffield, Berkshire Academy, Dummer Academy, Vermont Academy, Stoneleigh Burnham, Proctor, </p>
<p>All very good schools, just not insanely competitive</p>
<p>One thing you should know about NMH is that the Russian program will
be discontinued after next year. This may not affect your son but it
is very disappointing to a number of students and parents. Although
budgets are tight, cutting foreign languages is questionable given the
increasing demand for foreign language ability across many different fields.</p>
<p>Bluefish! Whay kind of program is it? Is it just russian language program? Or is it an exchange program with russian students coming to school?</p>
<p>The Russian program was not popular enough to continue is what I have been told. I know when my son was applying he received lots of stuff from the Russian department encouraging him to study the language, as the numbers were down then as well. I do agree that it is sad for students who are currently studying the language....but they only offered two years, I believe.</p>
<p>Masha...I am the parent of a current NMH sophomore and a student who graduated in 2003. Nothing but positive experiences for both. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask...you can pm me if you like.</p>
<p>Toadstool! What is Hades group?
Thank you for the new names!</p>
<p>I am so sad about the Russian program news! That is one of my S main reasons for his interest in NMH. Any chance that might change?
Thanks.</p>
<p>HADES is Hotchkiss, Andover, Deerfield, Exeter, and St. Paul's.</p>
<p>Scotland, I don't think so and you are not alone. My student at NMH was also
interested in pursuing Russian and it had been a drawing card. Actually, keylyme, participation in the first two years of the program was strong but decreased in the
upper years. The research study to learn the reasons for the decreased
participation was cancelled due to budget restraints. I suggest you speak to
Hugh Silbaugh, the Dean of Faculty, for further information but it seems highly
unlikely that the program will be continued. Silbaugh feels our pain -- his child, too,
was interested in Russian.</p>
<p>Please feel free to pm me if you have any further questions.</p>
<p>So, which schools will still offer Russian, after next year? Andover, Exeter, Masanutten Military Academy, Wyoming Seminary, and Vermont Academy? And that's it?</p>
<p>Bluefish! Keylime! Thank you for your help and I will definitely PM you once I have more specific questions.
Thanks to everyone!</p>
<p>Bluefish! Keylime! Thank you for your help and I will definitely PM you once I have more specific questions.
Thanks to everyone!</p>
<p>Mercersburg is a super school. We toured there in January and my son and his friend loved it.
If you are looking outside NE, there are a lot of good schools in VA and TN - and even TX and FL. </p>
<p>Monteverde Academy in Florida has a large international population. We've known quite a few expatriate families from Central/S American that send their kids back there to school. </p>
<p>In VA and TN - consider Virginia Episcopal, McCallie School, Baylor, St. Andrews (TN), Webb</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>