<p>We had a very similar situation to yours and in the end decided that the combination of apathy and rudeness would kill the (very good) 'advanced programme" at our local high school for our child. It certainly did for her mother. Anyway for what it is worth, of the 32 'advanced programme" candidates that started with her in grade 7 only about 5 completed a full slate of AP courses and those at a significantly lower level than what she did at St. Paul's.
With respect to music, ballet, sport, general sophistication there is no comparison. The dirty little secret about american education is that by and large the high school years of the best and brightest are wasted and you never get this back. There is a freshness and plasticity to the adolescent mind which needs to be nourished. A good school does that. The greatest gift your mother could give you is to allow you to seek your intellectual and spiritual home. I would urge you to apply to Exeter and St. Paul's and give yourself and your mother time to get used to the idea that that might be right for you. If in April you are still unsure, you can still stay where you are.</p>
<p>Point about block schedule is an interesting one. I know Hotchkiss has started doing that this year. Do other schools do this? My daughter's middle school does it and I think it is a good thing.</p>
<p>NMH does block courses as well as Walnut Hill.
biffgnar - would you please provide some pros and cons of block scheduling as your daughter has experienced it? It is something a bit alien to me. How about foreign languages? How are those handled? Thanks</p>
<p>I should probably speak to my daughter to make sure I am describing correctly as the memory isn't want it used to be and it was a couple years ago when she moved to middle school that the details of it were explained to us as parents. If I remember correctly though academic calendar is split into 6 day cycle, two days of which are block schedule days for the core academic subjects (at her school foreign language is considered a core subject). So half the core subjects meet one of those block days and the other half meet the other day or put another way each core subject meets 5 out of 6 days but one of those days is a double block. I really like the idea that on one of those block days she focuses on a more limited number of subjects, but does it in a format where teachers have the ability to spend more time, either covering more topics, covering same topics in more depth or just going slower over some of the tougher stuff. Class schedules are so full during regular school days that classes are just getting going when they are over and the kids are practically running from one class to the next. From a homework perspective also means that there are nights where she as the potential to take a break from some subjects if they aren't meeting the next day. I think the biggest risk or negative really comes down to the quality of the teachers and their commitment. If the teacher can't (or is too lazy to?) carry the instruction through the full block and really take advantage of what the class should be able to get out of it, then it becomes a painful exercise.</p>
<p>The schools I mentioned - NMH, Walnut Hill - seem to do it differently. 2-3 academic courses per semester for 5 or 6 a year, spending more time through longer classes on each subject but taking it for only 1/2 a year. A concern of mine is how is fluency in a foreign language obtained if a child is only taking it half an academic year? </p>
<p>Any first hand knowledge with this approach?</p>
<p>What Hotchkiss was testing this year was more like what I described. Earlier I read about it on their website and then when we were there the hockey coach (who is also a math teacher) mentioned how it had turned the usual routine upside down a little there. I checked quickly on their website now and actually couldn't find the discussion of it that I had previously read so maybe they decided the test didn't go so well.</p>
<p>What you describe sounds strange to me for any core subject or something like foreign language where stepping away from something that you are trying to build on and develop would seem like it would set you back.</p>
<p>With the 24/7 interaction with the faculty, the quality of the faculty and their commitment to the kids I am thinking that a lot of what I like about the double block at my daughters middle school comes from that whole BS experience. At a day school where the kids and teachers go there separate ways at the end of the class day our school has done something to try to increase the depth of the interaction.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, especially paleozoic, for your responses. I'm sorry if this thread is dragging on, but:</p>
<p>My parents are, at this point, pretty much dead-set against me switching schools at all. BS is out of the question. They are completely opposed to the idea. I really don't like the environment at my HS; their response is that, if it's so easy, I should get straight 100s. But I'm still not feeling challenged; I don't think straight 100s would prove anything. I understand that HS is a time for academic and social growth - a fancy way of saying that people think I need to get a life - but I don't want to, as paleozoic said, waste these formative years. I'll probably succeed in this HS, but something will be lacking. I've sort of come to the conclusion that I'll kind of have stimulate myself... but I'm not sure what to do. My parents might let me go to some type of summer program, and of course I'll be proactive in looking for opportunities and things. . . and continue to stalk CC...maybe try to pick up French or some other language? I've found an online independent study for geometry where I basically take open-book quizzes, so I can probably move forward in math. And become more informed about politics. And read more. . . and, hopefully, my schoolwork will become more challenging as I progress in the HS.</p>
<p>I am sorry that your parents will not hear of your exploring boarding school. If your parents can't be moved, perhaps, to keep the mind alive, you should explore Canada/USA mathcamp for the coming summer. This should give you a 5 week taste of a true academic community which is also great fun. Just do the qualifying test and try it.</p>
<p>Your situation may be shaped by financial and social constraints you are not privvy to as a child. Attending a public school can be a very different expericence from a private school. It is often the case where you as a bright and creative student feel stifled because a majority of the student body is not at your level of ability. Given that scenario, how can you look outside the box, and make the time at your high school more challenging and FUN!
Can you coordinate tutoring afterschool with other bright students? Can you start a club that reflects your interests-political-artistic or?
By shaping your experience to what YOU want out of high school, you will more likely develop into the kind of applicant the top tier colleges heavily recruit.</p>
<p>I don't know whether a child has the resources to make lemonade out of lemons. As I said before, it is not impossible to get an education in the public system, but if you knew how to do it, you probably would not need it. From my own experience my children who went to the local public high school were trapped in an educational disney land, not vicious but just demoralizing and soul destroying, a kind of sahara of the mind and spirit. There may be children who have the personality and resources to sustain themselves against that. Mine were not among those. Yes all went to reasonably good universities, but the intellectual baggage they got there with was vastly different. There is simply no comparison between an average suburban high school and a prep boarding school. </p>
<p>I agree with APOL insofar as there might be social and financial constraints that a child might not know about, but, again projecting from our experience the major constraint is the self-limiting presupposition by parents that such schools 'are not for people like us' (There is a thread on that which I hope will become illuminating to parents who may fear what they do not know)</p>
<p>Yes. That's exactly what I mean - both about the quality of the education received, the college one attends, and how you arrive there. I think this conversation, overheard in my creative writing class (aka sit on myspace for a period) kind of illuminates the issue:</p>
<p>Senior #1: So-and-so got into Cornell.
Senior #2: Oh my gosh! It's an amazing school (it is, I'd love to go there)! But so hard to get into. I think I'm going to the CC.</p>
<p>It's not so much that I care about college - I'm just looking forward to it as a place of intellectual stimulation. But why not now? It's so frustrating!</p>
<p>My parents and I have going to have a "discussion" this weekend about my education. I'm pretty sure it's not going to include BS, but it would be such an amazing oportunity. I don't know how, if it's possible at all, to get them onto this idea. Their attitude is completely what paleozoic said. But the more I read here/look at stuff online, I realize what a different world it would be. I don't think I'm good enough at math to go to Mathcamp, but I'll give it a try. The thing that's bothering me now is that a huge opportunity, applying to BS for 10-12th grades, is slipping away. I want to convince them that this'd be right for me, but I'm not sure how...the residential programs I've attended have been heaven. Being around other smart kids brigngs out some insecurity, yes, but if I was in such an incredible environment, i think it would also motivate me to work harder. I can see this happening, but I need to make it happen - and convince my parents.</p>
<p>Good luck! Do you live near enough to a boarding school you're considering to get your parents to go on a tour? I think seeing the difference in person convinces a lot of parents that such an environment would be great for their kid.</p>
<p>No. and that's the biggest problem. I need really persuasive information to get them to consider it...but idk. maybe I'm dreaming.</p>
<p>Where do you live? Does your family vacation? If yes, where?</p>
<p>NY (state), but these visits have to happen soon - and ssats and stuff....</p>
<p>yeah, that is true. It's kinda last minute. Have you requested the info. packages from the schools yet? Show them to your parents...</p>
<p>No I haven't. I kind of have no idea what this is all ablout, but I'm frustrated at my current school, and BS scounds amazing. I'd be applying to SPS, PEA and a local day school - but I don't know if I'll get in, if I'd end up going, etc. I just really want to try - but I'm unsure what to do next.</p>
<p>NY is a big state, but is a school like Choate a reasonable drive? It may be hard for them to say no to just having a look. I really believe most people just have no idea of the difference between a good bs and even a good day school. I know many parents who just got it once they took a tour.</p>
<p>It's hard for parents in so many ways. I know what a financial strain it was for mine and their initial fear of my leaving so young. Yet now they're hooked and say they would pay for bs over private colleges if they had to make the choice.</p>
<p>Get the apps done just in case. I think it would be a great essay to talk about convincing your parents to let go and let you pursue your dream.</p>
<p>I agree with Suze that you should try to persuade your parents to let you at least visit Exeter and St. Paul's. They are very different places but the key place to visit is the chapel and the library. They more than anything else will give you a sense what is important to these schools, and why spending three or four years would be life changing in a way that Columbia or Harvard would not. By that time you will no longer be as fresh to ideas, to love, to beauty... Even if you only go for the sheer beauty of St. Paul's and the drive from St. Paul's to Exeter, it would be time well spent. Maybe if you're out there anyway fly by Groton and Middlesex and above all take in Concord Mass. St. Paul's has an important parental ambassador programme which would allow parents like me who have had children at the school to share their experience with parents for whom the whole idea of boarding school may be frightening. Exeter probably has something similar. Actually I think that if you can get your parents to visit the school, they would feel a lot more comfortable about their decision to let you apply or not apply. You don't really need to meet with anybody at this point. You need to take in the sense of place, fall in love with the reality rather than the dream.</p>