Credit to @sanguine12 for sharing this link on a recent Andover thread. I thought I’d share on a separate thread because I found this link to be very interesting and informational. (Sorry if this has already been shared on the board before. I couldn’t find anything using the Search tool.)
“In The Phillipian’s 2014 State of the Academy issue, we are presenting information gathered from an annual survey given to examine the demographics of the student body and student opinion on all aspects of life at Andover. This April, a record-breaking 844 students responded to questions regarding alcohol and drugs, wellness, academics, extracurricular activities and social culture.”
Note: Some of the circle graphs have second pages, which are composed of the statistics when divided into individual classes. You can tell if a circle graph has a second page if it says “prev” and “next” below it.
I posted the exeter and andover surveys last year on the parents site when researching the schools. I think that there is some alarming data – not everyone is happy at these schools. I could never find equivalent surveys from other schools though.
Very cool. I would like to see this reported alongside a survey of high school students at large (taken by some other group of course) as well as a verbal breakdown (for people like me who prefer words to graphs) and some analysis. From a statistics/comprehensive/readability point if view, I am impressed. From a content point if view…I’m scared!
My son is a senior, 4 year, and he hates it. He is sick of all this gay and racist focus. Do you really need to call a 17yo white privilege ( whatever that is) elitist?
Palfrey is the problem. This school is less than zero folks.
@novalue Thank you for sharing your son’s experience at Andover. It debunked some concerns I had and was greatly helpful, although it was in the opposite way.
My daughter hated Andover at times but now says it was the best thing that ever happened to her. She gets angry when we talk about her younger brother applying to other prep schools. She is more than prepared for the liberal arts institution she attends. Her only hesitation is the size. It has made college feel small so she is looking forward to that junior year abroad. She also realizes how fast the years fly.
As a current student, I have witnessed incidents incidents that cause me to believe that voicing opinions may be uncomfortable (and result in heated conversations) for many PA students if their beliefs don’t correlate with the general majority of the student body.
Although this may be related to the recent surfacing of many incidents throughout the US and the world, I think that it’s also due to the general atmosphere of the school.
However, every school would likely have its drawbacks.
@novalue 4 years is a long time. I understand how inconvenient it would be to switch schools in the middle of one’s HS career, but it still does happen fairly often. Did you even try to transfer him out? It sounds like a very bad fit. Whatever it is, regardless whose “fault” it is, if it’s that painful, it’s just not worth it.
Fact is the school changed on him in the last 2 years.
Palfrey has developed the 5 year strategic plan(sp2014.andover.edu), which outlines the new school philosophy.
Goal#1, Equity and Inclusion:
The initiative is"Embed intellectual inquiry related to race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexual orientation in our curriculum and other programming ".
What I am saying is this has been relentless. And has been a one sided discussion. And has been a huge time waster for my son.
In promoting their feminism agenda last year(direct from Palfrey) two of the most wonderful student leaders you will ever meet were deemed unfit for student copresidency solely because they were not female.
My warning is that andover has changed dramatically , and if you want open discussions, it’s no longer the place.
I completely disagree. My daughter graduated last year. Palfrey has dedicated the majority of his efforts toward making education more accessible to all and incorporating technology in education. This is where is background, passion and forte lie. I have only listed a handful of links…there are plenty more articles about his vision and impact in the NYT, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Law, etc…