Questions for a teacher?

<p>Anxious parents out there may have questions they would like a boarding school teacher to answer. If so, please post them here. I've been teaching at Exeter for a while; I've also taught at other schools. One request: please don't ask me questions about admission or financial aid. I realize they're on everyone's mind this week (!), but I'm not involved with any of that and can't really help you.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: Anything I write is only my opinion; it does not represent the views of the Exeter administration, trustees, faculty, students, staff, parents, alumni, pets, or resident squirrels.</p>

<p>Hi, thank you for doing this!</p>

<p>When do we choose courses for an entering prep? (freshman)</p>

<p>Can a freshman request a single room?</p>

<p>Can people who applied for FA but did not receive any aid use the text book swap/loaner service?</p>

<p>How often can parents come visit their child? Can we come have dinner with him once a week for example?</p>

<p>As far as housing: do they look at applications to place kids in dorms or is there a questionaire or something? </p>

<p>With a relatively shy kid do you recommend a double to help socialize or a single so they can have their space to decompress at the end of the day?</p>

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<p>I believe it’s in April. Teachers are not really involved in that; admission handles it.</p>

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<p>Another admission question. I’m sure that you can ask; I doubt they will guarantee anything.</p>

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<p>I have absolutely no idea. I think you’re beginning to realize how much teachers DON’T know about admission and FA issues! I think we’re far too busy working with the students who are already here to know about these things.</p>

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<p>I know this one! :slight_smile: As often as you’d like. There’s absolutely no limit. That having been said, use your judgment. Kids need time to socialize and get to know their peers. Visiting often at the beginning of school can also increase homesickness (we often recommend no visits until Parents’ Weekend).</p>

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<p>No clue. Sorry. The Deans handle that.</p>

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<p>Tough one. One thing you should be clear about is that you can socialize a lot in a dorm even with a single. All you need to do is prop your door open and other students will go in and out as if they lived there. Kids do this all the time. You can hardly tell who lives where, as they’re constantly in each other’s room. Having a roommate can definitely be an experience that helps your child grow and learn a lot of good skills; it can also be challenging, depending on how good the match is. My general recommendation is that you let the Deans decide where to place your child. They’ve been doing this for a long time and they’re good at it.</p>

<p>I know Choate has an online questionnaire to match roommates up. It asks whether you are an early riser, whether you are tidy & neat or “creatively disorganized”, etc, etc.</p>

<p>whoops- sorry I didn’t realize how many of the questions were admissions questions! :)</p>

<p>Thanks- I don’t know that he would end up wanting us to visit that often but right now he is kind of worried about leaving home/boarding and the idea that we COULD visit once a week made him feel very relieved. I’m sure once he is there and busy with friends/sports he will be very glad to tell us not to come! </p>

<p>When is parents’ weekend?</p>

<p>I am assuming that the academics at Exeter are similar to St. Paul’s, Lawrenceville etc. Why do you think it is so difficult for kids to obtain high grades, all A’s or HH at boarding schools? What advice would you give a new student about trying to obtain high grades?</p>

<p>Parents’ Weekend this fall is October 17-19 (classes start September 11).</p>

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<p>That’s a peculiar question. Why would it be EASY for a kid to get all A’s?? An A should mean that your performance was outstanding. It’s hard to be outstanding at everything. </p>

<p>There are no secrets to getting high grades. Work hard but intelligently; work consistently; ask for help when you need it. And keep in mind that we all have strengths and weaknesses. There may be disciplines where it’s very hard for you to get an A even if you work extremely hard. Bottom line: stop thinking about grades per se and just focus on doing your best job. Grades will follow.</p>

<p>Are there progress reports mid term so teachers, advisors and parents can address possible problems (organization for example) before the term ends?</p>

<p>Hmm…my question was about the obstacles that prevent them from obtaining high grades. Do you see organization & time management as the culprit etc.? I don’t expect it to be easy, but so many kids say that their grades at boarding school are so much lower than what they have experienced in their previous schools, I wonder why. As a parent I am use to measuring my kids effort based on the type of grades they bring home. Everyone tells me I need to adjust my expectation for boarding school, I am trying to figure out if my expectations are out of whack .</p>

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<p>Yes. Around the mid-point of the term students receive a grade in each of their classes. Advisers discuss grades with students and parents. Throughout the term, though, advisers and teachers tend to be in contact. If one of my advisees shows up late for class a couple of times or does poorly on a test, his/her teacher will usually get in touch with me. I’ll talk to the kid. I’ll talk to the parents if need be. We’ll work on the problem. By and large teachers and advisers pay a lot of attention to kids, so it’s unlikely that you won’t hear about a problem until the very end of the term.</p>

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<p>I see what you’re saying. I don’t think there’s any ONE reason why kids have trouble with classes. Sometimes it’s time management; sometimes it’s their background; sometimes it’s something else. It’s certainly the case that the average kid at a top-notch boarding school is, well, very good. That tends to raise standards. If the average kid gets a B in the class, that’s a pretty high B. And getting an A is tougher than at a school with lower standards. In general, we cater to strong students. E.g., we sometimes use college-level textbooks in classes that 10th-graders take. They’re appropriate for the 10th-graders we get (they would get bored with regular high school textbooks). But the implication is that the class is more challenging and getting an A is harder. So I think I’m saying something that’s rather obvious: top-notch boarding schools have higher standards than most other schools; an A performance at Podunk High is probably a B or C performance here. But if you’re a strong student, you learn a lot more here, where you’re challenged more. You also enjoy it more.</p>

<p>How much homework is assigned on average for a freshman? His worry is that at BS all he will have time to do is study. </p>

<p>I on the other hand believe that he would not have been admitted if the school didn’t think he would succeed. I think school’s choose children that are capable of finishing the entire 4 years.</p>

<p>Right now his easy for him honors classes at the local public school are looking pretty good, in his eye’s at least!</p>

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<p>He’ll get a fair amount of homework, but you’re right that he should have plenty of time to do other things. Typically a full-credit class is expected to keep a kid busy about 8 to 8.5 hours a week. So if the class meets four times a week (50’ periods), that leaves about 75’ of homework per class. If it meets five times a week, it’s 50’ of homework per class. It’s a substantial workload, but spend an evening in a dorm to appreciate how much time kids spend NOT doing homework! They always seem to find time to goof around, play videogames, snack, chat with each other, etc. The trick is learning to be organized; there has to be a time when the kid really focuses on homework, without distractions. But, again, if s/he’s organized, s/he’ll have plenty of time to socialize and have fun.</p>

<p>If a kid has already taken high school level courses in Physics, Biology and Chemistry with labs as well as Alg I and Geometry how will they be placed? Will those courses count toward college requirements or would they need to be retaken at Exeter? Could the kid could just take the required math/science courses in higher levels (upper and senior seminar courses)?</p>

<p>It’s quite common for Exeter kids to come in with more background than the typical 9th-grader/10th-grader/etc. In most cases departments will place you in higher-level courses if it’s clear that you can handle them. E.g., I’ve had a 9th-grader advisee who took 11-th grade Physics in his first year (most of his classmates were 11th-graders). He did perfectly fine. You’ll receive more information about placement and class selection later in the spring.</p>

<p>I could be wrong but I don’t think this has been asked. For a certain class, is there a set percentage of A’s, B’s, C’s, etc.? which means there may be - say no more than 5 A’s for a class based on its size. Also, how are numeric grades assigned? Is it the traditional A=4, B=3…? Does Honor classes or advanced classes (I know there are no AP’s in Exeter) count more? Is it a weighted GPA system?</p>

<p>This is something that I’ve been wondering for quite a while but never thought it was appropriate to ask. But maybe under the anonymity of this board you may be willing to answer (if not, no worries). I’m really curious about how teachers and staff are compensated at private schools. Is is comparable to public teachers’ salaries? I just always assumed the pay was not great but the perks (housing, meals, freedom of schedule, motivated students) probably make it worthwhile? I just wonder how much of that say, $30K goes towards teachers’ salaries. Please answer only if you’re comfortable sharing. Thanks.</p>

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<p>No, absolutely not. I give as many A’s as there are students who, in my judgment, have earned an A. Typically the percentage of A’s in my classes falls somewhere between 15% and 35% (again, depending on the actual group of kids).</p>

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<p>No, it’s E = 0, D- = 1, D = 2, all the way to A = 11 (there is no A+). The advantage of this system is that the difference between consecutive grades is always equal to one point, whereas with the standard 4.0 system the difference is usually 0.3 or 0.4 depending on whether you’re changing letter grade (e.g., B to B+ is 3 to 3.3, i.e., a 0.3 difference, but B+ to A- is 3.3 to 3.7, i.e., a 0.4 difference; well, that’s how it was at other schools where I taught; I’m sure some schools do 0.33333 between all grades).</p>

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<p>No. All standard classes (the ones that meet 4/5 times a week) have the same weight.</p>

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<p>Well, it really depends on the private school and on the public school system. When you factor in the benefits (especially housing), compensation at top-notch BSs is not bad. A recent article in the Exonian (the school’s newspaper) reported that the median faculty salary at Exeter is $71,000 and that the highest-paid faculty member makes $105,800. No complaints as far as I’m concerned.</p>

<p>What sort of humor do the students display or enjoy? The Daily Show, The Onion, Monty Python, or something completely different?</p>

<p>Could you explain the rationale for not using a weighted GPA system? Some people say it is not absolutely fair to get the same points for a difficult class,which takes more time and work, and for an easier one.</p>