<p>I am interested in knowing what people think and feel about the private co-ed and single sex schools now. Mostly, Riverdale, Fieldston, Nightingale, Spence Friends, CHapin, Sacred Heart
(no GaGa stories please), Brealey. Applying and wondering besides the tours, which are in the Fall, what they are like in a broad stroke kind of way and specifics if you care to say.</p>
<p>They’re all good schools, but these schools have quite a range in terms of culture and even pedagogical approaches. You might also throw Horace Mann and Trinity into the mix for co-ed. If you’re applying for Fall 2012, you also might consider the Avenues school which is in Chelsea. It’s a new school with impressive resources and leadership. [The</a> World School | Avenues - Private School in New York City](<a href=“http://www.avenues.org/world-school]The”>http://www.avenues.org/world-school)</p>
<p>I’d be happy to be more specific if you want to PM me.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine has two daughters at Spence. It is a fabulous school.</p>
<p>Sometimes hard to separate out the actual education from the parents’ perception of what is, or should be, going on. There was a thread started a couple of weeks ago regarding the tutoring scene - parents paying eyepopping amounts to get a kid tutored in a course in which the kid is supposed to be doing independent research (! ) which kind of says it all. </p>
<p>After 10-12 years of paying tuition, my sense is that the teachers can be outstanding, but there is an undercurrent that forces them to move the kids along to interesting-sounding projects (which will fly well in cocktail party conversation) whether or not the project is age-appropriate. </p>
<p>Age appropriate is something I don’t think we hear that much about, but it’s worth considering. One of my brothers noted that there seems to be a lot more “homework help” now than when we were young - he said he had been spending a lot of time sitting with his kids (both very bright, if you’ll believe their proud aunt) and had just noticed that the older kid was finally progressing beyond needing his hand held - right about the age that my brother and I had seen the subject for the first time, and been able to handle it on our own, without a hovering parent. </p>
<p>Even something as simple as multiplication tables - back in the stone age, we learned them in 5th grade, while some schools now bring them in at 2nd grade, while the parents ooh and ah. But I went on to some pretty high level math, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt that learning multiplication tables in 5th grade was a hindrance. </p>
<p>So, not to knock the NYC private school - there are some great teachers, and they tend to teach writing and history very well. But there is a high probability that you’re going to meet some pretty intense parents, and their equally-intense offspring - and there are enough of them that they can impact the curriculum. Also, and again, this is not an NYC-specific issue, sadly - watch out for the drinking problems in middle school and above. Children of intense parents have some…coping mechanisms. </p>
<p>In other words, make sure you ask about the school’s culture!</p>