Flagpole is clueless about Westminster. I taught there in the 90s. I'm an atheist. Yes, it's nominally a Christian school but they don't slam dogma down your throat, especially compared to the Catholic school I attended as a child.
Academically and with sports, Westminster is topnotch. You can't go wrong sending your child there.
INCORRECT! (The part of your comment that I bolded).
Westminster is a CHRISTIAN school. It says this right on their website: "Westminster is a Christian school. We hold a deep commitment to our Christian mission, seeking to model the scriptural description of Jesus as “growing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52)."
I told the OP that he may like that or may not. Nothing I have said about that school is wrong. Anyone who IGNORES the fact that a school has a religious core if that core isn't important to them though is a FOOL.
Do you not think that after going to open houses, parent/faculty dinners, interviews, shadowing, etc. and still considering those schools that we have more than the elementary understanding that you gleaned from the homepage of their websites?
Understanding, schmunderstanding. You apparently want a Christian education for your kid. Go for it. Also, what have I said about any of your possible choices that isn't true? I'll save you the time...nothing.
I have not done so at all yet at anytime anywhere, so I don't have an answer for you. I guess ZERO is my answer.
Well, you'd be misinformed...again. Perhaps, there is a wiki page that will help you out with this.
INCORRECT! What I have said about ANY of the 4 schools you are looking at that isn't true? 3 of them are "Christian" schools, and one is not. I haven't said a thing more than that about them. Everything I have said not only is TRUE about each one, but you agree...3 of them are Christian schools, and one is not. Fact.
Well, you'd be misinformed...again. Perhaps, there is a wiki page that will help you out with this.
INCORRECT! What I have said about ANY of the 4 schools you are looking at that isn't true? 3 of them are "Christian" schools, and one is not. I haven't said a thing more than that about them. Everything I have said not only is TRUE about each one, but you agree...3 of them are Christian schools, and one is not. Fact.
Thank you for your input. Without your exhaustive research we would never have been able to find out this information. Even with all the open houses, parent/faculty meetings, student interviews, shadowing, etc. it somehow evaded us.
You have to be an investigative journalist or a private investigator, right? Maybe NSA, CIA??? Do you work alone or do you have a staff that assists you with this research? With the amount of work that went into finding this information, I have to assume that you have staff. Did you find out any other information from your "research" or was this it? Do they have buildings? Classes? Desks?
We are in a decent school district, but most parents and students that I've talked with that have experience with the public high school and one of the private schools agree that the private school they experienced was better in several ways.
I sent my kids to "good" public schools switched to private schools when last year (in 6th and 9th grades). The things I noticed are
1. In public schools there are 20 or more students in a class and teachers are teaching 5 classes a day. So each teacher is working with 100-150 students per semester. If your student is "smart" and/or intellectually curious the teachers won't have the time to challenge him or her. Similarly, if your student is struggling, they won't have the time to really help too much. At the private school my kids attend, class sizes are 8-12. Teachers teach about 40-50 students per semester. This gives them enough time to challenge and help students who need it.
2. The vast majority of students play at least one varsity sport AND are involved in at least one artistic/nerdy extra-curricular (play, robotics, choir, etc...). Private schools have the staffing to support this. In public schools, especially large ones like in Atlanta, a very low percentage of students participate in extra-curricular activities. An even smaller percentage participate in multiple different kinds of curricular.
3. Parent social life... you are going to socialize with other parents who also have money. Many will like to party. If you like to party/vacation with people who have money then this is a plus. If you can just barely afford the tuition, this aspect could add more stress to your life.
4. Rich kids... new BMWs in the student parking lot is pretty common place. Are you going to give your kids an equal amount of spoiling to what their peers get? Or are you going to let them have a lot less than their peers?
It depends but if he is self-motivated I would strongly suggest staying in public schools where you can get a great (free) education if you are self motivated and advocate for yourself. Colleges look more favorably on a top public school student who has actually been exposed to a diverse assortment of peers and teachers.
I went to Atlanta Public Schools for K-12 and wouldn't change it for the world. I was a three sport varsity athlete and a member of nationally recognized student newspaper and fashion design/sewing programs. Then, I got a full scholarship to a large state school where I took the same approach, graduating at the top of my class and earning a spot in the #1 law school in the country (where I am now currently writing this). Here, you can really tell who went to a basically all-white upper class school for the entirety of their educational careers. Harder to meaningfully discuss, for example, criminal justice reform proposals with people who have absolutely zero concept of how race, income, nationality, etc shapes community police encounters.
Also, none of the kids who I played competitive club soccer with who all went to private schools (Marist, Westminster, St. Pius X, Holy Innocents, Pace, Lovett, Mt. Vernon, etc) have done anything super notable post high school? In fact, it seems like a lot of them kind of peaked in high school. Social status (and $$) was everything to them (and their parents) then. Seemed like they were living in this kind of alternate artificial bubble. And, still, not much has changed.
Cool post. This is essentially what I plan to do with my kids. Sending them to a private school where half the kids are driving BMWs seems like it would only teach them to be materialist and status seeking.
Also, congrats on the law school. That’s an incredible accomplishment. I know of a few OTP public school grads who went to top 25 law schools and are either working for the government or large firms in NYC.
We are in a decent school district, but most parents and students that I've talked with that have experience with the public high school and one of the private schools agree that the private school they experienced was better in several ways.
I sent my kids to "good" public schools switched to private schools when last year (in 6th and 9th grades). The things I noticed are
1. In public schools there are 20 or more students in a class and teachers are teaching 5 classes a day. So each teacher is working with 100-150 students per semester. If your student is "smart" and/or intellectually curious the teachers won't have the time to challenge him or her. Similarly, if your student is struggling, they won't have the time to really help too much. At the private school my kids attend, class sizes are 8-12. Teachers teach about 40-50 students per semester. This gives them enough time to challenge and help students who need it.
2. The vast majority of students play at least one varsity sport AND are involved in at least one artistic/nerdy extra-curricular (play, robotics, choir, etc...). Private schools have the staffing to support this. In public schools, especially large ones like in Atlanta, a very low percentage of students participate in extra-curricular activities. An even smaller percentage participate in multiple different kinds of curricular.
3. Parent social life... you are going to socialize with other parents who also have money. Many will like to party. If you like to party/vacation with people who have money then this is a plus. If you can just barely afford the tuition, this aspect could add more stress to your life.
4. Rich kids... new BMWs in the student parking lot is pretty common place. Are you going to give your kids an equal amount of spoiling to what their peers get? Or are you going to let them have a lot less than their peers?
Thanks for the input.
1. That is what we really liked about going private. Smaller class sizes, some great faculty and great resources. I think in each of the schools the teachers had office hours before and/or after school plus math and English labs, etc.
2. Again, something that was attractive - being involved in something other than just school and sports. Each also had opportunities/requirements to help out in the community or serve abroad.
3. Had not considered this, but our family is fairly social.
4. At this point, he is not materialistic. Obviously, this could change as he gets older or is exposed to more materialism if he decides on a private school. He's had a weekend job since he was 13 and saved ~80% of what he has earned.
I sent my kids to "good" public schools switched to private schools when last year (in 6th and 9th grades). The things I noticed are
1. In public schools there are 20 or more students in a class and teachers are teaching 5 classes a day. So each teacher is working with 100-150 students per semester. If your student is "smart" and/or intellectually curious the teachers won't have the time to challenge him or her. Similarly, if your student is struggling, they won't have the time to really help too much. At the private school my kids attend, class sizes are 8-12. Teachers teach about 40-50 students per semester. This gives them enough time to challenge and help students who need it.
2. The vast majority of students play at least one varsity sport AND are involved in at least one artistic/nerdy extra-curricular (play, robotics, choir, etc...). Private schools have the staffing to support this. In public schools, especially large ones like in Atlanta, a very low percentage of students participate in extra-curricular activities. An even smaller percentage participate in multiple different kinds of curricular.
3. Parent social life... you are going to socialize with other parents who also have money. Many will like to party. If you like to party/vacation with people who have money then this is a plus. If you can just barely afford the tuition, this aspect could add more stress to your life.
4. Rich kids... new BMWs in the student parking lot is pretty common place. Are you going to give your kids an equal amount of spoiling to what their peers get? Or are you going to let them have a lot less than their peers?
Thanks for the input.
1. That is what we really liked about going private. Smaller class sizes, some great faculty and great resources. I think in each of the schools the teachers had office hours before and/or after school plus math and English labs, etc.
2. Again, something that was attractive - being involved in something other than just school and sports. Each also had opportunities/requirements to help out in the community or serve abroad.
3. Had not considered this, but our family is fairly social.
4. At this point, he is not materialistic. Obviously, this could change as he gets older or is exposed to more materialism if he decides on a private school. He's had a weekend job since he was 13 and saved ~80% of what he has earned.
Geez.. what an odd observation. My daughter drives a BMW and she goes to public school. Equal wealth at both private and public at the top.
1. That is what we really liked about going private. Smaller class sizes, some great faculty and great resources. I think in each of the schools the teachers had office hours before and/or after school plus math and English labs, etc.
2. Again, something that was attractive - being involved in something other than just school and sports. Each also had opportunities/requirements to help out in the community or serve abroad.
3. Had not considered this, but our family is fairly social.
4. At this point, he is not materialistic. Obviously, this could change as he gets older or is exposed to more materialism if he decides on a private school. He's had a weekend job since he was 13 and saved ~80% of what he has earned.
Geez.. what an odd observation. My daughter drives a BMW and she goes to public school. Equal wealth at both private and public at the top.
At the TOP, yes, but at SOME private schools, the wealth goes very far down into a large percentage of the student body. Adds a different level of social pressure.
That’s a lie. The top .1% sends their children to schools like Andover and Exeter, while normal upper middle class people (anywhere from like $300k to a little over $1 million) send their kids to normal private schools. The 0.5% are probably evenly split between New England (and a few other) boarding schools and local private schools they’re legacy at.
Exactly. I attended a very good private school (not one of the New England or NYC boarding schools, but in the tier below) and there's definitely a lot of wealth but it's also somewhat hidden - people aren't going to travel every weekend, but they will spend a fair amount on seemingly random things. You also discover a few people whom you thought were (upper) middle class order $500 of goods (ranging from shoes to restaurants) randomly or have a near 6-figure brokerage account.
At my college, a few people said there was "oppressive wealth" prevalent, but I didn't feel that at all. For example, I didn't own Canada Goose, but its prevalence didn't make me uncomfortable; the most expensive coat is under $2000 anyway. However, I know it'd have been different if I had been a full financial aid student.
I still don't know how much my parents make, but we were talking about taxes (I work in finance in NY and paid about $100k in total taxes last year), and they told me to enjoy that when you can, since they paid about $200 last quarter. Extrapolating that to the full year, their income is high. Even though I was somewhat frugal, I wasn't uncomfortable around wealth due to my upbringing.
Wow. Lots of responses. I'll try to address some of the questions/statements.
"He got in, huh? You mean several schools that you will PAY for him to attend would like him as a student so they can receive your money? Fascinating!"
Yes. Similar to a college or university. He had to apply, interview, write essays (for some), have recommendations, take placement tests, etc.
"As a general rule..." - I'm not looking at a general rule. I'm looking specifically these (an a couple other) schools.
Your (2) opinions are very short-sighted.
I actually gave some very detailed information about the 4 schools you mentioned in another post that for some stupid reason Letsrun decided to delete. Insanity. It actually had some info you sought, and I actually did some research for you to write that post.
I'll be VERY brief about what I wrote about the 4 so as not to upset the baby monitor who deleted my other post.
AIS: Non-religious and is open to and supports people of all religions, race, sexual preference, etc.
Westminister, Lovett, and Pace are all Christian schools that have Christianity at their core. If that's for you, then fine, but if not, then perhaps not fine. Too many discount this when looking at private schools.
The ONE that seems to have more of a singular focus on academics is AIS. If I were in your shoes, and I HAD to pick one of those private schools, I would pick the one that isn't bogged down by religious ideology...and that one is AIS.
I know I’ll regret this (sorry guys). But how do you know that Westminister, Pace and Lovett are “bogged down by religious ideology”? What is your experience with graduates from these schools or student life there? Did you happen to attend one of them?
I actually gave some very detailed information about the 4 schools you mentioned in another post that for some stupid reason Letsrun decided to delete. Insanity. It actually had some info you sought, and I actually did some research for you to write that post.
I'll be VERY brief about what I wrote about the 4 so as not to upset the baby monitor who deleted my other post.
AIS: Non-religious and is open to and supports people of all religions, race, sexual preference, etc.
Westminister, Lovett, and Pace are all Christian schools that have Christianity at their core. If that's for you, then fine, but if not, then perhaps not fine. Too many discount this when looking at private schools.
The ONE that seems to have more of a singular focus on academics is AIS. If I were in your shoes, and I HAD to pick one of those private schools, I would pick the one that isn't bogged down by religious ideology...and that one is AIS.
I know I’ll regret this (sorry guys). But how do you know that Westminister, Pace and Lovett are “bogged down by religious ideology”? What is your experience with graduates from these schools or student life there? Did you happen to attend one of them?
"Christian values" is part of the mission of each of those schools...they are Christian Schools. Your level of being "bogged down" might be different than mine, but NO ONE should send their kid to a Christian school if they don't really believe in God or Christianity. As I stated before, I AM MORE THAN FINE IF THE OP OR ANYONES ELSE WANTS TO DO THAT, but, if they aren't Christians or they think that being in a school like that will have no affect on a kid and possibly the whole family, then they should think again. There is no hate like Christian love.
I know I’ll regret this (sorry guys). But how do you know that Westminister, Pace and Lovett are “bogged down by religious ideology”? What is your experience with graduates from these schools or student life there? Did you happen to attend one of them?
"Christian values" is part of the mission of each of those schools...they are Christian Schools. Your level of being "bogged down" might be different than mine, but NO ONE should send their kid to a Christian school if they don't really believe in God or Christianity. As I stated before, I AM MORE THAN FINE IF THE OP OR ANYONES ELSE WANTS TO DO THAT, but, if they aren't Christians or they think that being in a school like that will have no affect on a kid and possibly the whole family, then they should think again. There is no hate like Christian love.
Flagpole, like most leftists, is a hypocritical hater of anything that doesn’t bend the knee to leftist ideology.
He’s also an arrogant, self-satisfied, empty shell of a person. But that is beside the point.
I know I’ll regret this (sorry guys). But how do you know that Westminister, Pace and Lovett are “bogged down by religious ideology”? What is your experience with graduates from these schools or student life there? Did you happen to attend one of them?
"Christian values" is part of the mission of each of those schools...they are Christian Schools. Your level of being "bogged down" might be different than mine, but NO ONE should send their kid to a Christian school if they don't really believe in God or Christianity. As I stated before, I AM MORE THAN FINE IF THE OP OR ANYONES ELSE WANTS TO DO THAT, but, if they aren't Christians or they think that being in a school like that will have no affect on a kid and possibly the whole family, then they should think again. There is no hate like Christian love.
What is YOUR definition of being “bogged down by religious ideology.” The thread is about four schools in particular Be specific about these schools.
Also, what do you find offensive about Christian values?