Culture of Holton-Arms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attended Choate Rosemary Hall in the late 90's and they followed the same model of Physics, Chemistry, Biology. They still do, per their course catalogue, and I remember other top NE boarding schools following the same pattern. The concepts were taught with formulas provided for each topic and lab experiment without diving into the higher math - derivatives, etc. It was impactful in fostering a deeper interest in science through experimentation and introducing math in sciences when most students pre-high school haven't been exposed to higher level math in science class. Studying Calc after the fact Jr. year brought some Ahhah moments related to freshman physics studies, but I can't say, in my experience, there were meaningful negative impacts resulting from this sequence of coursework.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1649165852/choate/vlna2xgsqtxiruxw1htq/Choate-Course-Catalogue-22-23.pdf

All the angst about losing honors math at Holton may or may not be a problem, depending on how your child’s strengths. But the real oddity was how the significant curriculum change was implemented. Questions/concerns were not tolerated. The attitude was get in line or get out. I actually didn’t have so many questions until I saw that reaction to those who did.

This is my issue +1000 —Holton parent.

It was weird. The school sends a million emails about small random topics but deciding our girls couldn’t handle honors math was unnerving. To this day, the school still refuses to discuss it in any detail. And woe to those who dare ask.

[Anonymous]

Well, they did a number of "parent coffee" zooms about this very topic where they described the data upon which they made this decision, as well as answered questions about it.

And the course pages and readiness documents are pretty comprehensive.

And you can always reach out to the Department Chair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, they did a number of "parent coffee" zooms about this very topic where they described the data upon which they made this decision, as well as answered questions about it.

And the course pages and readiness documents are pretty comprehensive.

And you can always reach out to the Department Chair.

Since these changes were announced in the winter of 2020, they weren't coffee zooms. And they didn't have real answers to substantive questions at the time. Overall, it was not a process that invited discussion or feedback that would produce any meaningful change. The changes were announced and that was it. The silver lining is that the high school has sorted out a way forward via the new integrated course.

[Anonymous]

NP here..I’ve been 2 zooms relating to the math since covid. Look them up. They were recorded so they are somewhere on the parent site. Or just ask for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here..I’ve been 2 zooms relating to the math since covid. Look them up. They were recorded so they are somewhere on the parent site. Or just ask for them.

NP here too. I also attended the zooms, but they were done way after the change was already made and after complaints about the lack of communication on the issue. Frankly, I didn’t find the info provided helpful. There was no serious research that underpinned the change. Just numerous references to Jo Bowler’s work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here..I’ve been 2 zooms relating to the math since covid. Look them up. They were recorded so they are somewhere on the parent site. Or just ask for them.

NP here too. I also attended the zooms, but they were done way after the change was already made and after complaints about the lack of communication on the issue. Frankly, I didn’t find the info provided helpful. There was no serious research that underpinned the change. Just numerous references to Jo Bowler’s work.

Autocorrect mistake: Joe Boaler

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've been at the school since lower, my daughter is now in the upper school near graduation. We loved the lower school and middle school as well. Upper school is a different story.

Upper school is a great fit for many girls, unfortunately, it has not been a great fit for my daughter.

If your daughter is off the charts smart, Holton is fantastic academically and I don't think you can find a better school.

On the most part, the teachers are exceptional.

Socially, the girls are extremely cliquey - if your daughter finds her clique, she will thrive - if not, she's going to be very lonely because it's difficult to make really close friends outside of school unless your daughter is on a team sport outside of school or has other resources to meet friends. And the amount of homework and test preparation in upper school is insane, so she's not going to have a lot of extra time.

Culturally, the school is extremely liberal and the girls are intolerant of girls who do not follow the same ideology. If your daughter/family is moderate or conservative, it's going to be a rough road for your daughter.

I hope this helps.

+1

[Anonymous]

How's the Head of School search going?

[Anonymous]

Holton is awesome. Especially at humanities. Quite good. And the culture is not perfect but actually really pretty nice and welcoming. The pretty rich white blonde girl clique exists--but it exists in every school. Nothing special. They lord over everyone and sneer at others. There is also the rick kid clique who goes to Mrs Simpson's. But that is everywhere too. The one thing that is not good is Math. It is soooo bad. Especially in middle school. Just so pathetic compared to MCPS and other private schools. Then when they over-rotated on diversity issues by teaching only African history in 7th grade. That was insane. What about the Aztecs? Mayans? Arabs? India? Persia? China? Japan? Korea? Come on. I understand we have been overemphasizing Europe. But then go so extreme as to only teach Africa in World History was just plain stupid.

[Anonymous]

Just how bad is the math in HS? What about the US science classes? How rigorous is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just how bad is the math in HS? What about the US science classes? How rigorous is it?

HS math and science classes are top notch.

[Anonymous]

+1. The problem is that girls in Holton MS will not be prepared for the top notch classes because the curriculum is so slow and limited. So they need extra math. Trust me when I say that the top math girls in MS all supplement. It should not be necessary for the price tag and really exacerbates the wealth gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Attended Choate Rosemary Hall in the late 90's and they followed the same model of Physics, Chemistry, Biology. They still do, per their course catalogue, and I remember other top NE boarding schools following the same pattern. The concepts were taught with formulas provided for each topic and lab experiment without diving into the higher math - derivatives, etc. It was impactful in fostering a deeper interest in science through experimentation and introducing math in sciences when most students pre-high school haven't been exposed to higher level math in science class. Studying Calc after the fact Jr. year brought some Ahhah moments related to freshman physics studies, but I can't say, in my experience, there were meaningful negative impacts resulting from this sequence of coursework.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1649165852/choate/vlna2xgsqtxiruxw1htq/Choate-Course-Catalogue-22-23.pdf

I am a teacher but not at Holton. I think the physics first sequence is fine. But so is the Biology first sequence. They both have advantages and disadvantages.
Math in 9th grade physics has to be pretty basic if students have not done algebra 2 or calculus.
Ideally students would take another advanced physics course later but I’m assuming not many Holton students do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. The problem is that girls in Holton MS will not be prepared for the top notch classes because the curriculum is so slow and limited. So they need extra math. Trust me when I say that the top math girls in MS all supplement. It should not be necessary for the price tag and really exacerbates the wealth gap.

This is true. All the top students at Holton have science and math tutors.
Be prepared to get tutors for your girls in high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1. The problem is that girls in Holton MS will not be prepared for the top notch classes because the curriculum is so slow and limited. So they need extra math. Trust me when I say that the top math girls in MS all supplement. It should not be necessary for the price tag and really exacerbates the wealth gap.

This is true. All the top students at Holton have science and math tutors.
Be prepared to get tutors for your girls in high school

So you are saying to be the top student in math or science at Holton, you will need a tutor? I would think after one year they would have caught up from weak MS…