How would my DD do at Wootton?

[Anonymous]

My DD is in a small K-8 private school and we'll be looking at high schools soon, zoned for Wootton. She's a good student and a good athlete and I don't have any concerns about her transitioning to high school socially. Intense academic pressure tends to stress her out and although she gets excellent grades and would likely have the option to be placed in multiple AP classes at a time, I can also see her wanting to prioritize her mental health a little bit instead of trying to take on everything at once and burn out trying to compete with everyone for the highest grades. I have heard that Wootton is a very intense environment with pressure cooker academics. How is it for kids who are very bright but trying to stay sane and well-rounded instead of vying for top of the class/HYP? Are we better off staying in private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in a small K-8 private school and we'll be looking at high schools soon, zoned for Wootton. She's a good student and a good athlete and I don't have any concerns about her transitioning to high school socially. Intense academic pressure tends to stress her out and although she gets excellent grades and would likely have the option to be placed in multiple AP classes at a time, I can also see her wanting to prioritize her mental health a little bit instead of trying to take on everything at once and burn out trying to compete with everyone for the highest grades. I have heard that Wootton is a very intense environment with pressure cooker academics. How is it for kids who are very bright but trying to stay sane and well-rounded instead of vying for top of the class/HYP? Are we better off staying in private?

I'm pretty sure this is workable. You might want to connect with the school and work with her counselor to develop a course of study that allows her to ease into it.

[Anonymous]

At any high school, there are going to be kids gunning for HYP and those who are not. I'm sure she can find a group of friends who are more like her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in a small K-8 private school and we'll be looking at high schools soon, zoned for Wootton. She's a good student and a good athlete and I don't have any concerns about her transitioning to high school socially. Intense academic pressure tends to stress her out and although she gets excellent grades and would likely have the option to be placed in multiple AP classes at a time, I can also see her wanting to prioritize her mental health a little bit instead of trying to take on everything at once and burn out trying to compete with everyone for the highest grades. I have heard that Wootton is a very intense environment with pressure cooker academics. How is it for kids who are very bright but trying to stay sane and well-rounded instead of vying for top of the class/HYP? Are we better off staying in private?

That is definitely true to be blunt.

[Anonymous]

If she's a top student at her private and likes that kind of environment I would send her to another private.

Wooton is huge and intense and and for a child who you know gets stressed out by that kind of pressure I would prioritize her mental health and find a place with a more appropriate culture.

[Anonymous]

Wooten is easy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wooten is easy

or it's easi

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wooten is easy

or it's easi

ease

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in a small K-8 private school and we'll be looking at high schools soon, zoned for Wootton. She's a good student and a good athlete and I don't have any concerns about her transitioning to high school socially. Intense academic pressure tends to stress her out and although she gets excellent grades and would likely have the option to be placed in multiple AP classes at a time, I can also see her wanting to prioritize her mental health a little bit instead of trying to take on everything at once and burn out trying to compete with everyone for the highest grades. I have heard that Wootton is a very intense environment with pressure cooker academics. How is it for kids who are very bright but trying to stay sane and well-rounded instead of vying for top of the class/HYP? Are we better off staying in private?

That is definitely true to be blunt.

+1
Wootton definitely is a huge pressure cooker. It’s hard for kids to step back and not take 5-6 AP classes in my experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in a small K-8 private school and we'll be looking at high schools soon, zoned for Wootton. She's a good student and a good athlete and I don't have any concerns about her transitioning to high school socially. Intense academic pressure tends to stress her out and although she gets excellent grades and would likely have the option to be placed in multiple AP classes at a time, I can also see her wanting to prioritize her mental health a little bit instead of trying to take on everything at once and burn out trying to compete with everyone for the highest grades. I have heard that Wootton is a very intense environment with pressure cooker academics. How is it for kids who are very bright but trying to stay sane and well-rounded instead of vying for top of the class/HYP? Are we better off staying in private?

That is definitely true to be blunt.

+1
Wootton definitely is a huge pressure cooker. It’s hard for kids to step back and not take 5-6 AP classes in my experience

Is that due to peer pressure, or pressure from admin and teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in a small K-8 private school and we'll be looking at high schools soon, zoned for Wootton. She's a good student and a good athlete and I don't have any concerns about her transitioning to high school socially. Intense academic pressure tends to stress her out and although she gets excellent grades and would likely have the option to be placed in multiple AP classes at a time, I can also see her wanting to prioritize her mental health a little bit instead of trying to take on everything at once and burn out trying to compete with everyone for the highest grades. I have heard that Wootton is a very intense environment with pressure cooker academics. How is it for kids who are very bright but trying to stay sane and well-rounded instead of vying for top of the class/HYP? Are we better off staying in private?

That is definitely true to be blunt.

+1
Wootton definitely is a huge pressure cooker. It’s hard for kids to step back and not take 5-6 AP classes in my experience

Is that due to peer pressure, or pressure from admin and teachers?

Peer pressure. Kids are very driven.

[Anonymous]

Why would you put her through that if you can already see that she'll get stressed out?

[Anonymous]

Wootton parent here. I was worried for DD who was not the most driven student but she did fine. She took a few APs over the years but didn’t stress herself out (her choice). DS was very self-driven so he chose to take more challenging classes but he definitely didn’t work himself to the bone. He said classes weren’t as difficult as he expected. He had friends who took almost all APs and were gunning for selective schools and other friends who took 1 a year. All seemed happy and confident in their choices. In his circle, nobody seemed to judge others choices. We even know someone who did a reduced schedule for mental health reasons the first 2 years. She really flourished there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in a small K-8 private school and we'll be looking at high schools soon, zoned for Wootton. She's a good student and a good athlete and I don't have any concerns about her transitioning to high school socially. Intense academic pressure tends to stress her out and although she gets excellent grades and would likely have the option to be placed in multiple AP classes at a time, I can also see her wanting to prioritize her mental health a little bit instead of trying to take on everything at once and burn out trying to compete with everyone for the highest grades. I have heard that Wootton is a very intense environment with pressure cooker academics. How is it for kids who are very bright but trying to stay sane and well-rounded instead of vying for top of the class/HYP? Are we better off staying in private?

It's a fine school. It has the same teachers and curriculum as all other schools in MCPS. In fact, your child will do the same as they would at any MCPS HS school.