High schools with the most to least hw/ after school life balance

[Anonymous]

Can people share what the usual nightly hw demands are for your HS student. We are looking for a hs that isn't known for 2-3 hours per night.

[Anonymous]

2-3 is normal for any high school.

[Anonymous]

2-3 is normal. I’d be very surprised if you find a private in this area that regularly has less than that per night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can people share what the usual nightly hw demands are for your HS student. We are looking for a hs that isn't known for 2-3 hours per night.

My child had 4-5 at a tough middle school and approx 3 at new high school. You’re nuts to think any high school is less than that and I would question why they don’t have much.

[Anonymous]

Ask the school what the expected homework load is; ours states it in the handbook. 10-15 hours per week for underclassmen and 15-20+ hours if you are an upperclassmen. (Expectation being that if you are in APs it will be 20+) Non big 3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask the school what the expected homework load is; ours states it in the handbook. 10-15 hours per week for underclassmen and 15-20+ hours if you are an upperclassmen. (Expectation being that if you are in APs it will be 20+) Non big 3

APs get crazy. My daughter is taking 3 APs at NCS and easily has 4 hours of homework per evening. Many nights it is 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask the school what the expected homework load is; ours states it in the handbook. 10-15 hours per week for underclassmen and 15-20+ hours if you are an upperclassmen. (Expectation being that if you are in APs it will be 20+) Non big 3

APs get crazy. My daughter is taking 3 APs at NCS and easily has 4 hours of homework per evening. Many nights it is 5 hours.

I should add that she is super efficient. There is just a lot of work because the humanities courses (non-AP) can have several hours of reading and writing per night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can people share what the usual nightly hw demands are for your HS student. We are looking for a hs that isn't known for 2-3 hours per night.

My child had 4-5 at a tough middle school and approx 3 at new high school. You’re nuts to think any high school is less than that and I would question why they don’t have much.

What middle school was this?

[Anonymous]

My DD is in 7th grade in a FCPS middle school and averages 2-3 hrs of HW a night. I imagine HS will require more, public or private.

[Anonymous]

NP here.

We're considering looking at the Field School for 9th grade in the 2025-26 academic year. How is the homework load there?

[Anonymous]

They have 2-3 hours a night at my local public. It's like a 3 or 4 on greatschools. Adjust your expectations. You can't send your kid to high school in the 1990s.

[Anonymous]

When we asked our school they said that there is so much flexibility in the afternoons with advisory and study hall that most students only end up with around 1hr of homework each night. Our student guide also confirmed the same.

At least at our school, the culture seemed to be that the students spend breaks/free periods completing work in study groups so that evenings are free for service and community related commitments

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2-3 is normal for any high school.

the high school where you have less than 2 hours of work per night isn't a good school.

[Anonymous]

Agreed. A lot of students who claim to be saddled with hours of homework per night likely didn't manage their time optimally during the school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask the school what the expected homework load is; ours states it in the handbook. 10-15 hours per week for underclassmen and 15-20+ hours if you are an upperclassmen. (Expectation being that if you are in APs it will be 20+) Non big 3

APs get crazy. My daughter is taking 3 APs at NCS and easily has 4 hours of homework per evening. Many nights it is 5 hours.

I should add that she is super efficient. There is just a lot of work because the humanities courses (non-AP) can have several hours of reading and writing per night.

Yes, even if you are a fast reader and efficient worker there is so much to do and study when taking the hard classes. But even if one is at a less demanding school there will be nights where your kid spends 3-4 hours. That should not be the norm in my opinion which is why we may leave an NCS like school for upper school.