Rank these K6/8 schools..... Sheridan, NPS, Lowell, Norwood, St. Pats, & WES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are atheist but interested in NPS and st Pats because of academics. Can we fit in the community?

Athiest family at NPS and we feel totally fine. I haven't meant anyone I consider to be very religious and I'm pretty involved at the school.

[Anonymous]

1. Academics - all very high quality
2. Placement - depends on where you want to go but all do well. Edge to NPS because slight easier to get into 7th v 9th
3. WES and St Pats and Norwood. This is where NPS lacks significantly.
4. Location. Dependent on where you live.
5. Extracurriculars. Pretty similar. Edge to St Pats for sports and WES for music.
6. Soft skill development. Sheridan,WES,Lowell
7. Diversity, Sheridan, WES, and Lowell again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Academics - all very high quality
2. Placement - depends on where you want to go but all do well. Edge to NPS because slight easier to get into 7th v 9th
3. WES and St Pats and Norwood. This is where NPS lacks significantly.
4. Location. Dependent on where you live.
5. Extracurriculars. Pretty similar. Edge to St Pats for sports and WES for music.
6. Soft skill development. Sheridan,WES,Lowell
7. Diversity, Sheridan, WES, and Lowell again.

Good assessment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we do rankings by category?
1. academics
2. high school placement
3. facility
4. location
5. extracurriculars
6. soft skill development
7. diversity

Each number would be a different ranking

yep, thats the point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't rank these. We are Jewish- didn't even consider NPS, St. Pats, or WES. So for US, those three are the least desirable.

A huge portion of the NPS community is Jewish or interfaith.

You’re wrong!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are atheist but interested in NPS and st Pats because of academics. Can we fit in the community?

You would be fine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are atheist but interested in NPS and st Pats because of academics. Can we fit in the community?

You would be fine

You could fit in, yes. But would you want to? We tried it and left for a non religious school. Was a much better fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS
St. Pat’s
Norwood
WES
Sheridan
Lowell

Clearly, you don't value a progressive curriculum. My ranking would be:

Lowell/Sheridan
Norwood
NPS
St. Pats
WES

These all have great things to offer, but this is a wide range. I work at another independent school that’s k-12 and have friends and former colleagues at all of these places. Here’s my assessment. Lowell and Sheridan are both diverse and progressive, and walk the walk. Lowell has the nicer campus, but Sheridan has the social emotional/whole child thing down. Kids come out of Sheridan very confident and self possessed. Norwood has solid, solid academics and great outplacement. There is not as wide a range in academic needs there as at some of the other schools. Beautiful spacious campus. St. Pat’s has a lot of the same whole child magic as Sheridan, though it’s, of course, a religious school. Much more traditional. I think most people would be comfortable there regardless of religion, and they have a strong staff. WES to me is the weak link in the group here, though for families looking for a specific curriculum and who have to move often internationally, it might provide the most consistency for them out of all these schools. I’d make a choice based on my child and my family’s needs. Visit and get a feel for them once that’s possible again. A child will get a good education at any of these, so think about commute, what kind of education you want (progressive or traditional, religious or secular, a bigger or smaller school etc) and then go from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are atheist but interested in NPS and st Pats because of academics. Can we fit in the community?

Athiest family at NPS and we feel totally fine. I haven't meant anyone I consider to be very religious and I'm pretty involved at the school.

+100

We're not atheists, but we're not very religious either. We've been at the school for over 5 years and as an active parent volunteer (pre-covid),
I can honestly say this has never been an issue.

[Anonymous]

St Pats, nps, wes and BVR which of them is most/least religious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS
St. Pat’s
Norwood
WES
Sheridan
Lowell

Clearly, you don't value a progressive curriculum. My ranking would be:

Lowell/Sheridan
Norwood
NPS
St. Pats
WES

These all have great things to offer, but this is a wide range. I work at another independent school that’s k-12 and have friends and former colleagues at all of these places. Here’s my assessment. Lowell and Sheridan are both diverse and progressive, and walk the walk. Lowell has the nicer campus, but Sheridan has the social emotional/whole child thing down. Kids come out of Sheridan very confident and self possessed. Norwood has solid, solid academics and great outplacement. There is not as wide a range in academic needs there as at some of the other schools. Beautiful spacious campus. St. Pat’s has a lot of the same whole child magic as Sheridan, though it’s, of course, a religious school. Much more traditional. I think most people would be comfortable there regardless of religion, and they have a strong staff. WES to me is the weak link in the group here, though for families looking for a specific curriculum and who have to move often internationally, it might provide the most consistency for them out of all these schools. I’d make a choice based on my child and my family’s needs. Visit and get a feel for them once that’s possible again. A child will get a good education at any of these, so think about commute, what kind of education you want (progressive or traditional, religious or secular, a bigger or smaller school etc) and then go from there.

Great feedback! I am wondering what you think about Langley School. How does it compare to these schools in your opinion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPS
St. Pat’s
Norwood
WES
Sheridan
Lowell

Clearly, you don't value a progressive curriculum. My ranking would be:

Lowell/Sheridan
Norwood
NPS
St. Pats
WES

These all have great things to offer, but this is a wide range. I work at another independent school that’s k-12 and have friends and former colleagues at all of these places. Here’s my assessment. Lowell and Sheridan are both diverse and progressive, and walk the walk. Lowell has the nicer campus, but Sheridan has the social emotional/whole child thing down. Kids come out of Sheridan very confident and self possessed. Norwood has solid, solid academics and great outplacement. There is not as wide a range in academic needs there as at some of the other schools. Beautiful spacious campus. St. Pat’s has a lot of the same whole child magic as Sheridan, though it’s, of course, a religious school. Much more traditional. I think most people would be comfortable there regardless of religion, and they have a strong staff. WES to me is the weak link in the group here, though for families looking for a specific curriculum and who have to move often internationally, it might provide the most consistency for them out of all these schools. I’d make a choice based on my child and my family’s needs. Visit and get a feel for them once that’s possible again. A child will get a good education at any of these, so think about commute, what kind of education you want (progressive or traditional, religious or secular, a bigger or smaller school etc) and then go from there.

And what do you think about nps?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we do rankings by category?
1. academics
2. high school placement
3. facility
4. location
5. extracurriculars
6. soft skill development
7. diversity

1. All schools have great academics. If you're looking for more traditional: NPS, St. Pats. For progressive, Lowell, Sheridan and Norwood
2. Depends on what you're looking for Lowell and Sheridan have a great track record at GDS and SFS. St. Pat's and NPS for more traditional and cathedral schools. Not sure about Norwood and WES.
3. St. Pat's = Lowell
4. This depends on where you live so I'm not ranking
5. Lowell for the pool and sports that start in K and theater program for middle school, St.Pats for arts and music, Sheridan for Mountain Campus and Affinity Groups
6. Soft skills? Not sure what you mean by this but if you're referring to developing empathy and social skill development, Lowell = Sheridan
7. I'm looking at both students and staff. Lowell then Norwood and Sheridan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are atheist but interested in NPS and st Pats because of academics. Can we fit in the community?

Our family is atheist at NPS -- I've had zero issues!

[Anonymous]

1. Coin toss. All are rigorous and good quality.
2. Depends on what school you want but all get kids into the Big 3 if that’s what you’re after.
3. Norwood and WES. Disagree on St. Pats. Very outdated main school and split campus.
4. Silly category. Depends on where you live.
5. Lowell for all but then St. Patrick’s for sports and WES for arts and music.
6. WES and Sheridan.
7. Sheridan, WES, Lowell in that order.