Trinity vs. Horace Mann

[Anonymous]

Making this decision for high school and wondering if anyone has any insights into the differences (besides campus, class size, offerings). Are they both pressure cooker, competitive student body schools with similar level of academic rigor? Any cultural differences between the two?

[Anonymous]

Go to the revisit days and see which one is a better fit for your child. They may have a sense for the one they like better after getting to see the kids in each school.

[Anonymous]

They are similarly rigorous and competitive. DS started at HM in HS, and he liked it because:

•wanted a campus setting
•really clicked with the admissions person who interviewed him
•had a great revisit day

He did not apply to T because the exmissions director at our K-8 thought HM and some other schools would better fits for him---described T as "joyless." I can't really comment as to that, as we didn't tour. We do know kids who went there and loved it.

[Anonymous]

Don't discount the commute. How long and how expensive will it be to get to school? There might be a bus, but not for morning swim practice, etc.

[Anonymous]

I am curious as well. Are there cultural differences between these two? It seems Trinity has smaller class size than HM even though Trinity doubles its size in high school.

[Anonymous]

We’re torn between these two as well. DC went to both revisit days, liked both, but felt they had very different vibes. HM seemed more diverse and approachable—at least for new 9th-grade joiners at the start. DC also felt it might be easier to find their own group at HM, whereas Trinity students seemed more similar to each other (in a good way), and the sense of humor felt different—Not sure if that’s because DC already knows a few friends at HM but doesn’t have any social connections at Trinity—or if it’s just a revisit day bias. Also wondering how the dynamic at HM shifts from 9th-10th grade, when grades/GPAs aren’t disclosed, to junior and senior years, when academic pressure kicks in. Would love to hear others’ experiences!

[Anonymous]

Definitely consider commute times for each school. Trinity does double its class size for ninth grade so I don’t think your kid will feel like a new kid. There will be plenty of new kids there but I would suggest doing a fall sport to meet people and have a smaller social group at first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re torn between these two as well. DC went to both revisit days, liked both, but felt they had very different vibes. HM seemed more diverse and approachable—at least for new 9th-grade joiners at the start. DC also felt it might be easier to find their own group at HM, whereas Trinity students seemed more similar to each other (in a good way), and the sense of humor felt different—Not sure if that’s because DC already knows a few friends at HM but doesn’t have any social connections at Trinity—or if it’s just a revisit day bias. Also wondering how the dynamic at HM shifts from 9th-10th grade, when grades/GPAs aren’t disclosed, to junior and senior years, when academic pressure kicks in. Would love to hear others’ experiences!

DS is a junior at HM. The academic pressure has definitely kicked in, but not in a way that has changed the dynamics of his relationships with his friends and classmates. I don't think it would be much different at any other school of its caliber. The kids are aware that this is the year where things really start to matter, and the process can feel daunting. This is where the college counseling staff can make a difference, and so far we've been very happy with them. There's a lot of hand-holding for both students and parents.

[Anonymous]

Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re torn between these two as well. DC went to both revisit days, liked both, but felt they had very different vibes. HM seemed more diverse and approachable—at least for new 9th-grade joiners at the start. DC also felt it might be easier to find their own group at HM, whereas Trinity students seemed more similar to each other (in a good way), and the sense of humor felt different—Not sure if that’s because DC already knows a few friends at HM but doesn’t have any social connections at Trinity—or if it’s just a revisit day bias. Also wondering how the dynamic at HM shifts from 9th-10th grade, when grades/GPAs aren’t disclosed, to junior and senior years, when academic pressure kicks in. Would love to hear others’ experiences!

DS is a junior at HM. The academic pressure has definitely kicked in, but not in a way that has changed the dynamics of his relationships with his friends and classmates. I don't think it would be much different at any other school of its caliber. The kids are aware that this is the year where things really start to matter, and the process can feel daunting. This is where the college counseling staff can make a difference, and so far we've been very happy with them. There's a lot of hand-holding for both students and parents.

[Anonymous]

Definitely consider commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re torn between these two as well. DC went to both revisit days, liked both, but felt they had very different vibes. HM seemed more diverse and approachable—at least for new 9th-grade joiners at the start. DC also felt it might be easier to find their own group at HM, whereas Trinity students seemed more similar to each other (in a good way), and the sense of humor felt different—Not sure if that’s because DC already knows a few friends at HM but doesn’t have any social connections at Trinity—or if it’s just a revisit day bias. Also wondering how the dynamic at HM shifts from 9th-10th grade, when grades/GPAs aren’t disclosed, to junior and senior years, when academic pressure kicks in. Would love to hear others’ experiences!

Grades are not disclosed in the 9th and 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, not grades--students can see their course grades, but GPA isn’t calculated or shared until 11th grade.. You can figure it out yourself, but I guess it’s harder to know how you compare to your peers until junior year. That's what we've heard. Students know pressure will pick up in junior year, but it’s hard to say how seeing where they stand among their peers at that point might affect them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re torn between these two as well. DC went to both revisit days, liked both, but felt they had very different vibes. HM seemed more diverse and approachable—at least for new 9th-grade joiners at the start. DC also felt it might be easier to find their own group at HM, whereas Trinity students seemed more similar to each other (in a good way), and the sense of humor felt different—Not sure if that’s because DC already knows a few friends at HM but doesn’t have any social connections at Trinity—or if it’s just a revisit day bias. Also wondering how the dynamic at HM shifts from 9th-10th grade, when grades/GPAs aren’t disclosed, to junior and senior years, when academic pressure kicks in. Would love to hear others’ experiences!

Grades are not disclosed in the 9th and 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

I have heard workload is more intense at HM and kids are more stressed there. Does anyone have any information on this? Also, wondering if the student body is different, is the student body nerdier at one vs the other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard workload is more intense at HM and kids are more stressed there. Does anyone have any information on this? Also, wondering if the student body is different, is the student body nerdier at one vs the other?

When we toured and revisited the HS students at Trinity are not nerdy at all. Well adjusted. Dalton definitely has some very nerdy looking high schoolers.

[Anonymous]

How are the kids at HM in high school? They didn’t seem too nerdy or sporty. Just genuinely impressed by their speaking skills from the small group I observed