What are the “Big 3” or “Big 5” in Baltimore?

[Anonymous]

We are fortunate to have many schools that may be the “best” for different kids depending on their needs. There are smart/athletic/artsy kids at ALL of them. Surely that’s enough? We do not need to devolve into DC-esque “top 3 or top 5.” We can recognize that’s “top” is very nuanced and very child dependent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an alum of one of the schools in Roland Park and pretty much my entire family went to one of the Roland Park schools or McDonogh. I think people are right to say that it is tough to do an apples to apples comparison with DC. The biggest thing I would say is that the top kids from each school, despite the schools reputation for academic rigor, got into top schools. These schools also do not have an abundance of applicants where they are rejecting hoards of students or can fill classes with kids guaranteed to get 1500s on their SATs (this is the impression I am starting to get from the DC schools). Each school really emphasized fit. And a lot of my friends seemed to go to one school over another simple because it was close by or they had a family member (like a cousin) already going there. When I was there in the aughts, this was what the rep was for each school:

The Roland Park 5

Gilman - old money, elitist, more
academically rigorous

Boys Latin - lax jocks, less academically rigorous with more
emphasis on smaller class sizes/saying they were a family

Friends - art types with more programs focused on dance, music, etc. also the only coed school in the Roland Park 5. Emphasized quicker values.

Bryn Mawr - girl Gilman with a little less elitism and similar academic rigor

Roland Park Country School - girl Gilman with a little more focus on athletics with slightly less academic rigor

Catholic Schools (don’t know these reps as well)

Calvert Hall - large student body, opposite of elitist

Loyola - most elite catholic school (but not like in the same sense as gilman)

NDP - jocks

Maryvale - smallest student body catholic school

Burb Schools

Garrison Forest - wealthy (polo arena and boarders); skewed less academically rigorous

Park - Jewish artsy kids (I don’t think it ever had a religious affiliation unlike most the other schools, which is why it skews jewish)

St Paul’s - new money and skewed towards lax jocks

McDonogh - Similar to Gilman but coed and campus has more of a country feel due to location; felt less elitist and old moneyish/WASPy

There are other schools like St Tims and Oldfields that I really know nothing about.

Oughts is now 20 years ago! Having watched changes from the 1990s heyday where all the schools were bursting at the seams (it helped to be a lot more affordable back then), Friends is probably the only Roland Park school that may have a majority of its students living inside the city limits but even I doubt that. The other RP schools all draw the majority of their students from the counties. In "those days" so many north Baltimore kids headed to the county for privates as well as the RP privates, making it a wash altogether. As it is, all I'm commenting is that RP versus County is a bit of a misleading binary.

Park, by the way, is significantly less "Jewish" than it was 25 years ago. It's firmly progressive. I have several friends who are Park alums who send their children to other schools because even they thought they needed something a bit more balanced.

I’m definitely seeing a trend where more people are opting for private schools again despite the exorbitant price tag. Several families I know who moved to the Dulaney or Towson area for public schools are now looking at private school.

Interesting… pontificating but wondering if it’s some combination of the below:

1. With baby boomers retiring, more people with young kids are being promoted to positions where they can afford tuition. I have seen antidotal evidence of this with friends starting to make partner at the large law firms and get promoted with in the F1000 companies around the area (Under Armour and T. Rowe specifically). Not to mention DC prices driving people into the area.

2. Population growth in the county starting to strain the public schools. I think Delaney has to close on super hot days due to the lack of air conditioning?

3. More people electing to stay in the city that don’t want to risk getting rejected from City, Poly or School for the Arts. I know we have no plans of moving out…

4. Since a lot of private schools started daycares, people sticking with them even after their kids qualify for public school rather than pulling them out.

We lived in the county for elementary school , and switched for middle for oldest (younger child was still in lower school). Our county elementary, which is still highly sought after, was fantastic for the first few years, then the county got rid of all acceleration at the elementary level and some at the middle school level. Teachers and schools also went from having a fair amount of freedom, to being given highly scripted curriculum. A lot of great teachers retired at this point.

The condition of the physical facilities of all the “top” public high school, both in the county and city, is horrible. In the county, at least, there are plans for improvements but not in the city.

College placement is still better in the private schools, at least for the middle portion of the class. This may change given colleges changing priorities but hasn’t yet. Similarly, for kids hoping to get recruited for a college sport, the pipeline remains much stronger from the private/Catholic schools.

I went to Dulaney and I would not send my kid there. And neither would most of my friends who still live in the area (I live in DC now and send my kid private). The facility is awful and the BC board of ed has done everything in its power to gut the gifted program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The condition of the physical facilities of all the “top” public high school, both in the county and city, is horrible. In the county, at least, there are plans for improvements but not in the city.

Just a slight correction - City and Poly both have full renovations scheduled to start in a few years. City should be fully renovated by Fall 2027, Poly by 2030. Each school will be in a swing space for 2-3 years before moving back to the renovated building. Judging from other schools that have gone through the renovation process recently, the facilities will be great once they are finished, although it's going to be a pain while the renovations are taking place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We chose to send DD to Bryn Mawr, but I have to say I would be thrilled if there were a more academically rigorous co-ed option in the Roland Park area. I am really scratching my head as to why the most rigorous academic options are both single-sex. At least they can take co-ed classes together in the upper school.

What about friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose to send DD to Bryn Mawr, but I have to say I would be thrilled if there were a more academically rigorous co-ed option in the Roland Park area. I am really scratching my head as to why the most rigorous academic options are both single-sex. At least they can take co-ed classes together in the upper school.

What about friends?

20 years ago Gilman, Bryn Mawr, Friends, Park and McDonogh all had similar reputations for academic rigor. Similar SAT scores, similar college placements. Some years one school might be slightly stronger but on the whole not enough to make a difference. You picked the school on personality and fit. But these days Friends has slipped behind the pack. It's lost the bright and nerdy kids from bright families without much money due to the rising tuition and who now stay in public schools. It's had to take in weaker students. Student body is smaller as well.

No knock on Friends, in many ways it's still a good school and still has strong students. But when a popular middle school math teacher who'd been at Friends for decades was fired for refusing to dumb down the curriculum, you know things have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McDonogh, Gilman, and Bryn Mawr?

The premise of this thread is silly. What's next, discussing the "Big 3" private schools in Detroit? Sadly, both are descending ghost towns and all of the top rung families left decades ago. Therefore, the "best" schools no longer have crème de la crème high born pupils.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDonogh, Gilman, and Bryn Mawr?

The premise of this thread is silly. What's next, discussing the "Big 3" private schools in Detroit? Sadly, both are descending ghost towns and all of the top rung families left decades ago. Therefore, the "best" schools no longer have crème de la crème high born pupils.

😂

That’s right, come roll with the commoners at Gilman!

[Anonymous]

Prep schools in descending towns from Baltimore and Wilmington to Detroit and Cleveland admit anyone who has the money. There really aren't any standards anymore and dull kids are rarely kicked out. They are all hard up for the money and headcount. The faint status is an illusion living off the fumes of yesteryear when going to one of these schools really signaled something about your family lineage and your child's brainpower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prep schools in descending towns from Baltimore and Wilmington to Detroit and Cleveland admit anyone who has the money. There really aren't any standards anymore and dull kids are rarely kicked out. They are all hard up for the money and headcount. The faint status is an illusion living off the fumes of yesteryear when going to one of these schools really signaled something about your family lineage and your child's brainpower.

Nice try. You must be clueless about the admission rates, SAT scores, and so on at these school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep schools in descending towns from Baltimore and Wilmington to Detroit and Cleveland admit anyone who has the money. There really aren't any standards anymore and dull kids are rarely kicked out. They are all hard up for the money and headcount. The faint status is an illusion living off the fumes of yesteryear when going to one of these schools really signaled something about your family lineage and your child's brainpower.

Nice try. You must be clueless about the admission rates, SAT scores, and so on at these school.

There may be some rich dullards in the mix, but that's also true for Harvard and Yale. Doesn't negate the awesome, smart, AND rich kids who also kick some academic butt in these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep schools in descending towns from Baltimore and Wilmington to Detroit and Cleveland admit anyone who has the money. There really aren't any standards anymore and dull kids are rarely kicked out. They are all hard up for the money and headcount. The faint status is an illusion living off the fumes of yesteryear when going to one of these schools really signaled something about your family lineage and your child's brainpower.

Nice try. You must be clueless about the admission rates, SAT scores, and so on at these school.

You write like a prole striver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep schools in descending towns from Baltimore and Wilmington to Detroit and Cleveland admit anyone who has the money. There really aren't any standards anymore and dull kids are rarely kicked out. They are all hard up for the money and headcount. The faint status is an illusion living off the fumes of yesteryear when going to one of these schools really signaled something about your family lineage and your child's brainpower.

Nice try. You must be clueless about the admission rates, SAT scores, and so on at these school.

You write like a prole striver.

Cork the wine, go to bed. Your ranting about “descending towns” and “family lineage” makes you sound deranged.

[Anonymous]

One thing I always appreciate about the Baltimore threads is how we simply ignore the trolls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose to send DD to Bryn Mawr, but I have to say I would be thrilled if there were a more academically rigorous co-ed option in the Roland Park area. I am really scratching my head as to why the most rigorous academic options are both single-sex. At least they can take co-ed classes together in the upper school.

What about friends?

20 years ago Gilman, Bryn Mawr, Friends, Park and McDonogh all had similar reputations for academic rigor. Similar SAT scores, similar college placements. Some years one school might be slightly stronger but on the whole not enough to make a difference. You picked the school on personality and fit. But these days Friends has slipped behind the pack. It's lost the bright and nerdy kids from bright families without much money due to the rising tuition and who now stay in public schools. It's had to take in weaker students. Student body is smaller as well.

No knock on Friends, in many ways it's still a good school and still has strong students. But when a popular middle school math teacher who'd been at Friends for decades was fired for refusing to dumb down the curriculum, you know things have changed.

I am the PP who wishes there were an academically rigorous co-ed option in Roland Park. I did not know about the math teacher, but what you wrote resonates with what I have heard from people who have sent their kids there. My impression, though, is that their arts are strong and it is a very nice experience. I just happen to have a kid who really wants to be more challenged academically, which is why we left public. I get the sense that private school interest is up, especially for the middle and upper school, so perhaps Friends is in a good position to reframe itself a bit by adding harder honors courses, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDonogh, Gilman, and Bryn Mawr?

The premise of this thread is silly. What's next, discussing the "Big 3" private schools in Detroit? Sadly, both are descending ghost towns and all of the top rung families left decades ago. Therefore, the "best" schools no longer have crème de la crème high born pupils.

What are you talking about? Are you from Baltimore or Detroit?