Tell me about The Heights....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Heights has an interesting faculty. Odd, they still do not have a single woman as a teacher. Conservative to the extreme.

https://heights.edu/about/directory/

The only hire male teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Some kids go to Stanford and Harvard and some don't go to college, some go to community college. It's all over the place.

For a private school in the DC area, that’s really strange.

There are many large Catholic families at the Heights whose college choices are driven primarily by finances, which explains some of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former Heights mom here.

This is a school for orthodox Catholics for whom the most important element of their sons' education is making sure he "stays" Catholic and is taught very conservative Catholic values. Lots of people here who don't believe in birth control. Seriously. As previous poster stated, some of the teachers are magical and some are meh. They hire men (only) of "good character" rather than people who have teaching degrees. This makes it hit or miss. It's a very classical education (Latin required, Ancient Greek offered) and my sons were certainly well-prepared for college.

The kids here are generally very sheltered from "the culture," which they fear will poison their young Catholic.

Very chauvinistic environment - moms get little respect.

Don't send your kids here unless your values are closely aligned with die-hard Catholics. If that's your jam (daily mass, rosary, women wearing smocks, etc), then you will be very happy.

There are more mainstream families that go there but pretty much all republican. (Not necessarily Trump supporters, though.). Would feel sorry for democrats who tried to join this community (unless they were also super Catholic and pro-ilfe).

Sounds like the Republic of Gilead.

[Anonymous]

Raging liberal here. I can't imagine sending my son to the Heights, not that I have one (we have girls). The beauty of our country, however, is that we're allowed different strokes for different folks. I'm not going to sit here and cast aspersions on folks who don't think like me.

[Anonymous]

No first-hand knowledge of the school, but I have really enjoyed the school's podcasts over the last couple years. Worth it to listen, even if you wouldn't / couldn't attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seeking first-hand experience regarding any or all the following:

a) academic rigor/preparedness for college and beyond (do they push their students/what kinds of careers do graduating students gravitate to),
b)school culture (traditions, including religious, parent community involvement/opportunities to interact/meet/volunteer).
c)For those of you who sent their sons from lower school- are parents active about setting up out-of school opportunities for mixing with girls (more in middle school and high school years) or is everyone pretty much on their own for that?
d) How has your son grown/developed/ benefitted (or not) compared to traditional parochial school K-8 model...
e) is it worth the cost in the lower school or are they just running outside all day? Is it better to save for middle school instead?

Alright I'll bite. My kids went there mostly pre-Trump... but we were there for some of the Trump craziness and yes, it is Trumpville. Before that even it was extreeeemmmmllly right wing. My family is conservative and they are way right. I think it was good my kids could see this 1st hand instead of just hearing about it in the news.

a) Very rigorous if you kid is very smart. You can work with the admin to make the schedule less rigorous. Some kids go to Stanford and Harvard and some don't go to college, some go to community college. It's all over the place. Careers? I mean some are clearly teachers because many of the teachers went to the Heights, but I think this question is not answerable.

b) Culture - 3-5, very welcoming, fun, crazy it's like a dream for boys that don't like sitting all day... outside classrooms, reading outside, running around a lot, religion sometime in the courtyard or chapel, lots of movement.
Middles school is unreasonably hard but if you want you can reduce your schedule. Opportunities to take HS math if you are invited. But don't ask because if you child was not asked they are probably not smart enough, it's good, they don't let parents push them around. Sports every afternoon, they play against other schools, best part of the day.
High School: very traditional, not really impressed with teaching but if you are smart and you can teach yourself from a book and like lecture it's a good fit. It's the complete opposite from 3-5. They have some amazing teachers but it's very hit and miss, miss, miss.

Not good for kids with disabilities. The staff has not clue and some think it's hog wash... actually used the word hog wash with me about dyslexia.

There is chapel every day, students can read or go to chapel during this time.
They have "clans" and there are competitions throughout the year.. not all athletic, there are bards, etc.

c) Parents are not active and not welcome in school. Fathers are asked to volunteer for a few things after school but it is few and far between. There is a Xmas party that moms can volunteer to work on and an auction. There are no in school volunteers (I love this btw)

d) My kids were very well prepared, we joked that they read some books in college they read in middle school. I would say most of the boys have less hubris than you find in boys from other all boys schools. I have family at Prep, St. Albans and Gonzaga. Heights kids vape and dip a lot, it's gross. I really don't know any other boys in other schools that dip, every school has a vaping problem.

e) I personally loved the lower school experience I think it was the best part of the whole school.

Thanks for this substantive input....having experienced it first hand and knowing where your boys are today , would you make the same choice again (if you had of-age boys) or would you have gone a different route (ie) switch at HS/ have chosen another catholic high school or prep school?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Raging liberal here. I can't imagine sending my son to the Heights, not that I have one (we have girls). The beauty of our country, however, is that we're allowed different strokes for different folks. I'm not going to sit here and cast aspersions on folks who don't think like me.

Thank you for your sane response. Raging conservative here and I too believe that everyone, and I mean everyone, has a right to their own opinions and shouldn't mock others for theirs. We've lost respect in this country. I applaud you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former Heights mom here.

This is a school for orthodox Catholics for whom the most important element of their sons' education is making sure he "stays" Catholic and is taught very conservative Catholic values. Lots of people here who don't believe in birth control. Seriously. As previous poster stated, some of the teachers are magical and some are meh. They hire men (only) of "good character" rather than people who have teaching degrees. This makes it hit or miss. It's a very classical education (Latin required, Ancient Greek offered) and my sons were certainly well-prepared for college.

The kids here are generally very sheltered from "the culture," which they fear will poison their young Catholic.

Very chauvinistic environment - moms get little respect.

Don't send your kids here unless your values are closely aligned with die-hard Catholics. If that's your jam (daily mass, rosary, women wearing smocks, etc), then you will be very happy.

There are more mainstream families that go there but pretty much all republican. (Not necessarily Trump supporters, though.). Would feel sorry for democrats who tried to join this community (unless they were also super Catholic and pro-ilfe).

Thanks for your insight! A question for you- did you feel like there were ppl like you (not smocked, lol) that you were able to connect with or not so much (or do ppl keep to themselves more) ? Would you have done it again and do you think your boys are better for it (hard question, I guess when you don't know the road untraveled....)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Raging liberal here. I can't imagine sending my son to the Heights, not that I have one (we have girls). The beauty of our country, however, is that we're allowed different strokes for different folks. I'm not going to sit here and cast aspersions on folks who don't think like me.

Im liberal (my H conservative) and I agree. I sent my boys there and besides politics and religion, I find them very liberal. Climb a tree, fight with sticks, a little free range actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:second time asking this question and crickets...I find it so crazy that no one on here has any feedback or first hand experience with this school...is this a fight club situation where no one who goes to the school talks about it?

It's probably because there are like a dozen threads on this school already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Some kids go to Stanford and Harvard and some don't go to college, some go to community college. It's all over the place.

For a private school in the DC area, that’s really strange.

Very strange. Also, when was the last time The Heights sent someone to Harvard? Or Stanford?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No first-hand knowledge of the school, but I have really enjoyed the school's podcasts over the last couple years. Worth it to listen, even if you wouldn't / couldn't attend.

We're also considering The Heights for our boys and I've enjoyed listening to the podcasts:

https://heightsforum.org/podcasts/

They give you a good sense of the philosophy and values of the school, and by extension I assume of many of the students/families as well.

I've heard first-hand from current Heights families about the school, which is what got us interested in the first place.

I think it's pretty obvious that if a conservative view of politics, religion, and culture would bother you, The Heights is not the school for you. So that leaves you with 90% of the other private schools around here where you can get a liberal view

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:second time asking this question and crickets...I find it so crazy that no one on here has any feedback or first hand experience with this school...is this a fight club situation where no one who goes to the school talks about it?

It's probably because there are like a dozen threads on this school already.

but all of them really revolve around politics and religion...I'm searching for specific details that gives a bit more insight to what goes on there on the day to day...black box!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Some kids go to Stanford and Harvard and some don't go to college, some go to community college. It's all over the place.

For a private school in the DC area, that’s really strange.

Very strange. Also, when was the last time The Heights sent someone to Harvard? Or Stanford?

NP here. Who knows then the last one was, but clearly it's happened unless they're lying. They also claim that the average SAT score of graduating classes is in the upper 1300s. Doesn't sound like a slacker school, and conservatives sometimes do get into top colleges, ya know?

Your bias is showing.

https://heights.edu/admissions/after-the-heights-colleges-and-universities/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seeking first-hand experience regarding any or all the following:

a) academic rigor/preparedness for college and beyond (do they push their students/what kinds of careers do graduating students gravitate to),
b)school culture (traditions, including religious, parent community involvement/opportunities to interact/meet/volunteer).
c)For those of you who sent their sons from lower school- are parents active about setting up out-of school opportunities for mixing with girls (more in middle school and high school years) or is everyone pretty much on their own for that?
d) How has your son grown/developed/ benefitted (or not) compared to traditional parochial school K-8 model...
e) is it worth the cost in the lower school or are they just running outside all day? Is it better to save for middle school instead?

I feel sorry for you. This is decidedly NOT the place to get what you are looking for.

What you can expect is a lot of railing at the school's connection to Opus Dei from people who know only that. And even then, aren't exactly sure what that means to the school.

And there will be others who are horrified that the school doesn't have a school nurse on staff.

Talk to someone who you know and trust and who has a reason to know something about the school. Include the parents of kids at other local Catholic schools, so you can get a balanced view.

Stay clear of this menagerie of poorlyi-nformed and ideologically-driven posters.

Well perhaps it depends on your ideology. One can summarize by saying it's pretty much Trumpland.

Really? I think that the school is known for its strict Catholicism, and last time I checked, President Trump is not Catholic. The only common ground between the Heights and Trump is that narrow minded lefties love to hate them both.

I know one family with kids there, and the dad was a high-level Trump administration official. They are super-conservative catholics.