Burke MS vs HS experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rigor increases a bit in high school but most kids we know who chose Burke did so because they didn't want rigor. It's a feature, not a big of the school.

There's plenty of rigor, just not the accompanying pressure that you see at other schools that you must pile your schedule full to get said rigor. I say this as parent with a grad and a current student. When your child enters HS they can make it as demanding as they would like. I have had kids at a couple areas MS, generally this is not an age group where the HW load is huge (nor should it be). The last month of Burke was really out of its control and I, for one, think they have handled it incredibly well under the circumstances, I'd give them a pass if the end of the year is a bit easier!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rigor increases a bit in high school but most kids we know who chose Burke did so because they didn't want rigor. It's a feature, not a big of the school.

There's plenty of rigor, just not the accompanying pressure that you see at other schools that you must pile your schedule full to get said rigor. I say this as parent with a grad and a current student. When your child enters HS they can make it as demanding as they would like. I have had kids at a couple areas MS, generally this is not an age group where the HW load is huge (nor should it be). The last month of Burke was really out of its control and I, for one, think they have handled it incredibly well under the circumstances, I'd give them a pass if the end of the year is a bit easier!

+1 from another Burke parent.

And to anyone who thinks 'getting a couple of weeks off' after a massively traumatic school shooting reflects a lack of rigor, you are either a troll or completely heartless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rigor increases a bit in high school but most kids we know who chose Burke did so because they didn't want rigor. It's a feature, not a big of the school.

There's plenty of rigor, just not the accompanying pressure that you see at other schools that you must pile your schedule full to get said rigor. I say this as parent with a grad and a current student. When your child enters HS they can make it as demanding as they would like. I have had kids at a couple areas MS, generally this is not an age group where the HW load is huge (nor should it be). The last month of Burke was really out of its control and I, for one, think they have handled it incredibly well under the circumstances, I'd give them a pass if the end of the year is a bit easier!

+1 from another Burke parent.

And to anyone who thinks 'getting a couple of weeks off' after a massively traumatic school shooting reflects a lack of rigor, you are either a troll or completely heartless.

Seriously! Teenagers that were a shooter’s targets while inside their school building don’t need more homework right now. As an incoming Burke family, I’m pleased to hear how the school has handled this crisis. I can only imagine the trauma some of these kids are going through having to return to the scene of that horrific crime again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rigor increases a bit in high school but most kids we know who chose Burke did so because they didn't want rigor. It's a feature, not a big of the school.

We chose Burke because we wanted rigor but not insanity. We knew what we were doing. We were also Big 3 parents and then we turned down Big 3 for Burke because Big 3 assigned so much homework. Hitting the right balance is really hard, since kids have different abilities and work at different speeds. Burke seemed better for our kids.

Incidentally, i just read a thread about NCS and rigor. So I'll add that, for "unhooked" college applicants, Burke seems to do more or less as well as other DC private schools, and then the Burke alums seem to do reasonably well in their rigorous colleges.

Burke does not have a lot of recruited athletes. That makes Burke's college admissions lists look less impressive, but it allows for more playing time if your kid wants to be on a team.