Anne Arundel Schools: Concerned About Lack of Rigor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

You are using Ivy admissions as a proxy for achievement. Given that annual costs exceed $80k at elite colleges and universities and given that many of the students come from affluent but not rich families (I.e. won't qualify for need based aid but cannot pay full price), it is entirely likely that they don't consider elite schools as options.

For how prestige driven SP is, I think they’d be willing to take out a loan if their kid got in. I don’t think it would be Salisbury vs Ivy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For how prestige driven SP is, I think they’d be willing to take out a loan if their kid got in. I don’t think it would be Salisbury vs Ivy

Also plenty of these families have the money to do it. I know multiple families living in $1M+ homes who send their kids to Severna Park, Arundel, and Broadneck.

[Anonymous]

If you ask literally anyone in Anne Arundel County about Severna Park or Broadneck High School, they will say that those schools are full of rich kids with over-the-top parents who expect their kids to get the best grades and be the best at sports. Arundel and South River High Schools are more relaxed, but they're also known for being competitive. In MoCo terms, Severna Park/Broadneck are Anne Arundel's equivalent of Whitman/Wootton/Churchill, while Arundel/South River/Crofton are more like AACo's equivalent of B-CC/WJ. Still though, despite the reputations, the MoCo schools and HoCo actually have the outcomes that back-up their stereotypes, whereas SPHS and Broadneck do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I mean is, I don’t get the obsession with moving to Severna Park for the schools if your kids are most likely going to be average anyways

I think that people desire to live in SP for many different reasons but saying it's 'for the schools' is more socially acceptable than saying some other reasons which may not be as palatable.

Regarding the OPs original point, I concur with the opinion that parents here seeking rigor/prestige will put their children in private schools.

- Signed, AA resident who does not live in SP

It's not like the private schools in AA are any more rigorous or have a track record of sending kids to prestigious schools. The vast majority of Spalding, AACS, and St Marys High School grads go to average colleges and have average lives too. It's even worse cause the parents pay thousands of dollars just for their kids to go to Salisbury. All the privates besides Key, Indian Creek, and the Severn School suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

You are using Ivy admissions as a proxy for achievement. Given that annual costs exceed $80k at elite colleges and universities and given that many of the students come from affluent but not rich families (I.e. won't qualify for need based aid but cannot pay full price), it is entirely likely that they don't consider elite schools as options.

For how prestige driven SP is, I think they’d be willing to take out a loan if their kid got in. I don’t think it would be Salisbury vs Ivy

There is a gamut of choices between Ivy and Salisbury.

The point is that admission to elite schools is not the litmus test for achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For how prestige driven SP is, I think they’d be willing to take out a loan if their kid got in. I don’t think it would be Salisbury vs Ivy

Also plenty of these families have the money to do it. I know multiple families living in $1M+ homes who send their kids to Severna Park, Arundel, and Broadneck.

Unless you have access to a family's complete financial profile, you have no idea whether they can afford to spend $320K+ on one kid's undergraduate degree, and you have no way of knowing whether they think that's a good use of money they have.

There are lots of Ivy-caliber students at UMD-CP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I mean is, I don’t get the obsession with moving to Severna Park for the schools if your kids are most likely going to be average anyways

I think that people desire to live in SP for many different reasons but saying it's 'for the schools' is more socially acceptable than saying some other reasons which may not be as palatable.

Regarding the OPs original point, I concur with the opinion that parents here seeking rigor/prestige will put their children in private schools.

- Signed, AA resident who does not live in SP

It's not like the private schools in AA are any more rigorous or have a track record of sending kids to prestigious schools. The vast majority of Spalding, AACS, and St Marys High School grads go to average colleges and have average lives too. It's even worse cause the parents pay thousands of dollars just for their kids to go to Salisbury. All the privates besides Key, Indian Creek, and the Severn School suck.

I have children at Key and a nearby private high school in a neighboring county. We do not use Ivy league admission as the bar for success or a sentence to a life of 'average' if they attend Salisbury. If this is how MoCo parents think, I am happy to live in AA County. We chose private schools because of the overcrowding at our zoned high school and the virtual learning during the pandemic sealed the deal. We will be private until they graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

You are using Ivy admissions as a proxy for achievement. Given that annual costs exceed $80k at elite colleges and universities and given that many of the students come from affluent but not rich families (I.e. won't qualify for need based aid but cannot pay full price), it is entirely likely that they don't consider elite schools as options.

For how prestige driven SP is, I think they’d be willing to take out a loan if their kid got in. I don’t think it would be Salisbury vs Ivy

Priorities are just different. Every major military officer academy is represented by SP grads, and the merchant marine, and multiple at the naval academy. Some families prioritize business connections and military service over Ivory towers.

[Anonymous]

If you're looking for the constant type-A drive ivy-or-bust attitude you see in MoCo, you won't get that an AACo. It's a very different environment both academically and socially. A PP described it very well - sure, there are some million dollar water front homes, but overall AACo is full of solidly middle/upper middle class families. My kids go to one of the "good" schools that has been mentioned several times on this thread. On my block we have 3 engineers, 4 teachers, a firefighter, a plumber, a librarian, and a nebulous-can't-tell-you-government employee, and several SAHMs or moms with very part time jobs. I don't know of any kids of investment bankers or law firm partners (we do have a few lawyers and doctors)

Broadneck and SP (and several others) ARE good schools. The kids graduate with a really solid foundation and have some fantastic opportunities to stretch. The magnet programs are varied and well supported, and there are tons of AP classes to take. Most of the kids will go to college and be well prepared. But they aren't the place to be if you want to be surrounded by strivers.

[Anonymous]

AA Co has much more of a private school culture than MoCo, so I'm sure that's skewing the data you're looking at. For example, last year only 2 of 20 kids getting confirmed at my church were at public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m just surprised because people are super obsessed with Severna Park and making sure their kids are in that school district, like typical W parents, yet their academic outcomes are so not W school level at all.

I'm not sure who these people are who you think are super obsessed with Severna Park. Within AACPS, it's general one of the top -mostly just because of demographics (it's the whitest and the richest)
But I can't imagine people are comparing the top MoCo schools to SP. Not because one is better than the other, but just because the people that would be happy living in those areas of MoCo wouldn't want to live on the Broadneck Peninsula, for example

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just surprised because people are super obsessed with Severna Park and making sure their kids are in that school district, like typical W parents, yet their academic outcomes are so not W school level at all.

I'm not sure who these people are who you think are super obsessed with Severna Park. Within AACPS, it's general one of the top -mostly just because of demographics (it's the whitest and the richest)
But I can't imagine people are comparing the top MoCo schools to SP. Not because one is better than the other, but just because the people that would be happy living in those areas of MoCo wouldn't want to live on the Broadneck Peninsula, for example

There's someone (someones?) on this board who grew up in SP and is super bitter and loves to post about their opinion that people in SP are snobby without being rich or prestigious enough to "deserve" to be as snobby as they are. So I'm guessing this is just that person again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just surprised because people are super obsessed with Severna Park and making sure their kids are in that school district, like typical W parents, yet their academic outcomes are so not W school level at all.

I'm not sure who these people are who you think are super obsessed with Severna Park. Within AACPS, it's general one of the top -mostly just because of demographics (it's the whitest and the richest)
But I can't imagine people are comparing the top MoCo schools to SP. Not because one is better than the other, but just because the people that would be happy living in those areas of MoCo wouldn't want to live on the Broadneck Peninsula, for example

There's someone (someones?) on this board who grew up in SP and is super bitter and loves to post about their opinion that people in SP are snobby without being rich or prestigious enough to "deserve" to be as snobby as they are. So I'm guessing this is just that person again.

Ahhh... thanks for that insight. That makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I mean is, I don’t get the obsession with moving to Severna Park for the schools if your kids are most likely going to be average anyways

I think that people desire to live in SP for many different reasons but saying it's 'for the schools' is more socially acceptable than saying some other reasons which may not be as palatable.

Regarding the OPs original point, I concur with the opinion that parents here seeking rigor/prestige will put their children in private schools.

- Signed, AA resident who does not live in SP

It's not like the private schools in AA are any more rigorous or have a track record of sending kids to prestigious schools. The vast majority of Spalding, AACS, and St Marys High School grads go to average colleges and have average lives too. It's even worse cause the parents pay thousands of dollars just for their kids to go to Salisbury. All the privates besides Key, Indian Creek, and the Severn School suck.

Wow. Fortunately, I probably don’t share your definition of success. My children went to one of the “average” schools you listed above. I’d send them again and again, happy to pay the tuition for the experience they received.

If I need to be this judgmental and rude to be considered successful, I’ll happily keep my “average” family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AA Co has much more of a private school culture than MoCo, so I'm sure that's skewing the data you're looking at. For example, last year only 2 of 20 kids getting confirmed at my church were at public schools.

I think that’s true of Annapolis, but not AACo writ large.