Is St. Albans Grading Fair? I Heard NCS Isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The grading at NCS US can be very tough, my daughter just had a writing assignment where the grade was capped at 90. You could not get a higher grade, period. Also grading is very teacher dependent and some teachers definitely have reputations for being very harsh graders.
Both schools are hard. If you have kids at both, seems like STA comes out ahead in terms of admin and day to day operations.

My daughter is at NCS and I have never heard of this happening. What class and grade? I have a hard time believing this.

in such a small school, i’m not going to out myself or my daughter. i’m not lying and we will be discussing with school. my daughter was not the only student who was told this and so i tend to believe multiple girls on this one. maybe there is a further explanation but on its face it’s crazy.

I think you are not getting the full truth and it seems to be a pattern. I’ve had two daughters go through Ncs and I never heard of a teacher saying they couldn’t get above a 90. Maybe kids are not getting above 90s but I’ve never heard of a teacher actually saying that. I think you need to get the facts straight before you start posting things that no one else seems to have experienced.

+ 1

[Anonymous]

NCS parent here. I have heard of teachers capping grades at an 86/100 for close reading assignments early on in the year and capping daily class discussion grades at 4.5/5 (unless the student made a "graduate-level" comment in which case a 4.7/5 was given on that day). I think teachers want to make sure there is room for growth. In my DD's experience, it all worked out, but she had to keep grinding all year and it definitely increased her stress. Tough grading notwithstanding, the English department at NCS is fantastic and did an incredible job of preparing my DD for college. The teachers also were readily available during office hours.

[Anonymous]

NCS sounds like a place to be avoided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCS sounds like a place to be avoided.

It's a stressful place. The girls work as hard as they can and rarely succeed. Some like this and are motivated by it.. some just say "hey, Bs are fine" (they're usually the happiest). Most are in therapy by senior year.

College is always easier even if it's U of Chicago or Swarthmore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS sounds like a place to be avoided.

It's a stressful place. The girls work as hard as they can and rarely succeed. Some like this and are motivated by it.. some just say "hey, Bs are fine" (they're usually the happiest). Most are in therapy by senior year.

College is always easier even if it's U of Chicago or Swarthmore.

Have you considered changing schools? It may be best for your daughter and for you because you seem very unhealthily unhappy and it is probably not good for anyone.

Many friends’ daughters attend NCS and they say their daughters are really happy and they have good grades so it appears it is possible to be happy at the school. I am sorry you are not having a good experience. People transfer between schools all of the time in this area. It can be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS sounds like a place to be avoided.

It's a stressful place. The girls work as hard as they can and rarely succeed. Some like this and are motivated by it.. some just say "hey, Bs are fine" (they're usually the happiest). Most are in therapy by senior year.

College is always easier even if it's U of Chicago or Swarthmore.

Have you considered changing schools? It may be best for your daughter and for you because you seem very unhealthily unhappy and it is probably not good for anyone.

Many friends’ daughters attend NCS and they say their daughters are really happy and they have good grades so it appears it is possible to be happy at the school. I am sorry you are not having a good experience. People transfer between schools all of the time in this area. It can be done.

It is possible to have a great experience at NCS. My daughter and many girls in her grade are having a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCS parent here. I have heard of teachers capping grades at an 86/100 for close reading assignments early on in the year and capping daily class discussion grades at 4.5/5 (unless the student made a "graduate-level" comment in which case a 4.7/5 was given on that day). I think teachers want to make sure there is room for growth. In my DD's experience, it all worked out, but she had to keep grinding all year and it definitely increased her stress. Tough grading notwithstanding, the English department at NCS is fantastic and did an incredible job of preparing my DD for college. The teachers also were readily available during office hours.

The original poster with the daughter with the 90 cap here. Thank you for posting this, makes me feel less crazy. I think it would be helpful if the teacher had communicated the policy and the reasoning for it to the class.

As for people asking why post negative things about NCS or other schools, I post positive things 98% of the time. I don’t know how you would know it’s one person posting negative things, but we are quite happy w NCS. Both can be true. You can like a school and still find fault with it or think things could improve. We aren’t new to the school and are aware it’s a rigorous place but this was not something my daughter has experienced before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS parent here. I have heard of teachers capping grades at an 86/100 for close reading assignments early on in the year and capping daily class discussion grades at 4.5/5 (unless the student made a "graduate-level" comment in which case a 4.7/5 was given on that day). I think teachers want to make sure there is room for growth. In my DD's experience, it all worked out, but she had to keep grinding all year and it definitely increased her stress. Tough grading notwithstanding, the English department at NCS is fantastic and did an incredible job of preparing my DD for college. The teachers also were readily available during office hours.

The original poster with the daughter with the 90 cap here. Thank you for posting this, makes me feel less crazy. I think it would be helpful if the teacher had communicated the policy and the reasoning for it to the class.

As for people asking why post negative things about NCS or other schools, I post positive things 98% of the time. I don’t know how you would know it’s one person posting negative things, but we are quite happy w NCS. Both can be true. You can like a school and still find fault with it or think things could improve. We aren’t new to the school and are aware it’s a rigorous place but this was not something my daughter has experienced before.

DP. I find it odd as well and feel like your negative posts just hurt your daughter’s school. Seems like things you should discuss with school or parents at the school. Posting here just makes your daughters school look bad. You seem much more invoked with your daughters grades and individual papers than I am with my highschool kids who are also at a Big 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS parent here. I have heard of teachers capping grades at an 86/100 for close reading assignments early on in the year and capping daily class discussion grades at 4.5/5 (unless the student made a "graduate-level" comment in which case a 4.7/5 was given on that day). I think teachers want to make sure there is room for growth. In my DD's experience, it all worked out, but she had to keep grinding all year and it definitely increased her stress. Tough grading notwithstanding, the English department at NCS is fantastic and did an incredible job of preparing my DD for college. The teachers also were readily available during office hours.

The original poster with the daughter with the 90 cap here. Thank you for posting this, makes me feel less crazy. I think it would be helpful if the teacher had communicated the policy and the reasoning for it to the class.

As for people asking why post negative things about NCS or other schools, I post positive things 98% of the time. I don’t know how you would know it’s one person posting negative things, but we are quite happy w NCS. Both can be true. You can like a school and still find fault with it or think things could improve. We aren’t new to the school and are aware it’s a rigorous place but this was not something my daughter has experienced before.

DP. I find it odd as well and feel like your negative posts just hurt your daughter’s school. Seems like things you should discuss with school or parents at the school. Posting here just makes your daughters school look bad. You seem much more invoked with your daughters grades and individual papers than I am with my highschool kids who are also at a Big 3.

I don’t know why I am even replying to you but again, I posted about one experience. I’m actually not very involved w my child’s assignments but this was surprising to her and she shared it with me. NCS is an excellent school, but no school is w/o fault. If people are making their school choices based on one response on an anonymous board, that’s their problem. Have a great day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCS parent here. I have heard of teachers capping grades at an 86/100 for close reading assignments early on in the year and capping daily class discussion grades at 4.5/5 (unless the student made a "graduate-level" comment in which case a 4.7/5 was given on that day). I think teachers want to make sure there is room for growth. In my DD's experience, it all worked out, but she had to keep grinding all year and it definitely increased her stress. Tough grading notwithstanding, the English department at NCS is fantastic and did an incredible job of preparing my DD for college. The teachers also were readily available during office hours.

We've had kids at both schools and neither is easy.. but I have never heard of capping grades at 86 or 90. My daughter isn't the smartest in her class, but she puts in a lot of work and has done very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overall, STA seems to be better run than NCS.

Or perhaps the girls just can’t get it together. Is that what you mean?

[Anonymous]

Parents are more likely to complain to all girls schools than all boys schools.

[Anonymous]

St Albans has better college admissions than NCS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard that NCS grading is brutal. Is St. Albans grading fair for the boys? Are there teachers at STA that refuse to give A's or only give one A for the entire English/history department?

A lot of what you hear on here about NCS is overblown, just like everything else on this board. That said, I think most at STA would agree that the grading is fair. And you don’t hear the type of chatter about intentional grade deflation with STA that you hear about NCS. Most complaints tend to be about the volume and rigor of the school work, the late nights of studying after a full day of sports, etc. but you get out of it what you put in.

Volume =/= rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overall, STA seems to be better run than NCS.

Or perhaps the girls just can’t get it together. Is that what you mean?

No, I mean the administration just can’t get it together.