Norwood for MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not hard to break in in 6th grade at Norwood socially. There will be other new kids, kids there can be ready for new kids, and I have never heard this being a problem there.

Great teachers in the middle school and incoming middle school leadership.

+1 Very easy to make friends here as an incoming MSer. There's 10 - 12 new students admitted for 6th and the lifers are eager for new blood.

5th is actually the expansion year at Norwood. My child joined in 6th, that year it was only 5 new kids. However, it was still a really easy transition and we loved Norwood. My only regret was not starting there sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not hard to break in in 6th grade at Norwood socially. There will be other new kids, kids there can be ready for new kids, and I have never heard this being a problem there.

Great teachers in the middle school and incoming middle school leadership.

It’s a warm and welcoming school, the parent community faculty and administration are known for fostering a kind and friendly place. That culture flows into the classrooms and kid interactions. Your kid will love it and ask you why you didn’t start him at norwood sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We took a MS spot at Norwood over a spot at a K-12 for a several reasons. One, we were coming from public and our neighborhood MS would have been detrimental for DC, however, returning to public for HS was still in play for us. Two, there was a lot of self-discovery that still needed to happen. The student that entered Norwood in 6th grade is not the same student that's (almost) exiting. Norwood was the best fit for DC at the time of admissions and this turned out to be a very good decision for us. DC grew academically, discovered a new sport and actually enjoyed all three years at Middle school. We are not returning to public, but moving to an entirely different private HS that wasn't on our radar a few years ago. The HS admission process is stressful, but they're going through it together as a class and I would do the same again.

This is very similar to our experience. We (parents) really thought we wanted a school that would go through HS, but our kid picked Norwood at MS. We embraced it as an opportunity to have a great MS experience and reassess who our student was for HS. Ended up at a HS we did not consider for MS.

We have another child who only did private HS, so we did that application process on our own. The HS application process at Norwood so much easier!

[Anonymous]

Anyone got waitlisted? We did and curious if there’s any chance in movement.

[Anonymous]

DD is now in 5th grade at Norwood. It's a great class and a wonderful school. We have every intention of keeping our daughter at Norwood through 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

DS is a 9th grader ant another private and attended Norwood 1-8. He is so confident, intellectually curious and hardworking and I credit this to Norwood. They fostered his strengths and truly see the best in every student. His education wasn’t stressful but it was fabulous. I truly believe the Norwood education and environment is the best there is.

[Anonymous]

I have a current 5th grader at Norwood so know a bit about next year's 6th grade cohort. It's a wonderful class. They seem close, and I haven't heard of any problems. My DC has great friends and is thriving at Norwood!

[Anonymous]

Norwood has a fantastic MS team in place. Highly competent, deep experience and they really get to know your children. Can't say enough good things about the teachers, the curriculum and the extracurricular offerings at the school.

[Anonymous]

Lots of Norwood fans on DCUM. We are a current family - it's been fine. There are definite issues as mentioned in previous posts, especially if you get a bad cohort. And now anxiety over the 9th grade placement given the results so far for this year's class. Do your research (as with any school) especially if you want a selective, Big3/Big5 HS. Norwood might not help with that if you don't have the right connections/$$$/sibling/athletic ability etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of Norwood fans on DCUM. We are a current family - it's been fine. There are definite issues as mentioned in previous posts, especially if you get a bad cohort. And now anxiety over the 9th grade placement given the results so far for this year's class. Do your research (as with any school) especially if you want a selective, Big3/Big5 HS. Norwood might not help with that if you don't have the right connections/$$$/sibling/athletic ability etc.

I'm starting to get that vibe from many K-8 schools. I think that if you want single sex, catholic, and not as competitive co-ed schools, then you're good. But if you want Big 3, it's very much a long shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of Norwood fans on DCUM. We are a current family - it's been fine. There are definite issues as mentioned in previous posts, especially if you get a bad cohort. And now anxiety over the 9th grade placement given the results so far for this year's class. Do your research (as with any school) especially if you want a selective, Big3/Big5 HS. Norwood might not help with that if you don't have the right connections/$$$/sibling/athletic ability etc.

I'm starting to get that vibe from many K-8 schools. I think that if you want single sex, catholic, and not as competitive co-ed schools, then you're good. But if you want Big 3, it's very much a long shot.

Long shot is overstating it - but not guaranteed. And this varies year by year.

If Big3/Big5 is your primary goal, I don't know why a 7th grade applicant would be applying to k-8 in the first place (other than as a backup).