Burke "wish I had known"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wish I had known how cramped the space is. Otherwise love it.

Please say more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 on liking Burke more each time we visited or interacted with the school.
For some reason, Burke always seems to be linked on this forum with Field. But they are very, very different schools, and it is worth checking out Burke.

PP, can you say more about the differences you see between Burke and Field?

I think they are linked in people's minds b/c both are small, progressive in their educational philosophies and viewed as non=pressure cookers, where both bright and quirky kids can thrive and there is less pressure to succeed in very structured and traditional ways. How would you say they differ, aside the obvious (more urban/more suburban, etc)?

[Anonymous]

Only know Burke, but loved the school. The only downside was the math program. It is not as rigorous as MCPS or the top private schools. They have fewer students who are gifted in math so they really don't have enough to have advanced classes. We moved so my daughter got challenged once she changed schools. The English and art programs were excellent at Burke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only know Burke, but loved the school. The only downside was the math program. It is not as rigorous as MCPS or the top private schools. They have fewer students who are gifted in math so they really don't have enough to have advanced classes. We moved so my daughter got challenged once she changed schools. The English and art programs were excellent at Burke.

Is this still true? My son is starting there and he's strong in math. Will they key him take advanced math, if it makes sense fit him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only know Burke, but loved the school. The only downside was the math program. It is not as rigorous as MCPS or the top private schools. They have fewer students who are gifted in math so they really don't have enough to have advanced classes. We moved so my daughter got challenged once she changed schools. The English and art programs were excellent at Burke.

Is this still true? My son is starting there and he's strong in math. Will they key him take advanced math, if it makes sense fit him?

They work well with student placement in both math and science and have AP classes. Look at the on-line curriculum

[Anonymous]

It was several years ago but my DC was two years ahead and they did not offer the appropriate math class that would fit a freshman schedule.

[Anonymous]

14:15 here again.

Both my kids are very very strong at math. My 10th grader is on track to do plenty of AP math before he graduates. My own feeling is some schools push kids who are good at and love math to go through all the math classes too quickly so it can become a grind. There is plenty of advanced math at Burke and if you have any questions about it I recommend talking to the head of the Math department. They know what they are doing. I really appreciate that the school balances serious academic challenge with letting the kids develop their own internal motivation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was several years ago but my DC was two years ahead and they did not offer the appropriate math class that would fit a freshman schedule.

Probably you child's placement test showed that he or she was not as advanced as you believe. I was a math teacher at a different private and this happened all the time. Parents thought their kids were farther ahead than they actually were.

[Anonymous]

Burke's math offerings appear to include AP calc AB and BC, AP statistics, and multivariable calc. At the non-magnet high schools like Churchill and Whitman, MCPS's advanced math pathway includes AP calc AB and BC and AP statistics. Seems the same to me unless I am missing something? (parent of a middle schooler who loves math and for whom we are interested in Burke for high school)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Burke's math offerings appear to include AP calc AB and BC, AP statistics, and multivariable calc. At the non-magnet high schools like Churchill and Whitman, MCPS's advanced math pathway includes AP calc AB and BC and AP statistics. Seems the same to me unless I am missing something? (parent of a middle schooler who loves math and for whom we are interested in Burke for high school)

Not sure I get your point. ..

[Anonymous]

PP with daughter who was TPMS math and science magnet and was ready for Algebra 2 /trig her freshman year, but it could not fit into her schedule because of the way the school was organized that year ( this was a few years ago). The school agreed that that was her placement and provided a tutor first semester and then put her in a class with older students the second semester, which moved rather slowly, neither was ideal. however, we like the school and she really learned to write well there.To the doubter above about her placement she is a math major. My impression of the school back then was that the math program was not set up for the very top math students, but the other parts of the curriculum were excellent.

[Anonymous]

sorry, made a mistake she had taken Alg II at the magnet in 8th and needed advanced math as a freshman, rest of story is accurate. Again this was quite awhile ago and things may have changed.

[Anonymous]

Pre calculus or advanced math as a freshman is unusual anywhere, so I suspect almost any private as small as Burke would have scheduling conflicts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke's math offerings appear to include AP calc AB and BC, AP statistics, and multivariable calc. At the non-magnet high schools like Churchill and Whitman, MCPS's advanced math pathway includes AP calc AB and BC and AP statistics. Seems the same to me unless I am missing something? (parent of a middle schooler who loves math and for whom we are interested in Burke for high school)

Not sure I get your point. ..

My point was that there seems to be plenty of advanced math at Burke, as much as top publics, by offering AP calc AB and BC and AP statistics. Those kids who are beyond that advanced path would have more offerings at TJ or Blair, but I wouldn't expect any private to offer those courses (although it would be nice to know they support independent study).

[Anonymous]

Algebra 2 /trig is a 9th grade class now so this may have changed since a few years ago.