Baltimore Privates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to private in Baltimore, big date rape and drug culture.

Which schools? Single sex or co-ed? I imagine the gender dynamic would be more skewed for single sex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Previous Poster, my kid is a high schooler at Park. We love Park. Your post was a huge turnoff for anyone considering our school. What are you reacting too? The very mild criticism that Park might be too permissive? I don’t disagree with that - especially in Lower and Middle School.

It’s a special place that empowers kids to shape their own learning, but sometimes it’s a struggle to give a 15-year-old that responsibility, especially if classmates aren’t able to handle it. For some kids who thrive with more structure, it’s not the best place and there’s nothing wrong with that. The wide range of schools in Baltimore give every kid the chance to find the one that’s right for them

Are you the poster whose kid has ADD and is always posting about how Park isn’t structured enough? Have you had a negative experience there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP saying Park is too permissive, too liberal, too etc. posts very frequently. Frankly I find that person's posts to be very overgeneralized with no specifics about the school apart from that and the Jewish stereotype. Historically, Park was the "Jewish" schools because other elite private schools in Baltimore would not accept Jewish students due to anti-Semitism. I wouldn't exactly call it "#1 school for elite Jews" -- that doesn't really explain why Jewish people went there.

You must be confusing me with someone else. I have only posted about Baltimore schools a handful of times as the topic doesn't come up very often and I don't recall talking about Park.

I think Park is a fabulous school. It's not for everyone or for every family. By Baltimore standards it's on the liberal side. The most common feedback I get from parents comparing Friends and Park is that while Friends is also liberal it is also a bit more structured and many families like that balance better for their kids. But every Friends family also thinks highly of Park too.

If I brought up the comment about Park's historic affiliation with the Baltimore Jewish community it was to highlight Park's reputation as a progressive and liberal private school, just as Baltimore's vibrant Jewish community has a history of progressive liberalism. Beyond that I'm sorry for mentioning it as it is probably not relevant at all, so you have my apologies.

[Anonymous]

Baltimore is a large place. Park school is 10 miles north of the center of town and the Friends school is IN the center of town.

This is significant for school choices unless you have endless driving time on your hands and / or staff to do that for you. It also impacts whether you're living in the burbs and going to a school on the outskirts, or living in say Roland Park and going to a school in walking distance...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Previous Poster, my kid is a high schooler at Park. We love Park. Your post was a huge turnoff for anyone considering our school. What are you reacting too? The very mild criticism that Park might be too permissive? I don’t disagree with that - especially in Lower and Middle School.

It’s a special place that empowers kids to shape their own learning, but sometimes it’s a struggle to give a 15-year-old that responsibility, especially if classmates aren’t able to handle it. For some kids who thrive with more structure, it’s not the best place and there’s nothing wrong with that. The wide range of schools in Baltimore give every kid the chance to find the one that’s right for them

Are you the poster whose kid has ADD and is always posting about how Park isn’t structured enough? Have you had a negative experience there?

No, I’m the poster whose post you quoted where I say “We love Park ... it’s a special place that empowers kids to shape their own learning.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore is a large place. Park school is 10 miles north of the center of town and the Friends school is IN the center of town.

This is significant for school choices unless you have endless driving time on your hands and / or staff to do that for you. It also impacts whether you're living in the burbs and going to a school on the outskirts, or living in say Roland Park and going to a school in walking distance...

Friends is in north Baltimore. From Roland Park it’s probably 15 -20 minutes to Park. Straight shot up Falls Road.

Definitely not within walking distance if you live in Roland Park but it’s not endless driving either.

[Anonymous]

Visit, visit, visit. We began the process sure that it was going to be Friends or Park. Surprisingly, after visiting, it was Gilman. I mean, I personally would have loved to have attended Park, but our son prefers more structure. We actually liked Calvert a lot too -- very structured, very calm and quiet -- but I actually wondered if it were TOO calm and quiet; he needs to learn to cope with a little chaos! Gilman's the right balance for our kid; it pushes him out of his shell a bit, but provides a structured environment.

He's been there for 5 years and it's been terrific. It's a LOT more politically liberal than we thought it was going to be. We're a minority, not-standard family, and it's been a non-issue. About half of the families are the country-club old money, but half aren't, and that's a lot. The rest are heavily international and professional (tons of doctors and lawyers). He's made friends with families from all over the world. Plus many of the old-money country-club families are actually very nice people.

And for what it's worth, our kid is the opposite of a jock. He takes after me and (I say with loving pride) is a nerd. He's got a nice social circle and bullying is not an issue.

I will say that Gilman excels at educating a rather specific type of learner. They push academics hard and fast, which my son thrives on. I would not send a kid here who had ADHD tendencies or who was a creative, make-my-own-rules type. Having said that, the entrance testing is thorough, and they won't accept kids they feel won't do well there. They reject a lot of kids (the figure I've heard is an acceptance rate of around 30%), and it's not because the kids are dumb -- it's because the kids aren't a good fit for Gilman's learning style.

So -- visit, think about what suits your kid, and keep an open mind!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP saying Park is too permissive, too liberal, too etc. posts very frequently. Frankly I find that person's posts to be very overgeneralized with no specifics about the school apart from that and the Jewish stereotype. Historically, Park was the "Jewish" schools because other elite private schools in Baltimore would not accept Jewish students due to anti-Semitism. I wouldn't exactly call it "#1 school for elite Jews" -- that doesn't really explain why Jewish people went there.

You must be confusing me with someone else. I have only posted about Baltimore schools a handful of times as the topic doesn't come up very often and I don't recall talking about Park.

I think Park is a fabulous school. It's not for everyone or for every family. By Baltimore standards it's on the liberal side. The most common feedback I get from parents comparing Friends and Park is that while Friends is also liberal it is also a bit more structured and many families like that balance better for their kids. But every Friends family also thinks highly of Park too.

If I brought up the comment about Park's historic affiliation with the Baltimore Jewish community it was to highlight Park's reputation as a progressive and liberal private school, just as Baltimore's vibrant Jewish community has a history of progressive liberalism. Beyond that I'm sorry for mentioning it as it is probably not relevant at all, so you have my apologies.

I’m really confused by this post. “Progressive” in Park’s sense means inheriting the educational philosophy of John Dewey et al. As far as I know, Baltimore’s Jewish community has nothing to do with Dewey.

Nor is the Jewish community particularly liberal in a political or social sense. Not that this maps onto political affiliation, but Baltimore has the largest growing Orthodox community outside of Israel and Brooklyn.

In any case, saying Park is the “Jewish” school as many old Baltimoreans is a totally ignorant way of describing the deep anti-semitism that is part of the history of all the other elite private schools. Park admitted Jews when other schools wouldn’t. I think calling it the Jewish school and suggesting that the manners of the kids are lax is a total mischaracterization of the school’s culture and philosophy. The only time I’ve seen kids lying on the floor there is when they were measuring velocity of vehicles they built in physics class. I would be fine with that as a parent. I visited many other “progressive” schools in Baltimore — Waldorf, Montessori, and Greenmount — and they were much more unstructured, if you like that. In contrast Park is much more conventional and incorporates a lot more teacher-led classroom learning. I was told it is one of the most rigorous from an academic point of view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore is a large place. Park school is 10 miles north of the center of town and the Friends school is IN the center of town.

This is significant for school choices unless you have endless driving time on your hands and / or staff to do that for you. It also impacts whether you're living in the burbs and going to a school on the outskirts, or living in say Roland Park and going to a school in walking distance...

Friends is in north Baltimore. From Roland Park it’s probably 15 -20 minutes to Park. Straight shot up Falls Road.

Definitely not within walking distance if you live in Roland Park but it’s not endless driving either.

From Roland Park it is 10 minutes to Park and 5-6 minutes to Friends. I wouldn’t describe Baltimore as large, I’ve always heard it called Smalltimore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Visit, visit, visit. We began the process sure that it was going to be Friends or Park. Surprisingly, after visiting, it was Gilman. I mean, I personally would have loved to have attended Park, but our son prefers more structure. We actually liked Calvert a lot too -- very structured, very calm and quiet -- but I actually wondered if it were TOO calm and quiet; he needs to learn to cope with a little chaos! Gilman's the right balance for our kid; it pushes him out of his shell a bit, but provides a structured environment.

He's been there for 5 years and it's been terrific. It's a LOT more politically liberal than we thought it was going to be. We're a minority, not-standard family, and it's been a non-issue. About half of the families are the country-club old money, but half aren't, and that's a lot. The rest are heavily international and professional (tons of doctors and lawyers). He's made friends with families from all over the world. Plus many of the old-money country-club families are actually very nice people.

And for what it's worth, our kid is the opposite of a jock. He takes after me and (I say with loving pride) is a nerd. He's got a nice social circle and bullying is not an issue.

I will say that Gilman excels at educating a rather specific type of learner. They push academics hard and fast, which my son thrives on. I would not send a kid here who had ADHD tendencies or who was a creative, make-my-own-rules type. Having said that, the entrance testing is thorough, and they won't accept kids they feel won't do well there. They reject a lot of kids (the figure I've heard is an acceptance rate of around 30%), and it's not because the kids are dumb -- it's because the kids aren't a good fit for Gilman's learning style.

So -- visit, think about what suits your kid, and keep an open mind!

What do you mean by pushing academics? How do you see this in the classroom culture and educational approach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore is a large place. Park school is 10 miles north of the center of town and the Friends school is IN the center of town.

This is significant for school choices unless you have endless driving time on your hands and / or staff to do that for you. It also impacts whether you're living in the burbs and going to a school on the outskirts, or living in say Roland Park and going to a school in walking distance...

Friends is in north Baltimore. From Roland Park it’s probably 15 -20 minutes to Park. Straight shot up Falls Road.

Definitely not within walking distance if you live in Roland Park but it’s not endless driving either.

From Roland Park it is 10 minutes to Park and 5-6 minutes to Friends. I wouldn’t describe Baltimore as large, I’ve always heard it called Smalltimore.

It’s called Smalltimore because it seems like everyone knows everyone else,not because of the size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP saying Park is too permissive, too liberal, too etc. posts very frequently. Frankly I find that person's posts to be very overgeneralized with no specifics about the school apart from that and the Jewish stereotype. Historically, Park was the "Jewish" schools because other elite private schools in Baltimore would not accept Jewish students due to anti-Semitism. I wouldn't exactly call it "#1 school for elite Jews" -- that doesn't really explain why Jewish people went there.

You must be confusing me with someone else. I have only posted about Baltimore schools a handful of times as the topic doesn't come up very often and I don't recall talking about Park.

I think Park is a fabulous school. It's not for everyone or for every family. By Baltimore standards it's on the liberal side. The most common feedback I get from parents comparing Friends and Park is that while Friends is also liberal it is also a bit more structured and many families like that balance better for their kids. But every Friends family also thinks highly of Park too.

If I brought up the comment about Park's historic affiliation with the Baltimore Jewish community it was to highlight Park's reputation as a progressive and liberal private school, just as Baltimore's vibrant Jewish community has a history of progressive liberalism. Beyond that I'm sorry for mentioning it as it is probably not relevant at all, so you have my apologies.

I’m really confused by this post. “Progressive” in Park’s sense means inheriting the educational philosophy of John Dewey et al. As far as I know, Baltimore’s Jewish community has nothing to do with Dewey.

Nor is the Jewish community particularly liberal in a political or social sense. Not that this maps onto political affiliation, but Baltimore has the largest growing Orthodox community outside of Israel and Brooklyn.

In any case, saying Park is the “Jewish” school as many old Baltimoreans is a totally ignorant way of describing the deep anti-semitism that is part of the history of all the other elite private schools. Park admitted Jews when other schools wouldn’t. I think calling it the Jewish school and suggesting that the manners of the kids are lax is a total mischaracterization of the school’s culture and philosophy. The only time I’ve seen kids lying on the floor there is when they were measuring velocity of vehicles they built in physics class. I would be fine with that as a parent. I visited many other “progressive” schools in Baltimore — Waldorf, Montessori, and Greenmount — and they were much more unstructured, if you like that. In contrast Park is much more conventional and incorporates a lot more teacher-led classroom learning. I was told it is one of the most rigorous from an academic point of view.

+1. But it's always going to be awkward to walk back from calling something "the Jewish X," so give PP a break. They were just trying to say how progressive it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore is a large place. Park school is 10 miles north of the center of town and the Friends school is IN the center of town.

This is significant for school choices unless you have endless driving time on your hands and / or staff to do that for you. It also impacts whether you're living in the burbs and going to a school on the outskirts, or living in say Roland Park and going to a school in walking distance...

Friends is in north Baltimore. From Roland Park it’s probably 15 -20 minutes to Park. Straight shot up Falls Road.

Definitely not within walking distance if you live in Roland Park but it’s not endless driving either.

From Roland Park it is 10 minutes to Park and 5-6 minutes to Friends. I wouldn’t describe Baltimore as large, I’ve always heard it called Smalltimore.

It’s called Smalltimore because it seems like everyone knows everyone else,not because of the size.

And I'm sure the fact that everyone knows each other has nothing to do with its size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore is a large place. Park school is 10 miles north of the center of town and the Friends school is IN the center of town.

This is significant for school choices unless you have endless driving time on your hands and / or staff to do that for you. It also impacts whether you're living in the burbs and going to a school on the outskirts, or living in say Roland Park and going to a school in walking distance...

Friends is in north Baltimore. From Roland Park it’s probably 15 -20 minutes to Park. Straight shot up Falls Road.

Definitely not within walking distance if you live in Roland Park but it’s not endless driving either.

From Roland Park it is 10 minutes to Park and 5-6 minutes to Friends. I wouldn’t describe Baltimore as large, I’ve always heard it called Smalltimore.

It’s called Smalltimore because it seems like everyone knows everyone else,not because of the size.

And I'm sure the fact that everyone knows each other has nothing to do with its size.

There is a difference between close knit people and land area size. I wouldn’t describe Baltimore as small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP saying Park is too permissive, too liberal, too etc. posts very frequently. Frankly I find that person's posts to be very overgeneralized with no specifics about the school apart from that and the Jewish stereotype. Historically, Park was the "Jewish" schools because other elite private schools in Baltimore would not accept Jewish students due to anti-Semitism. I wouldn't exactly call it "#1 school for elite Jews" -- that doesn't really explain why Jewish people went there.

You must be confusing me with someone else. I have only posted about Baltimore schools a handful of times as the topic doesn't come up very often and I don't recall talking about Park.

I think Park is a fabulous school. It's not for everyone or for every family. By Baltimore standards it's on the liberal side. The most common feedback I get from parents comparing Friends and Park is that while Friends is also liberal it is also a bit more structured and many families like that balance better for their kids. But every Friends family also thinks highly of Park too.

If I brought up the comment about Park's historic affiliation with the Baltimore Jewish community it was to highlight Park's reputation as a progressive and liberal private school, just as Baltimore's vibrant Jewish community has a history of progressive liberalism. Beyond that I'm sorry for mentioning it as it is probably not relevant at all, so you have my apologies.

Short answer, there are a larger percentage of Jewish kids at park than other private schools. It’s not a “Jewish” school but it is more Jewish than other schools.

I’m really confused by this post. “Progressive” in Park’s sense means inheriting the educational philosophy of John Dewey et al. As far as I know, Baltimore’s Jewish community has nothing to do with Dewey.

Nor is the Jewish community particularly liberal in a political or social sense. Not that this maps onto political affiliation, but Baltimore has the largest growing Orthodox community outside of Israel and Brooklyn.

In any case, saying Park is the “Jewish” school as many old Baltimoreans is a totally ignorant way of describing the deep anti-semitism that is part of the history of all the other elite private schools. Park admitted Jews when other schools wouldn’t. I think calling it the Jewish school and suggesting that the manners of the kids are lax is a total mischaracterization of the school’s culture and philosophy. The only time I’ve seen kids lying on the floor there is when they were measuring velocity of vehicles they built in physics class. I would be fine with that as a parent. I visited many other “progressive” schools in Baltimore — Waldorf, Montessori, and Greenmount — and they were much more unstructured, if you like that. In contrast Park is much more conventional and incorporates a lot more teacher-led classroom learning. I was told it is one of the most rigorous from an academic point of view.