What is going on at Holton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent matriculation list. The students are no doubt the best and the brightest.

Agreed. No way NCS could do much better. It is an impressive list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long at the Physics teacher been at the school? My dd graduated 10 years ago + loved her AP Physics teacher. Hope it was not him.

18 years when he was let go.

Oh man! I just googled + he was at the school when my dd was there. His Linkedin has been scrubbed + deactivated. FWIW-- I couldn't stand the HoS. Total snob + only treated the super rich well.

very troubling. Would you mind posting the link? I wonder if the administration made him do that when he left?

[Anonymous]

The nastiness of this discussion is pretty surprising. We have two girls at holton and really like the HoS... our impression is that she does an excellent job taking in a lot of information, making hard decisions, and communicating them. The parents who are upset that she isn't giving them more detail about various staff changes / terminations are being so unrealistic and clearly don't understand how employment law works. She is not going to make decisions that please everyone all the time because the parent body is not a monolith; every decision she makes is going to upset someone. At the end of the day, most of the GIRLS are really happy to go to Holton... parents, on the other hand, seem to enjoy finding something to complain about. I really don't think this discussion is representative of the parent body, but of the people who go out of their way to vent their issues. I hope perspective families recognize that these very loud voices are not necessarily the best source of information about the girls' experience as students in the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent matriculation list. The students are no doubt the best and the brightest.

This list is only about half the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excellent matriculation list. The students are no doubt the best and the brightest.

This list is only about half the class.

It’s actually 2/3 of the class (52/77). And quite a few of the girls who graduated with honors were not on Instagram, so the list should be representative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nastiness of this discussion is pretty surprising. We have two girls at holton and really like the HoS... our impression is that she does an excellent job taking in a lot of information, making hard decisions, and communicating them. The parents who are upset that she isn't giving them more detail about various staff changes / terminations are being so unrealistic and clearly don't understand how employment law works. She is not going to make decisions that please everyone all the time because the parent body is not a monolith; every decision she makes is going to upset someone. At the end of the day, most of the GIRLS are really happy to go to Holton... parents, on the other hand, seem to enjoy finding something to complain about. I really don't think this discussion is representative of the parent body, but of the people who go out of their way to vent their issues. I hope perspective families recognize that these very loud voices are not necessarily the best source of information about the girls' experience as students in the school.

Employment law???! The problem with MR. ___'s departure is that there were longstanding sexual harassment complaints. His departure was the result of an allegation by a student of more than just harassment. The girls had also drafted and circulated talking points of their complaints about him. How the HoS handled it was complete hypocrisy. When applauding Christine Blasey Ford for using her voice. Then denying Holton girls the opportunity to do the same.
Besides how HoS handled sexual harassment and assault claims, I would agree that the academics are stellar and the girls get into good colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nastiness of this discussion is pretty surprising. We have two girls at holton and really like the HoS... our impression is that she does an excellent job taking in a lot of information, making hard decisions, and communicating them. The parents who are upset that she isn't giving them more detail about various staff changes / terminations are being so unrealistic and clearly don't understand how employment law works. She is not going to make decisions that please everyone all the time because the parent body is not a monolith; every decision she makes is going to upset someone. At the end of the day, most of the GIRLS are really happy to go to Holton... parents, on the other hand, seem to enjoy finding something to complain about. I really don't think this discussion is representative of the parent body, but of the people who go out of their way to vent their issues. I hope perspective families recognize that these very loud voices are not necessarily the best source of information about the girls' experience as students in the school.

Not sure a real holton parent would use the word "perspective" when the correct word is "prospective"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Offered spots at NCS and Holton. Very good schools either way. Holton’s campus and stellar Administration sealed the deal. HoS listens at Holton.

In what way is the administration stellar? Can you be specific? And how did the HoS listen to seal the deal? I'm just trying to understand because the comments are so mixed.

We actually almost left Holton for NHS at one point (ultimately decided to stay because DD wanted to), primarily because of how bad the admin is. They will give incredible flexibility to athletes but won't relax their completely arbitrary limits on certain courses for advanced students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Offered spots at NCS and Holton. Very good schools either way. Holton’s campus and stellar Administration sealed the deal. HoS listens at Holton.

In what way is the administration stellar? Can you be specific? And how did the HoS listen to seal the deal? I'm just trying to understand because the comments are so mixed.

We actually almost left Holton for NHS at one point (ultimately decided to stay because DD wanted to), primarily because of how bad the admin is. They will give incredible flexibility to athletes but won't relax their completely arbitrary limits on certain courses for advanced students.

You mean NCS? I agree but they only bend to serious athletes that are going to play at the collegiate level.it helps with the matriculation list by a lot. Not just students who play varsity sports. It's all about the matriculation list as evidence of how good the school is. Can't be based on how much$ raised because no one wants to donate to Holton once they are out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nastiness of this discussion is pretty surprising. We have two girls at holton and really like the HoS... our impression is that she does an excellent job taking in a lot of information, making hard decisions, and communicating them. The parents who are upset that she isn't giving them more detail about various staff changes / terminations are being so unrealistic and clearly don't understand how employment law works. She is not going to make decisions that please everyone all the time because the parent body is not a monolith; every decision she makes is going to upset someone. At the end of the day, most of the GIRLS are really happy to go to Holton... parents, on the other hand, seem to enjoy finding something to complain about. I really don't think this discussion is representative of the parent body, but of the people who go out of their way to vent their issues. I hope perspective families recognize that these very loud voices are not necessarily the best source of information about the girls' experience as students in the school.

don't know anyone who actually lkes the head of school. everyone just tolerates the situation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nastiness of this discussion is pretty surprising. We have two girls at holton and really like the HoS... our impression is that she does an excellent job taking in a lot of information, making hard decisions, and communicating them. The parents who are upset that she isn't giving them more detail about various staff changes / terminations are being so unrealistic and clearly don't understand how employment law works. She is not going to make decisions that please everyone all the time because the parent body is not a monolith; every decision she makes is going to upset someone. At the end of the day, most of the GIRLS are really happy to go to Holton... parents, on the other hand, seem to enjoy finding something to complain about. I really don't think this discussion is representative of the parent body, but of the people who go out of their way to vent their issues. I hope perspective families recognize that these very loud voices are not necessarily the best source of information about the girls' experience as students in the school.

don't know anyone who actually lkes the head of school. everyone just tolerates the situation

Genuinely curious. What are people looking for with the HOS. She runs the school, but I have never attempted a personal conversation with her. Nor with our division head. I don’t see a need. My daughter is happy and thriving. I don’t need to have discussions with them. Are people looking for a personal relationship with the HOS? Or are you going to her with issues? If that’s the case, shouldn’t issues be handled with division director?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nastiness of this discussion is pretty surprising. We have two girls at holton and really like the HoS... our impression is that she does an excellent job taking in a lot of information, making hard decisions, and communicating them. The parents who are upset that she isn't giving them more detail about various staff changes / terminations are being so unrealistic and clearly don't understand how employment law works. She is not going to make decisions that please everyone all the time because the parent body is not a monolith; every decision she makes is going to upset someone. At the end of the day, most of the GIRLS are really happy to go to Holton... parents, on the other hand, seem to enjoy finding something to complain about. I really don't think this discussion is representative of the parent body, but of the people who go out of their way to vent their issues. I hope perspective families recognize that these very loud voices are not necessarily the best source of information about the girls' experience as students in the school.

don't know anyone who actually lkes the head of school. everyone just tolerates the situation

Genuinely curious. What are people looking for with the HOS. She runs the school, but I have never attempted a personal conversation with her. Nor with our division head. I don’t see a need. My daughter is happy and thriving. I don’t need to have discussions with them. Are people looking for a personal relationship with the HOS? Or are you going to her with issues? If that’s the case, shouldn’t issues be handled with division director?

Academic issues go to division head. Administration should be involved in overseeing everything, making policy decisions with the board. This is an all girls independent school. Not a publicly traded company. We should love seeing her smiling face every day. Not cringing whenever she opens her mouth.

[Anonymous]

When my DD went to Holton (3 years ago), I was at a parent meeting when the administration announced that it was getting rid of AP classes. There was a deafening silence from the parents. Only a few parents had the courage to ask why Holton was doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Offered spots at NCS and Holton. Very good schools either way. Holton’s campus and stellar Administration sealed the deal. HoS listens at Holton.

In what way is the administration stellar? Can you be specific? And how did the HoS listen to seal the deal? I'm just trying to understand because the comments are so mixed.

We actually almost left Holton for NHS at one point (ultimately decided to stay because DD wanted to), primarily because of how bad the admin is. They will give incredible flexibility to athletes but won't relax their completely arbitrary limits on certain courses for advanced students.

You mean NCS? I agree but they only bend to serious athletes that are going to play at the collegiate level.it helps with the matriculation list by a lot. Not just students who play varsity sports. It's all about the matriculation list as evidence of how good the school is. Can't be based on how much$ raised because no one wants to donate to Holton once they are out.

I wonder if Julia Louise Dreyfus donates money to Holton? I know they keep asking her to speak at graduation but she always declines

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my DD went to Holton (3 years ago), I was at a parent meeting when the administration announced that it was getting rid of AP classes. There was a deafening silence from the parents. Only a few parents had the courage to ask why Holton was doing this.

Did she follow up later to report all of the drama that resulted from that decision?