NCS - Pros and Cons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the younger grades, is there a playground where they go for recess?

No playground equipment, just open space (Cathedral lawn). The play games and run around but there aren’t swing sets or slides or climbing bars. Keep in mind they start at 4th. Beauvoir has full playground equipment.

Wow, didn't realize that. This point would be a big negative to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If all the stress and competitiveness (which fuels behavioral problems) actually paid off in better college placement, I guess that would be one thing. But it doesn't. Its graduates attend roughly the same list of colleges as the school we moved to, and our new community is so much happier and healthier without the constant angsting. I won't be more specific than that so as not to be identified. Parents are also kept at arms length instead of having the girls feel like they're in a warm community where their families are welcome and interact.

You are so wrong!! Have you seen the NCS 2025 college list recently???? 3 going to Michigan, 3 to UVA, 4 to Cornell, girls going to Brown, Yale, Harvard, 2 to Princeton, 3 to Georgetown, Northwestern, Chicago, Bowdoin, Bates, 5 to Boston College... out of 82 girls more than half going to top 25 schools (liberal arts and Universities). The college results for a class this size are really really great.

Yes, but if it's my daughter who is in the bottom half and is not going to one of these top 25, what do I care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the younger grades, is there a playground where they go for recess?

No playground equipment, just open space (Cathedral lawn). The play games and run around but there aren’t swing sets or slides or climbing bars. Keep in mind they start at 4th. Beauvoir has full playground equipment.

Wow, didn't realize that. This point would be a big negative to me.

Does St Albans have a playground for the lower school boys?

[Anonymous]

It feels like if you don't have a 'focal point' like a playground or sports equipment you just sit around and gossip?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It feels like if you don't have a 'focal point' like a playground or sports equipment you just sit around and gossip?

That is exactly what I thought when I toured -- ah, so this is the field where they sit in circles and talk smack about each other. My third grader still plays hide and seek iterations, pretend play (mainly animals), and tag / freeze games during recess, or alternatively they play the sport of the moment (soccer, kickball, four square, basketball). I didn't observe any of that happening on the cathedral close. Fourth grade feels too young to have a social hour rather than a real exercise-centric recess.

[Anonymous]

Both of my girls are at NCS and both have been through 4th grade, and I have no memories of girls just sitting around talking "smack" about each other. Those of you, who seem to think that this is all girls can/will do without other distraction think very little of girls. What I observed both times where girls who were actually pretty creative coming up with things to do, games to play, etc. Imagine that you can actually pretend play, play tag/freeze, do cartwheels, play sports (my girls often took their soccer balls for this exact purpose), jump rope in a big open field. But look, NCS still remains as one of the most competitive schools to get into so we certainly not hurting for applicants. By all means, apply elsewhere. GDS has a beautiful playground for its students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the younger grades, is there a playground where they go for recess?

No playground equipment, just open space (Cathedral lawn). The play games and run around but there aren’t swing sets or slides or climbing bars. Keep in mind they start at 4th. Beauvoir has full playground equipment.

Wow, didn't realize that. This point would be a big negative to me.

Does St Albans have a playground for the lower school boys?

No. Boys run around and do the same thing the girls do. No playground. But of course the NCS haters just can’t help themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If all the stress and competitiveness (which fuels behavioral problems) actually paid off in better college placement, I guess that would be one thing. But it doesn't. Its graduates attend roughly the same list of colleges as the school we moved to, and our new community is so much happier and healthier without the constant angsting. I won't be more specific than that so as not to be identified. Parents are also kept at arms length instead of having the girls feel like they're in a warm community where their families are welcome and interact.

You are so wrong!! Have you seen the NCS 2025 college list recently???? 3 going to Michigan, 3 to UVA, 4 to Cornell, girls going to Brown, Yale, Harvard, 2 to Princeton, 3 to Georgetown, Northwestern, Chicago, Bowdoin, Bates, 5 to Boston College... out of 82 girls more than half going to top 25 schools (liberal arts and Universities). The college results for a class this size are really really great.

Yes, but if it's my daughter who is in the bottom half and is not going to one of these top 25, what do I care?

The bottom half are still mostly going to top 50 schools. It is an amazing list and no you don’t have to be affiliated with NCS to acknowledge their college list is quite impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If all the stress and competitiveness (which fuels behavioral problems) actually paid off in better college placement, I guess that would be one thing. But it doesn't. Its graduates attend roughly the same list of colleges as the school we moved to, and our new community is so much happier and healthier without the constant angsting. I won't be more specific than that so as not to be identified. Parents are also kept at arms length instead of having the girls feel like they're in a warm community where their families are welcome and interact.

You are so wrong!! Have you seen the NCS 2025 college list recently???? 3 going to Michigan, 3 to UVA, 4 to Cornell, girls going to Brown, Yale, Harvard, 2 to Princeton, 3 to Georgetown, Northwestern, Chicago, Bowdoin, Bates, 5 to Boston College... out of 82 girls more than half going to top 25 schools (liberal arts and Universities). The college results for a class this size are really really great.

Yes, but if it's my daughter who is in the bottom half and is not going to one of these top 25, what do I care?

The bottom half are still mostly going to top 50 schools. It is an amazing list and no you don’t have to be affiliated with NCS to acknowledge their college list is quite impressive.

Lol yet parents will continue to insist that college placement has nothing to do with their selection of a private school. Uh huh. That’s all they care about.

[Anonymous]

Current leadership has overspent on consultants gathering data a ten minute conversation with some parents could’ve provided for the price of the cup of coffee. Provides a patina of professionalism for the superficial.

Some teachers are terrible. Others fabulous. Students are extraordinarily bright and that makes a difference.

Thankfully has reined in the DEI ridiculousness before it bankrupted the school.

Special school that needs to remember what got them to where they are.

Definite lack of parent engagement by percentage. Some of the parents are insufferable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current leadership has overspent on consultants gathering data a ten minute conversation with some parents could’ve provided for the price of the cup of coffee. Provides a patina of professionalism for the superficial.

Some teachers are terrible. Others fabulous. Students are extraordinarily bright and that makes a difference.

Thankfully has reined in the DEI ridiculousness before it bankrupted the school.

Special school that needs to remember what got them to where they are.

Definite lack of parent engagement by percentage. Some of the parents are insufferable.

NCS has never been in danger of going overboard with DEI, but please explain more on that point because we have wondered why they lost multiple key and beloved employees of color this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in 4th grade so not sure how it is later on. DD is super happy. She has about 30 min to 1 hour of homework most days during the week (not on weekend). I know work load increases in the middle school and high school years, but we were looking for a rigorous education and I am happy with DD having a couple of hours of homework every day. I had lots of homework growing up (not in the US) and I find it weird how people are so against homework here in the US.

The guidelines for homework is 10 minutes per grade. So 4th grade should have about 40 minutes per night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current leadership has overspent on consultants gathering data a ten minute conversation with some parents could’ve provided for the price of the cup of coffee. Provides a patina of professionalism for the superficial.

Some teachers are terrible. Others fabulous. Students are extraordinarily bright and that makes a difference.

Thankfully has reined in the DEI ridiculousness before it bankrupted the school.

Reined it in how? I beg to differ, and an URM at the school I’m quite happy at the commitment. After all they turned down funds from a donor who wanted to restrict use of money to anything but DEI. Racist much there are you?

Special school that needs to remember what got them to where they are.

Definite lack of parent engagement by percentage. Some of the parents are insufferable.

[Anonymous]

Reined in DEI how? I beg to differ, and an URM at the school I’m quite happy at the commitment. After all they turned down funds from a donor who wanted to restrict use of money to anything but DEI. Racist much there are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reined in DEI how? I beg to differ, and an URM at the school I’m quite happy at the commitment. After all they turned down funds from a donor who wanted to restrict use of money to anything but DEI. Racist much there are you?

a lot of people object to DEI for various reasons - do you think everyone who holds those views is a racist?