Why is everyone at Holton-Arms leaving?

[Anonymous]

My DD is a sophomore at HA. Concern is likely major or minor in a field where the entire HA staff is leaving. There will be no one left who knows her in that subject to write a recommendation. And even the academic dean, who also knows her, is leaving. THAT is a problem and she has stated that concern directly to me. I just hope her other amazing teachers stay for 2 more years.

[Anonymous]

Actual facts about Holton college matriculations for this year from those who shared publicly on Instagram:

Ivys plus MIT: 10
Vanderbilt/Duke/Chicago/Northwestern: 8
Swarthmore/Pomona: 2
Emory/Wash U/Georgetown: 8
Michigan/UVA/Berkeley: 12

That’s 40 out of 94 at Top 25s or WASPs.

Very few of those have a sports hook as that class wasn’t very strong athletically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a HA parent. But in looking at the college matriculations for this cycle, something appeared off. It’s not the HA of even a few years ago.

The college admission results are almost identical to previous years (about 20 percent of girls going to HYPSM, Duke, UChicago, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern). This year’s class was very strong academically. But, compared with previous years, there were very few athletes going to top schools.

The impact on college admissions will take awhile to play out.

Not really. Past classes have been stronger. The range of matriculations was more top 20 heavy compared to now.

Other all-girls in the area have done just as well, if not better this cycle. Visi and SR are strong this year. The Co-Ed’s = very impressive.

Either other schools have upped their college counseling, or Holton is lackluster. But still a great school.

I love it when ppl talk without looking at the data

If you go back and examine the Holton over the past 5 years, you will see that the proportion of girls going to the above schools is basically the same.

If you want to compare with Stone Ridge, please do so carefully. The SR Insta page has 92 out of 93 commits. Out of 93 girls, only 3 are going to the top schools mentioned above (that’s less than 5 percent of the graduating class). And 2 of 3 are athletes.

I’ve been watching this results quite closely for many years. Have friends kids that went to several of these schools, including Holton.

Again, reading is fundamental.

I shared that either other schools have upped their game and are now posting just as strong, if not stronger results than Holton this year, or Holton’s results appear more lackluster than the past.

Visi had another very strong year. And SJC— wow. Look at the arts matriculations—Berkeley and Julliard. SR has typically been a range lower than Holton, but I think that they did fine.

Madeira; Sidwell. I’ll stop there.

Holton used to stand apart a lot more in the past. Not so much anymore.

Look, let me first say that I am not a fan of the HOS, and I am concerned about the number of great teachers leaving.

That said, there is a difference between your impressions (based on anecdotes) and the actual data. The latter show that college admission outcomes this year are in line with Holton’s performance in previous years. As a parent, I have been tracking the actual data for many years too.

With the number of teachers leaving, this will have seismic effects a year or two down the road. HA was already behind the DC schools and this is not helping.

I fully agree that there would be damage down the road. But let me push back on the dramatic statement that HA is behind other schools.

Here are this year’s college admissions results from some of the schools mentioned above.

Based on Insta posts and Claude’s analysis (which took 5 mins), the proportion of students going to T20 schools (USNWR) is as follows:

Holton Arms: 30 percent (30 out of 99)
NCS: 31 percent (21 out of 68)
GDS: 25 percent (29 out of 115)
Madeira: 19 percent (11 out of 58)
Visi: 20 percent (21 out of 107)
Stone Ridge: 12 percent (11 out of 93)

The corresponding proportions for Ivy+ schools are as follows:

Holton Arms: 17 percent (17 out of 99, 2 athletes)
NCS: 25 percent (17 out of 68, 4 athletes)
GDS: 17 percent (19 out of 115)
Madeira: 12 percent (7 out of 58)
Visi: 7 percent (7 out of 107, 3 athletes)
Stone Ridge: 3 percent (3 out of 93, 2 athletes)

Note that NCS has more recruited athletes this year.

What about last year and the year before? We are asking as concerned parents what will be the effect of this mass exodus of teachers on our students who will be in HS in a year or 2. Thanks for clarifying!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a HA parent. But in looking at the college matriculations for this cycle, something appeared off. It’s not the HA of even a few years ago.

The college admission results are almost identical to previous years (about 20 percent of girls going to HYPSM, Duke, UChicago, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern). This year’s class was very strong academically. But, compared with previous years, there were very few athletes going to top schools.

The impact on college admissions will take awhile to play out.

Not really. Past classes have been stronger. The range of matriculations was more top 20 heavy compared to now.

Other all-girls in the area have done just as well, if not better this cycle. Visi and SR are strong this year. The Co-Ed’s = very impressive.

Either other schools have upped their college counseling, or Holton is lackluster. But still a great school.

I love it when ppl talk without looking at the data

If you go back and examine the Holton over the past 5 years, you will see that the proportion of girls going to the above schools is basically the same.

If you want to compare with Stone Ridge, please do so carefully. The SR Insta page has 92 out of 93 commits. Out of 93 girls, only 3 are going to the top schools mentioned above (that’s less than 5 percent of the graduating class). And 2 of 3 are athletes.

I’ve been watching this results quite closely for many years. Have friends kids that went to several of these schools, including Holton.

Again, reading is fundamental.

I shared that either other schools have upped their game and are now posting just as strong, if not stronger results than Holton this year, or Holton’s results appear more lackluster than the past.

Visi had another very strong year. And SJC— wow. Look at the arts matriculations—Berkeley and Julliard. SR has typically been a range lower than Holton, but I think that they did fine.

Madeira; Sidwell. I’ll stop there.

Holton used to stand apart a lot more in the past. Not so much anymore.

Look, let me first say that I am not a fan of the HOS, and I am concerned about the number of great teachers leaving.

That said, there is a difference between your impressions (based on anecdotes) and the actual data. The latter show that college admission outcomes this year are in line with Holton’s performance in previous years. As a parent, I have been tracking the actual data for many years too.

With the number of teachers leaving, this will have seismic effects a year or two down the road. HA was already behind the DC schools and this is not helping.

I fully agree that there would be damage down the road. But let me push back on the dramatic statement that HA is behind other schools.

Here are this year’s college admissions results from some of the schools mentioned above.

Based on Insta posts and Claude’s analysis (which took 5 mins), the proportion of students going to T20 schools (USNWR) is as follows:

Holton Arms: 30 percent (30 out of 99)
NCS: 31 percent (21 out of 68)
GDS: 25 percent (29 out of 115)
Madeira: 19 percent (11 out of 58)
Visi: 20 percent (21 out of 107)
Stone Ridge: 12 percent (11 out of 93)

The corresponding proportions for Ivy+ schools are as follows:

Holton Arms: 17 percent (17 out of 99, 2 athletes)
NCS: 25 percent (17 out of 68, 4 athletes)
GDS: 17 percent (19 out of 115)
Madeira: 12 percent (7 out of 58)
Visi: 7 percent (7 out of 107, 3 athletes)
Stone Ridge: 3 percent (3 out of 93, 2 athletes)

Note that NCS has more recruited athletes this year.

What about last year and the year before? We are asking as concerned parents what will be the effect of this mass exodus of teachers on our students who will be in HS in a year or 2. Thanks for clarifying!

Here is the official matriculation numbers during 2022-25:

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1755023338/holtonarms/k3jgh39rwkljepnmugcy/schoolprofilesy20251.pdf

Based on those, the proportion of T25 is 25 percent (93 out of 387) and Ivy+ is 15 percent (60 out of 387).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a HA parent. But in looking at the college matriculations for this cycle, something appeared off. It’s not the HA of even a few years ago.

The college admission results are almost identical to previous years (about 20 percent of girls going to HYPSM, Duke, UChicago, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern). This year’s class was very strong academically. But, compared with previous years, there were very few athletes going to top schools.

The impact on college admissions will take awhile to play out.

Not really. Past classes have been stronger. The range of matriculations was more top 20 heavy compared to now.

Other all-girls in the area have done just as well, if not better this cycle. Visi and SR are strong this year. The Co-Ed’s = very impressive.

Either other schools have upped their college counseling, or Holton is lackluster. But still a great school.

I love it when ppl talk without looking at the data

If you go back and examine the Holton over the past 5 years, you will see that the proportion of girls going to the above schools is basically the same.

If you want to compare with Stone Ridge, please do so carefully. The SR Insta page has 92 out of 93 commits. Out of 93 girls, only 3 are going to the top schools mentioned above (that’s less than 5 percent of the graduating class). And 2 of 3 are athletes.

I’ve been watching this results quite closely for many years. Have friends kids that went to several of these schools, including Holton.

Again, reading is fundamental.

I shared that either other schools have upped their game and are now posting just as strong, if not stronger results than Holton this year, or Holton’s results appear more lackluster than the past.

Visi had another very strong year. And SJC— wow. Look at the arts matriculations—Berkeley and Julliard. SR has typically been a range lower than Holton, but I think that they did fine.

Madeira; Sidwell. I’ll stop there.

Holton used to stand apart a lot more in the past. Not so much anymore.

Look, let me first say that I am not a fan of the HOS, and I am concerned about the number of great teachers leaving.

That said, there is a difference between your impressions (based on anecdotes) and the actual data. The latter show that college admission outcomes this year are in line with Holton’s performance in previous years. As a parent, I have been tracking the actual data for many years too.

With the number of teachers leaving, this will have seismic effects a year or two down the road. HA was already behind the DC schools and this is not helping.

I fully agree that there would be damage down the road. But let me push back on the dramatic statement that HA is behind other schools.

Here are this year’s college admissions results from some of the schools mentioned above.

Based on Insta posts and Claude’s analysis (which took 5 mins), the proportion of students going to T20 schools (USNWR) is as follows:

Holton Arms: 30 percent (30 out of 99)
NCS: 31 percent (21 out of 68)
GDS: 25 percent (29 out of 115)
Madeira: 19 percent (11 out of 58)
Visi: 20 percent (21 out of 107)
Stone Ridge: 12 percent (11 out of 93)

The corresponding proportions for Ivy+ schools are as follows:

Holton Arms: 17 percent (17 out of 99, 2 athletes)
NCS: 25 percent (17 out of 68, 4 athletes)
GDS: 17 percent (19 out of 115)
Madeira: 12 percent (7 out of 58)
Visi: 7 percent (7 out of 107, 3 athletes)
Stone Ridge: 3 percent (3 out of 93, 2 athletes)

Note that NCS has more recruited athletes this year.

What about last year and the year before? We are asking as concerned parents what will be the effect of this mass exodus of teachers on our students who will be in HS in a year or 2. Thanks for clarifying!

Here is the official matriculation numbers during 2022-25:

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1755023338/holtonarms/k3jgh39rwkljepnmugcy/schoolprofilesy20251.pdf

Based on those, the proportion of T25 is 25 percent (93 out of 387) and Ivy+ is 15 percent (60 out of 387).

Sorry, typo: T25 should be T20

[Anonymous]

2026 is at least as strong as 2024 and 2025 and stronger by most metrics. Like many schools, Holton is benefiting from the return to test required and standardized test scores carrying more weight than they did from 2021-23.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HA's PR person has chimed in to clear up any data points. Nice!

But back to the point of the thread: Why is everyone leaving?

Do not contact the Board. They will protect Penny--as they should.

Do not contact Penny. She will say what she must to protect her $400K + bonus salary--as she should.

Do what I and other parents have done: Contact your DD's advisor and/or teachers. It is they who impact her education. It is they who will write her letters of recommendation. It is they who will prepare her for university work. It is they who will model the values we expect of our children.

Okay, but how do you support these people when it's the HoS they keep pointing as the heart of the problem? It seems like other leaders COULD be good if not for threats from the HoS to do things her way ONLY.

[Anonymous]

Posters are implying that new hires at Holton are unable to perform their job duties and or get to know girls they are teaching over the course of the year. It’s not like Holton is hiring teachers straight out of college. They are hiring seasoned professionals. You can write a recommendation for somebody that you have taught for 1-2 years. You don’t have to have known them for 4 years to write a decent recommendation. They’re probably all written by AI now anyway.

I can only speak for my daughter‘s division, but have not once felt that her teachers couldn’t handle it — if they were new to Holton this year or had been there for 20 years. My daughter is so happy. Even if I really, really disliked a teacher or administrator, I would never take her out because she loves Holton, and it has been transformational for her. There are so many incredible things about Holton, but the enemy of good is perfect. If you are searching for perfection in a school, then you might be fundamentally unhappy with yourself.

Many of us have started new jobs mid career, sure maybe the first couple of weeks or month are hard as you learn the new system, but if you are a trained professional, you know exactly what you need to do. Now with things like the transfer portal and our instant and immediate gratification culture, people are also changing jobs much more frequently. You don’t see people spending 40 years with a company anymore. Same is true with the teaching profession. And it’s not a bad thing. If you’re not happy, you shouldn’t have to suffer in a job that makes you sad. There are lots of opportunities out there. I personally have spoken with a new hire who loves Holton and is so happy to be at the school.

There are always complaints during rebuilding years (schools, companies, professional and college sports teams). The head of school clearly has a vision and i’m on board with it. Agree that she favors donor families, but donors are an important part of the school.

If you look at DCUM, there’s a parallel post about 24 Stoneridge teachers leaving this year. With new division heads this year (new assistant head of school, new middle school had). So I’m not sure what is so different about Holton. It’s just that people like to bash Holton for some reason.

[Anonymous]

I won't knock the new teachers. Many are great. But they won't last under an abusive leader.

What's Penny's vision? I have yet to hear it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Posters are implying that new hires at Holton are unable to perform their job duties and or get to know girls they are teaching over the course of the year. It’s not like Holton is hiring teachers straight out of college. They are hiring seasoned professionals. You can write a recommendation for somebody that you have taught for 1-2 years. You don’t have to have known them for 4 years to write a decent recommendation. They’re probably all written by AI now anyway.

I can only speak for my daughter‘s division, but have not once felt that her teachers couldn’t handle it — if they were new to Holton this year or had been there for 20 years. My daughter is so happy. Even if I really, really disliked a teacher or administrator, I would never take her out because she loves Holton, and it has been transformational for her. There are so many incredible things about Holton, but the enemy of good is perfect. If you are searching for perfection in a school, then you might be fundamentally unhappy with yourself.

Many of us have started new jobs mid career, sure maybe the first couple of weeks or month are hard as you learn the new system, but if you are a trained professional, you know exactly what you need to do. Now with things like the transfer portal and our instant and immediate gratification culture, people are also changing jobs much more frequently. You don’t see people spending 40 years with a company anymore. Same is true with the teaching profession. And it’s not a bad thing. If you’re not happy, you shouldn’t have to suffer in a job that makes you sad. There are lots of opportunities out there. I personally have spoken with a new hire who loves Holton and is so happy to be at the school.

There are always complaints during rebuilding years (schools, companies, professional and college sports teams). The head of school clearly has a vision and i’m on board with it. Agree that she favors donor families, but donors are an important part of the school.

If you look at DCUM, there’s a parallel post about 24 Stoneridge teachers leaving this year. With new division heads this year (new assistant head of school, new middle school had). So I’m not sure what is so different about Holton. It’s just that people like to bash Holton for some reason.

Specially some troll teachers that regularly post here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Specially some troll teachers that regularly post here.

No way they can ever out-post you ! You'll always be here to call them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a HA parent. But in looking at the college matriculations for this cycle, something appeared off. It’s not the HA of even a few years ago.

The college admission results are almost identical to previous years (about 20 percent of girls going to HYPSM, Duke, UChicago, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern). This year’s class was very strong academically. But, compared with previous years, there were very few athletes going to top schools.

The impact on college admissions will take awhile to play out.

Not really. Past classes have been stronger. The range of matriculations was more top 20 heavy compared to now.

Other all-girls in the area have done just as well, if not better this cycle. Visi and SR are strong this year. The Co-Ed’s = very impressive.

Either other schools have upped their college counseling, or Holton is lackluster. But still a great school.

I love it when ppl talk without looking at the data

If you go back and examine the Holton over the past 5 years, you will see that the proportion of girls going to the above schools is basically the same.

If you want to compare with Stone Ridge, please do so carefully. The SR Insta page has 92 out of 93 commits. Out of 93 girls, only 3 are going to the top schools mentioned above (that’s less than 5 percent of the graduating class). And 2 of 3 are athletes.

I’ve been watching this results quite closely for many years. Have friends kids that went to several of these schools, including Holton.

Again, reading is fundamental.

I shared that either other schools have upped their game and are now posting just as strong, if not stronger results than Holton this year, or Holton’s results appear more lackluster than the past.

Visi had another very strong year. And SJC— wow. Look at the arts matriculations—Berkeley and Julliard. SR has typically been a range lower than Holton, but I think that they did fine.

Madeira; Sidwell. I’ll stop there.

Holton used to stand apart a lot more in the past. Not so much anymore.

Look, let me first say that I am not a fan of the HOS, and I am concerned about the number of great teachers leaving.

That said, there is a difference between your impressions (based on anecdotes) and the actual data. The latter show that college admission outcomes this year are in line with Holton’s performance in previous years. As a parent, I have been tracking the actual data for many years too.

With the number of teachers leaving, this will have seismic effects a year or two down the road. HA was already behind the DC schools and this is not helping.

I fully agree that there would be damage down the road. But let me push back on the dramatic statement that HA is behind other schools.

Here are this year’s college admissions results from some of the schools mentioned above.

Based on Insta posts and Claude’s analysis (which took 5 mins), the proportion of students going to T20 schools (USNWR) is as follows:

Holton Arms: 30 percent (30 out of 99)
NCS: 31 percent (21 out of 68)
GDS: 25 percent (29 out of 115)
Madeira: 19 percent (11 out of 58)
Visi: 20 percent (21 out of 107)
Stone Ridge: 12 percent (11 out of 93)

The corresponding proportions for Ivy+ schools are as follows:

Holton Arms: 17 percent (17 out of 99, 2 athletes)
NCS: 25 percent (17 out of 68, 4 athletes)
GDS: 17 percent (19 out of 115)
Madeira: 12 percent (7 out of 58)
Visi: 7 percent (7 out of 107, 3 athletes)
Stone Ridge: 3 percent (3 out of 93, 2 athletes)

Note that NCS has more recruited athletes this year.

What about last year and the year before? We are asking as concerned parents what will be the effect of this mass exodus of teachers on our students who will be in HS in a year or 2. Thanks for clarifying!

Here is the official matriculation numbers during 2022-25:

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1755023338/holtonarms/k3jgh39rwkljepnmugcy/schoolprofilesy20251.pdf

Based on those, the proportion of T25 is 25 percent (93 out of 387) and Ivy+ is 15 percent (60 out of 387).

Again, you are not reading what I am sharing. You must be an admissions counselor to have all of this detail that is not on Instagram.

On Insta, only 95 posts are listed for HA. Of those, based on USNWR, only 28 of the 95 are matriculating top 20. That's about 29%. UMichigan is your top school, followed by Vandy. You have 3 each at Duke, Cornell and Wash U. Everything else is a one-off mainly.

Again, I never said that this was not decent. What I said was that other all girls & Co-Ed schools did pretty well also. Infact, outside of UMichigan, the matriculations were okay. We all know that there are many factors that go into matriculations, not just grades and test scores.

At Visi, which reported 107 matriculations, nearly 10 are headed to ND. Another 3 to Columbia and then another 3 to UMichigan. So they seem pretty even here.

Its the next Top 20-Top 30 that send a clear message.
-Holton has 6 going to UVA (Visit has 4 headed there);
-Holton has 3 going to Georgetown (Visi has 3 also);
-Visi then has 1 Chapel Hill and 1 USC. Plus Visi has 4 headed to Villanova, 2 headed to West Point and 4 to Boston College.

Again, I am not saying that Holton did poorly. What I am saying is that other schools like Visi and Madeira, also did well. Madeira has 28% that are matriculating into top 20 colleges, plus 3 headed to UVA and 3 headed to Georgetown.

What makes Madeira's list very good is the higher concentration of top 10 matriculations -- Princeton (2) Stanford (1) Yale (2) U Chicago (1) Duke (1) and Northwestern (1). Holton has 10 and Madeira had 7. So they are close there. UVA and GU numbers are similar across schools.
So overall, based on a smaller class size, Madeira punched pretty well based on what I see -- nearly as good as Holton across the board.

SJC had a different visual, but it is interesting since Holton and SJC are the two arts schools. Berkelee and Julliard stand out a lot.

But you were right -- SR hits lower than these, and I didn't look at NCS this time. No need to look at Sidwell, GDS, etc. They always do well.

Again. Visi and Madeira had very nice results this year. Not saying that Holton didn't have nice results, but it has looked better in past years. These days, Visi and Madeira are posting very strong results and keeping right up there with Holton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Specially some troll teachers that regularly post here.

No way they can ever out-post you ! You'll always be here to call them out.

If the troll teachers find unacceptable that someone has a companion dog for anxiety, then it is very hard to have a normal exchange of ideas on how to improve the school.... Enjoy the endless thread....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a HA parent. But in looking at the college matriculations for this cycle, something appeared off. It’s not the HA of even a few years ago.

The college admission results are almost identical to previous years (about 20 percent of girls going to HYPSM, Duke, UChicago, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern). This year’s class was very strong academically. But, compared with previous years, there were very few athletes going to top schools.

The impact on college admissions will take awhile to play out.

Not really. Past classes have been stronger. The range of matriculations was more top 20 heavy compared to now.

Other all-girls in the area have done just as well, if not better this cycle. Visi and SR are strong this year. The Co-Ed’s = very impressive.

Either other schools have upped their college counseling, or Holton is lackluster. But still a great school.

I love it when ppl talk without looking at the data

If you go back and examine the Holton over the past 5 years, you will see that the proportion of girls going to the above schools is basically the same.

If you want to compare with Stone Ridge, please do so carefully. The SR Insta page has 92 out of 93 commits. Out of 93 girls, only 3 are going to the top schools mentioned above (that’s less than 5 percent of the graduating class). And 2 of 3 are athletes.

I’ve been watching this results quite closely for many years. Have friends kids that went to several of these schools, including Holton.

Again, reading is fundamental.

I shared that either other schools have upped their game and are now posting just as strong, if not stronger results than Holton this year, or Holton’s results appear more lackluster than the past.

Visi had another very strong year. And SJC— wow. Look at the arts matriculations—Berkeley and Julliard. SR has typically been a range lower than Holton, but I think that they did fine.

Madeira; Sidwell. I’ll stop there.

Holton used to stand apart a lot more in the past. Not so much anymore.

Look, let me first say that I am not a fan of the HOS, and I am concerned about the number of great teachers leaving.

That said, there is a difference between your impressions (based on anecdotes) and the actual data. The latter show that college admission outcomes this year are in line with Holton’s performance in previous years. As a parent, I have been tracking the actual data for many years too.

With the number of teachers leaving, this will have seismic effects a year or two down the road. HA was already behind the DC schools and this is not helping.

I fully agree that there would be damage down the road. But let me push back on the dramatic statement that HA is behind other schools.

Here are this year’s college admissions results from some of the schools mentioned above.

Based on Insta posts and Claude’s analysis (which took 5 mins), the proportion of students going to T20 schools (USNWR) is as follows:

Holton Arms: 30 percent (30 out of 99)
NCS: 31 percent (21 out of 68)
GDS: 25 percent (29 out of 115)
Madeira: 19 percent (11 out of 58)
Visi: 20 percent (21 out of 107)
Stone Ridge: 12 percent (11 out of 93)

The corresponding proportions for Ivy+ schools are as follows:

Holton Arms: 17 percent (17 out of 99, 2 athletes)
NCS: 25 percent (17 out of 68, 4 athletes)
GDS: 17 percent (19 out of 115)
Madeira: 12 percent (7 out of 58)
Visi: 7 percent (7 out of 107, 3 athletes)
Stone Ridge: 3 percent (3 out of 93, 2 athletes)

Note that NCS has more recruited athletes this year.

What about last year and the year before? We are asking as concerned parents what will be the effect of this mass exodus of teachers on our students who will be in HS in a year or 2. Thanks for clarifying!

Here is the official matriculation numbers during 2022-25:

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1755023338/holtonarms/k3jgh39rwkljepnmugcy/schoolprofilesy20251.pdf

Based on those, the proportion of T25 is 25 percent (93 out of 387) and Ivy+ is 15 percent (60 out of 387).

Again, you are not reading what I am sharing. You must be an admissions counselor to have all of this detail that is not on Instagram.

On Insta, only 95 posts are listed for HA. Of those, based on USNWR, only 28 of the 95 are matriculating top 20. That's about 29%. UMichigan is your top school, followed by Vandy. You have 3 each at Duke, Cornell and Wash U. Everything else is a one-off mainly.

Again, I never said that this was not decent. What I said was that other all girls & Co-Ed schools did pretty well also. Infact, outside of UMichigan, the matriculations were okay. We all know that there are many factors that go into matriculations, not just grades and test scores.

At Visi, which reported 107 matriculations, nearly 10 are headed to ND. Another 3 to Columbia and then another 3 to UMichigan. So they seem pretty even here.

Its the next Top 20-Top 30 that send a clear message.
-Holton has 6 going to UVA (Visit has 4 headed there);
-Holton has 3 going to Georgetown (Visi has 3 also);
-Visi then has 1 Chapel Hill and 1 USC. Plus Visi has 4 headed to Villanova, 2 headed to West Point and 4 to Boston College.

Again, I am not saying that Holton did poorly. What I am saying is that other schools like Visi and Madeira, also did well. Madeira has 28% that are matriculating into top 20 colleges, plus 3 headed to UVA and 3 headed to Georgetown.

What makes Madeira's list very good is the higher concentration of top 10 matriculations -- Princeton (2) Stanford (1) Yale (2) U Chicago (1) Duke (1) and Northwestern (1). Holton has 10 and Madeira had 7. So they are close there. UVA and GU numbers are similar across schools.
So overall, based on a smaller class size, Madeira punched pretty well based on what I see -- nearly as good as Holton across the board.

SJC had a different visual, but it is interesting since Holton and SJC are the two arts schools. Berkelee and Julliard stand out a lot.

But you were right -- SR hits lower than these, and I didn't look at NCS this time. No need to look at Sidwell, GDS, etc. They always do well.

Again. Visi and Madeira had very nice results this year. Not saying that Holton didn't have nice results, but it has looked better in past years. These days, Visi and Madeira are posting very strong results and keeping right up there with Holton.

Comparable outcomes. Not sure this information is useful to assess whether the school is good or bad. I rather prefer having a balanced school education and my daughters ends up in UVA, rather than having a very stressful high school years and ending up in Princeton. Just to point out that college admissions is not a metric of what represents a good school for my family.

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Anonymous wrote:Not a HA parent. But in looking at the college matriculations for this cycle, something appeared off. It’s not the HA of even a few years ago.

The college admission results are almost identical to previous years (about 20 percent of girls going to HYPSM, Duke, UChicago, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern). This year’s class was very strong academically. But, compared with previous years, there were very few athletes going to top schools.

The impact on college admissions will take awhile to play out.

Not really. Past classes have been stronger. The range of matriculations was more top 20 heavy compared to now.

Other all-girls in the area have done just as well, if not better this cycle. Visi and SR are strong this year. The Co-Ed’s = very impressive.

Either other schools have upped their college counseling, or Holton is lackluster. But still a great school.

I love it when ppl talk without looking at the data

If you go back and examine the Holton over the past 5 years, you will see that the proportion of girls going to the above schools is basically the same.

If you want to compare with Stone Ridge, please do so carefully. The SR Insta page has 92 out of 93 commits. Out of 93 girls, only 3 are going to the top schools mentioned above (that’s less than 5 percent of the graduating class). And 2 of 3 are athletes.

I’ve been watching this results quite closely for many years. Have friends kids that went to several of these schools, including Holton.

Again, reading is fundamental.

I shared that either other schools have upped their game and are now posting just as strong, if not stronger results than Holton this year, or Holton’s results appear more lackluster than the past.

Visi had another very strong year. And SJC— wow. Look at the arts matriculations—Berkeley and Julliard. SR has typically been a range lower than Holton, but I think that they did fine.

Madeira; Sidwell. I’ll stop there.

Holton used to stand apart a lot more in the past. Not so much anymore.

Look, let me first say that I am not a fan of the HOS, and I am concerned about the number of great teachers leaving.

That said, there is a difference between your impressions (based on anecdotes) and the actual data. The latter show that college admission outcomes this year are in line with Holton’s performance in previous years. As a parent, I have been tracking the actual data for many years too.

With the number of teachers leaving, this will have seismic effects a year or two down the road. HA was already behind the DC schools and this is not helping.

I fully agree that there would be damage down the road. But let me push back on the dramatic statement that HA is behind other schools.

Here are this year’s college admissions results from some of the schools mentioned above.

Based on Insta posts and Claude’s analysis (which took 5 mins), the proportion of students going to T20 schools (USNWR) is as follows:

Holton Arms: 30 percent (30 out of 99)
NCS: 31 percent (21 out of 68)
GDS: 25 percent (29 out of 115)
Madeira: 19 percent (11 out of 58)
Visi: 20 percent (21 out of 107)
Stone Ridge: 12 percent (11 out of 93)

The corresponding proportions for Ivy+ schools are as follows:

Holton Arms: 17 percent (17 out of 99, 2 athletes)
NCS: 25 percent (17 out of 68, 4 athletes)
GDS: 17 percent (19 out of 115)
Madeira: 12 percent (7 out of 58)
Visi: 7 percent (7 out of 107, 3 athletes)
Stone Ridge: 3 percent (3 out of 93, 2 athletes)

Note that NCS has more recruited athletes this year.

What about last year and the year before? We are asking as concerned parents what will be the effect of this mass exodus of teachers on our students who will be in HS in a year or 2. Thanks for clarifying!

Here is the official matriculation numbers during 2022-25:

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1755023338/holtonarms/k3jgh39rwkljepnmugcy/schoolprofilesy20251.pdf

Based on those, the proportion of T25 is 25 percent (93 out of 387) and Ivy+ is 15 percent (60 out of 387).

Again, you are not reading what I am sharing. You must be an admissions counselor to have all of this detail that is not on Instagram.

On Insta, only 95 posts are listed for HA. Of those, based on USNWR, only 28 of the 95 are matriculating top 20. That's about 29%. UMichigan is your top school, followed by Vandy. You have 3 each at Duke, Cornell and Wash U. Everything else is a one-off mainly.

Again, I never said that this was not decent. What I said was that other all girls & Co-Ed schools did pretty well also. Infact, outside of UMichigan, the matriculations were okay. We all know that there are many factors that go into matriculations, not just grades and test scores.

At Visi, which reported 107 matriculations, nearly 10 are headed to ND. Another 3 to Columbia and then another 3 to UMichigan. So they seem pretty even here.

Its the next Top 20-Top 30 that send a clear message.
-Holton has 6 going to UVA (Visit has 4 headed there);
-Holton has 3 going to Georgetown (Visi has 3 also);
-Visi then has 1 Chapel Hill and 1 USC. Plus Visi has 4 headed to Villanova, 2 headed to West Point and 4 to Boston College.

Again, I am not saying that Holton did poorly. What I am saying is that other schools like Visi and Madeira, also did well. Madeira has 28% that are matriculating into top 20 colleges, plus 3 headed to UVA and 3 headed to Georgetown.

What makes Madeira's list very good is the higher concentration of top 10 matriculations -- Princeton (2) Stanford (1) Yale (2) U Chicago (1) Duke (1) and Northwestern (1). Holton has 10 and Madeira had 7. So they are close there. UVA and GU numbers are similar across schools.
So overall, based on a smaller class size, Madeira punched pretty well based on what I see -- nearly as good as Holton across the board.

SJC had a different visual, but it is interesting since Holton and SJC are the two arts schools. Berkelee and Julliard stand out a lot.

But you were right -- SR hits lower than these, and I didn't look at NCS this time. No need to look at Sidwell, GDS, etc. They always do well.

Again. Visi and Madeira had very nice results this year. Not saying that Holton didn't have nice results, but it has looked better in past years. These days, Visi and Madeira are posting very strong results and keeping right up there with Holton.

Comparable outcomes. Not sure this information is useful to assess whether the school is good or bad. I rather prefer having a balanced school education and my daughters ends up in UVA, rather than having a very stressful high school years and ending up in Princeton. Just to point out that college admissions is not a metric of what represents a good school for my family.

I agree and that's why I shared that there could be many reasons for college choices, outside of grades and test scores. But this is a more balanced look at the results. Holton does well. But other schools are also doing well. Does it impact whether or not to attend Holton? Dunno.