Private School Lacrosse Thread

[Anonymous]

Bullis had an excellent team last year - the best team in school history. They also have a great coaching staff.

Some of the schools you mentioned where a few of the seniors had made committees to, still had to go do a Post Grad year, which is still no guarantee the coach will still take you if can't get your grades up. After spending that type of tuition at a Bullis, I would hope I wouldn't then have to dish another $55K plus for my son to go do a PG year so that he can get into college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis had an excellent team last year - the best team in school history. They also have a great coaching staff.

Some of the schools you mentioned where a few of the seniors had made committees to, still had to go do a Post Grad year, which is still no guarantee the coach will still take you if can't get your grades up. After spending that type of tuition at a Bullis, I would hope I wouldn't then have to dish another $55K plus for my son to go do a PG year so that he can get into college.

I would disagree with this "take" on things. Coaches at high-powered programs asking kids to take a PG year because they don't have room in their current recruiting class is becoming more common, so I would not by any means assume this is about getting grades up.

With that said, I think it's fair to say that Bullis is probably seen in this area as the weakest academically of the six IAC schools (which are strong, so that isn't an insult in the larger scheme of things). Obviously they can still get lacrosse players into the Ivies, so maybe that particular distinction doesn't matter, but that's the perception in terms of strengths of the actual institutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis had an excellent team last year - the best team in school history. They also have a great coaching staff.

Some of the schools you mentioned where a few of the seniors had made committees to, still had to go do a Post Grad year, which is still no guarantee the coach will still take you if can't get your grades up. After spending that type of tuition at a Bullis, I would hope I wouldn't then have to dish another $55K plus for my son to go do a PG year so that he can get into college.

The PG's were due to below, not academics.

One student that took a PG was due to an injury and the opportunity to attend Duke instead of Bucknell. The other student was asked to commit for 2017 because the 2016 commit was the team USA U19 goalie--the Bullis student earned straight A's with a 35 ACT. Both lacrosse players are excellent students and will not have any difficulty being accepted to either school.

[Anonymous]

Was at the Bullis campus for the 1st time in 2 years for a basketball game. Am not a Bullis parent. Was extremely impressed by the new building and field. Seems like the approach of building up the sports programs is paying real dividends.

[Anonymous]

The schools tuition has jumped significantly under the current headmaster. They have recently completed several capital improvements and investments into their facilities. The campus looks phenomenal though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The schools tuition has jumped significantly under the current headmaster. They have recently completed several capital improvements and investments into their facilities. The campus looks phenomenal though!

The academic reputation hasn't gotten stronger, though. But maybe with fancy enough buildings they will get stronger students as time goes on. They have really used foreign students as cash cows -- they charge foreign students double the tuition, stash them with local families for a small stipend, and pocket a lot of money. The money has gone to facilities and financial aid for athletes. The football coach controls about three-quarters of a million in aid funds that he can use for the football team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools tuition has jumped significantly under the current headmaster. They have recently completed several capital improvements and investments into their facilities. The campus looks phenomenal though!

The academic reputation hasn't gotten stronger, though. But maybe with fancy enough buildings they will get stronger students as time goes on. They have really used foreign students as cash cows -- they charge foreign students double the tuition, stash them with local families for a small stipend, and pocket a lot of money. The money has gone to facilities and financial aid for athletes. The football coach controls about three-quarters of a million in aid funds that he can use for the football team. [/quote

Bullis has a strong academic program. In fact it is the only school in history to have 2 Jefferson Scholars from the same high school. Bullis is not the same school it was in the 1970's.
Bullis has started an international program for students and has around 30 international students, Bullis does not have boarding so Bullis families take in students and are paid a stipend to offset costs. This is not a cash cow. Collecting 40K per student is the cash cow and Bullis has had a significant increase in enrollment over the past 10 years. This has aided in a upgrade of numerous facilities on campus and with the addition of the new building Bullis may increase enrollment even more over the next 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Bullis has a strong academic program. In fact it is the only school in history to have 2 Jefferson Scholars from the same high school. Bullis is not the same school it was in the 1970's.
Bullis has started an international program for students and has around 30 international students, Bullis does not have boarding so Bullis families take in students and are paid a stipend to offset costs. This is not a cash cow. Collecting 40K per student is the cash cow and Bullis has had a significant increase in enrollment over the past 10 years. This has aided in a upgrade of numerous facilities on campus and with the addition of the new building Bullis may increase enrollment even more over the next 5 years.

[Anonymous]

What's all this chatter about lacrosse. Don't you lunkheads realize the season is more than 2 months away? Ahh, what the hell, I'll bite. Here are my predictions. Prep and STA will surprise, as they return to winning ways. SSSA and Episcopal will disappoint, fighting each other to avoid last place on he IAC. Landon will have a few close calls, but will end up with he IAC crown. Big unknown for me is Bullis. Should be interesting to see whether hence reloaded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis has a strong academic program. In fact it is the only school in history to have 2 Jefferson Scholars from the same high school. Bullis is not the same school it was in the 1970's.
Bullis has started an international program for students and has around 30 international students, Bullis does not have boarding so Bullis families take in students and are paid a stipend to offset costs. This is not a cash cow. Collecting 40K per student is the cash cow and Bullis has had a significant increase in enrollment over the past 10 years. This has aided in a upgrade of numerous facilities on campus and with the addition of the new building Bullis may increase enrollment even more over the next 5 years.

School reputations are not static -- they definitely change/evolve. Bullis once upon a time was a specialized PG school to get applicants ready to apply to the U.S. Naval Academy. It is much stronger than it once was. However, it is not yet seen as particularly academically strong for the private schools in this area (which are very good, as are the Montgomery Country Public Schools with which Bullis has to compete). The fact that Bullis had zero National Merit Semifinalists in 2014, 2015, and 2016 bears out the fact that it is not (yet) seen as a significant academic powerhouse.

On the international program, there are closer to 50 students if not more by now. None get financial aid. All pay something like $70 - 80,000, of which the school nets the lion's share (local families get something like $10 - 15,000 off their tuition to host a student). This isn't new -- full-paying international students are a huge cash cow to American boarding schools and colleges/universities. It doesn't mean it's not worthwhile to have international kids, but to ignore the financial implications is to ignore the full-paying elephant in the room. Fifty kids paying tuition plus -- let's say Bullis nets $50,000 per student, which is reasonable and may be on the low side -- is $2.5 million in tuition per year. (And no, nobody in the international group is getting financial aid.). Bullis has a fairly small endowment and fairly low annual fund intake so the foreign student program is a big part of how they are financing the facilities upgrades. It's actually a pretty clever thing to do. As the prior poster said, increasing enrollment -- particularly full-paying students in the younger grades, in which less infrastructure/support is needed, is another way to help the bottom line. Just increasing average class sizes by about 3 makes a huge difference.

This is just an honest take on where Bullis is in 2016. Maybe in 2021 or 2026 they'll be piling up National Merit Semifinalists along with Division I lacrosse commits, but that day has not yet come. It doesn't mean there aren't smart kids and dedicated teachers there -- because there are.

The sports program has been a way to build buzz and excitement -- who doesn't love the atmosphere at a football or basketball game? Sports like ice hockey and lacrosse also generally pull in a full-paying clientele, and Bullis has the international student money to balance out giving a lot of financial aid to support programs like football.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of two former Bullis students, one of whom was a lacrosse player and went on to play in an extremely competitive college and an excellent program, it gets really tiresome to hear ignorant people who don't know anything about the school keep taking cheap shots at the school. To All people who may read this, PLEASE visit the school and talk to members of the Bullis community. It is an extremely impressive school with a lovely community and I think a real jewel in the Washington DC independent school environment. You will find that in order to build themselves up on this forum, many, many people feel the need to tear other people and schools down. Don't fall into their trap. Do your own research. You may very well find that the lacrosse program and the school are a great fit for your student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's all this chatter about lacrosse. Don't you lunkheads realize the season is more than 2 months away? Ahh, what the hell, I'll bite. Here are my predictions. Prep and STA will surprise, as they return to winning ways. SSSA and Episcopal will disappoint, fighting each other to avoid last place on he IAC. Landon will have a few close calls, but will end up with he IAC crown. Big unknown for me is Bullis. Should be interesting to see whether hence reloaded.

Agree that Landon will take the title. I would also Prep as rebounding -- sounds like they may have some good young talent and perhaps the Mater Dei pipeline is back in action again? I am going to predict that Bullis will be strong again. They are well-coached and there is often a transfer or two in the works to their higher-profile sports programs.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]As the parent of two former Bullis students, one of whom was a lacrosse player and went on to play in an extremely competitive college and an excellent program, it gets really tiresome to hear ignorant people who don't know anything about the school keep taking cheap shots at the school. To All people who may read this, PLEASE visit the school and talk to members of the Bullis community. It is an extremely impressive school with a lovely community and I think a real jewel in the Washington DC independent school environment. You will find that in order to build themselves up on this forum, many, many people feel the need to tear other people and schools down. Don't fall into their trap. Do your own research. You may very well find that the lacrosse program and the school are a great fit for your student.[/quote]

But nothing is factually untrue about the prior post. Number of National merit semifinalists -- verifiable. Big international program bringing in the $$$$ -- fact. Lots of financial aid $$ going to the football team -- fact. Bullis financial model very dependent on tuition -- fact.

That doesn't mean Bullis isn't a great destination for current students/families. But to try and argue that it's in the first rank of academic reputation at this point just does not fit with the reality.

[Anonymous]

I know of a few full paying families at Bullis who are leaving due to the number of athletes they schools recruits and provides close full scholarships to. Direct quote from a close friend, "we are sick of paying for the athletes to come to the school and don't seem to care about anything else than sports"

Bullis has had a very hard time retaining faculty the past few years. The number of teachers who have come and go on Falls road is concerning. While I understand in education, there is natural attrition with faculty and teachers, I have been told its been higher than normal in the past years.

[Anonymous]

But nothing is factually untrue about the prior post. Number of National merit semifinalists -- verifiable. Big international program bringing in the $$$$ -- fact. Lots of financial aid $$ going to the football team -- fact. Bullis financial model very dependent on tuition -- fact.

That doesn't mean Bullis isn't a great destination for current students/families. But to try and argue that it's in the first rank of academic reputation at this point just does not fit with the reality. [/quote]

Bullis does not have a BIG international program but it does have a program (30 students). I can't tell you how much each international student pays but that is not the Bullis cash cow. Bullis has grown from a school of 500 students to a school of 850 students in 6 years. 350 x 40,000 that is money that gets things done. $14,000,000 so to say that the international program is a cash cow is not accurate.

It is true that Bullis has not had a National Merit Semi-Finalist in the past few years is accurate, but I don't think that describes a schools level of achievement. Other local private schools have had 1 or 2 over the past few years.

Not sure what 'Lots of financial" going to the football team means, but that sports program does not even receive the most financial aid at the school. FA is based on need.