NCS Parents - "I wish I had known x" type advice.

[Anonymous]

Are the social issues talked about at NCS related to the fact that it's an all girls school (i.e., the issues are typical of other all girls schools). Or is it beyond the pale, and if so, why do you think that is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the social issues talked about at NCS related to the fact that it's an all girls school (i.e., the issues are typical of other all girls schools). Or is it beyond the pale, and if so, why do you think that is?

Your hypothesis is mainly correct. The only additional wrinkle, I would say, is that the education is pretty rigorous and the students (and their parents) tend to be high-achieving and ambitious. Not that that's a bad thing! But it can ratchet up tension and competition.

[Anonymous]

Not sure how long we will last....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how long we will last....

You can't say this without elaborating. Please. Looking at middle school.

[Anonymous]

Although we don't live in DC anymore, some of the comparisons between NCS and STA seem similar to the comparisons I hear in Dallas about the best elite boys' school (St. Marks) and the best elite girls' school (Hockaday). Both schools are considered to be the most competitive and academically rigorous private schools in Dallas (also a bit snobby). The reviews of St. Marks are that, hands-down, the school is fabulous academically, and that the experience of going there is totally worth the big bucks it costs to send boys there (around $25K per year for tuition). The reviews of Hockaday tend to be more mixed -- that, the school is very good, but is not uniformly stellar and wonderful across the board, and perhaps does not live up to the big bucks required to send a child there.

I don't have kids at either school, but I wonder if these comparisons of the all-girls' private schools to the elite all-boys' private schools have parallels in every city?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although we don't live in DC anymore, some of the comparisons between NCS and STA seem similar to the comparisons I hear in Dallas about the best elite boys' school (St. Marks) and the best elite girls' school (Hockaday). Both schools are considered to be the most competitive and academically rigorous private schools in Dallas (also a bit snobby). The reviews of St. Marks are that, hands-down, the school is fabulous academically, and that the experience of going there is totally worth the big bucks it costs to send boys there (around $25K per year for tuition). The reviews of Hockaday tend to be more mixed -- that, the school is very good, but is not uniformly stellar and wonderful across the board, and perhaps does not live up to the big bucks required to send a child there.

I don't have kids at either school, but I wonder if these comparisons of the all-girls' private schools to the elite all-boys' private schools have parallels in every city?

No, I don't think its the same thing. Parent of former NCS student here. NCS is every bit as strong academically as STA. The difference is in the cultures of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Any anticipated attrition in the middle school?

[Anonymous]

Can you elaborate on the cultural differences of the two schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the cultural differences of the two schools?

Read the old threads. Girls and boys are quite different, all-girls vs all-boys means 2 very different institutions.

[Anonymous]

23:37 stating the obvious... Meant beyond that...yes, girls boys different....but, actually girls need some of the supports that boys need....such as organizing skills etc.... Toured Sta that discussed....Ncs not discussed...is the rigor at Ncs the same as Sta visa versa? Want others opinions.....not what I hear on tour. Kids having fun in school? Or no?

[Anonymous]

If anything, ncs I stronger academically than sta (parent to current ncs and sta kids). The girls work much harder than the boys do.

[Anonymous]

STA is more nurturing and supportive of the boys than NCS is of the girls. STA has a great head while the head of NCS is disengaged. I am a former NCS parent.

[Anonymous]

I am a Beauvoir parent, but haven't had kids at StA or NCS. What I hear from the other parents is that NCS is right for only certain girls: those who are self-motivated, socially confident, assertive, and organized. StA is more forgiving and can be the right envorinment for a wider range of boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:STA is more nurturing and supportive of the boys than NCS is of the girls. STA has a great head while the head of NCS is disengaged. I am a former NCS parent.

Totally agree, daughter is an NCS alum and son is currently at STA. It broke my heart to hear DD say one day out of frustration: "Too bad I'm not a boy, STA cares whether or not you are a success in life."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a Beauvoir parent, but haven't had kids at StA or NCS. What I hear from the other parents is that NCS is right for only certain girls: those who are self-motivated, socially confident, assertive, and organized. StA is more forgiving and can be the right envorinment for a wider range of boys.

I have a DD at NCS and a DS at STA. I agree that the kind of girl you described thrives at NCS because she can handle the high academic and social demands their. However, I do not know whether that is the only kind of girl who does well there. I think a boys' school may have many more kinds of boys thriving there,. not because STA is more forgiving than NCS but rather because our society recognizes more ways for boys and men to be recognized as excellent than for girls and women to be. We reward girls and women who fit just one mold: beautiful, thin, and owning the best clothes and accessories. At NCS a new girl can become verypopular very quickly with all three of the foregoing attributes. And this is true for girls' popularity at all schools, single-sex or coed.