Private Schools in LA
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Anonymous
| I know that every year the Archer School organizes and runs perhaps southern California's most prestigious literature and creative writing conference, "Literature and . . . ", for high school-aged writers. Participants have to submit their writing for evaluation and judging, before being selected and invited to present their works. |
Anonymous
Not what you were looking for exactly, but, two things to research: Marlborough is going through a scandal at the moment because about a year ago, a graduate of theirs blogged that while she was there, a teacher had been inappropriate with her and she complained to the school and "nothing happened." Anyways that set off a firestorm and the teacher is out, and the headmaster has just resigned as of a few months ago. I was thinking, this might be a good time to apply there, because it might not have as many applications thanks to this scandal, so you might have a shot of getting in, and the school of course will now have every employee under a microscope. Archer has some sort of remodeling/neighborhood dispute going on; I'm not in that community but I've received a couple of flyers from the school assuring everyone that their remodel takes neighborhood interests to heart, and another from some locals who say this is not true. OP, between the two, Archer is much more convenient to The Palisades. And btw, Harvard-Westlake had a cheating scandal and a separate drug scandal, both a few years ago. As an aside, OP, are you familiar with Rick Caruso's plan for the downtown of the Palisades area? He owns quite a bit of adjacent property on both sides of the business block of Swarthmore (the curved part on a map, the block north of Sunset.) It's going through a huge renovation. Locals are grumbly and worried about the increase of crime that will come with transient workers etc, and grumbling about the design of it all (but many, including myself, think it's going to be a good thing). |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
He's a total douchebag. |
Anonymous
| I lived in LA for many years, and there are definitely some public and private gems. If you want to go the independent school route and live on the Westside, I would vote for Crossroads (if your child is more arty and free spirited) and Brentwood. The head of the lower school at Brentwood is fantastic, and very down to earth. I also found Harvard Westlake a little more snotty. And about the friends of celebrities--they are going to be everywhere, it is LA!! That is like saying you are avoiding a DC school because of all the kids of Administration officials--you would rule out pretty much every school in NW, public and private. |
Anonymous
You are right except for one thing, and that is when it comes to the celebrities themselves (their kids), as opposed to all the people in the entertainment industry, the celebrities themselves choose schools where there is security or gates to protect their kids from stalkers. So for example, in the Palisades is St. Matthew's Parish School. They get parents from in the entertainment industry but few parents of celebrities, because the campus, while gorgeous, does not have a guard and gates. However, I agree with your larger point, PP. Lots of parents in the entertainment industry, so the entertainment culture pervades. |
Anonymous
Agree with this generally to the extent that many parents chose parochial schools to avoid the celebrity culture in the independents to a degree not present in DC. |
Anonymous
| Los Angeles is one of the few U.S. cities where the Catholic, parochial school system, as well as the Catholic high schools, remain strong, respected, and valued educational options. The non-secular and the secular co-exist quite nicely in the City (of The Virgin) of Angels. |
Anonymous
| Anything that offers an experience comparable to the Cathedral schools? Or to Sidwell Friends School? |
Anonymous
Seriously? That's pretty much the case everywhere. |
Anonymous
Polytechnic (in Pasadena) might be worth a look. Serious academics, very good college placements, the culture seems fairly middle-of-the-road (not super progressive, not super conservative). Due to location it probably doesn't attract as many Hollywood types as some of the others mentioned. |
Anonymous
As has already been discussed before in this thread, two comparable schools in terms of academic rigor and reputation to SFS, NCS/STA, and GDS are Harvard-Westlake (on the Westside) and Polytechnic School (east L.A., which founded more than 100 years ago as the Caltech primary). If you want a single-sex school, then the most respected ones are Marlborough (girls) and Loyola (boys, Catholic, excellent athletics). Both Marlborough and Loyola are more centrally located. |
Anonymous
Previous poster well describes the Polytechnic culture. The School maintains a manageable, even intimate size. I believe a typical high school class each year hovers between 95 - 105 students. Poly draws all kinds - academics from Caltech, JPL, the Claremont colleges, Occidental, and USC; parents in traditional fields of law and finance still officed in close-in, Downtown L.A.; the children of doctors and medical professionals, "industry" people, artists, musicians, NPR, L.A. Times, and other journalists; first-and-second generation immigrant families; old L.A. families whose names are found on local streets and landmarks; all sorts of entrepreneurs, tech industry types, and local business owners; and commercial real estate and development people - among others. In addition to what the previous poster offered, I would also add that the school has just as many families of modest means, as those who are uber-wealthy, and that most families fall in the various degrees of that middle range. |
Anonymous
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The following is a College Confidential post from August 2103, comparing Harvard-Westlake and Polytechnic, and apparently - from its style - written by a student:
Differences: HW has much bigger size of class, HW 300, v Poly 100. HW has two categories of students, the uber-rich, and the uber-smart. Poly is more uber-smart and pretty rich. Matriculation numbers, if you are looking at HYPS is more impressive for Poly than HW, but part of it is because denominator for students per grade is lower at Poly while the numerator of uber-smart at HW is watered down by the uber-rich, average kids. Average SAT score - higher for Poly over HW for same reason. HW much better sports/athletics. Poly more crunchy, bohemian. HW - new money, industry types. Poly - older money. HW - designer clothes. Poly - individualistic clothes. HW with bigger student body, might provide a greater number of kids you have similar interests with. Poly - fewer kids to choose from. HW - more kids, so more difficult to get spots in plays and sport. Poly - smaller so everyone who wants to can play whatever sport they want and most everyone can be in the musical or plays. HW - kids bussed in from farther; their friends may live farther. Poly - mainly local kids and the far kids get driven in rather than bussed. Both places: fairly stressful with academics and work load. Parents and kids from both schools are happy. |
Anonymous
I meant 2013. Also, if you have any more questions about the L.A. schools - or schools anywhere for that matter - College Confidential is probably a better source. |