Why is everyone at Holton-Arms leaving?

[Anonymous]

2026 holton grad here just to share some thoughts.

first, the entire class agreed in a grade-wide session that the school is going downhill, it's not what it used to be, and we're all glad to be leaving before it gets worse.

not sure if all the changes/departures are from HOS, but she is definitely a part of it. students make bingo cards for all her events/speeches because of how predictable, long, and vapid they are. just this year, she has butchered students' names at the closing ceremony, grabbed a student by the arm, all the while promoting "leading with love." teachers, especially the ones who have been here for longer, are just as dissatisfied with the new leadership based on conversations in the classroom.

regarding the admin as a whole, it seems that their focus has shifted to fundraising and student retention big-time. 

at school wide events and even upper school-only ceremonies, there always has to be some acknowledgement of donors or thanking parents for "choosing holton." the new fundraising director held a session with all student club leaders this year, regulating student bake sales and saying they would take away from donations to the holton fund/endowment. this not only left a bad taste in students’ mouths but also left club leaders scrambling to arrange new plans for fundraising halfway through the year. 

during the spring, it’s also been a tradition for each US grade to compete to have the highest class participation in donations (seniors always reach 100% and have a pizza party), but it was quietly changed to parent participation this year. not sure if the reasoning was based on $$ (students each donate just $1 to reach the % participation goal) or because they know many senior class members would be reluctant to support the school now :/

in any case, that definitely didn’t foster a sense of school spirit. these instances are just a few examples of the change at holton (also now senior exit interviews have been removed, senior projects cut in half, upper school end of year MELO projects being canceled, etc). from the student perspective, they mark a steep departure from the sincere gratitude and sense of belonging SAJ instilled in us.

as a holton lifer, my friends and i all recall enthusiastically recommending the school to all our friends’ families and being *excited* to volunteer for admissions events like our annual open house. as an admissions tour guide in US these past few years though, i have often felt that i can no longer keep up the act and recommend the school in good faith - it simply isn’t the same anymore.

yes, i do agree with above posters that change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. but at some point, replacing beloved traditions will weaken our community, dampen student morale, and cause us to lose valuable institutional knowledge. as seniors, my classmates and i have even reconsidered how we plan to engage as alumni - if holton isn’t the holton we loved anymore, what makes the new holton worth investing in? the faculty feel the same, as expressed in the letter shared on this forum a few months ago (letter written by faculty to alumni).

in case you still don’t believe me, here are some sentiments shared in senior grade wide session:
- “we’ve been looking forward to these traditions for 10 years, now it just feels like they’re being taken away with no reason or explanation”
- "I used to be proud to say that I'm a holton girl. That's not the case anymore"
- “i feel conflicted because this is a time when i’m supposed to be enjoying the last few months of school, but we are just facing hurdle after hurdle on our way out”

maybe this is just a new era for holton, and that’s completely fine. but prospective families deserve to know that the holton they’re signing up for is not the same holton they have heard about in years past. as an alum now, i’m not sure how i can make an impact, but i believe that transparency is the first step.

****
also note to all the parents arguing about college matriculations and the school leadership changes: 

who says these are correlated? college counseling staff hasn’t changed all that much, and much of students’ applications are based on extracurriculars, personal essays, rec letters. under larger institutional changes, students can do their ECs outside of school, work with private counselors to write essays, pay for test prep courses, etc. private school parents would never let kids fall simply because their school is failing. the only in-school change i’ve noticed is that some classmates had to find new rec letter writers due to faculty turnover. 

as someone who has been through the application process in the past year, yearly matriculations say essentially nothing about the current state of the school but much more about the members of the class and general admissions trends. yes, school reputation, curriculum changes, and educational philosophy can play a big role in student outcomes and college admissions, but the impacts of those changes will only be seen years down the road - certainly not in the class of 2026 where students spent 7/10 years attending SAJ’s holton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2026 holton grad here just to share some thoughts.

first, the entire class agreed in a grade-wide session that the school is going downhill, it's not what it used to be, and we're all glad to be leaving before it gets worse.

not sure if all the changes/departures are from HOS, but she is definitely a part of it. students make bingo cards for all her events/speeches because of how predictable, long, and vapid they are. just this year, she has butchered students' names at the closing ceremony, grabbed a student by the arm, all the while promoting "leading with love." teachers, especially the ones who have been here for longer, are just as dissatisfied with the new leadership based on conversations in the classroom.

regarding the admin as a whole, it seems that their focus has shifted to fundraising and student retention big-time. 

at school wide events and even upper school-only ceremonies, there always has to be some acknowledgement of donors or thanking parents for "choosing holton." the new fundraising director held a session with all student club leaders this year, regulating student bake sales and saying they would take away from donations to the holton fund/endowment. this not only left a bad taste in students’ mouths but also left club leaders scrambling to arrange new plans for fundraising halfway through the year. 

during the spring, it’s also been a tradition for each US grade to compete to have the highest class participation in donations (seniors always reach 100% and have a pizza party), but it was quietly changed to parent participation this year. not sure if the reasoning was based on $$ (students each donate just $1 to reach the % participation goal) or because they know many senior class members would be reluctant to support the school now :/

in any case, that definitely didn’t foster a sense of school spirit. these instances are just a few examples of the change at holton (also now senior exit interviews have been removed, senior projects cut in half, upper school end of year MELO projects being canceled, etc). from the student perspective, they mark a steep departure from the sincere gratitude and sense of belonging SAJ instilled in us.

as a holton lifer, my friends and i all recall enthusiastically recommending the school to all our friends’ families and being *excited* to volunteer for admissions events like our annual open house. as an admissions tour guide in US these past few years though, i have often felt that i can no longer keep up the act and recommend the school in good faith - it simply isn’t the same anymore.

yes, i do agree with above posters that change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. but at some point, replacing beloved traditions will weaken our community, dampen student morale, and cause us to lose valuable institutional knowledge. as seniors, my classmates and i have even reconsidered how we plan to engage as alumni - if holton isn’t the holton we loved anymore, what makes the new holton worth investing in? the faculty feel the same, as expressed in the letter shared on this forum a few months ago (letter written by faculty to alumni).

in case you still don’t believe me, here are some sentiments shared in senior grade wide session:
- “we’ve been looking forward to these traditions for 10 years, now it just feels like they’re being taken away with no reason or explanation”
- "I used to be proud to say that I'm a holton girl. That's not the case anymore"
- “i feel conflicted because this is a time when i’m supposed to be enjoying the last few months of school, but we are just facing hurdle after hurdle on our way out”

maybe this is just a new era for holton, and that’s completely fine. but prospective families deserve to know that the holton they’re signing up for is not the same holton they have heard about in years past. as an alum now, i’m not sure how i can make an impact, but i believe that transparency is the first step.

****
also note to all the parents arguing about college matriculations and the school leadership changes: 

who says these are correlated? college counseling staff hasn’t changed all that much, and much of students’ applications are based on extracurriculars, personal essays, rec letters. under larger institutional changes, students can do their ECs outside of school, work with private counselors to write essays, pay for test prep courses, etc. private school parents would never let kids fall simply because their school is failing. the only in-school change i’ve noticed is that some classmates had to find new rec letter writers due to faculty turnover. 

as someone who has been through the application process in the past year, yearly matriculations say essentially nothing about the current state of the school but much more about the members of the class and general admissions trends. yes, school reputation, curriculum changes, and educational philosophy can play a big role in student outcomes and college admissions, but the impacts of those changes will only be seen years down the road - certainly not in the class of 2026 where students spent 7/10 years attending SAJ’s holton.

Good to know. Should I be concerned as a parent of a rising 9th grader ?

[Anonymous]

I wrote the previous post about change not necessarily being a bad thing and defending Holton for the staff turnover. As a fellow Holton grad and now a Holton parent, I value your comments and appreciate the time you spent writing such a well constructed explanation of your experience. You’ve made some really good points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

I’m sorry but this analysis is stupid. The Holton results are far better than Visi or Maderia. What are you even talking about? BC and Villanova are not between 20-30 in any ranking. Villanova is a good outcome, but Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago, Pomona, etc. are not. You are an idiot.

+1

It's obvious that you don't possess good rationalization skills. For some reason, several others moms on this site understood what I aimed for in sharing the data that I shared. I'm a mom that attended top schools, and I know what I know. The Holton results are not greater than Visi or Madeira. As I shared several times before, the other two schools have results that are on par with Holton this year.

Nearly 10 attending ND > nearly 8 attending U Michigan on all days of the week. And I like how you threw in those LACs -- Swarthmore, Pomona. Gosh, no one in my circles are even looking at those two.

Again, Holton had good results, but they were in no way superior to the results of Visi and Madeira. Comparable- yes; superior -- nah.

A tell that you don’t run in intellectual or wealthy circles is that you dismiss Swarthmore and Pomona like they’re chopped liver.

How old are you? I attended an Ivy. Me and those close to me. Enough said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

I’m sorry but this analysis is stupid. The Holton results are far better than Visi or Maderia. What are you even talking about? BC and Villanova are not between 20-30 in any ranking. Villanova is a good outcome, but Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago, Pomona, etc. are not. You are an idiot.

+1

It's obvious that you don't possess good rationalization skills. For some reason, several others moms on this site understood what I aimed for in sharing the data that I shared. I'm a mom that attended top schools, and I know what I know. The Holton results are not greater than Visi or Madeira. As I shared several times before, the other two schools have results that are on par with Holton this year.

Nearly 10 attending ND > nearly 8 attending U Michigan on all days of the week. And I like how you threw in those LACs -- Swarthmore, Pomona. Gosh, no one in my circles are even looking at those two.

Again, Holton had good results, but they were in no way superior to the results of Visi and Madeira. Comparable- yes; superior -- nah.

A tell that you don’t run in intellectual or wealthy circles is that you dismiss Swarthmore and Pomona like they’re chopped liver.

How old are you? I attended an Ivy. Me and those close to me. Enough said.

DP but same reaction about your silly statements. I attended HYPMS for both BA and PhD in late 1990s and early 2000s. Nobody in my circles would say what you did about Swarthmore and Pomona. And if they didn’t know, my friends would certainly not be proud of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

I’m sorry but this analysis is stupid. The Holton results are far better than Visi or Maderia. What are you even talking about? BC and Villanova are not between 20-30 in any ranking. Villanova is a good outcome, but Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago, Pomona, etc. are not. You are an idiot.

+1

It's obvious that you don't possess good rationalization skills. For some reason, several others moms on this site understood what I aimed for in sharing the data that I shared. I'm a mom that attended top schools, and I know what I know. The Holton results are not greater than Visi or Madeira. As I shared several times before, the other two schools have results that are on par with Holton this year.

Nearly 10 attending ND > nearly 8 attending U Michigan on all days of the week. And I like how you threw in those LACs -- Swarthmore, Pomona. Gosh, no one in my circles are even looking at those two.

Again, Holton had good results, but they were in no way superior to the results of Visi and Madeira. Comparable- yes; superior -- nah.

A tell that you don’t run in intellectual or wealthy circles is that you dismiss Swarthmore and Pomona like they’re chopped liver.

How old are you? I attended an Ivy. Me and those close to me. Enough said.

DP but same reaction about your silly statements. I attended HYPMS for both BA and PhD in late 1990s and early 2000s. Nobody in my circles would say what you did about Swarthmore and Pomona. And if they didn’t know, my friends would certainly not be proud of it.

Too bad. I have the status to say it. Great schools, but not exactly part of my comparison.


Again, you moms are taking such slight about me not saying that Holton and colleges that you value as esteemed, are not that for everyone.

Holton had a good year. So did other girls high schools. Results are rather comparable. That’s it.

I didn’t say Holton is duper declining. Just that other schools are performing well also.

And although Swath and Pomona are great SLACs, not everyone craves these environments. This statement shouldn’t be read as a negative, but rather a different choice.

There are no SLAC graduates in my circle, but that’s our choice.

[Anonymous]

Holton must be doing something right...a number of girls in the last few years have transferred in from other schools...NCS, Maret, WIS just to name a few...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holton must be doing something right...a number of girls in the last few years have transferred in from other schools...NCS, Maret, WIS just to name a few...

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

Read the college forum post on how privates focus on colleges for each kid. Then you will understand why this exodus is so hard for the girls currently in US. Losing the head this year, college counselor, and academic dean?? In 1 year? And key teachers? Who will be left to know them well enough??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Many new hires are already leaving after just one year. Several job postings are positions I believe they just hired for last year…

Are these new hires leaving because they want to leave or because they were asked to leave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Many new hires are already leaving after just one year. Several job postings are positions I believe they just hired for last year…

Are these new hires leaving because they want to leave or because they were asked to leave?

It's a mix. Mostly they want to leave despite their love of the school and its mission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton must be doing something right...a number of girls in the last few years have transferred in from other schools...NCS, Maret, WIS just to name a few...

Exactly!

Grass is always greener. A number of rising 9th graders are fleeing NCS. Number would be higher if all who applied out had gotten in elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read the college forum post on how privates focus on colleges for each kid. Then you will understand why this exodus is so hard for the girls currently in US. Losing the head this year, college counselor, and academic dean?? In 1 year? And key teachers? Who will be left to know them well enough??

If teachers knowing students is so important to you, change schools. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton must be doing something right...a number of girls in the last few years have transferred in from other schools...NCS, Maret, WIS just to name a few...

Exactly!

Maret—> Holton Arms! Wow!! Hard to believe though.

[Anonymous]

Penny caused two schools to struggle, and y'all still don't see the real issue. She’s only at Holton because Marriott was upset about DEI and the Christine Ford testimony against Justice Kavanaugh.

They threatened to cut funding and reached out to Gov. Youngkin. Penny is close to Youngkin. He gave her son a job, helped him get into college, and secured his entrance into the KA fraternity.


Youngkin recommended Penny, and as a result, she left her previous position as the head of a school in Richmond and moved her talents to Holton.

She's just a racist and homophobic political appointee who sucks at her job.