Anne Arundel Schools: Concerned About Lack of Rigor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just surprised because people are super obsessed with Severna Park and making sure their kids are in that school district, like typical W parents, yet their academic outcomes are so not W school level at all.

I'm not sure who these people are who you think are super obsessed with Severna Park. Within AACPS, it's general one of the top -mostly just because of demographics (it's the whitest and the richest)
But I can't imagine people are comparing the top MoCo schools to SP. Not because one is better than the other, but just because the people that would be happy living in those areas of MoCo wouldn't want to live on the Broadneck Peninsula, for example

There's someone (someones?) on this board who grew up in SP and is super bitter and loves to post about their opinion that people in SP are snobby without being rich or prestigious enough to "deserve" to be as snobby as they are. So I'm guessing this is just that person again.

It's not like they're wrong though.

Lots of the people in Severna Park definitely are incredibly snobby and elitist despite themselves not having the most elite backgrounds and credentials. And to top it off, a lot of those same snobs are COVID deniers and Trump supporters.

Perhaps it's ridiculous to measure success based off ivy-league admits, but it is strange that Severna Park has such a low number of NMSF, even compared to its neighboring schools in the same county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just surprised because people are super obsessed with Severna Park and making sure their kids are in that school district, like typical W parents, yet their academic outcomes are so not W school level at all.

I'm not sure who these people are who you think are super obsessed with Severna Park. Within AACPS, it's general one of the top -mostly just because of demographics (it's the whitest and the richest)
But I can't imagine people are comparing the top MoCo schools to SP. Not because one is better than the other, but just because the people that would be happy living in those areas of MoCo wouldn't want to live on the Broadneck Peninsula, for example

This is how Severna Park High School was described by the Capital Gazette, an Annapolis-based newspaper, in 2019:

Severna Park High School has one of the county’s highest graduation rates — more than 98 percent of seniors graduated in 2018.

The school is known for sending students to prestigious colleges and universities. The surrounding area’s poverty rate is half that of the county average. And Severna Park is an affluent ZIP code — with a median household income of $132,000 — where students seem to have advantages over other jurisdictions. But the school has a dark history of mental illness.

There are many reasons, Parker said. Students say they’re under intense academic pressure. Some are battling drug addictions. Five counselors and one part-time psychologist serve a student body of more than 1,800.

https://www.capitalgazette.com/education/ac-cn-mental-health-20190423-story.html

Here's a quote from the Severna Park Voice on what their community is like

The numbers paint Severna Park as a community that anyone would be proud of: a high school with a 95 percent graduation rate, with 11 state sports championships in the past five years alone, with Advanced Placement enrollment in the top 95 percentile, all in a zip code where the median family income is approximately $130,000.

But with those numbers comes the pressure on young people to excel, to outshine, to be perfect — and it is taking an emotional toll.

https://www.severnaparkvoice.com/stories/students-and-parents-push-for-culture-shift-to-end-severna-parks-suicide-problem,27947

This is a pretty accurate picture of how the school is perceived by AACo locals: rich, full of competition, kids going to elite universities, and a striver culture. Pretty on the mark with the "W" schools in MoCo.

I don't know why some people in this thread try so very hard to deny that this image of SPHS exists among AACo locals. Severna Park HS actually has had *more* suicides than many schools in MoCo have--including some of the Bethesda/Potomac area high schools. The parents in SP are very over-the-top and prestige obsessed. To deny it is just ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

The valedictorian of Crofton High's first graduating class will be attending MIT this fall. Two others in the graduating class got into Yale, and others got into Johns Hopkins, UPenn, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Georgetown, etc. Several students will be going to UMD. Arundel, Severna Park, and Broadneck High Schools are all sending a handful of students to ivys this fall and numerous students from those schools will be attending UMD. It is more than possible to get a top-notch ivy-bound education in AACPS. With the exception of maybe Severna Park High School, AACPS doesn't have the "college or bust" attitude that MCPS has (or not to the same extent). AACPS officials make their high school students very aware of trade options and non-college-oriented career options, and they have expansive votech programs. As others have said, many of the wealthy people in AACo are business owners, so people many students will go that route as well.

Also, the rankings of AACPS have gone back up to where they used to be 10-15 years ago. Severna Park HS & Arundel HS are both ranked in the top 20 schools in MD on schooldigger, and Arundel HS went back up to a 9/10 on GreatSchools. I'm sure they will improve on the US News list the next time they rank schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

Move to Montgomery County - lots of Ivy grads here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you have it backward..all of that only makes it easier to get into a top college.

^this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you have it backward..all of that only makes it easier to get into a top college.

I tend to agree with you, but, OP's kid is not likely to get into a T20 school anyway, so, what's the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

I think as long as they find a supportive environment at school, high achieving kids that don't have to compete with a lot of other high achieving kids locally actually have a strong advantage when it comes to college admissions. You should be looking at whether "rigorous" coursework is available to them. If so, they will have an edge staying there vs going to come environment where they have to compete with a lot of academic superstars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

I think as long as they find a supportive environment at school, high achieving kids that don't have to compete with a lot of other high achieving kids locally actually have a strong advantage when it comes to college admissions. You should be looking at whether "rigorous" coursework is available to them. If so, they will have an edge staying there vs going to come environment where they have to compete with a lot of academic superstars.

But also, these high schools do have a lot of competitive students. I know for a fact that Arundel, Crofton, Severna Park, South River, and Broadneck have multiple students excepted to T20 schools every year. Many of those students will still choose UMD instead, because they see UMD as a good school that they can save money on. The difference is that the kids at the MoCo schools would rather spend more for the T20s for the prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

I think as long as they find a supportive environment at school, high achieving kids that don't have to compete with a lot of other high achieving kids locally actually have a strong advantage when it comes to college admissions. You should be looking at whether "rigorous" coursework is available to them. If so, they will have an edge staying there vs going to come environment where they have to compete with a lot of academic superstars.

But also, these high schools do have a lot of competitive students. I know for a fact that Arundel, Crofton, Severna Park, South River, and Broadneck have multiple students excepted to T20 schools every year. Many of those students will still choose UMD instead, because they see UMD as a good school that they can save money on. The difference is that the kids at the MoCo schools would rather spend more for the T20s for the prestige.

Accepted*