Is Burke a good school?

[Anonymous]

12:44, thanks for the reply. McLean is too far, and Lab is actually pitched too low, from my experience with their summer program when my child was younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What type of kid/family is a good fit for Burke? Who wouldn't be a good fit?

A kid that accepts all kinds of other kids, same for their family. It’s more racially, socioeconomic ally and religiously diverse school than most other mainstream private schools. That’s what drew our family there.

We also loved how well run the MS is. They scaffold all of the academic skills kids need for HS in MS. The project based approach and cross curricular connections are impressive.

They also have a schedule that is balanced. No 80 minute periods all day long or only just periods where you can’t dig deep into everything.

The arts classes are great. The school clearly values a well-rounded education based on their schedule, course offerings and academic requirements. Many schools force you to narrow down just to 1 elective. At Burke, a kid can do STEM and arts electives every year.

For being a small school, they still have many leveled classes. Math classes get tracked into 3 levels starting in 7th grade and WL is tracked starting in 6th. This opens up a lot of opportunities for advanced kids and they have the advanced HS classes needed to keep going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad to hear that the HS has stronger academics than the MS. Unfortunately any critique of Burke’s rigor brings out the defenders who don’t want to hear experiences of former families.

Not sure why my comment was considered “strange” and yes, prospective families should be interested in the experiences of the families who are currently there— and the ones who left because of academic rigor questions. No one is saying it’s not a lovely school overall.

It's strange or weird because your comment is disingenuous. The statement clearly overreached by claiming the lack of "rigor" when parents left for all sorts of reasons: geography, larger school, finances, etc. there are plenty of motivated and high-performing students who stay for HS. Sorry your kid won't experience it.

I am talking about the parents I spoke to personally about why they/we left. And it echoed the complaints we had and talked about while we were there. (Suffice it to say, these are not parents for whom finances are an issue at all). This is a very small parent community.
FWIW, not one of the kids who left that my child still keeps in touch with (about 8 from their MS class, so roughly 1/4) has expressed any regret about leaving.
Again, no negative feelings about Burke overall- my child actually still gets together with their Burke friends. And, I just recommended Burke to a friend for whom the school has been a great fit for their kid.
So no need to be overly defensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad to hear that the HS has stronger academics than the MS. Unfortunately any critique of Burke’s rigor brings out the defenders who don’t want to hear experiences of former families.

Not sure why my comment was considered “strange” and yes, prospective families should be interested in the experiences of the families who are currently there— and the ones who left because of academic rigor questions. No one is saying it’s not a lovely school overall.

It's strange or weird because your comment is disingenuous. The statement clearly overreached by claiming the lack of "rigor" when parents left for all sorts of reasons: geography, larger school, finances, etc. there are plenty of motivated and high-performing students who stay for HS. Sorry your kid won't experience it.

I am talking about the parents I spoke to personally about why they/we left. And it echoed the complaints we had and talked about while we were there. (Suffice it to say, these are not parents for whom finances are an issue at all). This is a very small parent community.
FWIW, not one of the kids who left that my child still keeps in touch with (about 8 from their MS class, so roughly 1/4) has expressed any regret about leaving.
Again, no negative feelings about Burke overall- my child actually still gets together with their Burke friends. And, I just recommended Burke to a friend for whom the school has been a great fit for their kid.
So no need to be overly defensive.

I hate to break it to you but you're not the only one who talks to other parents at Burke. It's such a weird thing to bring up that kids don't regret their decision to leave. I certainly wish the best for all the kids who had the MS experience at Burke and now want different things in other schools. I would hope that they have no regrets. I haven't heard anything about their new schools being more rigorous, even if they like other aspects of their new schools. You have a real chip on your shoulder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm grateful that my kid had a great MS experience at Burke both academically and socially. In HS, DC has continued to manage rigorous coursework over the years and is intellectually curious about many subjects. I'm impressed with the teachers overall, who are accessible and dedicated. I appreciate Burke's balanced approach and I'm confident that DC will do well in college.

Just this past week a Burke math teacher received a University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award and an alum (class of '21) was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in physics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad to hear that the HS has stronger academics than the MS. Unfortunately any critique of Burke’s rigor brings out the defenders who don’t want to hear experiences of former families.

Not sure why my comment was considered “strange” and yes, prospective families should be interested in the experiences of the families who are currently there— and the ones who left because of academic rigor questions. No one is saying it’s not a lovely school overall.

It's strange or weird because your comment is disingenuous. The statement clearly overreached by claiming the lack of "rigor" when parents left for all sorts of reasons: geography, larger school, finances, etc. there are plenty of motivated and high-performing students who stay for HS. Sorry your kid won't experience it.

I am talking about the parents I spoke to personally about why they/we left. And it echoed the complaints we had and talked about while we were there. (Suffice it to say, these are not parents for whom finances are an issue at all). This is a very small parent community.
FWIW, not one of the kids who left that my child still keeps in touch with (about 8 from their MS class, so roughly 1/4) has expressed any regret about leaving.
Again, no negative feelings about Burke overall- my child actually still gets together with their Burke friends. And, I just recommended Burke to a friend for whom the school has been a great fit for their kid.
So no need to be overly defensive.

I hate to break it to you but you're not the only one who talks to other parents at Burke. It's such a weird thing to bring up that kids don't regret their decision to leave. I certainly wish the best for all the kids who had the MS experience at Burke and now want different things in other schools. I would hope that they have no regrets. I haven't heard anything about their new schools being more rigorous, even if they like other aspects of their new schools. You have a real chip on your shoulder.

Both of you have chips on your shoulder and are likely talking about different classes.

If there's one thing Burke is known for then it's producing kids who are comfortable with contradictions and seeing both the good and bad in every situation.

Speaking of which, it can be both rigorous or non-rigorous. Many of the assignments are structured such that the level of challenge is up to the student themselves. That can be a good or bad thing depending on the student.

[Anonymous]

Transferred in for Grade 10 from a DC public charter and don’t have one regret. It wasn’t until the shadow day where my daughter said “I could see myself there.” Most importantly it is welcoming and students can be themselves. And requiring students to be on a sports team is amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad to hear that the HS has stronger academics than the MS. Unfortunately any critique of Burke’s rigor brings out the defenders who don’t want to hear experiences of former families.

Not sure why my comment was considered “strange” and yes, prospective families should be interested in the experiences of the families who are currently there— and the ones who left because of academic rigor questions. No one is saying it’s not a lovely school overall.

It's strange or weird because your comment is disingenuous. The statement clearly overreached by claiming the lack of "rigor" when parents left for all sorts of reasons: geography, larger school, finances, etc. there are plenty of motivated and high-performing students who stay for HS. Sorry your kid won't experience it.

I am talking about the parents I spoke to personally about why they/we left. And it echoed the complaints we had and talked about while we were there. (Suffice it to say, these are not parents for whom finances are an issue at all). This is a very small parent community.
FWIW, not one of the kids who left that my child still keeps in touch with (about 8 from their MS class, so roughly 1/4) has expressed any regret about leaving.
Again, no negative feelings about Burke overall- my child actually still gets together with their Burke friends. And, I just recommended Burke to a friend for whom the school has been a great fit for their kid.
So no need to be overly defensive.

I hate to break it to you but you're not the only one who talks to other parents at Burke. It's such a weird thing to bring up that kids don't regret their decision to leave. I certainly wish the best for all the kids who had the MS experience at Burke and now want different things in other schools. I would hope that they have no regrets. I haven't heard anything about their new schools being more rigorous, even if they like other aspects of their new schools. You have a real chip on your shoulder.

Both of you have chips on your shoulder and are likely talking about different classes.

If there's one thing Burke is known for then it's producing kids who are comfortable with contradictions and seeing both the good and bad in every situation.

Speaking of which, it can be both rigorous or non-rigorous. Many of the assignments are structured such that the level of challenge is up to the student themselves. That can be a good or bad thing depending on the student.

PP’s post seems tangential to the previous ones but I agree that rigor depends just as much on the student and family as the school. Burke does allow that range.