The Heights

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Heights has only male teachers (almost all are white males). The women on the staff are in service roles - librarian, secretary, admissions, fundraising. What kind of message does that send the students at this all boy school? What gender expectations will these young men carry into their young adulthood?

This is a feature, not a bug, for most conservatives of the type who would send boys to school at the Heights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To machismo/patriarchal/MAGA for our centrist family. Academics no where near as good as publics (W schools), or top privates.

False, the Heights teaches a classical education so students learn to think critically and to write beautifully. You no longer get that in public - there it’s all rote memorization and teach to the test. The Heights does allow acceleration in certain instances, which publics can’t handle - hence it’s a good place for a gifted kid. The teaches discourage mindless computer and phone use. The lower school the students memorize and recite poems in the old English school tradition. The school tries to build character; publics don’t. The students go to great colleges - they’ve got one student now at Oxford and another heading for Harvard Law.

You seem familiar with the public schools—did your child attend a public high school? As it sounds like your boys attended the Heights. So you really don’t know first hand about what is happening in public school. It doesn’t help your argument, PP.

FWIW, I know two boys who left the Heights during middle school and had to repeat a grade due to being behind academically. This was several years ago, but it is an actual fact, albeit a very, very small sample. I don’t have first hand knowledge of the academics at The Heights, but very conservative families seem happy.

Where did they go after the Heights? What subjects were they behind in? Were the kids a special case or just average?

[Anonymous]

Two questions:

1) Can anyone talk about the Lower School and what that’s like for the boys? The focus on this post and others seem to be for middle and upper school.

2) How “obvious” is the school about the conservative political views during the application process?

I’m talking about abortion in particular. My ex-wife is profoundly intolerant of pro-life views - as in she will discount the entire person and their views if the other person is pro-life. Luckily for me - she largely defers to me for major educational decisions and she frequently assumes everyone has the same views as she does unless it becomes very clear that the other person doesn’t.

I’m liberal but most of the role models I looked up to (particularly male role models) while growing up were conservative. I also think that the traditional conservatives have a stronger vision of what child raising should be. I like what I’ve heard from the Heights podcast.

[Anonymous]

Lol Grove City

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very strong academics. Lots of opportunities for acceleration. I know a kid doing calculus in 9th grade because the school let him do extra classes over the summers.

"Let him"? Didn't realize school permission was required for summer enrichment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol Grove City

Grove City is about the biggest MAGA flag you could possibly fly. It's an extremely not competitive admissions school and there is no reason other than signaling to acknowledge anyone went there.

[Anonymous]

They are very obvious.
This may not be the school for you. It is black/white and no grey in isdues like this one.

Anonymous wrote:Two questions:

1) Can anyone talk about the Lower School and what that’s like for the boys? The focus on this post and others seem to be for middle and upper school.

2) How “obvious” is the school about the conservative political views during the application process?

I’m talking about abortion in particular. My ex-wife is profoundly intolerant of pro-life views - as in she will discount the entire person and their views if the other person is pro-life. Luckily for me - she largely defers to me for major educational decisions and she frequently assumes everyone has the same views as she does unless it becomes very clear that the other person doesn’t.

I’m liberal but most of the role models I looked up to (particularly male role models) while growing up were conservative. I also think that the traditional conservatives have a stronger vision of what child raising should be. I like what I’ve heard from the Heights podcast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two questions:

1) Can anyone talk about the Lower School and what that’s like for the boys? The focus on this post and others seem to be for middle and upper school.

2) How “obvious” is the school about the conservative political views during the application process?

I’m talking about abortion in particular. My ex-wife is profoundly intolerant of pro-life views - as in she will discount the entire person and their views if the other person is pro-life. Luckily for me - she largely defers to me for major educational decisions and she frequently assumes everyone has the same views as she does unless it becomes very clear that the other person doesn’t.

I’m liberal but most of the role models I looked up to (particularly male role models) while growing up were conservative. I also think that the traditional conservatives have a stronger vision of what child raising should be. I like what I’ve heard from the Heights podcast.

I don’t think any Catholic school would be okay with your ex-wife.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol Grove City

Grove City is about the biggest MAGA flag you could possibly fly. It's an extremely not competitive admissions school and there is no reason other than signaling to acknowledge anyone went there.

25/75 SAT ranges are 1128/1374, around 80% of kids attending submitted scores (70% SAT or ACT, ~10% CLT). This suggests that the average student quality is pretty good, certainly relative to the "we have a 1500 SAT average (only three people submitted scores; the other nine-hundred ninety seven couldn't even spell their own names)" schools out there.

In any case, signaling is legit: range of religious colleges -- not just Catholic-only ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two questions:

1) Can anyone talk about the Lower School and what that’s like for the boys? The focus on this post and others seem to be for middle and upper school.

2) How “obvious” is the school about the conservative political views during the application process?

I’m talking about abortion in particular. My ex-wife is profoundly intolerant of pro-life views - as in she will discount the entire person and their views if the other person is pro-life. Luckily for me - she largely defers to me for major educational decisions and she frequently assumes everyone has the same views as she does unless it becomes very clear that the other person doesn’t.

I’m liberal but most of the role models I looked up to (particularly male role models) while growing up were conservative. I also think that the traditional conservatives have a stronger vision of what child raising should be. I like what I’ve heard from the Heights podcast.

If you are liberal, stay away from The Heights. If your kid shares liberal views (i.e. pro choice), he will be an outcast. Sorry, but this is the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two questions:

1) Can anyone talk about the Lower School and what that’s like for the boys? The focus on this post and others seem to be for middle and upper school.

2) How “obvious” is the school about the conservative political views during the application process?

I’m talking about abortion in particular. My ex-wife is profoundly intolerant of pro-life views - as in she will discount the entire person and their views if the other person is pro-life. Luckily for me - she largely defers to me for major educational decisions and she frequently assumes everyone has the same views as she does unless it becomes very clear that the other person doesn’t.

I’m liberal but most of the role models I looked up to (particularly male role models) while growing up were conservative. I also think that the traditional conservatives have a stronger vision of what child raising should be. I like what I’ve heard from the Heights podcast.

I don’t think any Catholic school would be okay with your ex-wife.

And the Heights in particular wouldn't be the best place for a divorced family, if they even were willing to take a child of divorce.

[Anonymous]

I looked into the Heights because I strongly value a classical education, love the outdoor time, and have friends there. Unfortunately, I do not think we are the right kind of Catholics for this school. The Heights and Opus Dei in general have very different values from Jesuit schools. There are so many things to like about the school but I absolutely did not feel comfortable sending my kids there.

As far as academics go, people need to understand that the Heights - really, most Catholic schools other than independent schools like Georgetown Prep - will deliberately take a wider range of academic abilities than a typical selective private. These schools value the community and include members that might not be accepted if the only criterion were academic ability. Academics are strong but you are not going to see the more uniformly driven students that you see in the DC independent schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked into the Heights because I strongly value a classical education, love the outdoor time, and have friends there. Unfortunately, I do not think we are the right kind of Catholics for this school. The Heights and Opus Dei in general have very different values from Jesuit schools. There are so many things to like about the school but I absolutely did not feel comfortable sending my kids there.

As far as academics go, people need to understand that the Heights - really, most Catholic schools other than independent schools like Georgetown Prep - will deliberately take a wider range of academic abilities than a typical selective private. These schools value the community and include members that might not be accepted if the only criterion were academic ability. Academics are strong but you are not going to see the more uniformly driven students that you see in the DC independent schools.

Can you elaborate more on this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked into the Heights because I strongly value a classical education, love the outdoor time, and have friends there. Unfortunately, I do not think we are the right kind of Catholics for this school. The Heights and Opus Dei in general have very different values from Jesuit schools. There are so many things to like about the school but I absolutely did not feel comfortable sending my kids there.

As far as academics go, people need to understand that the Heights - really, most Catholic schools other than independent schools like Georgetown Prep - will deliberately take a wider range of academic abilities than a typical selective private. These schools value the community and include members that might not be accepted if the only criterion were academic ability. Academics are strong but you are not going to see the more uniformly driven students that you see in the DC independent schools.

Does your son like GT prep? Was he prepared coming from the heights?