GDS versus Holton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I’ve also had kids at both schools, in the grades you are looking at.

This has been discussed ad nauseam on this board but Holton has really changed in the past several years. A lot of amazing faculty have left, the school is enrolling a lot more girls so the classes aren’t as close. The school is actively catering to a certain type of wealth/class/culture that values sports over academics.

I think if your family belongs to a country club and regularly associates in high income circles, you’ll feel very comfortable at Holton. If you don’t, you (and your daughter) might feel very out of place.

I know the Holton army will come after me for this post (as they always do) but I’m always hoping that families for whom 60k is a financial stretch, don’t commit to a school that caters to the needs of the uber wealthy.

We are a prospective family and this is exactly what I worry about at Holton. I absolutely got the uber wealthy country club vibe, and although I’m sure there are plenty of outliers, we know this isn’t our scene.

In terms of rich families I don’t see much difference between GDS and Holton. Given the cost of tuition, the majority are upper class famiiies. So far my experience in Holton in terms of academics, sports, and diversity has been fantastic. I am a middle class parent of a 6th grader at Holton.

I’ve had kids at both schools. GDS has more class/wealth diversity and doesn’t appear to favor wealthy families. Holton admin is increasingly catering to the ultra-wealthy. This means that your concerns as a non-ultra wealthy parent are not heard from the admin. This is shift from the past Holton admin.

Also re racial diversity, they ask the non-white kids to do all the admissions events but the actual classes are far less diverse, especially the new admits in the past several years.

I feel all schools ask non white students to do admission events.

+1 Also, if you know where Holton’s diversity #s were 25 years ago, its current #s are a vast improvement. Not saying there isn’t more work to do, but I’ve seen an improvement. Whether that is changing with the new head, I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I’ve also had kids at both schools, in the grades you are looking at.

This has been discussed ad nauseam on this board but Holton has really changed in the past several years. A lot of amazing faculty have left, the school is enrolling a lot more girls so the classes aren’t as close. The school is actively catering to a certain type of wealth/class/culture that values sports over academics.

I think if your family belongs to a country club and regularly associates in high income circles, you’ll feel very comfortable at Holton. If you don’t, you (and your daughter) might feel very out of place.

I know the Holton army will come after me for this post (as they always do) but I’m always hoping that families for whom 60k is a financial stretch, don’t commit to a school that caters to the needs of the uber wealthy.

We are a prospective family and this is exactly what I worry about at Holton. I absolutely got the uber wealthy country club vibe, and although I’m sure there are plenty of outliers, we know this isn’t our scene.

In terms of rich families I don’t see much difference between GDS and Holton. Given the cost of tuition, the majority are upper class famiiies. So far my experience in Holton in terms of academics, sports, and diversity has been fantastic. I am a middle class parent of a 6th grader at Holton.

I’ve had kids at both schools. GDS has more class/wealth diversity and doesn’t appear to favor wealthy families. Holton admin is increasingly catering to the ultra-wealthy. This means that your concerns as a non-ultra wealthy parent are not heard from the admin. This is shift from the past Holton admin.

Also re racial diversity, they ask the non-white kids to do all the admissions events but the actual classes are far less diverse, especially the new admits in the past several years.

That is concerning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the things that stood out to me about Holton when we toured it versus other DC area schools was that it didn’t feel the need to constantly talk about diversity on the tour. You just had to look around and see there was actual diversity in the school. This was a few years ago but it really stood out to me (and my DD does attend and has a wide ranging friend group).

This is so silly. Neither GDS nor Holton talked about diversity "constantly" on the tours. This is such a stupid focus. Both are great schools. Why people hate the concept of diversity and belonging is silly to me. More concern and focus should be on teacher happiness and attrition in middle and upper school. Focus on the right things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I’ve also had kids at both schools, in the grades you are looking at.

This has been discussed ad nauseam on this board but Holton has really changed in the past several years. A lot of amazing faculty have left, the school is enrolling a lot more girls so the classes aren’t as close. The school is actively catering to a certain type of wealth/class/culture that values sports over academics.

Holton is not enrolling a lot more girls -- they can't. The school is at their permitted occupancy limit already. They have an application in to the planning board to allow them to increase capacity, but that's a long process and they're about 2 years in so far (neighbors objecting of course). Even if it goes through, it will require some traffic adjustments at the entrance so it's stll a few years out at the earliest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another LS parent here and I LOVE that the middle school at Holton doesn’t start until 7th. It let kids be kids for longer and the 6th graders really feel like leaders of the lower school. There’s no pressure to grow up too quickly.

Every year there are new girls and they seem to integrate really well. There are all kinds of girls at Holton it’s a range of interests. My DD has lovely friends and in general we really like the other parents in her grade.

I know Holton is getting a bad wrap in certain circles lately for not being progressive enough but candidly we are fine with that. Parents can teach what they want to their kids at home and school can be for learning (and we are liberals). I would personally feel uncomfortable with all the virtue signaling that GDS seems to be constantly doing.

Does anyone know if kids in lower school in Holton, 4-6th grade, mostly use Chromebooks for homework? Do kids still write essays or math on paper?

Both. For math, it's done on worksheets but practice is done on Chromebooks, like Math Fact Lab.

For writing, they plan it out (outlining, themes, etc) on paper then the final is usually typed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another LS parent here and I LOVE that the middle school at Holton doesn’t start until 7th. It let kids be kids for longer and the 6th graders really feel like leaders of the lower school. There’s no pressure to grow up too quickly.

Every year there are new girls and they seem to integrate really well. There are all kinds of girls at Holton it’s a range of interests. My DD has lovely friends and in general we really like the other parents in her grade.

I know Holton is getting a bad wrap in certain circles lately for not being progressive enough but candidly we are fine with that. Parents can teach what they want to their kids at home and school can be for learning (and we are liberals). I would personally feel uncomfortable with all the virtue signaling that GDS seems to be constantly doing.

Does anyone know if kids in lower school in Holton, 4-6th grade, mostly use Chromebooks for homework? Do kids still write essays or math on paper?

Both. For math, it's done on worksheets but practice is done on Chromebooks, like Math Fact Lab.

For writing, they plan it out (outlining, themes, etc) on paper then the final is usually typed.

Thank you. For homework, is it also on Chrome book?

[Anonymous]

Holton. Have you visited both? Holton’s campus is enormous esp compared to GDS which is really small for a K-12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holton. Have you visited both? Holton’s campus is enormous esp compared to GDS which is really small for a K-12.

Yea but it is also next to a highway junction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton. Have you visited both? Holton’s campus is enormous esp compared to GDS which is really small for a K-12.

Yea but it is also next to a highway junction.

But it doesn’t feel like that at all. Once you’re inside the Holton bubble it could be anywhere. Being close to highways is actually a benefit for a lot of families because you can commute from a lot of places and the buses come from all over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the things that stood out to me about Holton when we toured it versus other DC area schools was that it didn’t feel the need to constantly talk about diversity on the tour. You just had to look around and see there was actual diversity in the school. This was a few years ago but it really stood out to me (and my DD does attend and has a wide ranging friend group).

This is so silly. Neither GDS nor Holton talked about diversity "constantly" on the tours. This is such a stupid focus. Both are great schools. Why people hate the concept of diversity and belonging is silly to me. More concern and focus should be on teacher happiness and attrition in middle and upper school. Focus on the right things.

So should the focus be on diversity or not?

Neither has much so maybe it’s a wash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton. Have you visited both? Holton’s campus is enormous esp compared to GDS which is really small for a K-12.

Yea but it is also next to a highway junction.

But it doesn’t feel like that at all. Once you’re inside the Holton bubble it could be anywhere. Being close to highways is actually a benefit for a lot of families because you can commute from a lot of places and the buses come from all over.

OPs question is GDS versus Holton. Which one has better curriculum in upper lower school and middle school and better for a girl?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton. Have you visited both? Holton’s campus is enormous esp compared to GDS which is really small for a K-12.

Yea but it is also next to a highway junction.

+1. It's the burbs, which some kids do not find appealing. GDS at least has a vibrant, urban campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton. Have you visited both? Holton’s campus is enormous esp compared to GDS which is really small for a K-12.

Yea but it is also next to a highway junction.

+1. It's the burbs, which some kids do not find appealing. GDS at least has a vibrant, urban campus.

LOL it’s in the middle of Tenleytown. That’s not vibrant or urban. Delusional.

[Anonymous]

GDS.

On the other thread, it's Blair.

[Anonymous]

My dad had the choice between Holton + GDS + chose Holton because it had both of her sports (while GDS had just one of the two). While she did graduate from HYP after Holton she said the " mean girl problem" was so severe, it made her hate the place. She said she wouldn't go back to a Holton reunion if someone paid her. Her friends at GDS had much more fun.