Madeira vs. Holton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

That’s interesting. I actually think the bar might be harder to cross for internationals because an international student is expected to have challenges on top of academics (culture shock, language, family far away) and so academic footing needs to be more solid.

[Anonymous]

This is true. The bar is much higher. The local top boarding schools and those in NE only accept a small percentage of international students, and particularly not from the same countries. English language and academics and outside interests are at very high standards. You may be thinking of smaller boarding schools, particularly in the UK or schools like Valley Forge Military Academy that take huge classes of international students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

That’s interesting. I actually think the bar might be harder to cross for internationals because an international student is expected to have challenges on top of academics (culture shock, language, family far away) and so academic footing needs to be more solid.

[Anonymous]

Holton is intense socially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

I don't think this is accurate. DD is at Madeira and has reported that many of the international students are far and away ahead of the average American student in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

I don't think this is accurate. DD is at Madeira and has reported that many of the international students are far and away ahead of the average American student in math.

Of course, American students pay $60K and get a subpar education in STEM. This is unfortunately, the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

I don't think this is accurate. DD is at Madeira and has reported that many of the international students are far and away ahead of the average American student in math.

This is right. My daughter's extremely high level math classes at Madeira and a good portion of her classes have been foreign boarders.

[Anonymous]

From what I see in the girls that attend both schools, Holton girls are notably academically stronger. It’s seems the mod system is not doing the education quality at Madeira many favors. Holton also has somewhat better integration with a boys school, since Madeira doesn’t have a brother school. Not that Holton and Landon schools have an overwhelming amount of activities together, but at least they do some.

FWIW, my girls go to Holton and upper school is very academically challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I see in the girls that attend both schools, Holton girls are notably academically stronger. It’s seems the mod system is not doing the education quality at Madeira many favors. Holton also has somewhat better integration with a boys school, since Madeira doesn’t have a brother school. Not that Holton and Landon schools have an overwhelming amount of activities together, but at least they do some.

FWIW, my girls go to Holton and upper school is very academically challenging.

I would definitely not view the opportunity to interact with Landon boys as a plus. Nor does my anec-data agree with yours.

The benefits of the mod system is that it allows every class session to be more in depth and the accelerated curriculum to fit within 5 week sessions is more in line with what our kids will see in college (honestly, I think my Madeira girl's classes are more challenging than her older sister's gen ed college classes). It isn't for everyone, but it absolutely did favors for my daughter in terms of education quality. Plus, having three 5 week internships is something that is only available at Madeira.

The schools are totally different (other than being single gender). A girl who would really like one is unlikely to like the other. Mine wouldn't even consider Holton. She had friends from her cohort at her K-8 who wouldn't consider Madeira. Neither is intrinsically better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I see in the girls that attend both schools, Holton girls are notably academically stronger. It’s seems the mod system is not doing the education quality at Madeira many favors. Holton also has somewhat better integration with a boys school, since Madeira doesn’t have a brother school. Not that Holton and Landon schools have an overwhelming amount of activities together, but at least they do some.

FWIW, my girls go to Holton and upper school is very academically challenging.

I would definitely not view the opportunity to interact with Landon boys as a plus. Nor does my anec-data agree with yours.

The benefits of the mod system is that it allows every class session to be more in depth and the accelerated curriculum to fit within 5 week sessions is more in line with what our kids will see in college (honestly, I think my Madeira girl's classes are more challenging than her older sister's gen ed college classes). It isn't for everyone, but it absolutely did favors for my daughter in terms of education quality. Plus, having three 5 week internships is something that is only available at Madeira.

The schools are totally different (other than being single gender). A girl who would really like one is unlikely to like the other. Mine wouldn't even consider Holton. She had friends from her cohort at her K-8 who wouldn't consider Madeira. Neither is intrinsically better.

+1

Totally different vibes.