Academics at Georgetown Prep

[Anonymous]

Advanced Placement courses are offered in Biology, Calculus (AB and BC), Chemistry, Statistics, Physics (B and C), Art History, Music Theory, U.S. History, Micro and Macro Economics, French Language, French Literature, Spanish Language, Modern European History, Environmental Science and Latin.

From the Landon Website - under curriculum description for US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Note that Prep and a number of other schools in the area only offer AP Calculus AB (as opposed to BC). Calc AB is fine, but if they can't support a BC program, then either they are not attracting or training very strong math students. Heights has BC Calc, or at least used to, as do STA and Landon. You might want to check to see if they are offered every year.

?

You misread the quoted material, which indicates that "all 20 Calculus BC students scored a 4 or higher on the AP exam." And here is the G-Prep math course sequence, which reveals an AP Cal BC Program --

http://www.gprep.org/37313937393D646926656372756F7365727465673D716572.res

[Anonymous]

Sorry - my mistake.

[Anonymous]

the majority of freshman take Algebra 1

[Anonymous]

Easy question for anyone who has been there. Most everything is taught through rote memorization. Very little discussion. All classes meet everyday which means the classes are too short to allow for any in depth discussion. Lots of quizzing and testing. Very little reading, writing, thinking. Great for a kids who loves to memorize and test but terrible for an independent thinker.... Also latin and religion requirements do not allow for any interesting electives, therefore most all kids take the same classes with an emphasis on digesting large quantity. Also, take a look at the quals of teachers... all this said, not sure if the other sports-oriented schools you mentioned, aside from STA, are any diff.

[Anonymous]

Landon is on an 8 day schedule so you do not have every class every day. No latin or religious class so schedule is more open to electives starting sophomore year. There is a language(3yrs) and arts requirement.

[Anonymous]

[size=9][i]Easy question for anyone who has been there. Most everything is taught through rote memorization. Very little discussion. All classes meet everyday which means the classes are too short to allow for any in depth discussion. Lots of quizzing and testing. Very little reading, writing, thinking. Great for a kids who loves to memorize and test but terrible for an independent thinker.... Also latin and religion requirements do not allow for any interesting electives, therefore most all kids take the same classes with an emphasis on digesting large quantity. Also, take a look at the quals of teachers... all this said, not sure if the other sports-oriented schools you mentioned, aside from STA, are any diff. [/i][/size]

We were very surprised and sadden to find what PP summarized about Prep to be true. The boys don't seem engaged in many classes and I wonder if this may be a function of too much emphasis on sports and the priority it plays in the school. I wonder too if a vicious cycle is at work here... emphasis on sports over academics dilutes the academic student body in turn teachers must teach at a lower level, which in turn continues to drives away families looking for strong academics and over time the class room dynamic is changed. PP's comments about not enough class time spent on lessons is also correct due to the 45 minute class time. Also, there is too much down time during the day, between breaks and early dismissal after quizzes in many classes. I think the reason for this is to give the boys time to do homework so that they can put in the hours and hours for sports. The problem is that it takes away from class time and in depth lessons. It really is a shame. We looked at Landon and believe, unfortunately, that similar dynamics are at work there too.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][size=9][i]Easy question for anyone who has been there. [b]Most everything is taught through rote memorization. Very little discussion. All classes meet everyday which means the classes are too short to allow for any in depth discussion. Lots of quizzing and testing. Very little reading, writing, thinking. Great for a kids who loves to memorize and test but terrible for an independent thinker.... Also latin and religion requirements do not allow for any interesting electives, therefore most all kids take the same classes with an emphasis on digesting large quantity.[/b] Also, take a look at the quals of teachers... all this said, not sure if the other sports-oriented schools you mentioned, aside from STA, are any diff. [/i][/size]

We were very surprised and sadden to find what PP summarized about Prep to be true. The boys don't seem engaged in many classes and I wonder if this may be a function of too much emphasis on sports and the priority it plays in the school. I wonder too if a vicious cycle is at work here... emphasis on sports over academics dilutes the academic student body in turn teachers must teach at a lower level, which in turn continues to drives away families looking for strong academics and over time the class room dynamic is changed. PP's comments about not enough class time spent on lessons is also correct due to the 45 minute class time. Also, there is too much down time during the day, between breaks and early dismissal after quizzes in many classes. I think the reason for this is to give the boys time to do homework so that they can put in the hours and hours for sports. The problem is that it takes away from class time and in depth lessons. It really is a shame. We looked at Landon and believe, unfortunately, that similar dynamics are at work there too. [/quote]

So interesting. We are at another boys' school, and I would say exactly the same things about our school. I thought my DS should apply out, but he didn't want to. Sounds like it wouldn't have made a difference, at least if we had moved him to Prep.

[Anonymous]

Bump...

Are academics really second to sports at GP? How would a student who is average in sports fare at this school?

[Anonymous]

Academics are first at Prep, athletics second.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Bump...

Are academics really second to sports at GP? How would a student who is average in sports fare at this school?[/quote]

It's a big student body compared to some of the other local privates (about 500 boys). Plenty of them are not athletic and they enjoy the academics, other extracurriculars, community service, and being a fan at games. With that said, it is a boys' school and as such being a great athlete has the most status . . . but is there any American high school where that isn't true? (That's rhetorical, I'm sure there are a few! :) )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have always thought Landon and Prep have been stronger athletic schools as a whole compared to STA. Prep is a much larger school compared to Landon and St. Albans. Landon and STA roughly have the same upper school enrollment, while Prep has about 40 more boys in a grade than Landon and STA. Prep tends to be very competitive across the board in all sports team while Landon and Prep appear to pick and choose what sports they are elite at. All three schools are solid in football, lacrosse and hockey for sure. St. Albans is by far the best team in baseball.

STA is no longer the best in baseball. It also will no longer play prep in football beginning in the 2011 season. I would recommend anyone with a rising middle or high school student to look at Landon and Prep with an open mind.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Bump...

Are academics really second to sports at GP? How would a student who is average in sports fare at this school?[/quote]

It's a big student body compared to some of the other local privates (about 500 boys). Plenty of them are not athletic and they enjoy the academics, other extracurriculars, community service, and being a fan at games. With that said, it is a boys' school and as such being a great athlete has the most status . . . but is there any American high school where that isn't true? (That's rhetorical, I'm sure there are a few! :) )[/quote]

Stop making sense.

You are going to confuse these people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always thought Landon and Prep have been stronger athletic schools as a whole compared to STA. Prep is a much larger school compared to Landon and St. Albans. Landon and STA roughly have the same upper school enrollment, while Prep has about 40 more boys in a grade than Landon and STA. Prep tends to be very competitive across the board in all sports team while Landon and Prep appear to pick and choose what sports they are elite at. All three schools are solid in football, lacrosse and hockey for sure. St. Albans is by far the best team in baseball.

STA is no longer the best in baseball. It also will no longer play prep in football beginning in the 2011 season. I would recommend anyone with a rising middle or high school student to look at Landon and Prep with an open mind.

Look at either Landon or Prep, but not both. These two schools are not alternatives to one another.

GPrep is a Catholic school serving DC area Catholics, many of whom attended Catholic grammar schools. There are a few Catholics at Landon and the parents of those that are there complain how they are viewed by their Catholic "friends".

St Albans is the darling of the "political" set in DC from the Gore's to Jesse Jackson's son. Not much evidence of that at GPrep.