Norwood, Holton or WES?

[Anonymous]

Not 13:15, but I agree with everything she said.
Homework has been manageable. In 5th grade maybe an hour to 90 minutes. Many girls stay for Homework Zone. LS Director Patrick Bane is trying to keep the homework managable in 6th grade and teachers have said 30 minutes for each of the four main subjects. But the rigor appears to be a big step up in 6th grade. Specials guidance and foreign language have minimal homework. Teaching goes on in school but they encourage you to engage in discussion with your child. All LS girls swim a couple of times throughout the year in their PE rotation. Maybe two, two-week periods. Food? Depends on who you ask and in what grade.

[Anonymous]

Homework was 1 to 1.5 hours in 5th. A little more in 6th, but not dramatically more, so far. All of the teaching goes on at school. DD is completely independent in her work...she asks me to quiz her for a test sometimes or read an essay and give feedback, but that is all. Yes, they use Everyday Math, supplemented with other content. Math Olympiad was a highlight last year. I guess they spiral...I don't pay enough attention to it to really know. Swimming is part of the PE rotation each year, usually in January or February, to DD's chagrin. The food is not wonderful, but it is decent and there are choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not 13:15, but I agree with everything she said.
Homework has been manageable. In 5th grade maybe an hour to 90 minutes. Many girls stay for Homework Zone. LS Director Patrick Bane is trying to keep the homework managable in 6th grade and teachers have said 30 minutes for each of the four main subjects. But the rigor appears to be a big step up in 6th grade. Specials guidance and foreign language have minimal homework. Teaching goes on in school but they encourage you to engage in discussion with your child. All LS girls swim a couple of times throughout the year in their PE rotation. Maybe two, two-week periods. Food? Depends on who you ask and in what grade.

Do things get much harder in 7th grade?

[Anonymous]

"At the LS level, the work load is not going to be that rigorous compared to public school. The ability to push ahead is also limited so if you are looking to do math, reading etc a year or two ahead of grade level, private schools for the most part don't do that. Holton becomes much more rigorous in HS. Like any school, you will have good teachers and not so good teachers. "

I have had kids at Norwood, WES, and public school. Trust me, this statement is absolutely true, even for kids in the highest ability groups.

[Anonymous]

WES: structured, strict, very small class size, lots of opportunities to shine due to small grade size, uniforms. Problematic art teacher whom they refuse to do anything about. Fantastic MS science program. Lots of writing. Not committed to providing accommodations for kids who need them. Overall, more sophisticated, urban parents. Wonderful MS principal.

Norwood: emphasis on creating a happy learning environment, much more emphasis on ability grouping, lots of switching being classrooms and teachers, great art and music programs. Stronger language program. Sports-obsessed, less intellectual parents. Wonderful LS and MS principals.

Both schools have great MS programs. WES MS is more rigorous, overall. Too much homework at WES MS, but not enough writing at Norwood. Fewer non-sports related activities at Norwood. HS placement similar.

[Anonymous]

To pp, do you have any kids at either school? Sounds like you are repeating stereotypes about the two schools rather than anything based on fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"At the LS level, the work load is not going to be that rigorous compared to public school. The ability to push ahead is also limited so if you are looking to do math, reading etc a year or two ahead of grade level, private schools for the most part don't do that. Holton becomes much more rigorous in HS. Like any school, you will have good teachers and not so good teachers. "

I have had kids at Norwood, WES, and public school. Trust me, this statement is absolutely true, even for kids in the highest ability groups.

Which part are you agreeing with? Is Holton LS also no better than public?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WES: structured, strict, very small class size, lots of opportunities to shine due to small grade size, uniforms. Problematic art teacher whom they refuse to do anything about. Fantastic MS science program. Lots of writing. Not committed to providing accommodations for kids who need them. Overall, more sophisticated, urban parents. Wonderful MS principal.

Norwood: emphasis on creating a happy learning environment, much more emphasis on ability grouping, lots of switching being classrooms and teachers, great art and music programs. Stronger language program. Sports-obsessed, less intellectual parents. Wonderful LS and MS principals.

Both schools have great MS programs. WES MS is more rigorous, overall. Too much homework at WES MS, but not enough writing at Norwood. Fewer non-sports related activities at Norwood. HS placement similar.

I would agree with this. Parents can be kind of spacey. They are pretty and have smart kids (like the rest of SW Mo Co), but to be honest, they aren't sure why academics matter since that had little to do with their success.

[Anonymous]

The PPs have apparently missed the fact that 30% or more of the kids now don't come from MoCo. This same old drivel about Norwood gets trotted out every couple of years on these threads, but it isn't true. I'm half convinced these posters don't even have kids at the school. This is why OP and others should really spend some time going to open houses and talking to parents who have kids there instead of on DCUM. Most of the parents I know at Norwood are either hard core academics or very high achieving and highly intelligent professionals, but maybe I don't hang out with the same crowd (assuming the PPs have any connection with the school at all other than having one neighbor down the block who sends her kids).

[Anonymous]

As a parent @ Norwood, our child's class has plenty of families where both parents are highly educated professionals: doctors, lawyers, professors, scientists etc. (including our own family) And even in the families where one parent stays home, often times that parent had a significant career before choosing to leave. Believe me, academics matter to us. So does having a nice, welcoming community. So don't believe 22:05

[Anonymous]

PP, you and I were in sync right up to the "significant career" comment. No matter which level of degree you earned, you clearly are not enlightened.

[Anonymous]

Hard core academics??? A large number of parents at Norwood not only teacher at universities, but are "hard core"?I can think of one professor. Are our kids at the same school?

[Anonymous]

Norwood parent who agrees with 22:12 and 23:56. Both of my spouse and I are highly educated professionals (with PhD). We do not have to be in the academic profession to believe in hard core academics.

I sincerely doubt that 22:05 and 19:51 have any children at Norwood (or WES) or if they do, hang out with a crowd that I hope is a minority in the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, my child is at Norwood, and sadly, I have admit that the academics in the lower grades are going to be no different than at Potomac Elementary school. That said, Norwood is introducing the new math system that seems to be good.
The specials are very good indeed.
Criticism is that the teachers can be a bit too easy on kids, especially those with disciplinary problems. Any other school including WES and Holton, will appear to be more strict.

OP, I wrote this. I want to clarify certain things.
I think that there could be more in the way of academics. These private schools already have short academic years and generous winter breaks, which concerns me. The specials take up even more time during the day. My child spends 55 minutes in math daily as compared to 1.5 hours in public school (in reading the time gap is even greater). That has to add up in the end. Yes, there will be the argument that in public school there are problems that make it so they NEED to spend more time on these things, but it does not completely explain the difference. I wish that Norwood devoted 1.5 hours to math.
The specials are very good, but they do cut into academics. Yes, music does have some math in it and PE is important to release energy and get in shape (good arguments). But the constant switching classes might be a bit disruptive. This might be a case of more is not necessarily better WRT specials.
I am very happy with the newer math program as it was explained to us. I will have to see how it actually plays out. I hear that MCPS has it too, but I am not sure that it is being implemented in all grades.
I wish that the teachers would take on more of a role as disciplinarians and force (yes force) the kids to move ahead. In any private school, if your child just sits there, it seems to be tolerated. They will have some fancy way of saying the Johnny is his own person. Or he moves at his pace. That was what public school was like in the days prior to NCLB, now it seems to be the culture in private schools.
I KNOW that Norwood and WES have some cash flow problems. It is becoming quite clear that the school will do as much as it can for your kid, so that you keep DC there. There is pressure to make sure that everyone is happy. THIS IS SAD! For all private schools. Yes the economy stinks, but they need to stand firm on some issues.
Bottom line. More emphasis and time on academics, even if the specials get compromised.
Class size is about 19 per home room and any where fro 6 (rare) to 12 in small groups. PE is all together (good), and music (I think) is also all together.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe Norwood has a cash flow problem. It has a small endowment. All private schools, whether well or less endowed, should do as much as it can for its students. That is why parents pay hard earned money to go to private schools.