Norwood vs. Green Acres? Pros & Cons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have been at Norwood for many years, with two children. We don't belong to a country club, and our children do not go to Mrs. Simpsons. One of my daughters' friends does go to Mrs. Simpsons - supposedly it is 15% of their current class that goes. (10 kids)

10 kids is not 15% of any class at Norwood given that most of them are in classrooms of say 8-17 students.

[Anonymous]

Yes for academic subjects they are in smaller groupings, there are 4 homeroom advisories, etc. But there are 65 kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes for academic subjects they are in smaller groupings, there are 4 homeroom advisories, etc. But there are 65 kids in the class.

So you mean 15% of the grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes for academic subjects they are in smaller groupings, there are 4 homeroom advisories, etc. But there are 65 kids in the class.

So you mean 15% of the grade.

Norwood parent here. "Grade" and "class" mean the same thing, I assume that would be true in every school.

[Anonymous]

"Class of 2018" = "10th grade". Yes, both terms are interchangeable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes for academic subjects they are in smaller groupings, there are 4 homeroom advisories, etc. But there are 65 kids in the class.

So you mean 15% of the grade.

Norwood parent here. "Grade" and "class" mean the same thing, I assume that would be true in every school.

Yes, and when you refer to your child's "class", normally you'd imagine you were referring to their classroom, not their whole entire graduating class, especially given its only a K-8 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no experience with Green Acres so I can not compare, as most families are not truly able too.
We were at Norwood in the past and the music program is amazing. Some teachers were great, others not. Same with the other families. The kids move around from class to class and this works for some, but not all kids. The families that I know who are still there like the new Head. Mrs. Simpson's is a thing most kids participate in outside of school so look that up and see if you are into it. That could be a telling sign either way. Overall it's an upbeat place to go to school with lots of after school options that we miss now. Good luck!

That is absolutely not true. Very few kids in my child's grade did that and it was a completely insignificant factor!

Glad to hear that actually, when we were there all kids of a certain grade were sent an invitation and it was very popular with a lot of the families.
Not insignificant to OP if a lot families still do and it's not their cup of tea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes for academic subjects they are in smaller groupings, there are 4 homeroom advisories, etc. But there are 65 kids in the class.

So you mean 15% of the grade.

Norwood parent here. "Grade" and "class" mean the same thing, I assume that would be true in every school.

Yes, and when you refer to your child's "class", normally you'd imagine you were referring to their classroom, not their whole entire graduating class, especially given its only a K-8 school.

Actually, as a parent at a different private, the use of class and grade means the entire group of whatever cohort we are talking about. You would distinguish for classroom by saying Mrs. Smith's class.

[Anonymous]

Funny -- I had this same semantic debate with my 9 year old the other day, when I referenced her "class" meaning the entire 4th grade, and she insisted "class" meant only those in her current classroom assignment. It is an ambiguity of the English language, that can only be resolved by context (e.g., "Is Larla in your class this year?" versus "I hope Larla won't be in the hospital too long, and that she'll be able to graduate with your class in June.")

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes for academic subjects they are in smaller groupings, there are 4 homeroom advisories, etc. But there are 65 kids in the class.

So you mean 15% of the grade.

Norwood parent here. "Grade" and "class" mean the same thing, I assume that would be true in every school.

Yes, and when you refer to your child's "class", normally you'd imagine you were referring to their classroom, not their whole entire graduating class, especially given its only a K-8 school.

Actually, as a parent at a different private, the use of class and grade means the entire group of whatever cohort we are talking about. You would distinguish for classroom by saying Mrs. Smith's class.

Or, "my kids class" - hence the confusion I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny -- I had this same semantic debate with my 9 year old the other day, when I referenced her "class" meaning the entire 4th grade, and she insisted "class" meant only those in her current classroom assignment. It is an ambiguity of the English language, that can only be resolved by context (e.g., "Is Larla in your class this year?" versus "I hope Larla won't be in the hospital too long, and that she'll be able to graduate with your class in June.")

Correct. A plus.

[Anonymous]

We've been at Norwood for 3 years and have been very happy, especially with the quality of the instruction. We have been so impressed with how all of my son's teachers seem to really know him as an individual. Tuition is expensive but money well spent in my book.

My one complaint about Norwood is that there are parts of the campus that look like a pig sty. Some of the classrooms seem so disorganized with paper and books everywhere. The aftercare room - which is essentially a hallway off of the main lower school entrance - in particular drives me crazy. The room has vinyl shower curtain liners used as table cloths. It's like something out of an episode of Hoarders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've been at Norwood for 3 years and have been very happy, especially with the quality of the instruction. We have been so impressed with how all of my son's teachers seem to really know him as an individual. Tuition is expensive but money well spent in my book.

My one complaint about Norwood is that there are parts of the campus that look like a pig sty. Some of the classrooms seem so disorganized with paper and books everywhere. The aftercare room - which is essentially a hallway off of the main lower school entrance - in particular drives me crazy. The room has vinyl shower curtain liners used as table cloths. It's like something out of an episode of Hoarders.

Hum, that's a bit of an exaggeration, there's also a couple of sofas, lots of books, building materials, legos, etc - but yes, its essentially a walk-through area.

[Anonymous]

We are also a Norwood family so I cannot speak to Green Acres. We love Norwood. It's a fantastic school where the kids are challenged academically and totally prepared for high school when they leave. There is growing independence as the students move up through the grades hence the "moving around a lot." The students are not based in one classroom all day. They go to language, science, art, etc. in small groups and the groups change from class to class which we love. My kids are older now so I don't know much about the new LS head, but the middle school is amazing and bad behavior is not tolerated by the school or the kids. The new Head of school is delightful and really engaged with the students and the faculty. As far as leaving community sing early, who cares? Maybe he had an important meeting, it happens. He does not lead the sing along so I am sure no one noticed except that one poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Norwood parent here. "Grade" and "class" mean the same thing, I assume that would be true in every school.

Yes, and when you refer to your child's "class", normally you'd imagine you were referring to their classroom, not their whole entire graduating class, especially given its only a K-8 school.

In a school where a child stays with the same set of 15-20 kids for most of the day, "my child's class" probably refers to his/her classroom.

At Norwood, especially in the upper grades, kids spend only a small portion of the day with the kids in their homeroom or advisory. So for many parents "my child's class" refers to the entire grade.

As an aside, I really like the fact that the kids are with a variety of groups throughout the day.