NCS v Stone Ridge

[Anonymous]

My $0.02 ...

This was a very helpful discussion. Our DD is at SR and has generally been happy, though we ask ourselves whether the academic benefit of sending her to NCS for high school (assuming she would get in) is outweighed by the more Catholic-minded (in the service sense, not the Mass sense) benefits of staying at SR.

We are cursed with too many great choices in this area!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stone Ridge does not fill quotas from parishes. Yes it is Catholic but is an Independent school. No money is received from the church

Yes, that's a Visi thing but not a SR thing.
SR does not take girls who cannot do the work, even siblings, whereas Visi has a lower level diploma even to adapt to their population (graduate with less than a 2.0). Not the same school at all.

SR has great advanced classes and AP's but you are only allowed to take 3 a year (3 honors before that).
They are purposely a bit less intense. And very service oriented. DD is more likely to be able to play on sports teams there though NCS has wonderful no cut sports teams too (track, swimming).

Which subjects is she primarily interested in? Any idea at all?

NCS is a bit more into what colleges the girls get into. And the parents are to.

SR girls go to great colleges (one year I saw 5 girls going to Georgetown it looked like) but it isn't the main feel of the school.

Science and sports

[Anonymous]

OP and PP. I meant she is into Science and Sporty

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stone Ridge does not fill quotas from parishes. Yes it is Catholic but is an Independent school. No money is received from the church

Yes, the idea that they would do that is crazy!

Here is a different perspective OP - If she chooses NCS she will be around many Type A kids and while this can be good it can also be difficult to stand out. Not sure if you've read Gladwell's David and Goliath but there's a section in there about a student who was very strong and went to Brown to study science (can't recall what) but ended up feeling inferior to the uber brilliant kids and ultimately ended up changing course because she felt like she was at the bottom of the class. Had she gone somewhere else where she felt more capable than a lot of her classmates, she might have taken on even more challenges and excelled. SR is a great place filled with smart girls but not everyone is vying for the top of the top so your daughter could really stand out there in high school whereas at NCS she may feel like she's middle of the pack. I speak from experience because I have a daughter who was top of her middle school class in a good school who went to another top DC school for high school where she has started to question herself more than I would like because everyone there is as smart (or maybe smarter) than her. She will be fine but she might have really stood out at a different school. SR also has great sports, community service and school spirit. I don't know a lot about NCS but I'm sure she will be fine at either school, just wanted to offer another perspective.

OP here. Thank you for this informative PoV. I feel that SR will allow for this. I can see her feeling 'middle of the pack' at NCS even if it is unwarranted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being near the house is better. She's more likely to have friends nearby.

You choose ncs of you want to prioritize academics.

You choose stone ridge if you are catholic and want your daughter to be with kids who are have a broader range of intelligence and drive than the ncs girls.

If she is very smart and driven, choose ncs.

I have to disagree with the idea that if the child is "very smart and driven" it means you should choose the most intense school. I was as smart and driven a kid as they come, but I really benefited from being in a school where I was the top of the pack. It really depends on the kid. Some very smart, driven kids are also very sensitive, intense, and anxious. Those kids do better as big fish in small ponds. Other kids thrive on being around other kids just like them, or benefit from being pushed to challenge themselves by their peers. It's very individual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stone Ridge does not fill quotas from parishes. Yes it is Catholic but is an Independent school. No money is received from the church

Yes, that's a Visi thing but not a SR thing.
SR does not take girls who cannot do the work, even siblings, whereas Visi has a lower level diploma even to adapt to their population (graduate with less than a 2.0). Not the same school at all.

SR has great advanced classes and AP's but you are only allowed to take 3 a year (3 honors before that).
They are purposely a bit less intense. And very service oriented. DD is more likely to be able to play on sports teams there though NCS has wonderful no cut sports teams too (track, swimming).

Which subjects is she primarily interested in? Any idea at all?

NCS is a bit more into what colleges the girls get into. And the parents are to.

SR girls go to great colleges (one year I saw 5 girls going to Georgetown it looked like) but it isn't the main feel of the school.

Science and sports

She will have fun with the sports at SR.

If she likes a particular sport mainly I'd see if she meshes with the coaches at either school?

Science at SR is fine. One of my DD is starting to take the upper level science AP classes and electives and likes them. Some of them are at Holton.

I'm not sure what the science classes are like at NCS, sorry. Can someone chime in?

[Anonymous]

No horse in this race, but my DD, a senior at a coed independent, has a number of travel teammates from both Stone Ridge and NCS. These girls are all competitive and like to win, but there are some noticeable differences between them. The Stone Ridge girls are without exception upbeat, good-natured and loyal. In contrast, the NCS girls tend to be somewhat more anxious and quick to judge others -- not all of the girls from NCS are like this, but nearly all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No horse in this race, but my DD, a senior at a coed independent, has a number of travel teammates from both Stone Ridge and NCS. These girls are all competitive and like to win, but there are some noticeable differences between them. The Stone Ridge girls are without exception upbeat, good-natured and loyal. In contrast, the NCS girls tend to be somewhat more anxious and quick to judge others -- not all of the girls from NCS are like this, but nearly all.

Let's be careful about making broad statements about children we have never met. As you said, you have no horse in the race which means that you don't really know anything about either school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No horse in this race, but my DD, a senior at a coed independent, has a number of travel teammates from both Stone Ridge and NCS. These girls are all competitive and like to win, but there are some noticeable differences between them. The Stone Ridge girls are without exception upbeat, good-natured and loyal. In contrast, the NCS girls tend to be somewhat more anxious and quick to judge others -- not all of the girls from NCS are like this, but nearly all.

I have a DD at NCS and this is just not true. Please don't spread these stereotypes. Girls deserve better than being labeled with a broad brush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No horse in this race, but my DD, a senior at a coed independent, has a number of travel teammates from both Stone Ridge and NCS. These girls are all competitive and like to win, but there are some noticeable differences between them. The Stone Ridge girls are without exception upbeat, good-natured and loyal. In contrast, the NCS girls tend to be somewhat more anxious and quick to judge others -- not all of the girls from NCS are like this, but nearly all.

Let's be careful about making broad statements about children we have never met. As you said, you have no horse in the race which means that you don't really know anything about either school.

No, actually, "no horse in this race" mean I'm not biased. And, these are children whom I've met -- they've been my daughter's teammates since middle school and we've traveled to numerous tournaments with them and their parents.