Culture of Holton-Arms

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure the math tracking at St. Albans is similar except they just ask you to skip algebra II to get to Linear algebra.

I don’t think the Holton curriculum is as outside the norm as people are implying of basic math gets you to calculus.

[Anonymous]

Also, please don't be turned off by dismissive tone of posters. We have found Holton families to be nice IRL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure the math tracking at St. Albans is similar except they just ask you to skip algebra II to get to Linear algebra.

I don’t think the Holton curriculum is as outside the norm as people are implying of basic math gets you to calculus.

There are only 1-2 kids per year who skip Algebra 2; the others (another tiny group) come in at 9th, having been accelerated at another school prior to high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure the math tracking at St. Albans is similar except they just ask you to skip algebra II to get to Linear algebra.

I don’t think the Holton curriculum is as outside the norm as people are implying of basic math gets you to calculus.

There are only 1-2 kids per year who skip Algebra 2; the others (another tiny group) come in at 9th, having been accelerated at another school prior to high school.

And now, in the current freshmen class, all the girls in integrated math (at least 10 from Holton middle school) are on that same track that will put you in multilinear calc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've been at the school since lower, my daughter is now in the upper school near graduation. We loved the lower school and middle school as well. Upper school is a different story.

Upper school is a great fit for many girls, unfortunately, it has not been a great fit for my daughter.

If your daughter is off the charts smart, Holton is fantastic academically and I don't think you can find a better school.

On the most part, the teachers are exceptional.

Socially, the girls are extremely cliquey - if your daughter finds her clique, she will thrive - if not, she's going to be very lonely because it's difficult to make really close friends outside of school unless your daughter is on a team sport outside of school or has other resources to meet friends. And the amount of homework and test preparation in upper school is insane, so she's not going to have a lot of extra time.

Culturally, the school is extremely liberal and the girls are intolerant of girls who do not follow the same ideology. If your daughter/family is moderate or conservative, it's going to be a rough road for your daughter.

I hope this helps.

We are in Upper School now, and I agree with this poster that US is very challenging. Girls have their cliques and are not open to changing them. The US is a huge pressure cooker though, too. Be prepared for girls to get competitive and mean about it. The girls are all mostly over achievers so it creates a toxic environment. They are definitely not supportive of each other. Its quite the opposite of what we thought would happen in an all girls school. It is cut throat. Not diverse at all, too. The school is liberal but there is definitely a lack of diversity especially for this area which has been disappointing.

The administration is okay, not great. They don't listen to the girls complaints and just tell them that if they don't like it they can leave. The HOS is leaving which is great. I don't know anyone that is a fan. It will be interesting to see who they bring in. It will take time for any meaningful change to occur.

The families are mostly super wealthy. A lot of designer stuff being used/worn. We're probably on the high end of the annual incomes for the families that attend but I try to keep my DD grounded. No need for her to have a Louis Vuitton bag in high school!

LS is fine. MS gets bad. And US is toxic. If you enter is LS plan to leave for middle and high. It's just not worth it for the mental health of your child. I wish we had left but it was too late as we were in too long and too deep at that point.

THIS!!!!!!!!!! x100 Could not have been described more accurately.

[Anonymous]

We are in Upper School now, and I agree with this poster that US is very challenging. Girls have their cliques and are not open to changing them. The US is a huge pressure cooker though, too. Be prepared for girls to get competitive and mean about it. The girls are all mostly over achievers so it creates a toxic environment. They are definitely not supportive of each other. Its quite the opposite of what we thought would happen in an all girls school. It is cut throat. Not diverse at all, too. The school is liberal but there is definitely a lack of diversity especially for this area which has been disappointing.

The administration is okay, not great. They don't listen to the girls complaints and just tell them that if they don't like it they can leave. The HOS is leaving which is great. I don't know anyone that is a fan. It will be interesting to see who they bring in. It will take time for any meaningful change to occur.

The families are mostly super wealthy. A lot of designer stuff being used/worn. We're probably on the high end of the annual incomes for the families that attend but I try to keep my DD grounded. No need for her to have a Louis Vuitton bag in high school!

LS is fine. MS gets bad. And US is toxic. If you enter is LS plan to leave for middle and high. It's just not worth it for the mental health of your child. I wish we had left but it was too late as we were in too long and too deep at that point.

Why is it too late? If your daughter's mental health is sp seriously compromised by her being at the school, it's up to you to make a change.

[Anonymous]

What do high school parents think of the physics first science curriculum at Holton?
Did it work for your girls? Did it get them to like physics and then take more advanced physics later on?

[Anonymous]

Upper middle class striver means mean girls.

That’s Hilton Arms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do high school parents think of the physics first science curriculum at Holton?
Did it work for your girls? Did it get them to like physics and then take more advanced physics later on?

Love it—Freshman Physics teacher is a favorite and definitely made my daughter more interested in science. It has a good combination of instruction and hands on activities (ie egg drop, etc). She’s since taken Honors Chem and is in Honors Bio. She plans to take Advanced Physics senior year.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Pretty sure the math tracking at [b]St. Albans is similar except they just ask you to skip algebra II to get to Linear algebra.[/b]

I don’t think the Holton curriculum is as outside the norm as people are implying of basic math gets you to calculus.[/quote]

There are only 1-2 kids per year who skip Algebra 2; the others (another tiny group) come in at 9th, having been accelerated at another school prior to high school. [/quote]

And now, in the current freshmen class, all the girls in integrated math (at least 10 from Holton middle school) are on that same track that will put you in multilinear calc. [/quote]

There's only 7 girls in integrated math, according to my DD. The point of it is so the kids who went to Holton MS get a chance to catch back up. Provided they are motivated and have a good foundation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a clarification-the “two years for algebra” is a combined two year curriculum that includes pre-algebra and algebra.

That's inaccurate. Both years are Algebra. Same Algebra book.

Yes but there is no pre-algebra class. 7th used to be pre-algebra and then 8th was Algebra 1. Currently sixth incorporates some pre-algebra work but 7th and 8th is not stretching one class into two years, it’s incorporating elements of pre-algebra and Algebra together.

I would know since I had one kid under old system and have a current middle schooler.

[Anonymous]

Also, I am super hopeful that new head of school will bring a culture shift, especially to upper school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a clarification-the “two years for algebra” is a combined two year curriculum that includes pre-algebra and algebra.

That's inaccurate. Both years are Algebra. Same Algebra book.

Yes but there is no pre-algebra class. 7th used to be pre-algebra and then 8th was Algebra 1. Currently sixth incorporates some pre-algebra work but 7th and 8th is not stretching one class into two years, it’s incorporating elements of pre-algebra and Algebra together.

I would know since I had one kid under old system and have a current middle schooler.

Your post is a bit misleading…the above is true assuming your older daughter was not on the (previously available) track of taking Algebra 1 in 7th and Geometry in 8th. Some of your daughter’s classmates had that option before, which was eliminated a couple of years ago when everyone had to do Algebra 1 for 2 years.

[Anonymous]

What if you have a kid who wants to enter for 9th grade and has already taken Algebra 2?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do high school parents think of the physics first science curriculum at Holton?
Did it work for your girls? Did it get them to like physics and then take more advanced physics later on?

Love it—Freshman Physics teacher is a favorite and definitely made my daughter more interested in science. It has a good combination of instruction and hands on activities (ie egg drop, etc). She’s since taken Honors Chem and is in Honors Bio. She plans to take Advanced Physics senior year.

So physics is not taken AFTER geometry or algebra II??? It’s taken freshman year? How much math is used then?