Norwood v. Lowell MS

[Anonymous]

Norwood lower school has been fantastic and seeing how the middle schoolers take on a mentoring, leadership role in the school is really impressive. The Head of School is wonderful and it offers a great balance of traditional academics and a nurturing environment. The teaching staff is top notch as well and the parent community is by and large down to earth.

[Anonymous]

We love the full experience Bullis brings!

[Anonymous]

The only "incident" I know of with Norwood and bullying happened 3 years ago. Those kids who were in 8th would be in 11th now. It was a different (and useless) Head of Middle School at the time.

We have 2 kids in middle right now there. Yes, there have been some typical middle school issues but they jump all over it if you bring it to their attention. We had a situation with a student bullying one of our kids for a few weeks and BAM. That was locked down so fast it made my head spin. They handled it amazingly well.

The current head of Middle School and Assistant Head are absolutely not going to let even a side-eye happen on their watch.

[Anonymous]

Not our experience- sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hands down would recommend Norwood. Just very polished and a high caliber education all around. We've been there for years and haven't had any criticisms or complaints. The close attention to each individual students by the teachers and administrators is really valuable and noticed. FWIW, we know families who transferred their kids from Lowell to Norwood and have been very happy - I don't have a consensus view of their experiences, but they generally shared that Norwood feels more organized.

Norwood is a good education, yet I don't think it is better than the good MCPS schools. It is good for a kid who needs more support and perhaps a bit more care. Otherwise- I would pass on Norwood. Really.

As someone who sent two kids to a very well regarded MCPS school and switched both of them to Norwood, I could not disagree more.

Yes, having had one kid at a highly regarded mcps Ms and another at Norwood, Norwood is vastly superior both academically and socially. The fastest math track at Norwood is equivalent to the fastest math track in MCPS. Norwood offers more languages, including Mandarin iand Latin. Norwood instrumental music program is stunningly good - though here the two are closer as our MCPS school had a truly excellent instrumental music program. There’s vastly more writing ams public speaking at norwood than in mcps The science department is truly top-notch, with (I think?) all of the teachers having advanced degrees in science. I could go on and on but there’s really no comparison. As for as the non-academic side of things: The administration is incredibly responsive and sensitive and each child truly is known and cared for. I understand that some of the feedback on this board may seem over the top, but the place really is just exceptional in our family’s experience, and my only regret is that we didn’t send our first child there.

It looks like different families have different experiences and I respect that. We moved from Norwood to MCPS and found the the opportunities and academics to be far superior to Norwood. Just our experience.

[Anonymous]

Did you move in Middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not our experience- sorry.

Ok.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 kids graduated from Norwood in recent years. Both had very good experience there although they are very different type of students. Nice and caring teachers, friendly and welcoming parents community, very strong leadership team. Mr. Gould is the best head of school. Both DCs went to a private school in DC. Maybe the pace of learning at Norwood and DC schools are different, both DCs struggled a little at the first semester at HS, but thrilled to get strong academically later. If I have to say cons of Norwood, I would say the school is a little short of expertise and resources to support learning difference kids. Overall I would definitely recommend Norwood.

[Anonymous]

We had a great time at Lowell MS. Very small and personal approach to the kids, and scaffolded independence as they mature. We had a very positive experience with the high school admissions process with the school. Both the head of school and MS head were very involved and engaged in our child's profile, and multiple teachers available to support the application process including writing essays, etc. Kids who did well in MS, had good extracurriculars, and a sober understanding of the admissions landscape did very well in the application process. Several kids did not do well, but I would not attribute that to the school. We are happy with Lowell MS and so is our kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a great time at Lowell MS. Very small and personal approach to the kids, and scaffolded independence as they mature. We had a very positive experience with the high school admissions process with the school. Both the head of school and MS head were very involved and engaged in our child's profile, and multiple teachers available to support the application process including writing essays, etc. Kids who did well in MS, had good extracurriculars, and a sober understanding of the admissions landscape did very well in the application process. Several kids did not do well, but I would not attribute that to the school. We are happy with Lowell MS and so is our kid.

* I mean teaching kids about effective essay writing, how to interview, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 kids graduated from Norwood in recent years. Both had very good experience there although they are very different type of students. Nice and caring teachers, friendly and welcoming parents community, very strong leadership team. Mr. Gould is the best head of school. Both DCs went to a private school in DC. Maybe the pace of learning at Norwood and DC schools are different, both DCs struggled a little at the first semester at HS, but thrilled to get strong academically later. If I have to say cons of Norwood, I would say the school is a little short of expertise and resources to support learning difference kids. Overall I would definitely recommend Norwood.

My kid has learning differences and Norwood has been terrific about supporting her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only "incident" I know of with Norwood and bullying happened 3 years ago. Those kids who were in 8th would be in 11th now. It was a different (and useless) Head of Middle School at the time.

We have 2 kids in middle right now there. Yes, there have been some typical middle school issues but they jump all over it if you bring it to their attention. We had a situation with a student bullying one of our kids for a few weeks and BAM. That was locked down so fast it made my head spin. They handled it amazingly well.

The current head of Middle School and Assistant Head are absolutely not going to let even a side-eye happen on their watch.

I have a kid in that grade and have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only "incident" I know of with Norwood and bullying happened 3 years ago. Those kids who were in 8th would be in 11th now. It was a different (and useless) Head of Middle School at the time.

We have 2 kids in middle right now there. Yes, there have been some typical middle school issues but they jump all over it if you bring it to their attention. We had a situation with a student bullying one of our kids for a few weeks and BAM. That was locked down so fast it made my head spin. They handled it amazingly well.

The current head of Middle School and Assistant Head are absolutely not going to let even a side-eye happen on their watch.

I have a kid in that grade and have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.

With 50-60 kids per grade at Norwood, it's entirely possible your child wasn't involved. But it was a huge deal for them to manage. I know it was group-chat and cell phone related. But apparently was excessively out of control. It could have been a group of 5-7 kids though, not the whole grade.

[Anonymous]

Have had two kids at Norwood (one now in 11th grade at a "top 3" DC private school, the other in 8th grade), and we have been incredibly happy. Both kids are at the top of the class for academics and have been very happy, and there are plenty of opportunities to excel in extra activities like robotics, model UN, etc., at the school. The bullying that occurs with ALL middle schools I have found to be handled quickly and compassionately by the dean of students and other admin. As for the sports environment, there is a wide range at Norwood, and the very athletic kids tend to play on club teams so don't get worked up about whether their Norwood team is winning every game, plus every team in non-cut and has everyone play in games. And there are fun options like an outdoor activity (think hiking, rock climbing, ice skating, shelter building) instead of a sports team as well. I am so happy both kids went to Norwood as have found it a very supportive environment.

[Anonymous]

Norwood was great for us up until 5th grade. The academics just were not challenging enough for my son. We loved the extra-curriculars, though and most of the teachers there were good. However, we left Norwood in 6th grade to go to Bullis and the difference in the rigor of the academics was huge. My son is now in 10th grade and a happy, healthy, motivated boy with a great supportive peer group. So glad we made the change when we did!