Norwood, Holton or WES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Huh?

[Anonymous]

WES is very structured. Line up in the hall, that sort of thing. Great if you learn best through memorization and rote. WES does have small classes--MS is very small. The younger teachers are good and do introduce new learning concepts.

[Anonymous]

Some people around here do not know what a cash flow problem is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people around here do not know what a cash flow problem is.

You're right, the schools are swimming in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Huh?

To the person who wrote "Huh?", the poster mentioned that her "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." It smacks of an elitist attitude as well as a lack of enlightenment to narrowly define "significant career" in the way she does and to imply that academics matter only to those in her chosen fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Huh?

To the person who wrote "Huh?", the poster mentioned that her "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." It smacks of an elitist attitude as well as a lack of enlightenment to narrowly define "significant career" in the way she does and to imply that academics matter only to those in her chosen fields.

Like so many people today who look for every opportunity to be offended by something, you're a little sensitive there, snowflake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Huh?

To the person who wrote "Huh?", the poster mentioned that her "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." It smacks of an elitist attitude as well as a lack of enlightenment to narrowly define "significant career" in the way she does and to imply that academics matter only to those in her chosen fields.

Like so many people today who look for every opportunity to be offended by something, you're a little sensitive there, snowflake.

Agree. That said, many of these schools have their share of trophy wives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Huh?

To the person who wrote "Huh?", the poster mentioned that her "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." It smacks of an elitist attitude as well as a lack of enlightenment to narrowly define "significant career" in the way she does and to imply that academics matter only to those in her chosen fields.

Thanks for the interpretation - I am the PP who posted the "significant" comment and the Huh? Sorry to offend...my post was a reply to someone who basically said that Norwood was filled with attractive yet brainless Potomac families - thus my reply was meant to refute their claim. Not meant to judge. I think it is a great community and personally don't care what other families do or did or didn't..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

There are three graduate school level professors with kids in one of our DC's grade - that I know of. There may be more. It's not like I've done a survey; these are just the parents I know. I can assure you my children attend Norwood.

[Anonymous]

To the person who wrote "Huh?", the poster mentioned that her "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." It smacks of an elitist attitude as well as a lack of enlightenment to narrowly define "significant career" in the way she does and to imply that academics matter only to those in her chosen fields.

Thanks for the interpretation - I am the PP who posted the "significant" comment and the Huh? Sorry to offend...my post was a reply to someone who basically said that Norwood was filled with attractive yet brainless Potomac families - thus my reply was meant to refute their claim. Not meant to judge. I think it is a great community and personally don't care what other families do or did or didn't..


Wow! What a nice reply/apology. Thank you.

[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.

From personal experience, I agree with this characterization of WES, but would add that the computer teacher is also problematic.

[Anonymous]

It is possible to be attractive and intelligent! I meet many people who are both, particularly at Norwood where our children attend. A good friend looks like a super model, but has a PhD. What a silly way of looking at things!

[Anonymous]

I agree with the characterization of WES also. The kids become strong writers, and the science program is remarkable.

Is there a problematic art teacher? We've been at WES a long time and have heard nothing from DC except that she enjoys art classes. But since it's a non-academic subject, we aren't scrutinizing it as much as we do the other disciplines. PP, if you can do so without identifying the teacher on a public forum, could you tell me what you mean by "problematic"?

Regarding "kids who need accommodations," I think that the school provides great resources for teachers, students, and parents to deal with learning differences. But a lot is expected from a young age at WES, and that isn't a great fit for some kids.

Too much is made of the WES emphasis on "structure." We enrolled almost afraid of this, but as it turns out, it's nothing more than what was required when we were students. Good manners and respect, organization and planning for projects and homework, order in the hall. Stand in the hallways and you won't hear the hushed tones of intimidated students, but the sounds of happy kids who are learning. As they get older, there are opportunities for self-guided learning. Somehow DC has survived all these years with all her creativity, humor, and initiative intact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Regarding "kids who need accommodations," I think that the school provides great resources for teachers, students, and parents to deal with learning differences. But a lot is expected from a young age at WES, and that isn't a great fit for some kids.

I don't agree that "a lot is expected from a young age at WES." One of my children found the early years at WES so stultifying that I had to withdraw her and send her to another school. I also don't agree with your implication that kids who need accommodations aren't up to the rigor of WES's curriculum. Some WES teachers are bad about providing simple accommodations for kids whose issues have nothing to do with intellect, for example, forcing a dysgraphic child to write in cursive. WES also has a history of failing to provide accommodations for the brightest kids, although in recent years, they seem to be trying to address this by introducing some ability grouping.

[Anonymous]

19:51 here. I didn't say Norwood parents weren't smart or even that they were less smart than WES parents. I said that they were less intellectual than WES parents. There's a difference. You can be smart without having intellectual interests. Anyway, it was a stupid comment and I retract it.