If your private high school child was accepted at an elite college

[Anonymous]

The numbers are nowhere near right. Neither 12 out of the original 40 (30% of the 4th grade), nor 18 out of 60 (30% of the number by 8th grade) leave before Upper School. Again, there is not a lot of attrition most years, but the numbers are small enough that it can vary by year. Nevertheless, this suggests that there are a lot of ninth grade openings and aside from the normal 9th grade expansion with 20 admits to about 75-80, there are not a lot of extra slots from droves of eighth graders going elsewhere.

Given that we both agree there's not a lot of counseling out, I guess it doesn't really matter that we disagree on the extent of attrition. (And if potential families are very interested they can get specifics from the STA Admissions office.)

If 3 leave after 4th grade they fill the slots the next year - they do not wait until 8th grade.

3 in 4th, 3 in 5th, 3 in 6th, 3 in 7th, more like 8 in 8th. So that is 20 leave sometime from 4th to 8th grade. There are the 20 spots of growth plus the 8 that leave for other opportunities in 8th grade, so yes there are 20-28 spots open for 9th grade, some years it is 23 but next year it is more like 28.

Look at the current 8th grade - how many of those kids were there in 4th grade. about 32, 20% have left. The 7th grade class has higher numbers that have left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They say it at the Open House. You can also call the ADW and ask the person in charge of children with learning differences and she will tell you outright - do not go to Gonzaga.

Anonymous wrote:I've searched the Gonzaga website in vain that loud and proud proclamation of "sink or swim," but I did come across this nugget:

At Gonzaga College High School, it is not enough for us to simply teach students what they will need to be successful in college and beyond. It is not enough for us to develop students’ athletic and extracurricular abilities to their fullest. To be faithful to the tradition of St. Ignatius, we must do this and much more. For an education to be truly “Jesuit,” we must help our students encounter, engage, and reflect upon their world in a way that helps them see the underlying presence of Christ who loves them personally, calls them individually, and who invites them to labor by his side in his plan of salvation. For an education to be truly Jesuit, it must always point in some meaningful way to the ongoing presence of Christ in our world. This is the mission of Jesuit education. This is the spirit of Gonzaga College High School.

I see. Gonzaga contradicts its website by proudly proclaiming that it's sink or swim at the open house? Maybe they just didn't want your DS to apply?

[Anonymous]

DS was able to take Chinese from middle school on. That was a big factor in him getting into a top 20 college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say it at the Open House. You can also call the ADW and ask the person in charge of children with learning differences and she will tell you outright - do not go to Gonzaga.

Anonymous wrote:I've searched the Gonzaga website in vain that loud and proud proclamation of "sink or swim," but I did come across this nugget:

At Gonzaga College High School, it is not enough for us to simply teach students what they will need to be successful in college and beyond. It is not enough for us to develop students’ athletic and extracurricular abilities to their fullest. To be faithful to the tradition of St. Ignatius, we must do this and much more. For an education to be truly “Jesuit,” we must help our students encounter, engage, and reflect upon their world in a way that helps them see the underlying presence of Christ who loves them personally, calls them individually, and who invites them to labor by his side in his plan of salvation. For an education to be truly Jesuit, it must always point in some meaningful way to the ongoing presence of Christ in our world. This is the mission of Jesuit education. This is the spirit of Gonzaga College High School.

I see. Gonzaga contradicts its website by proudly proclaiming that it's sink or swim at the open house? Maybe they just didn't want your DS to apply?

Well PP settled it, obviously. Some random poster can claim they thought they heard something at an open house who-knows-how-long-ago, and we must accept it as proof that the school lies in its mission statement. The school lies, I tell you.

I don't know what Gonzaga's policy towards learning differences is (don't have a kid there), but a number of area schools will tell LD kids not to apply. It has nothing to do with sink or swim. It's because they don't have specialists to serve these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say it at the Open House. You can also call the ADW and ask the person in charge of children with learning differences and she will tell you outright - do not go to Gonzaga.

Anonymous wrote:I've searched the Gonzaga website in vain that loud and proud proclamation of "sink or swim," but I did come across this nugget:

At Gonzaga College High School, it is not enough for us to simply teach students what they will need to be successful in college and beyond. It is not enough for us to develop students’ athletic and extracurricular abilities to their fullest. To be faithful to the tradition of St. Ignatius, we must do this and much more. For an education to be truly “Jesuit,” we must help our students encounter, engage, and reflect upon their world in a way that helps them see the underlying presence of Christ who loves them personally, calls them individually, and who invites them to labor by his side in his plan of salvation. For an education to be truly Jesuit, it must always point in some meaningful way to the ongoing presence of Christ in our world. This is the mission of Jesuit education. This is the spirit of Gonzaga College High School.

I see. Gonzaga contradicts its website by proudly proclaiming that it's sink or swim at the open house? Maybe they just didn't want your DS to apply?

If you are good enough at sports they don't care what your issue is, they ask you to apply.

[Anonymous]

Ask anybody you know with a kid there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say it at the Open House. You can also call the ADW and ask the person in charge of children with learning differences and she will tell you outright - do not go to Gonzaga.

Anonymous wrote:I've searched the Gonzaga website in vain that loud and proud proclamation of "sink or swim," but I did come across this nugget:

At Gonzaga College High School, it is not enough for us to simply teach students what they will need to be successful in college and beyond. It is not enough for us to develop students’ athletic and extracurricular abilities to their fullest. To be faithful to the tradition of St. Ignatius, we must do this and much more. For an education to be truly “Jesuit,” we must help our students encounter, engage, and reflect upon their world in a way that helps them see the underlying presence of Christ who loves them personally, calls them individually, and who invites them to labor by his side in his plan of salvation. For an education to be truly Jesuit, it must always point in some meaningful way to the ongoing presence of Christ in our world. This is the mission of Jesuit education. This is the spirit of Gonzaga College High School.

I see. Gonzaga contradicts its website by proudly proclaiming that it's sink or swim at the open house? Maybe they just didn't want your DS to apply?

Well PP settled it, obviously. Some random poster can claim they thought they heard something at an open house who-knows-how-long-ago, and we must accept it as proof that the school lies in its mission statement. The school lies, I tell you.

I don't know what Gonzaga's policy towards learning differences is (don't have a kid there), but a number of area schools will tell LD kids not to apply. It has nothing to do with sink or swim. It's because they don't have specialists to serve these kids.

[Anonymous]

Just to be clear


LD usually means learning disability

Learning difference means you learn differently, not due to a diagnosis. Boys learn differently than girls or a student works better in groups than lecture, or prefer lecture to independent study, or many other different ways to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say it at the Open House. You can also call the ADW and ask the person in charge of children with learning differences and she will tell you outright - do not go to Gonzaga.

Anonymous wrote:I've searched the Gonzaga website in vain that loud and proud proclamation of "sink or swim," but I did come across this nugget:

At Gonzaga College High School, it is not enough for us to simply teach students what they will need to be successful in college and beyond. It is not enough for us to develop students’ athletic and extracurricular abilities to their fullest. To be faithful to the tradition of St. Ignatius, we must do this and much more. For an education to be truly “Jesuit,” we must help our students encounter, engage, and reflect upon their world in a way that helps them see the underlying presence of Christ who loves them personally, calls them individually, and who invites them to labor by his side in his plan of salvation. For an education to be truly Jesuit, it must always point in some meaningful way to the ongoing presence of Christ in our world. This is the mission of Jesuit education. This is the spirit of Gonzaga College High School.

I see. Gonzaga contradicts its website by proudly proclaiming that it's sink or swim at the open house? Maybe they just didn't want your DS to apply?

If you are good enough at sports they don't care what your issue is, they ask you to apply.

Oh.shut.up.already.

[Anonymous]

Ouch! Somebody got hit in the achilles heal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The numbers are nowhere near right. Neither 12 out of the original 40 (30% of the 4th grade), nor 18 out of 60 (30% of the number by 8th grade) leave before Upper School. Again, there is not a lot of attrition most years, but the numbers are small enough that it can vary by year. Nevertheless, this suggests that there are a lot of ninth grade openings and aside from the normal 9th grade expansion with 20 admits to about 75-80, there are not a lot of extra slots from droves of eighth graders going elsewhere.

Given that we both agree there's not a lot of counseling out, I guess it doesn't really matter that we disagree on the extent of attrition. (And if potential families are very interested they can get specifics from the STA Admissions office.)

If 3 leave after 4th grade they fill the slots the next year - they do not wait until 8th grade.

3 in 4th, 3 in 5th, 3 in 6th, 3 in 7th, more like 8 in 8th. So that is 20 leave sometime from 4th to 8th grade. There are the 20 spots of growth plus the 8 that leave for other opportunities in 8th grade, so yes there are 20-28 spots open for 9th grade, some years it is 23 but next year it is more like 28.

Look at the current 8th grade - how many of those kids were there in 4th grade. about 32, 20% have left. The 7th grade class has higher numbers that have left.

Under your own argument, if 3 kids leave per year, by the end of 7th grade that would be 12 kids leaving (4 years x 3 per year = 12 students). That's not the case (even you say there are 32 out of 40 original C formers there). And generally eight students do NOT leave after eighth grade either -- it can be that high but normally it is much lower. The class is about 60 in 8th grade and they admit 20-25 new students for ninth grade to expand the class to 80-85 as it enters high school.

[Anonymous]

8/40 = 25%

8/28 = 28% (28 is the 20 they add plus the 8 replacements)

So about 30%

It is higher for the 7th grade, but we don't know how many will leave 8th grade yet.

[Anonymous]

I’m told that at least in high school STA publishes the ranking of boys on each exam, every class and cumulatively. The rankings are not anonymous. Every boy knows where they stand among their classmates at all times. This practice surely generates competition among the boys, but it also pushes them to excel. To my knowledge, this is a rather unusual practice and I imagine that it would highly beneficial for some boys and very counterproductive for other boys.

My concern would be that the uber competition would undermine cooperation within the school – the opposite of schools that emphasize team sports to develop cooperation within the school while competing outside the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m told that at least in high school STA publishes the ranking of boys on each exam, every class and cumulatively. The rankings are not anonymous. Every boy knows where they stand among their classmates at all times. This practice surely generates competition among the boys, but it also pushes them to excel. To my knowledge, this is a rather unusual practice and I imagine that it would highly beneficial for some boys and very counterproductive for other boys.

My concern would be that the uber competition would undermine cooperation within the school – the opposite of schools that emphasize team sports to develop cooperation within the school while competing outside the schools.

I am a current Upper School (high school) teacher at St. Albans. The practice you describe does not happen -- the school does not even generate class rank. Nor have I ever heard of any individual teacher engaging in such a practice (and it's a small place). I'm not sure where you are getting your information -- could it be from an alumnus who graduated one or more generations go?

(Generally I just lurk on the site and appreciate the fireworks but this was so inaccurate that I had to jump in.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m told that at least in high school STA publishes the ranking of boys on each exam, every class and cumulatively. The rankings are not anonymous. Every boy knows where they stand among their classmates at all times. This practice surely generates competition among the boys, but it also pushes them to excel. To my knowledge, this is a rather unusual practice and I imagine that it would highly beneficial for some boys and very counterproductive for other boys.

My concern would be that the uber competition would undermine cooperation within the school – the opposite of schools that emphasize team sports to develop cooperation within the school while competing outside the schools.

I am a current Upper School (high school) teacher at St. Albans. The practice you describe does not happen -- the school does not even generate class rank. Nor have I ever heard of any individual teacher engaging in such a practice (and it's a small place). I'm not sure where you are getting your information -- could it be from an alumnus who graduated one or more generations go?

(Generally I just lurk on the site and appreciate the fireworks but this was so inaccurate that I had to jump in.)

Thank you, PP from a STA parent. I'm aware that the boys do share test scores, etc. but had never heard anything about classroom ranking practices. I would be interested in STA's tracking practices, can you share that, thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m told that at least in high school STA publishes the ranking of boys on each exam, every class and cumulatively. The rankings are not anonymous. Every boy knows where they stand among their classmates at all times. This practice surely generates competition among the boys, but it also pushes them to excel. To my knowledge, this is a rather unusual practice and I imagine that it would highly beneficial for some boys and very counterproductive for other boys.

My concern would be that the uber competition would undermine cooperation within the school – the opposite of schools that emphasize team sports to develop cooperation within the school while competing outside the schools.

I am a current Upper School (high school) teacher at St. Albans. The practice you describe does not happen -- the school does not even generate class rank. Nor have I ever heard of any individual teacher engaging in such a practice (and it's a small place). I'm not sure where you are getting your information -- could it be from an alumnus who graduated one or more generations go?

(Generally I just lurk on the site and appreciate the fireworks but this was so inaccurate that I had to jump in.)

Thank you, PP from a STA parent. I'm aware that the boys do share test scores, etc. but had never heard anything about classroom ranking practices. I would be interested in STA's tracking practices, can you share that, thanks!

Hi, STA parent. I'm not an expert on tracking so I wouldn't want to steer you wrong. It definitely varies by department, so for a general overview I might try your son's Form Advisor, and for a department-specific answer I'd think you could talk to a teacher in that department or the department chair. Sorry not to be more helpful -- I would hate to give inaccurate information out.