Norwood vs. Green Acres? Pros & Cons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are also a Norwood family so I cannot speak to Green Acres. We love Norwood. It's a fantastic school where the kids are challenged academically and totally prepared for high school when they leave. There is growing independence as the students move up through the grades hence the "moving around a lot." The students are not based in one classroom all day. They go to language, science, art, etc. in small groups and the groups change from class to class which we love. My kids are older now so I don't know much about the new LS head, but the middle school is amazing and bad behavior is not tolerated by the school or the kids. The new Head of school is delightful and really engaged with the students and the faculty. As far as leaving community sing early, who cares? Maybe he had an important meeting, it happens. He does not lead the sing along so I am sure no one noticed except that one poster.

I noticed he left early too. It was the first community sing of the year and lots of new families had turned up. It would have been gracious, if he had hung around and at least said hello to people as they left. Given that the sing was in the schedule right at the start of the year, its hard to see how an important meeting could come up - especially as all the other staff seemed to be in attendance. And if it was an urgent meeting, he probably wouldn't' have been there at all...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also looked at both and chose Norwood. One thing that tipped the scales (for us as a family) was the difference in experiences at both schools' open houses. At Norwood the teachers were super-engaged, and at GA they were much less engaged and inclined to let us explore on our own. We felt we had to draw information and insights out of the GA teachers. Once we got them talking, we found them to be warm and insightful, but at Norwood we felt the faculty's enthusiasm about being part of the team was infectious. As others have said, both are great schools but it's a question of fit as the vibes and approaches are very different. I think your child would get a great education at either school.

GAS teacher here. For me it is definitely not a case of less engagement or enthusiasm, it's about letting things develop naturally. It's the process, not the product. I could bend your ear for hours, but what would be a more productive use of the few moments you spend in my class?

letting me ramble on about an aspect of my class which is unimportant to you

or

let your interest guide your inquiry