Best private schools in NYC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Skeptical of some elite schools’ reputations because they use a literacy method you find inferior?

It’s great that you found a suitable program for your child, but there are plenty of better ways to chip away the sheen of elitism than disagreeing with their curriculum choices. That’s like going to Michelin star restaurant and complaining they served you the prix fixe menu.

NP - Lucy Calkins curriculum is famous for the decline in literacy (the podcast Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong). I would say it more like attending a Michelin star restaurant and needing to pay for add ons (tutoring) when you felt it should have already been included in the price of the meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Best" schools are not necessarily equal to "elite" or "top tier" schools.

When I looked at K options 3 years ago, I asked 2 main questions: (1) which method do you use to teach reading and (2) how do you teach math. When I heard from a school that their answer to (1) was "balanced literacy" (a highly ineffective but popular progressive method), I immediately crossed it off my list. That took care of a few popular schools and made my decision easier.

At the end, I went for a less known school that prioritized hard core phonics for reading and Singapore math. Now my child is in the 2nd grade and she seems doing very well. So are most kids in her class.

I may review options once again when my daughter gets older but my experience so far has made me quite skeptical about reputation of some (not all) elite schools.

Thank you for this. As a first time parent, it’s hard to know what questions to ask and this is helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Best" schools are not necessarily equal to "elite" or "top tier" schools.

When I looked at K options 3 years ago, I asked 2 main questions: (1) which method do you use to teach reading and (2) how do you teach math. When I heard from a school that their answer to (1) was "balanced literacy" (a highly ineffective but popular progressive method), I immediately crossed it off my list. That took care of a few popular schools and made my decision easier.

At the end, I went for a less known school that prioritized hard core phonics for reading and Singapore math. Now my child is in the 2nd grade and she seems doing very well. So are most kids in her class.

I may review options once again when my daughter gets older but my experience so far has made me quite skeptical about reputation of some (not all) elite schools.

Thank you for this. As a first time parent, it’s hard to know what questions to ask and this is helpful.

I'm of the opposite viewpoint. Am an alum of one of these TT schools and have a young kid attending as well.

The number thing I've learned and seen is that early childhood progress does not track into later stage academic progress or career success. Results are highly variable on this front.

But probably the best skill that my school sent me off with was being prepared for life with strong critical thinking skills and problem solving ability.

It is not an uncommon story to hear that graduates found the first year of college quite easy as a result.

Last thing to consider: even many of the rigorous schools ramp up the academics only in the later years (middle and high school). So selecting the school based on early childhood teaching style may not be as deterministic as you think.

In the end this is about finding the right fit for you (the family) and your child. There is no one right approach as different families will value things differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have opinions on Allen-Stevenson vs. Browning?

Wondering this too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Skeptical of some elite schools’ reputations because they use a literacy method you find inferior?

It’s great that you found a suitable program for your child, but there are plenty of better ways to chip away the sheen of elitism than disagreeing with their curriculum choices. That’s like going to Michelin star restaurant and complaining they served you the prix fixe menu.

NP - Lucy Calkins curriculum is famous for the decline in literacy (the podcast Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong). I would say it more like attending a Michelin star restaurant and needing to pay for add ons (tutoring) when you felt it should have already been included in the price of the meal.

Np - Is there a decline in literacy at nyc tt’s that people are keeping secret or something? Are those dalton hippies still getting into Harvard without being able to read? Kidding,
Kidding.

[Anonymous]

We’re in the fortunate position of having admits to both St. Bernard’s and Hunter for our son, but we’re struggling with the decision and would love insights from this community.

We are an upper-middle-class family—private school tuition is something we can afford, but it’s still a meaningful financial commitment. We love St. Bernard’s, but we have some concerns:
1. High School Placement – It seems that while some students go on to TT day schools, many do not. We want to understand how much of that is by choice vs. limited acceptances.
2. Diversity – The classes at St. B’s appear to be predominantly white, and we are not. We’re wondering how this might impact our son’s experience.

On the other hand, we don’t know much about Hunter yet since we haven’t had our tour (scheduled in the next couple of days). Our main concern is socio-emotional development—we’ve heard mixed things about how well Hunter supports this aspect of growth.

Would love to hear from families who have experience with either (or both!) schools. What factors ultimately guided your decision? Anything you wish you had known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the fortunate position of having admits to both St. Bernard’s and Hunter for our son, but we’re struggling with the decision and would love insights from this community.

We are an upper-middle-class family—private school tuition is something we can afford, but it’s still a meaningful financial commitment. We love St. Bernard’s, but we have some concerns:
1. High School Placement – It seems that while some students go on to TT day schools, many do not. We want to understand how much of that is by choice vs. limited acceptances.
2. Diversity – The classes at St. B’s appear to be predominantly white, and we are not. We’re wondering how this might impact our son’s experience.

On the other hand, we don’t know much about Hunter yet since we haven’t had our tour (scheduled in the next couple of days). Our main concern is socio-emotional development—we’ve heard mixed things about how well Hunter supports this aspect of growth.

Would love to hear from families who have experience with either (or both!) schools. What factors ultimately guided your decision? Anything you wish you had known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

I can't weigh in on much other than high school placement, but having sent two DCs to a different K-8 school in NYC, I would tell you not to sweat that too much. The kids all seem to land at schools that fit their needs on different levels, and you really don't know now what kind of student your child will be in middle school. My kids both ended up at TT high schools, as did many of their classmates. Those schools at the HS level aren't for every teenager, but if they are for yours, then coming from St. B's will, if anything, be to their advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the fortunate position of having admits to both St. Bernard’s and Hunter for our son, but we’re struggling with the decision and would love insights from this community.

We are an upper-middle-class family—private school tuition is something we can afford, but it’s still a meaningful financial commitment. We love St. Bernard’s, but we have some concerns:
1. High School Placement – It seems that while some students go on to TT day schools, many do not. We want to understand how much of that is by choice vs. limited acceptances.
2. Diversity – The classes at St. B’s appear to be predominantly white, and we are not. We’re wondering how this might impact our son’s experience.

On the other hand, we don’t know much about Hunter yet since we haven’t had our tour (scheduled in the next couple of days). Our main concern is socio-emotional development—we’ve heard mixed things about how well Hunter supports this aspect of growth.

Would love to hear from families who have experience with either (or both!) schools. What factors ultimately guided your decision? Anything you wish you had known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

Are you on the Facebook mom groups? You should message Alina Adams. She is a consultant who knows a lot about Hunter. Additionally, her boys, who are POC, attended St Bernard’s, so she would probably really be able to give you the inside scoop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the fortunate position of having admits to both St. Bernard’s and Hunter for our son, but we’re struggling with the decision and would love insights from this community.

We are an upper-middle-class family—private school tuition is something we can afford, but it’s still a meaningful financial commitment. We love St. Bernard’s, but we have some concerns:
1. High School Placement – It seems that while some students go on to TT day schools, many do not. We want to understand how much of that is by choice vs. limited acceptances.
2. Diversity – The classes at St. B’s appear to be predominantly white, and we are not. We’re wondering how this might impact our son’s experience.

On the other hand, we don’t know much about Hunter yet since we haven’t had our tour (scheduled in the next couple of days). Our main concern is socio-emotional development—we’ve heard mixed things about how well Hunter supports this aspect of growth.

Would love to hear from families who have experience with either (or both!) schools. What factors ultimately guided your decision? Anything you wish you had known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

What is your HHI? There are incomes enough to afford StB but fitting in there is very different. It’s a IYKYK type of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the fortunate position of having admits to both St. Bernard’s and Hunter for our son, but we’re struggling with the decision and would love insights from this community.

We are an upper-middle-class family—private school tuition is something we can afford, but it’s still a meaningful financial commitment. We love St. Bernard’s, but we have some concerns:
1. High School Placement – It seems that while some students go on to TT day schools, many do not. We want to understand how much of that is by choice vs. limited acceptances.
2. Diversity – The classes at St. B’s appear to be predominantly white, and we are not. We’re wondering how this might impact our son’s experience.

On the other hand, we don’t know much about Hunter yet since we haven’t had our tour (scheduled in the next couple of days). Our main concern is socio-emotional development—we’ve heard mixed things about how well Hunter supports this aspect of growth.

Would love to hear from families who have experience with either (or both!) schools. What factors ultimately guided your decision? Anything you wish you had known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

Are you on the Facebook mom groups? You should message Alina Adams. She is a consultant who knows a lot about Hunter. Additionally, her boys, who are POC, attended St Bernard’s, so she would probably really be able to give you the inside scoop.

Could you share more about the Facebook mom groups? We are not the OP but we are also evaluating St. B and another K-8 school for our son and would love to get more insights

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the fortunate position of having admits to both St. Bernard’s and Hunter for our son, but we’re struggling with the decision and would love insights from this community.

We are an upper-middle-class family—private school tuition is something we can afford, but it’s still a meaningful financial commitment. We love St. Bernard’s, but we have some concerns:
1. High School Placement – It seems that while some students go on to TT day schools, many do not. We want to understand how much of that is by choice vs. limited acceptances.
2. Diversity – The classes at St. B’s appear to be predominantly white, and we are not. We’re wondering how this might impact our son’s experience.

On the other hand, we don’t know much about Hunter yet since we haven’t had our tour (scheduled in the next couple of days). Our main concern is socio-emotional development—we’ve heard mixed things about how well Hunter supports this aspect of growth.

Would love to hear from families who have experience with either (or both!) schools. What factors ultimately guided your decision? Anything you wish you had known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

What is your HHI? There are incomes enough to afford StB but fitting in there is very different. It’s a IYKYK type of school.

Different poster but curious. Full pay family with HHI of 900-1 mill (medicine), with 0 connections and generational money . Definitely not in any scene. Would we have trouble fitting in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the fortunate position of having admits to both St. Bernard’s and Hunter for our son, but we’re struggling with the decision and would love insights from this community.

We are an upper-middle-class family—private school tuition is something we can afford, but it’s still a meaningful financial commitment. We love St. Bernard’s, but we have some concerns:
1. High School Placement – It seems that while some students go on to TT day schools, many do not. We want to understand how much of that is by choice vs. limited acceptances.
2. Diversity – The classes at St. B’s appear to be predominantly white, and we are not. We’re wondering how this might impact our son’s experience.

On the other hand, we don’t know much about Hunter yet since we haven’t had our tour (scheduled in the next couple of days). Our main concern is socio-emotional development—we’ve heard mixed things about how well Hunter supports this aspect of growth.

Would love to hear from families who have experience with either (or both!) schools. What factors ultimately guided your decision? Anything you wish you had known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

Are you on the Facebook mom groups? You should message Alina Adams. She is a consultant who knows a lot about Hunter. Additionally, her boys, who are POC, attended St Bernard’s, so she would probably really be able to give you the inside scoop.

Could you share more about the Facebook mom groups? We are not the OP but we are also evaluating St. B and another K-8 school for our son and would love to get more insights

Sure. I dislike Facebook but I made an account just to join these mom groups, which have a lot of information and crosstalk. Look for groups called “Moms of the Upper East Side” , “UWS Mommas”, and “Upper West Parents.” Ask to join and then you’ll see many of the current posts are about the school decisions. They added new feature recently where you can post and reply anonymously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Could you share more about the Facebook mom groups? We are not the OP but we are also evaluating St. B and another K-8 school for our son and would love to get more insights

NP - You can schedule a consultation with her directly on her website (https://nycschoolsecrets.com).

[Anonymous]

A lot of articles about St. B's in the press over the past few years. I would read all them and see what you think. Seems like a lovely school nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t go to St. B’s, my cousin has all three of her boys in there now. Weirdly, maybe, but our grandpa went there, too, and they all love it. Much more traditional from what she tells me even compared to trinity, where she and I went, and dalton, where mine go now. However, her husband has expressed a desire to send the kids off to boarding school, and I think St. B’s is exceptionally well-placed to do that, similar to country schools in greenwich and new canaan, etc.