Holton Truth?

[Anonymous]

Regardless of the class size (which is under 20 in my DD grade) the reported students teacher ratio is 6:1. Maybe you don’t believe it but it is super easy to verify (679 students and 121 teachers) Thats comparable with other private schools in the area. So not sure what is the source of complain.

[Anonymous]

My DD was turned away from an advanced level course a year ago (there are no longer APs at Holton) because there was “no room” and put on a waitlist. I understand this is to keep class size down but why not chop the class into two?
There is no way I’m complaining about this for the record. I don’t want to get on the school’s bad side and hurt her chances of getting into her top choice. Acceptances are right around the corner…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP -- you really need to go and see and listen for yourself and your child. My DD went to Holton and let me say is a multi-millionaire on her own about 10 or so years after graduating. She went to an Ivy after Holton and has made it big. She never asked for a dime after graduating from college.
Holton is really hard academically...so it that is your daughter...go for it. Mine didn't love it, nor did I, but we are not sure if daughter would have been so successful if she hadn't gone there. I still have a few mom friends from there. Good luck on whatever you decide.

multimillionaire definitely = great school

lol

[Anonymous]

Yea, I highly doubt a 28 year old is a multimillionaire after graduating. There's VERY few 28 year olds pulling in enough to get that amount of money.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to share this document from the Montgomery County Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings dated Nov 3: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OZA. It’s Holton’s formal request to lift its enrollment cap by about 30%.

A few things jumped out at me reading it:
-The school isn’t planning to add any new buildings. Instead, they’d move administrative offices to Granger House and repurpose existing office space into classrooms.
-The document notes that the school is well below its legal capacity for the campus spaces. Another words, they could (and want to?) fit more bodies in the existing spaces on campus.
-To accommodate roughly 200 more students, they project adding just 11 staff members. That math makes me wonder if the plan depends on larger class sizes and a lower teacher-to-student ratio. Or maybe they are just adding more grades?
-The traffic estimates are bit daunting considering I already spend 25 minutes in line most days. And the extra cost of the bus isn’t feasible for our family.

As a parent who watched my daughter’s grade grow dramatically in one year, I already feel how much harder it’s become for students to feel “seen and known.” Staff turnover hasn’t helped, and this proposal makes me worry that those challenges will deepen.

What also bothers me is that I had to seek this information out myself. We were told last January that families would get regular updates about any enrollment or facilities changes. I don’t think I’ve seen any since then. While this hasn’t been “approved” I expected more transparency in the process, particularly given the contract controversy of a few years back. Totally possible, I could have missed them though.

There’s a public hearing on the proposal next Monday. I wanted to share in case others want to read the document and make their own meaning out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to share this document from the Montgomery County Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings dated Nov 3: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OZA. It’s Holton’s formal request to lift its enrollment cap by about 30%.

A few things jumped out at me reading it:
-The school isn’t planning to add any new buildings. Instead, they’d move administrative offices to Granger House and repurpose existing office space into classrooms.
-The document notes that the school is well below its legal capacity for the campus spaces. Another words, they could (and want to?) fit more bodies in the existing spaces on campus.
-To accommodate roughly 200 more students, they project adding just 11 staff members. That math makes me wonder if the plan depends on larger class sizes and a lower teacher-to-student ratio. Or maybe they are just adding more grades?
-The traffic estimates are bit daunting considering I already spend 25 minutes in line most days. And the extra cost of the bus isn’t feasible for our family.

As a parent who watched my daughter’s grade grow dramatically in one year, I already feel how much harder it’s become for students to feel “seen and known.” Staff turnover hasn’t helped, and this proposal makes me worry that those challenges will deepen.

What also bothers me is that I had to seek this information out myself. We were told last January that families would get regular updates about any enrollment or facilities changes. I don’t think I’ve seen any since then. While this hasn’t been “approved” I expected more transparency in the process, particularly given the contract controversy of a few years back. Totally possible, I could have missed them though.

There’s a public hearing on the proposal next Monday. I wanted to share in case others want to read the document and make their own meaning out of it.

I'm no fan of this administration, pp, but I don't think there's anything new to report yet. That's what the hearing is for. There's a designated spot on the school website for updates regarding the special exception.

I also think that in the near future, they claim there's no plan to expand the school, that the greater numbers will allow for more effective facilities use, particularly during the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD was turned away from an advanced level course a year ago (there are no longer APs at Holton) because there was “no room” and put on a waitlist. I understand this is to keep class size down but why not chop the class into two?
There is no way I’m complaining about this for the record. I don’t want to get on the school’s bad side and hurt her chances of getting into her top choice. Acceptances are right around the corner…

cutting classes into two classes would require hiring more teachers.

[Anonymous]

I would never be swayed by the threads on here. My daughter’s school, NCS, is bashed regularly and it is by all accounts an incredible school, where smart girls are turned into very very successful scholars. This seems to make some people uncomfortable. But who cares really? Holton is also a very fine school and comparable in many ways. The skirts are, however, silly and embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never be swayed by the threads on here. My daughter’s school, NCS, is bashed regularly and it is by all accounts an incredible school, where smart girls are turned into very very successful scholars. This seems to make some people uncomfortable. But who cares really? Holton is also a very fine school and comparable in many ways. The skirts are, however, silly and embarrassing.

With statements like the ones above, you are just reinforcing the NCS mean girl stereotype.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never be swayed by the threads on here. My daughter’s school, NCS, is bashed regularly and it is by all accounts an incredible school, where smart girls are turned into very very successful scholars. This seems to make some people uncomfortable. But who cares really? Holton is also a very fine school and comparable in many ways. The skirts are, however, silly and embarrassing.

With statements like the ones above, you are just reinforcing the NCS mean girl stereotype.

I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand what it means to be a “mean girl.” You could have used NCS. I said, don’t believe gossip, NCS is often maligned on here, it’s a good school, Holton is a good school, the skirts are ridiculous. That’s not meanie boo boo. Those are simple facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to share this document from the Montgomery County Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings dated Nov 3: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OZA. It’s Holton’s formal request to lift its enrollment cap by about 30%.

A few things jumped out at me reading it:
-The school isn’t planning to add any new buildings. Instead, they’d move administrative offices to Granger House and repurpose existing office space into classrooms.
-The document notes that the school is well below its legal capacity for the campus spaces. Another words, they could (and want to?) fit more bodies in the existing spaces on campus.
-To accommodate roughly 200 more students, they project adding just 11 staff members. That math makes me wonder if the plan depends on larger class sizes and a lower teacher-to-student ratio. Or maybe they are just adding more grades?
-The traffic estimates are bit daunting considering I already spend 25 minutes in line most days. And the extra cost of the bus isn’t feasible for our family.

As a parent who watched my daughter’s grade grow dramatically in one year, I already feel how much harder it’s become for students to feel “seen and known.” Staff turnover hasn’t helped, and this proposal makes me worry that those challenges will deepen.

What also bothers me is that I had to seek this information out myself. We were told last January that families would get regular updates about any enrollment or facilities changes. I don’t think I’ve seen any since then. While this hasn’t been “approved” I expected more transparency in the process, particularly given the contract controversy of a few years back. Totally possible, I could have missed them though.

There’s a public hearing on the proposal next Monday. I wanted to share in case others want to read the document and make their own meaning out of it.

What I see as a potential[b] problem is not that we add more students. We can always hire more teachers but the cafeteria space is full and there are no more time slots open for lunch. Except if we have one before 11 am (way too early) or after 1 pm (too late). Also, there wouldd not be enough bathroomms to accommodate all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never be swayed by the threads on here. My daughter’s school, NCS, is bashed regularly and it is by all accounts an incredible school, where smart girls are turned into very very successful scholars. This seems to make some people uncomfortable. But who cares really? Holton is also a very fine school and comparable in many ways. The skirts are, however, silly and embarrassing.

With statements like the ones above, you are just reinforcing the NCS mean girl stereotype.

I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand what it means to be a “mean girl.” You could have used NCS. I said, don’t believe gossip, NCS is often maligned on here, it’s a good school, Holton is a good school, the skirts are ridiculous. That’s not meanie boo boo. Those are simple facts.

That’s an opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never be swayed by the threads on here. My daughter’s school, NCS, is bashed regularly and it is by all accounts an incredible school, where smart girls are turned into very very successful scholars. This seems to make some people uncomfortable. But who cares really? Holton is also a very fine school and comparable in many ways. The skirts are, however, silly and embarrassing.

With statements like the ones above, you are just reinforcing the NCS mean girl stereotype.

I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand what it means to be a “mean girl.” You could have used NCS. I said, don’t believe gossip, NCS is often maligned on here, it’s a good school, Holton is a good school, the skirts are ridiculous. That’s not meanie boo boo. Those are simple facts.

That’s an opinion.

Have you seen them? It’s not. It’s a simple fact. They are clown like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never be swayed by the threads on here. My daughter’s school, NCS, is bashed regularly and it is by all accounts an incredible school, where smart girls are turned into very very successful scholars. This seems to make some people uncomfortable. But who cares really? Holton is also a very fine school and comparable in many ways. The skirts are, however, silly and embarrassing.

With statements like the ones above, you are just reinforcing the NCS mean girl stereotype.

I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand what it means to be a “mean girl.” You could have used NCS. I said, don’t believe gossip, NCS is often maligned on here, it’s a good school, Holton is a good school, the skirts are ridiculous. That’s not meanie boo boo. Those are simple facts.

That’s an opinion.

Have you seen them? It’s not. It’s a simple fact. They are clown like.

Merriam-Webster is your friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never be swayed by the threads on here. My daughter’s school, NCS, is bashed regularly and it is by all accounts an incredible school, where smart girls are turned into very very successful scholars. This seems to make some people uncomfortable. But who cares really? Holton is also a very fine school and comparable in many ways. The skirts are, however, silly and embarrassing.

With statements like the ones above, you are just reinforcing the NCS mean girl stereotype.

I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand what it means to be a “mean girl.” You could have used NCS. I said, don’t believe gossip, NCS is often maligned on here, it’s a good school, Holton is a good school, the skirts are ridiculous. That’s not meanie boo boo. Those are simple facts.

That’s an opinion.

Have you seen them? It’s not. It’s a simple fact. They are clown like.

And you claim not to be a mean mom!