Is Holton-Arms the most rigorous school in the state of Maryland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holton (33) has a much higher average ACT score than either Richard Montgomery (28) or Montgomery Blair (29), but that statistic is fallacious because the magnet programs are less than 20% of the overall school at Blair and RM. The magnet schools represent the top 200 or so students in the entire county, so even the most rigorous school as a whole isn't going to stack up against the best of the rest of the county. Even so, the matriculation of the 10% at Holton is probably better than the matriculation of the magnet schools, but money is definitely a factor. Magnet school parents need not be defensive, the programs are well respected by all of us in MoCo and we are glad to support your students.

Not defensive, I don't even have a kid in the Blair magnet. But,
- The typical Blair magnet class is something like 100 kids, I believe, not 200 kids.
- A ton of kids at Blair are first-generation college applicants.
- A ton of kids at Blair can't afford SAT/ACT prep classes.
- What's with the "we are glad to support your students"? Hope you weren't referring to your tax dollars, because that would have been snooty of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton (33) has a much higher average ACT score than either Richard Montgomery (28) or Montgomery Blair (29), but that statistic is fallacious because the magnet programs are less than 20% of the overall school at Blair and RM. The magnet schools represent the top 200 or so students in the entire county, so even the most rigorous school as a whole isn't going to stack up against the best of the rest of the county. Even so, the matriculation of the 10% at Holton is probably better than the matriculation of the magnet schools, but money is definitely a factor. Magnet school parents need not be defensive, the programs are well respected by all of us in MoCo and we are glad to support your students.

Not defensive, I don't even have a kid in the Blair magnet. But,
- The typical Blair magnet class is something like 100 kids, I believe, not 200 kids.
- A ton of kids at Blair are first-generation college applicants.
- A ton of kids at Blair can't afford SAT/ACT prep classes.
- What's with the "we are glad to support your students"? Hope you weren't referring to your tax dollars, because that would have been snooty of you.

Blair +RM

Why is the fact that tax dollars support public schools "snooty?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very difficult to compare private schools to magnet programs at public schools. Probably fair to say that Holton is the most rigorous private school in Maryland (with Landon, Georgetown Prep and Stone Ridge in the conversation). How these to private schools stack up against the magnet programs at some public schools is an open question.

Since the OP is talking about schools in MD, I'd add Bryn Mawr, The Park School, and Gilman to the list. All of them have small graduating classes, and multiple NMSF every year, including this year. If the OP is mostly concerned about rigor in terms of homework and expectations for each student, Bryn Mawr, definitely approaches Holton, and the schools have very similar statistics and college matriculations. The Baltimore privates are pretty strong because the public schools are not a very viable option for most families, so there are not as many choices as in Montgomery County (I say this having lived in both places).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton-Arms is the highest ranked Maryland school on this list:

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2014/list/private/holton-arms-p-bethesda-md/

The linked report also claims that Holton has an AVERAGE ACT composite score of 33, which, if true, would be astounding because a composite ACT score of 33 puts a student in the 99% of college bound students.

This list has been discredited by many.

Hard to find a ranking that isn't attacked by many unsatisfied with the results. Take them all for what they are worth. The Washington Post is a pretty solid source in the overall scheme of things.

Yes. Statisticians agree.

[Anonymous]

Is there a parent of current 12th grade Holton student willing to show your DC's stats? I'd love to see it. Full disclosure - my DC is a MoCo magnet senior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton (33) has a much higher average ACT score than either Richard Montgomery (28) or Montgomery Blair (29), but that statistic is fallacious because the magnet programs are less than 20% of the overall school at Blair and RM. The magnet schools represent the top 200 or so students in the entire county, so even the most rigorous school as a whole isn't going to stack up against the best of the rest of the county. Even so, the matriculation of the 10% at Holton is probably better than the matriculation of the magnet schools, but money is definitely a factor. Magnet school parents need not be defensive, the programs are well respected by all of us in MoCo and we are glad to support your students.

Not defensive, I don't even have a kid in the Blair magnet. But,
- The typical Blair magnet class is something like 100 kids, I believe, not 200 kids.
- A ton of kids at Blair are first-generation college applicants.
- A ton of kids at Blair can't afford SAT/ACT prep classes.
- What's with the "we are glad to support your students"? Hope you weren't referring to your tax dollars, because that would have been snooty of you.

Blair +RM

Why is the fact that tax dollars support public schools "snooty?"

"We own you"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a parent of current 12th grade Holton student willing to show your DC's stats? I'd love to see it. Full disclosure - my DC is a MoCo magnet senior.

I highly doubt anyone, including you should post stats and try to one up your kids. It is a confidentiality issue and super childish. Your DC would be embarrassed of you.

[Anonymous]

OP is talking about schools. Not a small program created to pump up poor performing schools. I am sure it is rigorous but it is not a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a parent of current 12th grade Holton student willing to show your DC's stats? I'd love to see it. Full disclosure - my DC is a MoCo magnet senior.

I highly doubt anyone, including you should post stats and try to one up your kids. It is a confidentiality issue and super childish. Your DC would be embarrassed of you.

Yeah, sure. I didn't think so.

[Anonymous]

I go to Holton-arms school and believe it is one of the most rigorous schools in America. I spend weeks in advance studying hours a night for chemistry tests and still get C's. This isn't just me doing poorly in chemistry; the whole class averages around a C on tests.This is because teachers don't inflate grades and the curriculum is much harder. People in regular classes are doing honors curriculum and in honors classes, they do AP curriculum. Not only are the academics insanely hard but the sports and clubs are also challenging. I run cross-country and we go between four and eight miles a day. Before I came to Holton I thought my old high school was challenging, but I had never experienced anything like this before. Despite all this, I still love Holton because all the girls there are amazing people. I couldn't be more grateful to have friends like these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a parent of current 12th grade Holton student willing to show your DC's stats? I'd love to see it. Full disclosure - my DC is a MoCo magnet senior.

I highly doubt anyone, including you should post stats and try to one up your kids. It is a confidentiality issue and super childish. Your DC would be embarrassed of you.

I didn't read that as trying to one up the kids, just someone interested in data. DD has an ACT above 33 and an UW GPA of 3.9+. There are plenty of high stats kids, but I couldn't tell you the class averages. The school profile with class of 2017 data is linked below. As the student stated above, there is no grade inflation. It's not unusual for girls to get a B or B+ in an AP class and still score a 5.

http://www.holton-arms.edu/uploaded/documents/US/holton_school_profile_sy2018.pdf

[Anonymous]

Any IB program would be more rigorous.

[Anonymous]

OK - and 3.23 AP classes is low (kids at magnet schools take 6-8, plus post-AP classes), and the mean of the SAT 2 Subject Matter test seems to be at 42%? This is not stellar.

[Anonymous]

It's hard to compare based on stats because some schools inflate grades and some deflate grades. The latter tend to be the top privates in the DC DMV, including Holton. I have no experience at a magnet school so no basis for comparison there. I will say that my DD's AP classes at Holton are not her most rigorous. Yes, there is a lot of reading, but the tests aren't necessarily as difficult. What the tutor posted earlier rang true--the top 25% or so of the class is impressive and doing high-level work. But the girls who are not up to that are challenged and met where they are...Holton does a very good job of that. I imagine at a magnet that perhaps a higher percentage of the kids are maxing out on the toughest classes.

[Anonymous]

Maryland is a bit bigger than you think. Oldfields, Maryvale, Gunston, Bryn Mawr School, St. Timothys, St. James School are arguably superior to HA. Proximity to DC elevates its prominence DC Urban Mommers.