after Green Acres

[Anonymous]

On the academic question, I've just heard too many times that the learning the bright kids do has to come from outside the classroom. The pitch is quite low. And kids can be "advised" it is in their interest to keep their light under a bushell basket. So, for example, what do bright kids in math do? Problems on their own at the side of the classroom !!! (Or at least that is what they told us our child would be left doing if we came there. Not very appealing.) OK, OK, you'll say "math is the exception, why do you care about math????" Because often math minds are quirky. But if they're being stymied and essentially fed the message they're not worth putting any resources into, then how nurturing is this?

[Anonymous]

Thanks 16:31. So my question is....did you find a place that would support your DC's advanced math skills?

Because from what I hear from every private school parent I have ever met, from area teachers and from consultants alike - that the private schools are not supportive of letting really bright math kids accellerate their math education very far - and that the Montgomery County public schools are actually more amenable to that.

[Anonymous]

Yes we did - another "progressive" school. Magnets are good too, of course.

[Anonymous]

Thanks 17:24 - would love to know which one...but I understand if you want to be discrete. As we are also focusing on "progressive" schools in the area to make the right match for a similar situation.

[Anonymous]

We have two kids at Green Acres -- one is very solid in math but works hard at it. The other is quite intuitive -- sees numbers and their relationships very instinctively. Both are well served; neither is EVER off in the corner working by him/herself. Theres's more to serve bright math kids than simply acceleration. I'd love to know why the county's TOP math scores are supposedly falling over the past several years. (Okay, I have my guesses.)

My advice is to ask the admission office for the names/numbers of parents whose kids are really able in math. Like it or not, at least you'll get to talk to real people with real names and real experience, rather than the constant stream of anonymous speculators here. I just can't believe this is more satisfying than finding out actual information for oneself instead of hearsay and grasping at theories to explain single third-hand pieces of data.

[Anonymous]

Actually, that is what I did when applying and wasn't very sold by the answers I got - maybe parents are not as thrilled as the school thinks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've toured Green Acres and love what we've seen, especially at the pre-k and k levels. But we are not impressed by the list of high schools and colleges that graduates attend. Why is the list so poor? Does the school not prepare kids well, are the kids not so smart, or is it something else?

OP, if you are un-wowed by the Green Acres college list, check out the Maret list. Equally "unimpressive."

Point not being that these are crappy schools-- point being that the college admissions game is far more competitive than when we were kiddies, and even the top school tend not to be able to place a whole lot of kids at the Ivies etc.

[Anonymous]

So nobody has numbers for, say, last year's placement from Green Acres to local high schools? I would think, since this is a key component of K-8 schools' marketing, that these numbers would be readily available? Why not?

[Anonymous]

There is a difference between smart and wise. Sure, plenty of kids are smart, but few are wise. Kids who know themselves and know how to learn are wise. Kids who can regurgitate information might be considered smart, and sure they might even test well. After all, that's what our society has grown to value over the last 40 years. However, I will take a school and a person who demonstrates wisdom over an institution that produces widgets any day. I wonder what will happen if this poor pre-K kid goes to Sidwell and ends up at Maryland or some place like the University of South Dakota? My hope is that this child develops some wisdom and asks to go to boarding school!

[Anonymous]

What the heck does this have to do with anything? You assume that kids who want a challenging academic environment are just good testers? That is silly.

BTW - you can get a great education at UMD or SD. So your prejudices reveal themselves.

[Anonymous]

Agreed UMD and USD ARE great schools. That's my point. It seems the OP is obsessing over where kids end up in college or university and I'm just not sure that those are real indications of how good a school is. Pick up The Students are Watching by Ted Sizer, a great read on what schools should be about.

[Anonymous]

The way in which OP has a point is that, for smart kids, it can be really nice/helpful/engulfing/pick-your-term to be around other smart kids in an environment that values them for what they may feel: smart. So one way to measure the cohort of smart kids - albeit imperfect - is through HS and (more tenuously) college placement. It doesn't sound like anyone is making much of a case on behalf of Green Acres that there is a good group of smart kids who are valued for that (not having to act "normal"), as measured by next-school-placement.

[Anonymous]

To PP - that said...Green Acres has been specifically recommended from a variety of professionals (some paid and some not!) as one of the places where an extra smart kid would have peers. It might not be an entire classroom of peers...but given the numbers put up earlier noting that a solid group of kids for a given class had gone to one of the following schools (Sidwell/Maret/GDS) - it seems like there would be enough peers for a smart child in a given class. And has been noted earlier - the fact that maybe more go to GDS than Sidwell may be more based on personality and fit than on whether they were aceepted or not to a Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

The problem I have accepting this is that, anecdotally, I have heard this is not the case -- that there are "enough" smart kids and they are valued for this. But nobody seems to have the info (or guts) to put up numbers. Sidwell, GDS, Blair, Montgomery IB -- anywhere!

[Anonymous]

I would think that the school would tell you this.

I can see where it would be hard to ask this during the application process in fear of affecting your DC's application...so, you can ask after being accepted if you are still considering them.

If they refuse to answer questions you feel are relevant to your decision - then you obviously won't choose to send your child there. (and they should know this)

It is too bad we don't have a GAS mom of a graduated child who might be able to shed more light on the issue based on their child's graduating class (we got a bit of info re IB/Magnet from one). But I don't think it is something anyone is trying to "hide".