Glenelg Country School

[Anonymous]

Please let me know your thoughs on this school for HS and the competitiveness for admissions. Also, the school culture/environment would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

My DCs attended GCS for LS and MS. The older two wanted to switch for HS. The youngest, we forced him/her to switch. HS: the HS is very, very sports centered. I don't think a non-sporty kid would have a social life if they are not into sports. GCS is trying to compete with McDonogh and therefore have sunk a lot of money into a track, stadium and turf fields. The culture is parents and students kowtow to the parents and students who are big donors or their grandparents are or just rich families in general. The culture is if a woman works, the family is looked down upon. Exactly the opposite of what I wanted. I don't think the HS academics is a thought with the administration. Academics are an afterthought. The HOS is totally ineffective as he only pays attention to the HS. I don't know how hard is to get accepted. We loved GCS LS and MS but, if my kids didn't want to switch for HS, I'm sure I would have insisted. GL

[Anonymous]

PP is spot on re: the culture. SAHM only, major donors run the place. STAY AWAY.

[Anonymous]

Not the OP, but that is interesting. I've been thinking that Glenelg Country School might be a big winner if the redistricting plans go through.

[Anonymous]

Many families like the LS, where sports are not a concern and the LS head is good. The SAHM bit comes straight from the administration and faculty, though. It's not just an attitude amongst the parent community.

Admin can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that many women work (non-SAHMs are the minority but there are certainly multiple per grade) and therefore holding during-the-day school events on next-to-no notice might be a Wee Bit Inconvenient.

Nor do they get that a family might want the dad to be the primary contact in case of emergency -- it's not that the mom is evil and doesn't care, but mom might work in a job where she can't readily receive cell phone calls, for instance. (Especially around here where many people work in classified facilities with very strict device policies. GCS isn't that far from the NSA, and there are NSA families at the school.)

Or that dad might want to be notified on communications.

[Anonymous]

DS goes to GCS for high school and loves it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not the OP, but that is interesting. I've been thinking that Glenelg Country School might be a big winner if the redistricting plans go through.

A lot of people at least an hour out of Baltimore are wiling to drive their kids to the Roland Park-area privates and beyond. Our school has families near Pennsylvania and some from Annapolis. Unless they don’t want their kids commuting, I would have a hard time paying the same price for Glen Elg when you could be sending your kids to somewhere more highly regarded.

[Anonymous]

It’s really not better than the public schools. Mainly, it’s for HoCo families who want their kids away from poor non-Asian minorities.

[Anonymous]

DS takes 45 minute bus ride to GCS loves the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really not better than the public schools. Mainly, it’s for HoCo families who want their kids away from poor non-Asian minorities.

Why do public school parents even look at this forum and yet always feel compelled to add that public is better than private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really not better than the public schools. Mainly, it’s for HoCo families who want their kids away from poor non-Asian minorities.

Why do public school parents even look at this forum and yet always feel compelled to add that public is better than private?

PP didn't say all public is better than all private, they said this particular private is worse than public schools. You think all private schools are better than all public?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really not better than the public schools. Mainly, it’s for HoCo families who want their kids away from poor non-Asian minorities.

There are minorities, including non-Asians, at Glenelg Country School.

Putting aside the silliness of your post, the one thing I will somewhat agree on is the implication it's odd to be living in Howard County and looking at private schools. I say this as a private school parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really not better than the public schools. Mainly, it’s for HoCo families who want their kids away from poor non-Asian minorities.

There are minorities, including non-Asians, at Glenelg Country School.

Putting aside the silliness of your post, the one thing I will somewhat agree on is the implication it's odd to be living in Howard County and looking at private schools. I say this as a private school parent.

It may have been usual in the past, but perhaps not anymore.

I have one child in a great HCPSS high school that we are happy with, and another in private for a number of reasons. One reason is the regular threat of redistricting, which has worn on us so much that we wanted to give the younger kid a chance to be at the same high school all four years and not risk changing schools sophomore or junior year. Boundary adjustments are necessary from time to time, and most kids would do fine, but my particular child is difficult enough and desperately needs stability. I'm tired of debating high school boundaries every 1-2 years. And you know what else sucks? I would have happily sent my kids to a "lesser performing" high school if we were redistricted for 9th grade. But this will they or won't they back and forth is nonsense. Some students, like my older son, would do just fine changing in 10th or even 11th grade, but others will struggle. I'm sure my 9th grader would have been fine, but why risk it? Seriously, how do you enjoy your freshman year of high school when you have no idea where you will be next year?

[Anonymous]

Sorry to waaaaaay resurrect this thread but we’re moving up to HoCo from the DC area. DS is currently in a really lovely, well-regarded private early education program that we are sad to leave and hoping to find something somewhat comparable until eligible for public kindergarten.

I’m a Baltimore native so know the private school world there, but would rather look right in HoCo (or south).

We got a good feeling from Glenelg’s Little Dragon Program. Know most folks on this board won’t be very familiar with HoCo as opposed to MoCo but any experiences/knowledge?

[Anonymous]

Interesting. My oldest went to LS there and I was only one of two SAHMs in the entire class. We definitely didn't experience what PPs upthread are talking about.