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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kids are at NCS and it sounds like you want coed so this is not completely relevant but our experience is that all the English and History classes are taught at an exceptionally high level.  The only kids who get As (or A minuses for that matter) are those who are REALLY strong humanities kids.  It actually sucks for the STEM kids because while math classes are differentiated (and English kids take lower levels of math), there is no humanities differentiation.

As such, the girls who graduate at the top of the class (and go on to Ivies, etc, unhooked) are always the ones who excel in humanities. They might take high math/science classes or they might not (it doesn't really matter). In contrast, the girls who might be exceptionally talented in math/science but who aren't equally talented in English end up with lower GPAs and of course, crummier college placements.

[/quote]

+1. Not leveling the classes sometimes means they're harder for most people, not easier! I went to a boarding school that didn't offer AP/honors/whatever at all in English or History, but those classes were insanely challenging.

I also think it's smart for schools not to "level" all subjects in the same way. In math, honors courses tend to move faster and math usually allows for that. But you can't just speed up English because being a fast reader isn't indicative of skill in the subject. The way you create rigor and challenge is just different.

For OP's purposes, I'd look at the class content itself (what books do they read? how much writing do they do?) rather than the levels.[/quote]

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