Reply to St. Andrews vs. Holton vs. BCC -- HELP!

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[quote=Anonymous]    I am a St. Andrew's parent.  Obviously, you have to first decide on single sex vs. coed environment.  Can’t help you there.  In the meantime, a few responses to OP's questions follow:

1.  Socially, it is hard to imagine any school where more of the student body is engaged and happy than St. Andrew's.  Our very different kids have distinct, but inclusive groups of friends that seem to grow each year as new kids joined the school.  There is a strong sense of school community, a strong sense of community within each class (grade), and the faculty really takes an interest in nurturing and developing each the student’s talents (art, music, athletics, etc.). St. Andrew’s seems to attract (or create) a sizeable group of just really nice kids.

2.  Academics.  
a. St. Andrews vs. BCC.  My sense is that the basic classes generally will be more rigorous than standard “honors” classes at BCC (which, as a practical matter, have become the basic grade level classes for kids planning to attend most colleges from MCPS).  I am in the BCC cluster and our neighbors’ kids attend  BCC and I’ve toured BCC twice.  My understanding is that the privates provide more attention to writing especially in 9th and 10th grade because of the larger BCC class sizes and heavy teaching load.   Parents whose children transfer from MCPS have told us their kids have had to put in much more effort at St. Andrew’s. The full IB program at BCC is probably more rigorous than either St. Andrew’s or Holton generally, but some parents I know of kids who have done it complain that it consumed their child’s life, he/she had no time for ECs, and, in the end, at least one friend didn’t want child no. 2 to do the full IB program. St. Andrew’s now offers more differentiated course levels to accommodate different students (standard, accelerated/honors/AP classes).  The kids with the most challenging courses get more work than those with lighter schedules, but you don’t have to lock into any one track across the board.  And it sometimes seems like perhaps more work than it is b/c our kids are very involved in ECs at school and they all take electives. 
 
b. St. Andrew’s or Holton.   If you want single sex and have a girl that both thrives in a competitive atmosphere and loves the girl-power things, Holton probably can't be beat.  Otherwise, it is a matter of the overall culture of each school and personal preferences as to what works best for a kid.  There are a number of St. Andrew’s kids taking an AP class at Holton this year as part of the private school consortium in MoCo, and they do just as well in that class side by side with  kids from Holton as they do in their own classes at St. Andrew’s.  Both schools offer a great education.

3. The Four Years From Now Question.
Four years from now your child will be best prepared for college by attending whichever school will make her happiest, motivates her to want to learn/study, teaches her studies skills/tools to practice for college, etc.  In that environment, she will do her best work and shine through in her pursuit of EC’s. The school that will do that may be different for different students.  I was very impressed with the St. Andrew’s college counseling office .  The counselor really got to know our DC, and was very helpful in advising and strategizing about college lists/visits, testing, course selection, summer activities, etc.  St. Andrew’s does work hard to find good choices for each students depending on his/her interests, abilities, talents, preferences, etc. considering academic, social, geographic, athletic, financial, and other personal factors.  At St. Andrew’s, not everyone thinks he/she is a future ivy league alum, and those kids still go on to earn degrees at good schools, still go to grad schools if they want to, get jobs etc.   Part of a St. Andrew’s education is to learn to maximize your abilities whatever they are.   That said, the St. Andrew’s students who are most academically oriented also do very well in that arena of the most selective schools.  So far this year, there have been early admissions I know of to Univ of Chicago, Yale, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Conn. College.

I think there are cultural differences in the two schools.  A certain type of kid will tend to thrive at Holton, and another may find it more anxiety provoking.  Go back to each school again – more than once if necessary.  Have your daughter go back.   Ask for the names of families to talk to who have a child similar to yours.  And FWIW I don’t think you posted anything here embarrassing or unnecessarily identifying to worry about.  Good luck.

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