Reply to McLean HS vs. Bishop O'connell

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]McLean is certainly a more academically rigorous school then BOC. Now if your child needs a small environment because of anxiety or what not, BOC would be a better choice — McLean is large and competitive [/quote]

A lot of kids who missed the cut for TJ go to McLean and Langley. I agree that the academics are strong. We moved our kids from a small private to public schools, and there was way more differentiation in the public schools and better paid teachers. There were large groups of very smart kids in the public, not just a few like at the private school. It's also nice to live close to your friends.[/quote]

This is the opposite of what our elementary experience was like.  The public elementary had a mix of good and bad teachers, some so bad that the principal expressed verbally that she wished she could fire them but central administration wouldn't allow it.  The classes were overcrowded - 30 in K, for example - so all of the attention went to the super gifted kids and the problem kids.  Any kid in the middle, like mine, was completely ignored and had to fend for himself.  When we switched to private, there was a lot more personal attention, since only 10-12 kids were in a class.  He learned a lot more and finally gained some of the academic skills that the public wasn't even teaching, like writing an essay and giving a presentation.  I had imagined public HS would be similar, so I'm surprised to hear that Mclean would be more rigorous - unless it's a case where, like in our elementary, it's only the really self-motivated and self-advocating students that get enough attention to learn anything.  [/quote]

K classes have the lead Teacher and an Aide, the class size is effectively 15 kids per adult. the bigger issue at some schools is the wildly divergent level of preparedness for school. There are kids who don't know their letters, numbers, sounds, shapes or colors in K and other kids who are reading. There are kids who have been in preschool or day care for a good amount of time and are used to the routines (carpet time, reading circle, centers, playground, lunch) so they have a good idea about expected behavior and then there are kids who have never been to preschool or went to half day pre school and are overwhelmed by the change of pace and expectations in K. So, yeah, K can be an interesting experience. Most schools see a difference in behavior and ability in first grade where Teachers are able to start setting up groups based on ability to meet more kids needs. [/quote]

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