Reply to Friends, Grace or Browning for High School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have almost the exact same choice but with a different third choice than Friends. Grace makes so much sense for our family, we love their schedule and location, but we've had off experiences with them every step of the way, where areas Browning has been so personal and lovely. We know people at both schools who like them, both schools have adored heads of school...it's going to be a hard decision. I think it will come down to my DC deciding on co-ed and progressive vs single sex and fairly traditional when they do their re-visit. We did not apply to Friends, so I can't speak to it other than what I've heard from families who go there and friends who have worked there. It wasn't for us but is a great school. One deciding factor for my child was that it seemed to have more homework but again, that's child dependent.[/quote]

I also love the schedule at Grace. I've found it hard to get concrete information about what the high school experience is actually like. Their website isn't very informative. Over the weekend I was trying to find info about their extracurricular activities and clubs and could find very little. We had a warm interviewer at Grace but wasn't overly impressed with the tour.[/quote]

Recent Grace parent here - what do you want to know?[/quote]

Thanks for chiming in! We were told a ton about sports, but my DC is more of a theater/music kid. It seems on the website that there is a large performing arts program, but no one could tell me more about it (you might not either). But really what I was trying to see is if a more nerdy science and theater kid has a place there, or are there very few of those kinds of kids. Also, the learning center was mentioned a few times, but is that more of a drop in place, or is dedicated for kids with LDs? [/quote]

Not the best person to answer this but will do my best. The music program is very good. No one is mistaking Grace for LaGuardia but from what I saw they had a variety of programs for different skill levels and interests and very good teachers. I know almost nothing about theater so won't guess - I know there are various performances but don't know much about them.

Is Grace the ideal place for an artsy kid? Probably not. But your child will definitely find their people there as the community exists and the school invests in it. Compared to an all boys school one would think that the theater in particular would be a lot better. Because of its downtown location there are probably more parents involved in the arts than most peer schools which I think trickles down to the students.

There are two parts to the learning center. There are teachers who are there to help with math, English and history papers, etc. These are legit teachers and not just random people - I know they are a very valuable resource for those who choose to take advantage. As far as LDs, I know there are a few people who specifically focus on that and they seem knowledgeable and helpful, but I can't speak from experience and again, don't want to guess.

Overall, I think it has a pretty "mainstream" culture so not full of nerdy science and theater kids (as you describe your child), but they definitely exist there, they seem happy there, and it is a very kind culture so they interact pretty seamlessly with everyone else. Jerks are generally not tolerated. I don't think it is the most "intellectual" culture but that is in part the tradeoff for it not being a pressure cooker. There are plenty of very smart kids who work very hard and take their work very seriously, and the teachers are there to strike the balance between pushing these kids to reach their potential but not overwhelming them with work for the sake of work. There is no shame in being smart, but there is also not the "what did you get" mentality that is pervasive at so many other places - smart kids are respected.[/quote]

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