Reply to Bullis, Sidwell, Landon, Maret, Georgetown Day, Potomac ... does this ranking make sense?

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[quote=Anonymous]I am a tutor and I have tutored students at GDS, St. Albans, NCS, Landon, Maret, Field School, Bullis and Gonzaga.  I think that many people are making comments based on 2nd and 3rd hand opinions.  At least my opinion is based on years of working with students at each of these schools.

While it may seem appealing to describe a school's overall academic level, it is an accurate metric.  Secondary schools - just like colleges - have departments with varying degrees of effectiveness, rigor, etc.  I know that certain schools are very strong in math, weaker in science or amazingly successful in English.

Next, what is your measure of academic effectiveness?  Does it mean that a school gives too much homework every night only to encourage students to cram information to pass a test only to forget shortly thereafter? Or does it mean teachers provide appropriate assignments that build critical thinking skills and encourage an interest in learning? It seems that many parents confuse rigor with hw, tests, etc.

I attempt to be brief, but this thread is disturbing to me.  Another thing that I observe is parents hire tutors. This is great for me, but what about the child? Sometimes parents are so pressed to get this “academic rigor”, and despite the fact that their child is not at the level, the parent will hire tutors to help their child succeed.   Parents are artificially raising the rigor of private schools because professional tutors are essentially writing essays, research papers, etc.

All in all, the idea of ranking  is ridiculous when considered in a vacuum.  Parents need to really think about the needs of their child, the strengths and weaknesses of their child, the culture of the school, the class ratio, etc.

I know that this is the real world and at the end of the day students will apply for college and therefore need to appear competitive by attending a competitive school.  But wouldn’t it be nice if parents were concerned with something more meaningful than "ranking”?

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