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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]for those of you with first-hand experience, are the academics in the lower school strong? What do hw assignments look like? Do you get a sense of what they are doing in school or is it a "black box"? Are there a lot of projects? Pop quizzes? Is it a kill and drill sort of school? Just trying to get a sense of what the daily experience is like...[/quote]

I have a student in the lower school at The Heights. I can compare it with the AAP program at FCPS, which is where he was prior to The Heights.

Academics at The Heights is much more rigorous, in my opinion. One major difference---and I cannot stress this enough---is that The Heights DOES NOT rely on "screen time" assignments, either in-class or for homework. Homework assignments in the lower school at The Heights typically involve: (1) math problems assigned from the math textbook; (2) grammar / language arts assignments assigned from the language arts textbook (e.g. problem sets covering things like identifying subject and predicate, other rules of English construction and grammar); and then variably some homework from some combination of history. religion, natural history / science (these latter 3 don't seem to be assigned for homework every evening, it varies day to day and week to week, while math and English seem to be assigned every day). I have a very good idea of what my son's class is covering in school based on the homework; definitely not a black box.

I had previously been very frustrated with the extreme use of screen-time at FCPS. The kids would work on screen-based assignments (both in class and at home) where it seemed completely unnecessary; for example, going online to do math problems on the computer (when they just as easily could have been done on paper, and in my mind where doing it on paper is a more effective way to learn) or other assignments for English or science. There is already so much screen time in most kids' lives, it really seemed unhealthy and unnecessary to pile on more screen time for basically no reason (other than making it easier for teachers so they don't have to grade homework or other assignments). Also, my son was not given textbooks in FCPS --- not even a math textbook or a history textbook! Everything was PDF printouts and random collections of papers brought home in folders or pasted/glued into a notebook. It was very difficult to have a sense of what they were actually learning and what was coming up next.

The reading material in the lower school at The Heights is also much more challenging and rigorous than what he was covering in FCPS. For example, the reading thus far this year has included: The Phantom Tollbooth; Swallows and Amazons; and The Hobbit. All are great books but more challenging than what our kids in public school ever covered.

Thus far in our experience, there have not been "pop quizzes" or anything I would describe as "drill and kill."  It's a very hands-on, traditional approach to learning.  Honestly, we couldn't be happier and our boy is happy and engaged with school in a way he frankly never was before.  It took us a while to discover The Heights and to make the switch, but we're so glad we did.

I'm sure you've seen it already, but there is a good deal of information (articles, podcasts) on the Forum which gives you a good sense of the school: https://heightsforum.org/

Happy to share my perspective on any other questions you have. Good luck in your endeavor to find a good school for your boy![/quote]

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