Anonymous wrote:Nationally less than 1% of K-12 range schools are all-boys so naturally people will have misconceptions due to limited exposure. In general, evaluate each school separately rather than relying on stereotypes. Touring and meeting families is helpful.

Genuinely curious, is there a difference in culture between Gonzaga, Prep, St Anselms, or Landon?

I went to NCS and I 100 percent agree with you. I would never send my sons to an all boys school after interacting with STA boys throughout high school. A handful of the boys were ok, but they tended to be the ones who didn't fit in well to the school overall.

You are living in the past. I have three daughters and a son much younger than his sisters . My girls told me that of all the boys they knew in high school, the STA boys were uniformly the ones to engage in the most interesting conversations and be the most polite. When our don was choosing between STA and Sidwell and we (the parents) favored a coed school, our daughters advocated for STA (which was our son’s first choice). Our son is now in upper school and I am willing to admit we were wrong and our kids were right and the education and community have been transformative for our son. He is confident to speak and defend his convictions, has made friends with a fantastic group of boys who I am sure bend the rules but for the most part are decent, supportive, hard-working and respectful, and he has been stretched academically. His class has interacted less with NCS because of Covid, but his impression is that many of the girls spout feminist ideas that they have not really thought about themselves, and they are combative in class and seem very unhappy and stressed academically. My impression is that the culture at STA is much less competitive and healthier because the boys support each other. I have not heard any recent complaints about “toxic masculinity “ towards NCS and would absolutely not tolerate it from my kid. I’m sorry your experience was not positive, but please be open to the possibility that things have changed and that STA is a fantastic place for a lot of nice boys.

Anonymous wrote:I think now that we are raising boys in a 'man hating' culture, particularly white men, it is more important than ever to put them in all boys schools to help with their confidence.

Oh, PLEASE.

Nationally less than 1% of K-12 range schools are all-boys so naturally people will have misconceptions due to limited exposure. In general, evaluate each school separately rather than relying on stereotypes. Touring and meeting families is helpful.

I, too, am grounding the search for my kids’ high school on perceptions I had 30 years ago when I was in high school which is why I’m prioritizing schools that had the hottest chicks and fastest cars in the parking lot back then. All right, all right, all right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never heard anyone explain why it is helpful to remove girls from their classrooms in a way that makes sense to me.

Okay then don’t send your son to all boys. Problem solved. We love all boys. There is too much focused on why boys are not girls with focus and etc etc. My son has thrived in all boys and has a lot of friends outside who are girls and it works. FYI a lot of the NCS girls seem very unhappy and stressed so maybe the NCS mom is projecting. Who knows but so many schools in DC so easy to find one that works.

You know every family will give you a different perspective. I have kids at both NCS and STA. None of my kids are in with the "mean girls" nor the "bros" but they are each very happy and seem to get along with most of their classmates -- regardless of the fact that they don't hang out with all of them in their free time. Both schools are intense academically, but the faculty want them to do well and are always available for office hours. There is scaffolding for the kids who take advantage of it.

My kids have really nice friends -- I am sure there are groups like theirs at all the schools. Attend the open houses, ask to talk to current families. Keep your kids involved in the process... they will let you know if the place feels comfortable to them.

Good luck with your search.

Anonymous wrote:If you want to avoid some of the problems that plague all boys schools, you should take a look at St. Anselm’s Abbey School.

Boys schools are not plagued by problems. Let’s start there shall we.

If you want to avoid some of the problems that plague all boys schools, you should take a look at St. Anselm’s Abbey School.

Smh

Anonymous wrote:I have never heard anyone explain why it is helpful to remove girls from their classrooms in a way that makes sense to me.

I think it’s helpful when boys are rambunctious and can’t sit still. Boys schools don’t think that is a behavior problem.

I think it’s great for small boys but counter intuitive for HS.

Anonymous wrote:I have never heard anyone explain why it is helpful to remove girls from their classrooms in a way that makes sense to me.

Okay then don’t send your son to all boys. Problem solved. We love all boys. There is too much focused on why boys are not girls with focus and etc etc. My son has thrived in all boys and has a lot of friends outside who are girls and it works. FYI a lot of the NCS girls seem very unhappy and stressed so maybe the NCS mom is projecting. Who knows but so many schools in DC so easy to find one that works.

I have never heard anyone explain why it is helpful to remove girls from their classrooms in a way that makes sense to me.

I went to NCS and I 100 percent agree with you. I would never send my sons to an all boys school after interacting with STA boys throughout high school. A handful of the boys were ok, but they tended to be the ones who didn't fit in well to the school overall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are generalizing, and that is never a good place to start with a school search. How your boys behave will have a lot more to do with how you raised them than where they go to school.

Your choosing their friends though and your parenting can’t control that.

No, you aren't choosing their friends by choosing their school. My kids have friends from many different schools. OP's premise is simply a stereotype, and one one that does not match our lived experience. None of any of my boys' friends would be considered a "bro" by a long, long, long shot. We left public school in part to get away from a group of boys who were toxic to my oldest.

Lol .. 1st sentence.. school don’t = friends

Last sentence.. we left school to get better friends.

Are you day drinking?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are generalizing, and that is never a good place to start with a school search. How your boys behave will have a lot more to do with how you raised them than where they go to school.

Your choosing their friends though and your parenting can’t control that.

No, you aren't choosing their friends by choosing their school. My kids have friends from many different schools. OP's premise is simply a stereotype, and one one that does not match our lived experience. None of any of my boys' friends would be considered a "bro" by a long, long, long shot. We left public school in part to get away from a group of boys who were toxic to my oldest.