Anonymous wrote:
HA went way too woke several years ago, and itpissed off some heavy donors who refused to send their daughters there.

Penny has pushed out several left-wing freak shows that basically were clocking in and clocking out.

We are now strongly considering it for our DD.

We are far from being considered MAGA, but DH and I are certainly not "woke"... so far, no issues for our DD in the upper school. Making good friends, being challenged in the classroom, and having fun on the athletic fields.

Not sure what else we could be asking for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
HA went way too woke several years ago, and itpissed off some heavy donors who refused to send their daughters there.

Penny has pushed out several left-wing freak shows that basically were clocking in and clocking out.

We are now strongly considering it for our DD.

Nailed it. Been very happy in upper school with the new head.

As a current parent, I strongly disagree. The changes have nothing to do with “wokeness”. The HoS is just a terrible manager. Many great teachers have left because of her managerial style.

For instance, the language instruction has deteriorated due to the departure of fantastic Latin, Spanish, and French teachers last year. Some of the replacements have been questionable, and at least one of them (the new French teacher) just left mid year. As a result, French Honors 5 is without a qualified instructor. The new Spanish teacher is not a native speaker either. At any rate, many teachers are unhappy, which is troubling.

Anonymous wrote:
HA went way too woke several years ago, and itpissed off some heavy donors who refused to send their daughters there.

Penny has pushed out several left-wing freak shows that basically were clocking in and clocking out.

We are now strongly considering it for our DD.

Nailed it. Been very happy in upper school with the new head.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
HA went way too woke several years ago, and itpissed off some heavy donors who refused to send their daughters there.

Penny has pushed out several left-wing freak shows that basically were clocking in and clocking out.

We are now strongly considering it for our DD.

+1

If you're loving Donald Trump's vision for America, you'll love Holton Arms!!

So many "woke" teachers/administrators have left. Penny really cleaned house. Love.

The good thing is that there are a lot of woke schools to choose from.

Anonymous wrote:
HA went way too woke several years ago, and itpissed off some heavy donors who refused to send their daughters there.

Penny has pushed out several left-wing freak shows that basically were clocking in and clocking out.

We are now strongly considering it for our DD.

+1

If you're loving Donald Trump's vision for America, you'll love Holton Arms!!

So many "woke" teachers/administrators have left. Penny really cleaned house. Love.

If you had to pick a school as the coed version of Holton what would it be? I think Holton would be a good fit for my strong STEM girl who also loves to draw and is capable of being athletic but doesn't like it so doesn't do it.

HA went way too woke several years ago, and itpissed off some heavy donors who refused to send their daughters there.

Penny has pushed out several left-wing freak shows that basically were clocking in and clocking out.

We are now strongly considering it for our DD.

Anonymous wrote:My US student is generally happy there, but that's despite the current leadership. With respect to academics, I am grateful to the school for educating my child well. I am trying to roll with the myriad changes and staff/faculty turnover. If my child were younger, I would seriously consider transferring schools.

How much does leadership affect day-to-day though? I went to one of those super old NE prep schools back in the day and it was an open secret that no one got along with the head ... but we also didn't see the head much outside of graduation and some other big events. The academic experience was amazing, and the head wasn't in the classrooms. Liking or not like a headmaster would have had zero effect on whether I suggested the school to friends at the time.

We love it. Daughter is super happy, great teachers, great classmates, lots of opportunities.

My US student is generally happy there, but that's despite the current leadership. With respect to academics, I am grateful to the school for educating my child well. I am trying to roll with the myriad changes and staff/faculty turnover. If my child were younger, I would seriously consider transferring schools.

It is a fine option. If you care about social aspects (i.e., minimizing the impact of mean girls), it is better than NCS but not as good as Madeira. Athletics are reasonably good but not as good as SR or Visi. Academics are strong on par with NCS and Madeira, better than Visi and SR. When we did the calculus a few years back, we chose Madeira based on fit but could have seen my kid at Holton.

Current parent here! My DD is a senior and genuinely does not want to leave. It has been a wonderful HS experience for her. Incredible teachers, friends, sports, arts, traditions. She wears many hats at Holton and it's a school that allows and even embraces that. She comes home nearly every day, excited to teach us about something new she learned at school. Isn't that what it's all about?

Please be a critical thinker and don't pay any mind to the tiny minority of too loud, toxic parents who love to spend time on DCUM, trolling in anonymity.

Indeed, find current parents and talk to them. My DD is a senior, and we cannot wait to be done with Holton. Let me leave it at that.

Talk to parents and ignore dc urban mom.
Cal the admissions office and ask if your can talk to a few families.

We love it there. Super happy. Kid well rounded. Teachers amazing.

Consider a school that has fewer type a students because your student could rank higher in the end. Unless your student is exceptional and can stand out amongst many very talented girls. I didn’t consider this when applying for private schools and I wonder if we made the right decision. That said, regardless of class rank, all the girls will be more than ready for college, so that’s a plus.