I do not agree to whoever said that holton's fun factor wasn't there. Holton has a great academics, but is better for math rather than literature. literature at Holton is still a wonderful course, but their courses in math surprise anyone who applies. as for SR, I have no experience.

Anonymous wrote:If you flat out ask people a question like "how is the rising 9th grade class socially" at Holton, you will get honest answers. There are differences in classes.

The rising 9th grade class is a nice group of girls...with a lot of high-achieving and serious kids.

Sorry. I meant to say rising fourth grade class. How is the current third grade class socially this year?

Funny question in that there is no rising third grade class -third grade next year will be all new girls.

How is the rising third grade class socially at Holton?

Holton is a very supportive school IF your daughter WANTS it to be. If they want lower school easy-going academics in upper school and throw off attitude at their deteriorating grades, well then they leave and complain.

My daughter is not a genius. She works hard. She loves her friends and has a closer relationship to them then her public school friends. It is very community feel. We are middle class that receives some FA. We all are very happy she is there. She is thriving and loves no boys there. We shadowed SR and she liked it too but maybe just had a better shadow at Holton? It seemed to be the one she leaned towards.

I recommend you shadow both schools twice. It may help.

Anonymous wrote:Some students want a supportive school and some want competitive. Unless your DD is an academic star, I would go with SR.

I really am not asking about academics. I assume that the admissions people know what they are doing. I was on Great Schools and saw some really negative things, plus I know two angry (and I mean angry) girls who left Holton, and they were smart. Just want to gauge who leaves and why.

Holton is good at bringing out the best in students so I wouldn't call it not supportive. But haven't ever been to Stone Ridge.

Some students want a supportive school and some want competitive. Unless your DD is an academic star, I would go with SR.

Anonymous wrote:Socially in a small girls school, the "atmosphere" of each class can vary a lot from graduating class to graduating class. So your DD needs to figure out if she knows girls at either school, and what they or their families say the atmosphere is like, and see if your DD feels more comfortable at one versus the other. Holton is definitely more academically rigorous, and the girls of a more homogenous academic level, but there are lots of smart/ambitious girls at SR as well.

Very true. Not an alum of one of these schools, but of another single-sex independent and definitely agree with this statement.

If you flat out ask people a question like "how is the rising 9th grade class socially" at Holton, you will get honest answers. There are differences in classes.

Socially in a small girls school, the "atmosphere" of each class can vary a lot from graduating class to graduating class. So your DD needs to figure out if she knows girls at either school, and what they or their families say the atmosphere is like, and see if your DD feels more comfortable at one versus the other. Holton is definitely more academically rigorous, and the girls of a more homogenous academic level, but there are lots of smart/ambitious girls at SR as well.

Doesn't your DD have a gut feeling? Mine sure did, both of them, and they were right on the money.

OP here. I was hoping to get a better idea of the social environment of both schools. We are tending towards SR because we have heard too much negative stuff about Holton. Or should I say, we have heard either really great comments or negative comments. People seem to either love it or hate it. With SR, it does not seem to be as polarized.

If anyone else can chime in about the social aspects of the schools, it would be nice.

My dd would never have gotten into an Ivy w/o Holton. But, she didn't care for Holton nor did a lot of her classmates. It was SO much work. And, when she toured SR, the girl told her how much she hated it. So, I would say neither school is for the "feint of heart" and kids would have much more fun going to BCC or Whitman.