Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

I think as long as they find a supportive environment at school, high achieving kids that don't have to compete with a lot of other high achieving kids locally actually have a strong advantage when it comes to college admissions. You should be looking at whether "rigorous" coursework is available to them. If so, they will have an edge staying there vs going to come environment where they have to compete with a lot of academic superstars.

But also, these high schools do have a lot of competitive students. I know for a fact that Arundel, Crofton, Severna Park, South River, and Broadneck have multiple students excepted to T20 schools every year. Many of those students will still choose UMD instead, because they see UMD as a good school that they can save money on. The difference is that the kids at the MoCo schools would rather spend more for the T20s for the prestige.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

I think as long as they find a supportive environment at school, high achieving kids that don't have to compete with a lot of other high achieving kids locally actually have a strong advantage when it comes to college admissions. You should be looking at whether "rigorous" coursework is available to them. If so, they will have an edge staying there vs going to come environment where they have to compete with a lot of academic superstars.

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

Anonymous wrote:OP you have it backward..all of that only makes it easier to get into a top college.

Anonymous wrote:OP you have it backward..all of that only makes it easier to get into a top college.

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at the "best" AA County school pyramids: Severna Park, Broadneck, Arundel, South River, and Crofton, but after looking at some stats at these schools, we are concerned that AACPS as a school system lacks rigor compared to neighboring school districts.

The schools seem good when it comes to test scores and the breadth of their AP programs/course offerings, but the colleges students go to from these schools aren't very impressive, and the consistent near complete lack of national merit semifinalists in AA County's schools also suggests that the school system isn't rigorous. It seems like far too many kids from even Severna Park go to Salisbury, Towson, and Anne Arundel Community College. There aren't many ivy-league or top 20 admits. This year, only 5 AACPS students were NMSF, and they only came from Broadneck, Arundel, and Crofton HS.

We are not looking for a pressure-cooker environment. However, we are looking for an environment where all children--from those who need extra supports to those who are extremely high-achieving, are meeting their full potential and able to thrive. AACPS doesn't look very promising for super high-achieving kids on paper, but I would like to hear more insight from AACPS parents who might be able to provide some perspective that the stats don't provide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just surprised because people are super obsessed with Severna Park and making sure their kids are in that school district, like typical W parents, yet their academic outcomes are so not W school level at all.

I'm not sure who these people are who you think are super obsessed with Severna Park. Within AACPS, it's general one of the top -mostly just because of demographics (it's the whitest and the richest)
But I can't imagine people are comparing the top MoCo schools to SP. Not because one is better than the other, but just because the people that would be happy living in those areas of MoCo wouldn't want to live on the Broadneck Peninsula, for example

Severna Park High School has one of the county’s highest graduation rates — more than 98 percent of seniors graduated in 2018.

The school is known for sending students to prestigious colleges and universities. The surrounding area’s poverty rate is half that of the county average. And Severna Park is an affluent ZIP code — with a median household income of $132,000 — where students seem to have advantages over other jurisdictions. But the school has a dark history of mental illness.

There are many reasons, Parker said. Students say they’re under intense academic pressure. Some are battling drug addictions. Five counselors and one part-time psychologist serve a student body of more than 1,800.

The numbers paint Severna Park as a community that anyone would be proud of: a high school with a 95 percent graduation rate, with 11 state sports championships in the past five years alone, with Advanced Placement enrollment in the top 95 percentile, all in a zip code where the median family income is approximately $130,000.

But with those numbers comes the pressure on young people to excel, to outshine, to be perfect — and it is taking an emotional toll.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just surprised because people are super obsessed with Severna Park and making sure their kids are in that school district, like typical W parents, yet their academic outcomes are so not W school level at all.

I'm not sure who these people are who you think are super obsessed with Severna Park. Within AACPS, it's general one of the top -mostly just because of demographics (it's the whitest and the richest)
But I can't imagine people are comparing the top MoCo schools to SP. Not because one is better than the other, but just because the people that would be happy living in those areas of MoCo wouldn't want to live on the Broadneck Peninsula, for example

There's someone (someones?) on this board who grew up in SP and is super bitter and loves to post about their opinion that people in SP are snobby without being rich or prestigious enough to "deserve" to be as snobby as they are. So I'm guessing this is just that person again.