Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

After a few years of reading DCUM and reading blogs written by American moms with school aged children, I can say unequivocally that the Canadian school system is superior. You send your child to whatever public school you are zoned for, you don't have to wait in line to apply, you don't have to deal with testing your 3 year old or whatever people have to do to get in to elementary schools, and we all end up smart the system works.

You are getting a really skewed picture of the typical American school system. In most of the country, kids go to whatever school they are zoned for. The schools are typically located in the neighborhood. My children walk or bike to school every day. All the kids in our neighborhood go to the same elementary, middle, and high schools. I only know of two or three kids who are in private schools and that is only for religious reasons. Our public schools are excellent. There is no lottery. No charter. No stress. You just go to the school in your neighborhood. (Obviously we aren't in D.C. anymore.)

We have literally lived all over this country and overseas. D.C. is the only place we've ever lived where schools were even an issue.

You are simplifying the situation by painting the entire country with the same brush. That would be like me going to Montreal and then coming back to the US and telling everyone that Canadians are a bunch of French wannabes. Go to rural America: the Midwest, the South, the Rocky Mountains and you will see less of the mentality you referenced above.
Although the dynamic you referenced does exist, you need to separate and understand the different drivers. One dynamic which drives this push for a strong education (private schools, charter schools and magnet schools) is that the US has a culture of bias. These biases tend to negatively impact racial, ethnic and religious minorities and immigrants. Education has always been one way to mitigate biases against the above groups. As such, parents from these groups who want their kids to succeed tend to make sure that they have access to good schools so that the same kids can access the best colleges and universities. That is why if you ever visit one of the elite DC-area schools, you will see families who probably can't afford the $40,000 annual cost to attend these schools. These families will use the schools’ financial aid to enroll their kids. One of the benefits of US culture (a culture which everyone on this pages knocks), which does not exist in other countries, is that these same schools recognize the value in having a racially and economically diverse student body. They also recognize the importance of providing access to all students. Follow the progression of Jewish, Korean and other immigrant groups and you will see a drive to excel in education. This same dynamic drives the elite to push their kids so that their kids have the same opportunities that the parents had. With a more competitive landscape, kids can no longer get by on the family name alone.
Again, you can knock our system but it is a system that has and will likely to continue to keep us globally competitive.

Anonymous wrote:On a related topic from today's Wapo: "While U.S. teenagers scored slightly above average in reading, their scores were average in science and below average in math, compared to 64 other countries and economies that participated in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which was administered last fall."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/us-students-lag-around-average-on-international-science-math-and-reading-test/2013/12/02/2e510f26-5b92-11e3-a49b-90a0e156254b_story.html

Anonymous wrote:

After a few years of reading DCUM and reading blogs written by American moms with school aged children, I can say unequivocally that the Canadian school system is superior. You send your child to whatever public school you are zoned for, you don't have to wait in line to apply, you don't have to deal with testing your 3 year old or whatever people have to do to get in to elementary schools, and we all end up smart the system works.

You are getting a really skewed picture of the typical American school system. In most of the country, kids go to whatever school they are zoned for. The schools are typically located in the neighborhood. My children walk or bike to school every day. All the kids in our neighborhood go to the same elementary, middle, and high schools. I only know of two or three kids who are in private schools and that is only for religious reasons. Our public schools are excellent. There is no lottery. No charter. No stress. You just go to the school in your neighborhood. (Obviously we aren't in D.C. anymore.)

We have literally lived all over this country and overseas. D.C. is the only place we've ever lived where schools were even an issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, Happy to hear. Now please keep your smarties-eating, molson-drinking, crack-smoking ass in that frozen tundra up North that you call a nation. I am still trying to figure out what value you have added to the world besides producing Gretzky and providing us a few weeks of comedy relief with that clown of a mayor you have in Toronto. When you can choose either French or English as an official language, we will allow you to comment on our school system. In the meantime, I will be sure to show my appreciation to you the next time I hit Whistler, the only place in Canada worth visiting.

This is a typical American emotional response when unable to respond intelligently. And I'm an American.

Jackass, I thought the response was quite intelligent. BTW, there is no typical American response. Also, who the hell are you to say that you are American? Aren't the Canadians Americans too? How about that, a typical liberal response -- Thought you were trying to defend our neighbors to the north but instead offended every other non-US citizen of the Americas by presuming that you are American and they are not. I hate liberals and I am a "Conservative."

In the meantime, no one responded to OP's question.

Well, here's my response. OP, this is an example of what you'll find in DC private schools along with a host of other personalities. Although, most may not be as extreme, volatile, and annoying as PP who is a self-proclaimed conservative (which is okay, everybody stands for something), they are well represented along with independent, liberals, etc.

PP does not speak for everyone and neither does anyone else who has posted including myself. So, there you have it. You will encounter all sorts of people with all sorts of opinions.

And I guarantee, OP, that if anyone were to recommend a particular DC/MD/VA school, PP would assume the position of the ultimate authority on every named school. You know the type. Take school opinions for what they are. Best to contact particular schools for more information. DCUM is NOT the best place to obtain information.

Wow! You are a complete tool. My guess is that you live in the suburbs and have no clue of what life is like inside the beltway or outside of your own little small world.

OP, Hopefully someone responds to your questions about local privates which are comparable to top privates in Toronto.

Also, please be careful of folks on this board who are knocking the US. I don't think these folks travel much. FYI, the US is not the only nation with a culture that obsess over schools or has a a significant number of private schools. Schools like STA and GP were based on the British school model. Yes, that culture still exist in the UK. Ever heard of Eton and Warwick? France also is not immune. Ever travel to Latin America. Do you think anyone who can afford to does not send their kid to the top private schools? Ever been to Pakistan, Japan, China, or Australia. You will also find many parents in those countries who chose to send their kids to private schools. All this is done to ensure that their kids are prepared to enter the best schools in those countries. Like the US, this same culture exists in cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

After a few years of reading DCUM and reading blogs written by American moms with school aged children, I can say unequivocally that the Canadian school system is superior. You send your child to whatever public school you are zoned for, you don't have to wait in line to apply, you don't have to deal with testing your 3 year old or whatever people have to do to get in to elementary schools, and we all end up smart the system works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What Americans don't seem to get is that you can't all grow up to be lawyers and doctors. You over work your children and deny them their childhood, instead scheduling every free second with "enrichment" activities. And then you come post here when little Timmy, who really just wants to be a garbage man when he grows up, doesn't get into AAP or IB or whatever else. Cut your kids some slack.

We (Americans) don't actually all do this. Only the part of America with a lot of secondary education and an upper-middle-class income. Which happens to be the part of America that is over-represented on DCUM overall and enormously over-represented on DCUM's private school forum. It would be a mistake to think that DCUM is representative of real-life America.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm going to sidestep the Canada vs. Ugly Americans thing/socialism vs. capitalism thing going on in this thread, and try to answer your question. I grew up in Toronto. I went to public schools all the way through and did not know a soul who went to private school until I went to university. There just weren't many people who sent their kids to private schools at that time (1980s). I'm sure things are different these days though.

My understanding from my friends who still live in Toronto is that the "big deal" private schools in Toronto are Upper Canada College, Bishop Strachan, St. Michael's, and the University of Toronto School (UTS). Of all of these schools, Upper Canada College is the only one I knew about when I was growing up because it was the school where wealthy politicians sent their children. At that time UTS was still I think a public school that you had to test to get into -- I believe that now it is a private school but you may still have to test to get into UTS.

Also, please be careful of folks on this board who are knocking the US. I don't think these folks travel much. FYI, the US is not the only nation with a culture that obsess over schools or has a a significant number of private schools. Schools like STA and GP were based on the British school model. Yes, that culture still exist in the UK. Ever heard of Eton and Warwick? France also is not immune. Ever travel to Latin America. Do you think anyone who can afford to does not send their kid to the top private schools? Ever been to Pakistan, Japan, China, or Australia. You will also find many parents in those countries who chose to send their kids to private schools. All this is done to ensure that their kids are prepared to enter the best schools in those countries. Like the US, this same culture exists in cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm going to sidestep the Canada vs. Ugly Americans thing/socialism vs. capitalism thing going on in this thread, and try to answer your question. I grew up in Toronto. I went to public schools all the way through and did not know a soul who went to private school until I went to university. There just weren't many people who sent their kids to private schools at that time (1980s). I'm sure things are different these days though.

My understanding from my friends who still live in Toronto is that the "big deal" private schools in Toronto are Upper Canada College, Bishop Strachan, St. Michael's, and the University of Toronto School (UTS). Of all of these schools, Upper Canada College is the only one I knew about when I was growing up because it was the school where wealthy politicians sent their children. At that time UTS was still I think a public school that you had to test to get into -- I believe that now it is a private school but you may still have to test to get into UTS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, Happy to hear. Now please keep your smarties-eating, molson-drinking, crack-smoking ass in that frozen tundra up North that you call a nation. I am still trying to figure out what value you have added to the world besides producing Gretzky and providing us a few weeks of comedy relief with that clown of a mayor you have in Toronto. When you can choose either French or English as an official language, we will allow you to comment on our school system. In the meantime, I will be sure to show my appreciation to you the next time I hit Whistler, the only place in Canada worth visiting.

This is a typical American emotional response when unable to respond intelligently. And I'm an American.

Jackass, I thought the response was quite intelligent. BTW, there is no typical American response. Also, who the hell are you to say that you are American? Aren't the Canadians Americans too? How about that, a typical liberal response -- Thought you were trying to defend our neighbors to the north but instead offended every other non-US citizen of the Americas by presuming that you are American and they are not. I hate liberals and I am a "Conservative."

In the meantime, no one responded to OP's question.

Well, here's my response. OP, this is an example of what you'll find in DC private schools along with a host of other personalities. Although, most may not be as extreme, volatile, and annoying as PP who is a self-proclaimed conservative (which is okay, everybody stands for something), they are well represented along with independent, liberals, etc.

PP does not speak for everyone and neither does anyone else who has posted including myself. So, there you have it. You will encounter all sorts of people with all sorts of opinions.

And I guarantee, OP, that if anyone were to recommend a particular DC/MD/VA school, PP would assume the position of the ultimate authority on every named school. You know the type. Take school opinions for what they are. Best to contact particular schools for more information. DCUM is NOT the best place to obtain information.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What Americans don't seem to get is that you can't all grow up to be lawyers and doctors. You over work your children and deny them their childhood, instead scheduling every free second with "enrichment" activities. And then you come post here when little Timmy, who really just wants to be a garbage man when he grows up, doesn't get into AAP or IB or whatever else. Cut your kids some slack.

We (Americans) don't actually all do this. Only the part of America with a lot of secondary education and an upper-middle-class income. Which happens to be the part of America that is over-represented on DCUM overall and enormously over-represented on DCUM's private school forum. It would be a mistake to think that DCUM is representative of real-life America.

I think the reality is though that a forum in Canada with a population of post secondary education and upper middle class incomes would be very different than DCUM. There still wouldn't be the same pressures or expectations. There is a different philosophy towards life, balance and education in Canada that shapes how even the educated, richer people think and act. It is a different educational culture. The people who are more like typical DCUMers are the elite rich socialites in Canada - they don't live or interact with the rest of the population. They go to private schools and live a high society life, interacting mostly with each other.

Yes. I wrote the original quoted post here ("What Americans don't seem to get..."). I grew up in a very rich neighborhood (apparently last year was rated the most expensive neighborhood in BC's lower mainland, including Vancouver, in terms of house prices) and NEVER encountered the kinds of attitudes you see on DCUM. Same HHI's and SES, very different approach to education and life in general. The attitude is just different up north.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, Happy to hear. Now please keep your smarties-eating, molson-drinking, crack-smoking ass in that frozen tundra up North that you call a nation. I am still trying to figure out what value you have added to the world besides producing Gretzky and providing us a few weeks of comedy relief with that clown of a mayor you have in Toronto. When you can choose either French or English as an official language, we will allow you to comment on our school system. In the meantime, I will be sure to show my appreciation to you the next time I hit Whistler, the only place in Canada worth visiting.

This is a typical American emotional response when unable to respond intelligently. And I'm an American.

Jackass, I thought the response was quite intelligent. BTW, there is no typical American response. Also, who the hell are you to say that you are American? Aren't the Canadians Americans too? How about that, a typical liberal response -- Thought you were trying to defend our neighbors to the north but instead offended every other non-US citizen of the Americas by presuming that you are American and they are not. I hate liberals and I am a "Conservative."

In the meantime, no one responded to OP's question.