OP here, I guess we will have to wait to see what comes with the new head. We live in Maryland and have no plans to drive down to a big three for HS. Just care about the here and now.
Anyway, the question was not really answered.

We're one family that chose Norwood because it was K-8 and had an "all round" attitude to educating children (academics, arts, sports, etc.). We didn't apply to any of the big 3 or 5 or whatever, or any K-12s, for that matter. We are very confident that our kids will get into a great high school, but we didn't want to decide which one that would be yet. So, for all those saying that Norwood is the fallout place for all the 'rejects', you have at least one exception here. I have no idea about the other families - we don't talk to them about stuff like that!!

Getting back to the OP's question - I'm not yet sure how the new head will change things, but I was very impressed with his background and experience thus far. It's early days (pre early days, actually!).

I don't know why anyone listens to these random anonymous forums. They just seem to be fueled by nasty people with agendas. Talk to current parents and current students at open houses. Don't listen to innuendos from nameless posters.

I appreciate your clarification and do think the cohort you are specifying are precisely the "hard core" that schools like Norwood increasingly rely on -- particularly if the families are more interested (or neutral) about later returning to quality public high schools (including IB and magnets).

On the other hand, for families hell bent on private school all the way through high school, with K-12 schools rewarding the matriculants in early years with a future high school seat (in an environment of increasing competition for those seats) a game theorist would take the bird in hand rather than the two in the bush.

--Huck

This is the teacher, again. I should add, given the very high cost of tuition at independent schools I understand why some families want to wait. My "look at K-8" advice is only where the families are certain they want private education for elementary/middle school.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. There may be other reasons for why interest in K-8 may be diminishing in this neck of the woods having absolutely nothing to do with best fit for the child (at a particular stage of development, maturation and evolution). But, what do you expect when most of the exhalation here about education is about Big 3, top of line, best in class, en route to similar breast beatings about college of one's choice? With the $20-30K/child/year and rising tuition some families are reluctant to invest in an educational enterprise with assets poised to desert a sinking ship. And where will the graduates convene for their 25th reunion?

...Huck

I agree with you wholeheartedly. There may be other reasons for why interest in K-8 may be diminishing in this neck of the woods having absolutely nothing to do with best fit for the child (at a particular stage of development, maturation and evolution). But, what do you expect when most of the exhalation here about education is about Big 3, top of line, best in class, en route to similar breast beatings about college of one's choice? With the $20-30K/child/year and rising tuition some families are reluctant to invest in an educational enterprise with assets poised to desert a sinking ship. And where will the graduates convene for their 25th reunion?

In my opinion, it's too bad if people are moving away from K-8s. I am a high school teacher at a school that starts in the younger grades. When friends ask my advice, I always suggest they look at the K-8 option so that they have a better idea by high school where their child would be happy. If people are going away from K-8s because they are afraid that child will not be accepted to the most selective private schools, I worry that they are overlooking the issue of the best fit. The most prestigious school is not always the best choice (it should go without saying, but . . . .). Moreover, at our school there is no question the upper school gets more attention/focus in all areas. As a parent I'd want a school where the focus was more on the younger grades. Oh well, I guess this trend is good for the school I'm currently at . . .

I think it is ignorant to assume a family enrolls in a k to 8 only because they were not admitted to a k to 12. Different strokes for different folks. We only looked at k to 8.

Anonymous wrote:New poster. I don't understand why this bickering has gone on for five pages. Can't someone just take the 10 minutes needed to research the issue?

I just used the WayBackMachine to check Norwood's total enrollment for a few recent years. Here are the results:

522 enrolled in 2005
530 enrolled in 2008
528 enrolled in 2009
492 enrolled in 2011
454 enrolled in 2013

Seems to be dropping.

Others who are actually interested can fill in the gaps.
https://web.archive.org/web/*/www.norwoodschool.org

No shock there. K-8 as a whole is dropping. Look at Little Langley. It is dropping because going to a school with a HS is more desirable for most. Most of the families at schools like Norwood and Langley are those who got rejected by schools like Big 3, Potomac, etc.

Duly noted Jim.

I am sure the Norwood booster (s) appreciate (s) your support.

...Huck

Anonymous wrote:Thank you.

This is not NSA high level propriety data as claimed.

Now, one can begin to understand all the twisting and turning claims by biased Norwood boosters. Of note, I suspect the attrition and replacement numbers would make the story even more telling (numerators and denominators).

I think consumers of education (particularly "non-profit" and independent) ought to have this type of information. It may play a role in decision making. We use information like this every day before going under the knife, buying a car or picking a "non-profit" and independent college to attend.

Huck, while I agree that people should dig for information before making major decisions, your mocking references to "NSA ... proprietary data" is unfair. You seem to have suggested a few times in this thread that the school and its supporters are hiding this data and failing to be properly transparent. In reality, the data is easily found online. Just because you never made any effort to seek it out does not mean others were hiding it from you!

- Jim (@15:32)

...We are new to the area. Five or so years ago, we almost committed to sending our 2 children to St Francis (Potomac). We liked the leadership and their block education curriculum (particularly for math) so children were appropriately placed in math classes based on ability, accomplishments, and performance) and not age and grade. On revisits we discovered that while PK, K, and grade 1 were loaded there were less than 8 students in the graduating 5th grade classroom. There appeared to be important student attrition in the higher elementary grades. We instead opted for our local public school (later HGC and middle school magnet programs). Six to 9 months later we read in the Gazette about the merger of St Francis with St Andrews (Potomac area). In retrospect, we are happy we did not plunk down $50K for the 2 kids and went

with our gut regarding the viability of the school.

Any private school in this market unwilling to share (transparent) the numbers of students in their grades and graduating classes raises a huge red flag and should not deserve any attention in the education marketplace.

Are you then surprised there have been discussions about a merger in the past ... and most surely in future?

signed Huck Finn