Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the number of kids involved in all of this is statistically significant so I really wouldn't waste brain power trying to draw conclusions. Particularly since not every kid wears their school on their sleeves (literally) so there might be Fieldston kids you are not aware of. Dalton and Collegiate kids seem to be the ones who advertise it the most.

Oh they definitely know where the other kids go - I'm wiling to concede it's a small statistical sample, but I'm pretty sure she knows the school that every classmate around her age in every class/activity goes to. (at least she seems to think she does) "What school do you go to" is one of the first things kids ask each other in a new group.

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the number of kids involved in all of this is statistically significant so I really wouldn't waste brain power trying to draw conclusions. Particularly since not every kid wears their school on their sleeves (literally) so there might be Fieldston kids you are not aware of. Dalton and Collegiate kids seem to be the ones who advertise it the most.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's odd. My kids interact with lots of Fieldston kids through sports and religious school. It is actually one of the most common private schools they intersect with. We are on the UWS, so it makes sense since Ethical draws a lot from here.

Weird. We’re UES so that might help explain it (though I don’t know why Fieldston would be uniquely rare among the Hill schools) but she’s neither sporty nor religious so it could also just be that Fieldston kids aren’t that into the arts.

Anonymous wrote:That's odd. My kids interact with lots of Fieldston kids through sports and religious school. It is actually one of the most common private schools they intersect with. We are on the UWS, so it makes sense since Ethical draws a lot from here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does everyone hate on Fieldston? I’ve noticed it not just on this forum but within my broader social circle too. I went to an Ivy for undergrad with plenty of incredibly smart Fieldston kids (granted that was almost 20 years ago), so I’m genuinely trying to understand what has changed.

Anecdotal, but my teenager does a bunch of activities outside of school - ice skating, dance, music, theater - and while she's encountered kids from Riverdale / HM / Dalton / Spence / Chapin / Brearley (and of course a bunch of public schools like Bronx Science and LaGuardia), she has yet to ever meet a kid from Fieldston at any of them.

Anonymous wrote:Why does everyone hate on Fieldston? I’ve noticed it not just on this forum but within my broader social circle too. I went to an Ivy for undergrad with plenty of incredibly smart Fieldston kids (granted that was almost 20 years ago), so I’m genuinely trying to understand what has changed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think St. David’s is necessarily harder to get into than Buckley. But since Buckley places such a strong emphasis on athletics, the pool naturally narrows to families who really want that focus. For St. David’s, I’ve noticed that many Jewish or non-Christian families choose not to apply for religious reasons.

They’re all good schools, but I do think each child has a school that’s the right fit for them. After our St. David’s tour, we actually decided to withdraw our application. The overall atmosphere and the way the students carried themselves didn’t feel like the right fit for our child, and something about the environment felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable to us.

Can you say more about the way students carried themselves?

Np, but we loved the vibe at Saint David's. It felt structured, but everyone seemed so happy to be there. At Saint Bernard's, the boys appeared tired and stressed, and the faculty traumatized by recent scandal. A couple alluded to this in a not-so-veiled way. At the other extreme, Allen Stevenson felt like a party. We didn't tour Buckley.

I have heard great things about the current head of school at St. B. And the long term network there is second to none. I know several older alums who are still very close to their classmates, and, more importantly, have strong relationships fostered through St. B's with people who were several years above or below them. If one St. B's alum reaches out to another, even if they were decades apart, they will take the call.

That being said, I know some people who went there who were not thrilled with how they exmitted.

What is a bad or mediocre exmission result there? What percentage are getting great exmission results and how does it compare to other boys K-8 schools

I think most St. B's kids get great results and it is by far the best all boys school. But I know of a few who didn't get what they wanted. And they were being realistic, but saying "Collegiate or bust" or something like that. What they ended up with wasn't horrible, just somewhat disappointed.

I agree that, of the boys' schools, Saint Bernard's is the most rigorous and has the best exmissions. Some of the difference between St. B's and the other schools, though, is due to (i) the number of boys there with legacy at elite high schools, and (ii) the fact that they actively push out boys who won't exmit well. They're pretty open about the fact that not every boy will make it all the way through their program. If your son can hack it, I absolutely think it's the best education that NYC has to offer. Choosing It's a bit scary though, because who knows what even the brightest kindergartener will be like in the 6th grade...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think St. David’s is necessarily harder to get into than Buckley. But since Buckley places such a strong emphasis on athletics, the pool naturally narrows to families who really want that focus. For St. David’s, I’ve noticed that many Jewish or non-Christian families choose not to apply for religious reasons.

They’re all good schools, but I do think each child has a school that’s the right fit for them. After our St. David’s tour, we actually decided to withdraw our application. The overall atmosphere and the way the students carried themselves didn’t feel like the right fit for our child, and something about the environment felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable to us.

Can you say more about the way students carried themselves?

Np, but we loved the vibe at Saint David's. It felt structured, but everyone seemed so happy to be there. At Saint Bernard's, the boys appeared tired and stressed, and the faculty traumatized by recent scandal. A couple alluded to this in a not-so-veiled way. At the other extreme, Allen Stevenson felt like a party. We didn't tour Buckley.

I have heard great things about the current head of school at St. B. And the long term network there is second to none. I know several older alums who are still very close to their classmates, and, more importantly, have strong relationships fostered through St. B's with people who were several years above or below them. If one St. B's alum reaches out to another, even if they were decades apart, they will take the call.

That being said, I know some people who went there who were not thrilled with how they exmitted.

What is a bad or mediocre exmission result there? What percentage are getting great exmission results and how does it compare to other boys K-8 schools

I think most St. B's kids get great results and it is by far the best all boys school. But I know of a few who didn't get what they wanted. And they were being realistic, but saying "Collegiate or bust" or something like that. What they ended up with wasn't horrible, just somewhat disappointed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think St. David’s is necessarily harder to get into than Buckley. But since Buckley places such a strong emphasis on athletics, the pool naturally narrows to families who really want that focus. For St. David’s, I’ve noticed that many Jewish or non-Christian families choose not to apply for religious reasons.

They’re all good schools, but I do think each child has a school that’s the right fit for them. After our St. David’s tour, we actually decided to withdraw our application. The overall atmosphere and the way the students carried themselves didn’t feel like the right fit for our child, and something about the environment felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable to us.

Can you say more about the way students carried themselves?

Np, but we loved the vibe at Saint David's. It felt structured, but everyone seemed so happy to be there. At Saint Bernard's, the boys appeared tired and stressed, and the faculty traumatized by recent scandal. A couple alluded to this in a not-so-veiled way. At the other extreme, Allen Stevenson felt like a party. We didn't tour Buckley.

I have heard great things about the current head of school at St. B. And the long term network there is second to none. I know several older alums who are still very close to their classmates, and, more importantly, have strong relationships fostered through St. B's with people who were several years above or below them. If one St. B's alum reaches out to another, even if they were decades apart, they will take the call.

That being said, I know some people who went there who were not thrilled with how they exmitted.

What is a bad or mediocre exmission result there? What percentage are getting great exmission results and how does it compare to other boys K-8 schools

I think most St. B's kids get great results and it is by far the best all boys school. But I know of a few who didn't get what they wanted. And they were being realistic, but saying "Collegiate or bust" or something like that. What they ended up with wasn't horrible, just somewhat disappointed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who wants to schlep to Westchester for elementary school? And if you live in Westchester, the public schools tend to be really good so why waste money on private?

There are plenty of Westchester towns with cheaper housing and crappier schools and it's not at all unreasonable to live in one of those and send your kids to private school.

Anonymous wrote:Who wants to schlep to Westchester for elementary school? And if you live in Westchester, the public schools tend to be really good so why waste money on private?

Anonymous wrote:We ended up at Hudson Country School for Elementary and Middle School in Westchester. It's been amazing - small class size and very individualized learning too! HIGHLY recommend if you have a kid that likes to deep dive on subjects, is at above grade level in certain topics but not others, it really has helped my daughter excel at math and sciences while she can jump ahead in english and not get bored. Its a perfect balance www.hudsoncountry.org

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think St. David’s is necessarily harder to get into than Buckley. But since Buckley places such a strong emphasis on athletics, the pool naturally narrows to families who really want that focus. For St. David’s, I’ve noticed that many Jewish or non-Christian families choose not to apply for religious reasons.

They’re all good schools, but I do think each child has a school that’s the right fit for them. After our St. David’s tour, we actually decided to withdraw our application. The overall atmosphere and the way the students carried themselves didn’t feel like the right fit for our child, and something about the environment felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable to us.

Can you say more about the way students carried themselves?

Np, but we loved the vibe at Saint David's. It felt structured, but everyone seemed so happy to be there. At Saint Bernard's, the boys appeared tired and stressed, and the faculty traumatized by recent scandal. A couple alluded to this in a not-so-veiled way. At the other extreme, Allen Stevenson felt like a party. We didn't tour Buckley.

I have heard great things about the current head of school at St. B. And the long term network there is second to none. I know several older alums who are still very close to their classmates, and, more importantly, have strong relationships fostered through St. B's with people who were several years above or below them. If one St. B's alum reaches out to another, even if they were decades apart, they will take the call.

That being said, I know some people who went there who were not thrilled with how they exmitted.

What is a bad or mediocre exmission result there? What percentage are getting great exmission results and how does it compare to other boys K-8 schools