<p>My daughter has just started at Parish Episcopal. It looks great in the younger grades but I’m concerned about high school and getting into college. Should I think about moving her for high school to Hockaday/ESD/Greenhill to maximize chances of admission to an Ivy?</p>
<p>This one of those times I wish the site would break open the cookie jar and get us good “emoticons”. I really need that little dude eating the popcorn and waiting for what happens next.</p>
<p>Do ■■■■■■ like popcorn?</p>
<p>No kidding! My well-educated belief is that Parish is the up and coming school and I would NOT move your child (if you are for real). Parish does not just accept the very top students, but is more balanced and less of a social pressure cooker. Trust me on this one. College acceptances are excellent and the students are going to the colleges which are the best fit for each student.</p>
<p>CC: The Movie.
The script: I’ve wanted [her] to go to Harvard since kindergarten. Admit [me] my kid!!
Cast: children 6-18.
Casting directors: parents.
Music: The Flight of the bumble bee (buzz, buzz…)
Audience market: Admissions committees
Estimated costs: Mucho moola.
Estimate profits: unknown.</p>
<p>Marite:
Rating on the above: two thumbs up! :D</p>
<p>I’ll wait for the DVD release.</p>
<p>I’ll be Roeper if you’ll be Siskel…</p>
<p>People, people, I am not sure why this question is not viewed as legitimate. </p>
<p>Fwiw. the discussions about the best path to the Ivy League are running every bit as hard in the public schools in DFW as in the world of the more prestigious private schools of St. Mark’s, Greenhill, or Hockaday. </p>
<p>This said, the search for the private school is a never ending quest, as plenty of newcomers and wannabes jockey to answer to the small army of families that did not receive the golden handshake from the big boys.</p>
<p>There is a reason behind the success of D Magazine coverage of schools:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dmagazine.com/Media/PublishingTitles/PrivateSchoolDirectory.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dmagazine.com/Media/PublishingTitles/PrivateSchoolDirectory.pdf</a></p>
<p>and </p>
<p>[How</a> To Shop for Private School | Articles - Multi | D Magazine – Dallas Fort Worth’s Resource for City Guides, Daily Blogs, D Bests, Restaurants, and Events Calendar](<a href=“http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=7155F7796F354F21B1183937D847D6DF&tier=4&id=55E585BCA03A4ECAA26FD7F09DDA84F6&AudID=29CB3DCAC7E94A08B642EC371FE6E70B]How”>http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=7155F7796F354F21B1183937D847D6DF&tier=4&id=55E585BCA03A4ECAA26FD7F09DDA84F6&AudID=29CB3DCAC7E94A08B642EC371FE6E70B)</p>
<p>PS Some people believe the die is cast by “choosing” the right Pre-K. :D</p>
<p>marite,</p>
<p>Sadly, the cast should include children 6 months (Baby Einstein tapes anyone?) to 18. If you start at age 6, you’re WAY behind!</p>
<p>Let’s face it: when selecting a mate, one should consider the legacy factor first.</p>
<p>Assuming this OP is legit, I will offer this. We live in a town dominated by private schools due to crummy public schools as a result of years of court fight turmoil and disruption. One family we are close to had their kids in the “best” Episcopal school in town, also the most expensive private school in town. That school decided to almost double its tuition. So what did our friends do? They sold their house and moved to Dallas. Bought a house in Frisco and put the kids in public school. Now they are happy as clams. They feel lucky to have a good public school system and are not asking the questions you are asking.</p>
<p>For us, we decided to do Catholic school as we are Catholic, even tho we agonized over the yuppie driven question of what’s the best private school. It’s not without its drawbacks, but anyone who is actually Ivy material can get in from a good Catholic school as easily as a more pricey Episcopal one. Same thing goes for a good public school. 20 years ago I wouldn’t have believed it, but it’s more about the kid than it is about the school. jmho.</p>
<p>mercymom:</p>
<p>I’m absolutely fine with people choosing to go to private schools (we even looked at some for our kids). It’s the idea of choosing a particular elementary school -private or public–with an eye to the Ivies that bothers me and some other posters. Perhaps Ivies in the OP’s mind stand for “excellent college education” but somehow, I’m not really sure.</p>
<p>curiousmother:
maybe we should start when they’re still in the womb and playing Mozart to them; sadly, Angelina just had her twins, otherwise she’d be perfect to play a big role in the movie.</p>
<p>I agree with you Marite. I’m not saying private schools are “bad”, but I looked at Ziggi’s links, and thought, whoa, my friends just moved to Dallas to avoid all this! And I really do think that a kid with Ivy potential can be served just as well in a public school or less “prestigious” private school than one that has a reputation for placing its students in the ivy league. Not to mention that maybe the best college experience for a particular kid is not one of the ivies. So perhaps we are saying the same thing. But I do agree with what you said.</p>
<p>otoh, maybe I’m just jealous we couldn’t afford the pricey Episcopal school ourselves. But seriously, I know kids who’ve gotten in Yale, MIT, Harvard, etc from a Catholic school, a public magnet school, etc. I really don’t think it matters all that much.</p>
<p>Actually, mercymom, I do know that in some areas, public schools ARE so bad that even the most die-hard supporters of public schools among some of my acquaintances could not think of sending their kids there. It’s really the Ivy-or- bust mentality that some of us are commenting on, not the choice of private (pricey or not) vs. public.</p>
<p>Presuming that this is a serious question…</p>
<p>Confession: I’m a Hockaday alumna.</p>
<p>It sounds trite, but I can’t really express what Hockaday did for me. It’s like a cross between a family and a breeding ground for intellectual courage. I will be forever indebted to what that school gave to me, and the school’s influence is ingrained in my character. I’ve watched the girls who were my sisters for so many years graduate from amazing colleges and go on to permeate all aspects of society, in any number of career paths. It’s breathtaking what we’ve achieved, and how close we still are as an alumnae community.</p>
<p>Lest you think I’m drinking Kool-Aid, there are, of course, aspects of the school that I’d love to change… I would NOT change the inspirational teachers. I <em>would</em> try to divert some funding away from the pampered athletics and fine arts departments (though I love them both dearly) and towards the math and science departments, particularly the science department, which has outgrown its building and isn’t really equipped to the gold standard of the rest of the school. (Throwing computers at the problem isn’t really a good solution!) Science and math are too often treated as an afterthought. </p>
<p>Also, kindergarteners don’t need a private yoga teacher. (Some aspects of the school made me gag a little. Being exposed to that much private-school-ness… Well, I can understand why people might say bad things.)</p>
<p>By and large, an incredible experience. I have several friends who transferred from Parish, and they all loved Hockaday. Let your daughter decide, if you have the financial means to pay for either. If she’s happy at Parish and doesn’t want to change schools, then why move her?
(But gosh, isn’t it just a little early to be perusing college forums…?)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is the perverse results from the quasi monopolistic organization of our school system. Parents are fleeing the large urban districts for the lure of the suburbs where tax revenues can support the country-club like high school everyone seems to want. The prices of the houses do reflect the “selectivity” of the new school districts and ensure that the SES undesirable stay away … all leading to the “correct” racial distribution of the enclave. In the meantime, parents who can afford to stay closer to the center of town AND stay away from the [blank]ISD send their kids to the more competitive private schools, and also to private schools that are NOT that competitive but selective in SES admissions. The public schools in turn continue to overspend, fail to attract the best teachers, and pretty much give up on the average students. Some are saved by the VERY good magnet schools, but most are not. </p>
<p>This could change if there were a truly and open competitive system where the families would be able to apply their “budget” to a school that fit their criteria. No, this does not mean that the “vouchers” would grant access to the St Mark’s and Greenhill in Dallas, but it would fuel the opening of many schools that would priced in the same range as public schools. With such system, there would be less of an exodus to the suburbs and both the private AND public schools would be forced to become or remain attractive. </p>
<p>Fwiw, we have been led to believe that a public system of education run by the government would eliminate or reduce the racial and SES separation and discrimination. The reality is that the opposite is true, and has been true for a long time. </p>
<p>Makes the jockeying for a spot at the Ivies … trivial!</p>
<p>For people who might not know, Parish Episcopal has only a very short history as a high school, as the school only extended its courses to a HS program in 2002 or 2003, probably in response to the high number of its graduates who failed to gain admission at the most sought-after private high schools or middle schools. </p>
<p>The school tuition charges are very similar to the most prestigious college preparatory high schools in Dallas. Tuition often establishes the selectivity.</p>
<p>
And as we know, xig, this works for colleges , too. Sad as it may seem.</p>
<p>I think it was the director of admissions at Sidwell Friends (DC private school which Chelsea Clinton attended) who claimed that she once got a call from a woman who said that she and her husband were thinking about having a child and they wanted to know how the child’s date of birth–spring, fall, etc.–would impact the child’s chances of admission to Sidwell. </p>
<p>That’s the worst I’ve heard.</p>