Opinions on Prep Schools

Temperantia
Fri, 01 Jun 2018 14:23:05 +0000

Now an opinion on Hotchkiss, where two of my kids attend. The kids are friendly and they have great school spirit especially with regard to their rival, Taft. These schools are very much alike with Taft having a slightly more sporty reputation and Hotchkiss having a slightly more academic one but the differences are on the margins. Hotchkiss kids tend to be self-driven and while they don’t generally compete academically with their peers they set high standards for themselves which often results in some academic intensity. The arts, and music in particular, are very strong. While all schools have some academic support, Hotchkiss expects kids to advocate for themselves and act independently. Lights out and class attendance, relative to other schools, are loosely enforced. Other schools are more structured and have a more robust safety net. Hotchkiss has its own farm and much of the food in the dining hall is sourced there and from other surrounding farms. The food is better than most, I’m told, but after a while it becomes repetitive. There are no obvious divides between the wealthy and the kids on financial aid nor the boarding and day students. Colleges do know the school but I think that the benefit of that may be more pronounced in the bottom 1/2 of the class. Top students do well with placement at “elite” colleges but the same can be said for top students who attend top publics.