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<p>Have you ever LIVED in Vermont? I haven’t but I lived next door in NH. My city family and friends assumed most people in NH were “provincial” too. <em>I</em> lived there…and they were not. </p>
<p>I would agree that the Harker School is a fine private prep school.</p>
<p>Simple. </p>
<p>In the case of Texas, there is a system of direct admission to any public university. In practice, most people look at the two flagship schools, namely UT and TAMU. The system is based on the HS ranking and the number has historically been pegged at the top 10 percent. Since the ranking allows the use of a weighted system, parents have become experts in maximizing the weighted GPA by selecting classes with GPA boosts (honors, AP, etc) and avoiding classes that are not. The IB, in turn, offered the perfect vehicle because some schools accepted the notion that ALL classes in the program received the highest boost. Parents who found out also discovered that the safest path to a top 10% ranking would require participating in the IB program. Of course, the additional bonus that the IB program also offered the sought-after (and discriminatory) “school within a school” made the program especially attractive in a public education system.</p>
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<p>Not sure what I think of this.</p>
<p>Kajon: You might need to read the thread before getting the joke. (LOL)</p>
<p>sooz: I too had to learn about IB, and everything else I know for that matter:) The point is professional educators should be aware of all significant educational programs, they don’t have to use them but they should at least be aware.</p>
<p>I like to think of Vermont as a place with sophisticated, educated people living in beautiful farmhouse, love it! But NH, please don’t get me started. Talk to my Boston friends and they’ll have you believing every inbred moron in the country lives in NH. But hey Bostonians think everyone outside of Boston is an idiot.</p>
<p>In Boston it’s what professor you had, in Chicago it’s what school you went to, in California it’s what can you do!</p>
<p>or my favorite, the recommendation letter from a Boston attorney to a firm in California about what a great family the young man is from…the California company replied I just want to know if he can do the job, I don’t want to breed him!</p>
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<p>I have not read anyone who has said that Harker is not a very strong prep school!</p>
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<p>Has been exactly MY experience as well! :)</p>
<p>I feel pretty confident that many on this thread or on CC would not want their kids to attend our rural public school. That’s fine. The thing is, I think of my children as very well educated young adults. We value education highly. We also are glad our kids grew up in Vermont. We think it is a terrific place for children to grow up and then afterward, spread their wings, as they have, in other places.</p>
<p>I just gotta add that though some here may think of us here in VT as provincial “hicks” :)…</p>
<p>We are the first state to pass legislation for civil unions and the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation. We are only one of two states with an independent Senator. And since some seem to be into “rankings,” Vermont ranks third in the physical well-being of children, and ranked highest in the country for health outcomes, and the healthiest state to live in as well. Ranked second for safety. And while I don’t know the name of the study or rankings, apparently back in '05 and '06, VT was the “smartest state” and in '07 was ranked 2nd in high school graduation rates.</p>
<p>And of course, we have more cows than people and very fine maple syrup. :p</p>
<p>When I ride the ski lifts with tourists, an inevitable conversation goes like this:</p>
<p>Tourist on vacation: “Where are you from?”
Me: “I live here.”
Tourist: “You are so lucky!”</p>
<p>^^i’m sure it’s a nice place at your home.</p>
<p>many posters on this thread don’t believe in better, smarter, greater, etc…schools, towns, people are all the same to them. Vermont or NYC, rural high school or prep, all good all similar, all full of intelligent kids.</p>
<p>I gotta tell you that’s just not true. We have a thing out here in California rural schools called meth…let me tell you these schools, kids, and families are a mess. </p>
<p>And I know Vermont and NH has this problem and it’s getting worse everyday. And guess what they do not have meth problems at prep schools. they also don’t have meth problems in affluent communities, granted there are other problems but not meth. Meth is purely a rural problem and it’s big problem. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t want my kids going in to the same classroom or walking in the same halls with a rural meth head kid, period.</p>
<p>I don’t feel people are all the same, pacheight. I explained my view much earlier in this thread that I think prep schools have a higher concentration of top students than students in a rural public school like ours.</p>
<p>If you want to bring up drug problems…um, well, I know of story after story of kids being kicked out of boarding schools due to drugs. I also worked with a student who went to boarding school who got kicked out for alcohol incidents, the final one of which had a death resulting. Prep schools are not immune to that whole area. And when my kids got to very selective private colleges, they came into contact with wealthy kids who did drugs, many of whom went to prep schools, boarding schools, or grew up in affluent communities.</p>
<p>I don’t mind if my kid walks the halls with a druggie kid in our public high school. My kids tended to not be in classes with kids into those scenes. And their friends were not. </p>
<p>Also, I’m glad my kids went to school with kids from a range of socio-economic classes. It was more real world that way. They didn’t just mix with affluent kids. They know of other lifestyles and backgrounds. And they did not grow up with elitist attitudes or a competitive atmosphere or among those who had to have designer clothes, cars, vacations, colleges. So, we all don’t have the same value as you do when it comes to who our kids come in contact with.</p>
<p><<the ib,=“” in=“” turn,=“” offered=“” the=“” perfect=“” vehicle=“” because=“” some=“” schools=“” accepted=“” notion=“” that=“” all=“” classes=“” program=“” received=“” highest=“” boost.=“” parents=“” who=“” found=“” out=“” also=“” discovered=“” safest=“” path=“” to=“” a=“” top=“” 10%=“” ranking=“” would=“” require=“” participating=“” ib=“” program.=“”>></the></p>
<p>I am not convinced this happens across the board. I have sent a message to a friend with 2 kids in a Houston area IB program. I’ll let you know what she says. </p>
<p>My kids were in an IB program (Middle Years Program, including the first couple of years of high school) for 3 years when we were overseas. We all really liked the program and very much wanted to continue with IB, which they would have if we had stayed overseas. </p>
<p>But the logistics of doing it when we moved back to Houston were tough. We went back and forth about what to do. In the end, after many discussions and many bottles of wine, we decided to return to our old neighborhood and have them attend the high school they would have attended if we had never left. But, that meant trading IB for AP. </p>
<p>This basically screwed both my kids, in terms of GPA, as the district only gave weighted credit for the classes that THEY had pre-AP or AP classes for. So, Algebra I, the first 2 years of foreign language, general computer classes, general arts/music classes, etc (all done to IB level standards) - got no weighted points. It was very frustrating. They came in ahead of the curve in terms of academics, but behind the curve in terms of GPA.</p>
<p>For my oldest son (now a college freshmen) - that meant admission to a whole host of strong ENGR schools/programs (including honors colleges and good scholarships) - but a rejection from UT-Austin (which has the exact program he wants) because he wasn’t top 10%. </p>
<p>Now, he didn’t really care, because he knew early on that he wanted to go to Penn State and didn’t want to go to UT (and had NO interest in TAMU). But it was still just frustrating. </p>
<p>I’ll report back when I hear from my friend with IB kids (the oldest of which will be attending Stanford next year…blowing off the auto-admit to UT).</p>
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My D has had the same experience with her classmates, a tippy-top LAC.</p>
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<p>A RURAL area with a HS of 3500? Were kids travelling more than an hour to get to this school?</p>
<p>^^^LOL, I did not pick up on that. But what some people call “rural,” really is NOT. Our town has 1700 people in it. Our high school draws from many towns. The HS has about 600 students.</p>
<p>Rofl, pac height, at the supposition that prep schools are immune to drug issues.</p>
<p>pacheight…I read Playbill online daily. And I know you seem to have SOME connection to the acting world (have never said what that is) as you post on the Drama Majors forum. Well, coincidentally, after reading your post here on this thread this evening about your desire for your kids to not come in contact at school with meth users…I then read a brand new article on Playbill about the upcoming one-man musical in NYC, Methtacular!:</p>
<p>[Methtacular</a>!, a One-Man Musical Journey Through Addiction, Gets NYC Readings Jan. 31 - Playbill.com](<a href=“http://www.playbill.com/news/article/147142-Methtacular-a-One-Man-Musical-Journey-Through-Addiction-Gets-NYC-Readings-Jan-31]Methtacular”>http://www.playbill.com/news/article/147142-Methtacular-a-One-Man-Musical-Journey-Through-Addiction-Gets-NYC-Readings-Jan-31)</p>
<p>I wonder if the actor/writer went to prep school or public school??? (the musical chronicles his own addiction to meth…he was raised in Joysey…not exactly rural America)</p>
<p>Most rural HS in California have very large student bodies. Surprised you smart Vermonters wouldn’t know that:) we have more people in a lot of our counties than you have in your state</p>
<p>3000 is typical in rural counties…</p>
<p>Meth at a Lac or prep…ya right.</p>
<p>We’re talking about Meth…sooz tried to change the subject to alcohol and other drugs…Meth is a big problem in rural Vermont. And wanting your kids to be around it so they know the real world is stupid. And its bad parenting</p>