<p>Just a quick perusal of some facts about Belmont, MA:</p>
<p>$98K–median household income
$758K–median house/condo value
89.8% White Non-Hispanic in town’s racial make up</p>
<p>This is not your typical neighborhood in the US…</p>
<p>my school is exactly like that</p>
<p>Our school is in a pretty tourist town. There are wealthy summer people and retirees, but the town itself is very working class.</p>
<p>Every couple of years, out of a class of 80 or so, some outlier student gets into an Ivy or other top college. Many go to community or state college, a few in the military, firefighting, cosmetology, or working in the bank etc.</p>
<p>And, like farmgirl’s school, there have been buckets in the hallway to catch leaks when it rains, for several years now, the chemistry books are from 1983, and a history class gave each student a totally different textbook because the teacher picked up free remainders at some conference. </p>
<p>Guidance is awful, in terms of sending kids toward really good colleges, but is respectful of those who are not going to college at all, always including these kids when the GC is talking to parents and kids.</p>
<p>I frankly am glad my kids went to a school like this, and not one like the poster’s school (I am familiar with Belmont High). Our school is very low stress. Kids do not compete to get into schools (in fact, our kids refused to apply to any school where a friend really wanted to go, because there was no chance two kids could get in from the same school, here). Not a ton of work, either. </p>
<p>This gave our kids a chance to get a diploma with good grades, but still have the time and freedom to explore themselves and their interests, mostly outside of school. They grew a lot more in those 4 years than I did in my own teen years, going to a high pressure private.</p>
<p>I do think that in Belmont and other towns like it, the parental ability to provide activities outside of school (at a younger age) and then also provide funds, transportation and encouragement for following these “passions” might also be relevant. It is not always about the school.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am glad my kids did not go to a stressful school, and buckets in the hallway were an acceptable price for the relative sanity of the college admissions game in our community.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is part of what the original poster is getting at-?</p>