Anyone have experience at both Kealing Magnet and Paragon Prep? (Austin: 2013, neighborhood)

[northcentralmom]

My son is at Paragon for 5th grade now, and we like it.

But my nephews went to Kealing and loved it. So we're trying to figure out whether to try to move him for 6th.

My son is happy at Paragon but has heard about the great electives and cool projects they do at Kealing, so he's interested in that. Just because of its size, Paragon doesn't offer as much variety. But the kids do get to do cool projects within their regular classes.

I would prefer Paragon at this point but would like to know if anyone has a child who attended both and what the differences were.

Thanks!

[blakely]

Haven't had kids at both schools, but know both well.

First of all, they are both excellent schools. Both very rigorous. The middle school teaching staff at Paragon is among the best. Your kid will have basically completed most of high school Biology I after completing the science curriculum. In fact, all of the core subjects are strong. But Kealing also has a very rigorous academic program.

I do think you've correctly pointed out one of the key academic differences....Kealing has many more electives and some very cool ones at that. Paragon doesn't have many electives at all. There is no music program. Is your child interested in band or orchestra? Then that would be an issue (unless you did private lessons).

So, I think it would depend on your kid (and you) and how important those elective courses and programs are to you. Of course, there is still high school to take electives.

Paragon is also smaller. Again, a personal decision about the best fit for your child.

Good luck with your decision.

[austinnerd]

This somewhat dovetails with the other thread on "are public schools that bad?".

As blakely mentions, a huge part of the difference really boils down to the type of environment you want your kid in. Paragon is a small private school with relatively small class sizes and little overall infrastructure. Kealing is a public school, larger class sizes, but with public school infrastructure. Other than the amount of homework, the biggest complaint about Kealing that I've heard (we have several friends whose kids go/have gone to Kealing) is that a kiddo coming from private schools might have a hard time adjusting to the larger more "diverse" student population. Of course this depends a lot on the kid, I definitely know some parents who consider the diversity a major plus (but from the kids perspective it can be quite the radical paradigm shift).

So really the question becomes, do you want a smaller more intimate setting or do you prefer a larger school with more infrastructure. One thing to help you decide might be to think about where your kiddo is likely to go to high school. If you are thinking about going to a public high school (e.g. LASA), it might be worthwhile to expose them to the larger setting now, plus a lot of the Kealing kids go to LASA so they'll be able to make friends now. Then again, Paragon has a close relationship with the IB program at Anderson High, so if that's something you are considering, or perhaps a private high school, then Paragon might be just the ticket.

Another thing to consider is that if your child has expressed interest in specific extracurriculars and/or projects is to bring it up with Dave at Paragon and perhaps they can find a way to work it in. Remember, depending on your own schedule and budget (and your childs skill/motivation), many extracurriculars are often served better by private instruction (e.g. music) or at the very least available outside of the school environment.

[centralaustinite]

Austinnerd has some excellent insights! So much depends on the "fit" between your child and the school. I have close friends with kids at both Kealing and Paragon. We considered Kealing for my oldest and I looked at it closely.

Kealing moves fast and is designed for kids who are strong in all subjects. Kids who competitive and self-motivated do well. You can dig down in the Kealing magnet website and get a sense of their assignments and how they grade. Lots of rubrics, lots of structure.

Paragon (along with St. Francis School) send more kids to LASA than any other private school in Austin (about 6-7 a year), so your kid will be well-prepared for LASA if you are looking at that. I have known kids who "burned out" on the fast pace of Kealing. I have spoken to staff at LASA who said they planned to send their kids to private middle school instead to avoid this. You don't want their best academic work to be in middle school and they are exhausted by high school. Again, you need to know your child. I know kids who are perfectly suited to Kealing and took to it like a fish to water.

One other thing, you can pretty much only apply to Kealing magnet for 6th grade, if you go and don't like it, you can probably go back to Paragon. It is much harder (maybe even impossible) to switch to Kealing after 6th grade.

good luck!

[northcentralmom]

Thanks for the comments! I'm not worried about the pace or homework at Kealing. He was thrown in the deep end with Mr. Cash's 5th grade class, and he's risen to the challenge. From what I can tell, the pace at Paragon for 6th-8th won't be any less than at Kealing, although I have heard that 6th is somewhat less challenging than 5th at Paragon.

I think I'll show him the list of electives at Kealing, see which ones he's interested in and then look for private after-school or summer programs.

He's a quiet, very sweet kid, so a small school would probably be best. He went to a very diverse AISD elementary and has lots of friends from all walks of life, so I'm not worried about that. Diversity was one of the reasons we wanted to send him to our neighborhood school, but I realized that, for me, it doesn't trump academic challenge. And in that school's case, the academics are not challenging enough.

Thanks for helping me think this through!

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by northcentralmom

From what I can tell, the pace at Paragon for 6th-8th won't be any less than at Kealing, although I have heard that 6th is somewhat less challenging than 5th at Paragon.

One difference that I've noticed is that in the earlier grades at Paragon that there is a bit more guidance through the work. Once you hit 8th grade though, then the student is pretty much on their own. From observation (and an admittedly small sample at that), it seems like Kealing starts off more like Paragon 8th (the work comes hard and heavy and the students aren't "guided" through quite as much).

That actually is one of the things I like about Paragon, there is a very strong emphasis on preparing the student mentally vs just academically. For instance, they will very much stress how important it is to have an open line of communication with the teacher. Not just for the "usual stuff" (e.g. I don't understand X) but for other things like "you marked this wrong and I feel it's right". In other words they work on being a complete student, using resources, establishing student/teacher relationships, establishing good work habits, etc. From what I understand about Kealing, there isn't as much focus on those areas.

Just another potential area of differentiation.

[hillcountryheart]

Originally Posted by northcentralmom

I think I'll show him the list of electives at Kealing, see which ones he's interested in and then look for private after-school or summer programs.

Can't speak for Paragon, but between the bus ride and the homework, your kid will have little time for after-school activities at Kealing or elsewhere. The amount of homework required is really that high.

Summer programs? If your kid can qualify for Duke TIP scholar, they offer quite a few summer programs around the country.

[steve78757]

Originally Posted by northcentralmom

My son is at Paragon for 5th grade now, and we like it.

But my nephews went to Kealing and loved it. So we're trying to figure out whether to try to move him for 6th.

My son is happy at Paragon but has heard about the great electives and cool projects they do at Kealing, so he's interested in that. Just because of its size, Paragon doesn't offer as much variety. But the kids do get to do cool projects within their regular classes.

I would prefer Paragon at this point but would like to know if anyone has a child who attended both and what the differences were.

Thanks!

My daughter may be attending Paragon next year as a 6th grader. Can you tell me how many of hours of homework per night we would expect? Also, can you give an example of the math subjects that would be covered in 6th grade math there?

Thanks

Steve

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by steve78757

My daughter may be attending Paragon next year as a 6th grader. Can you tell me how many of hours of homework per night we would expect? Also, can you give an example of the math subjects that would be covered in 6th grade math there?

Thanks

Steve

I'm not sure that the OP is still on the boards to reply, best bet is to call the school and ask. Usually, by 6th grade, math is individualized. There would likely be a math placement test before school starts. Not sure what curriculum Paragon uses, if they do Singapore or if they move everyone into pre-algebra, in case, you need to hear the answers straight from the school, not second or third hand.

good luck!

[ilovesting]

My neighbor's youngest daughter went to Kealing last year and the pressure was over whelming both for the mom and especially the daughter. The homework I was told was over-kill leaving little or zero time for the young child to be a child. This young girl starting cutting herself as a result of other girls at Kealing picking on her and the overall pressure of competition. That information first hand was enough for me to not think twice about finalizing our decision to send our daughter to Paragon for her 6th grade year. She has attended Paragon since Fall 2013 and is doing well. Homework is challenging but not anything she can't handle as long as she puts the time in and thus many of their assignments turn out to be fun once it comes full circle. I love the teachers and staff. She has not been over loaded with homework so on average about 1.5 to 2 hours Monday - Thursday and a little at times on the weekend but generally it's been interesting and fun homework for her. I call Paragon the "Little Private School with a big Personality". I love and appreciate their work hard play hard motto and their philosophy on their teaching and learning style. To me it's been worth every penny. Oh, I love that they don't have "attitude" toward parents like some schools and teachers do. If one is thinking about Paragon - take the time to attend one of their information sessions. Don't let the look of their building fool you. It's one of those - don't judge the book by it's cover. My husband and I have said after a couple of the teacher/parent/student conference and start of school session "Wow, I wish I was young again and go to school here". Paragon is very Austinee. I believe if Steve Jobs were alive to know Paragon - he would give it a thumbs up! Paragon is that cool!