Regents School of Austin vs. other private schools (Andrews, Robinson: fit in, how much)

[FueledByBlueBell]

Any thoughts on Lake Travis?

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by FuledbyBlueBell

Any thoughts on Lake Travis?

It's a little low....in kind of a drought this year.

[runnermom75]

Several people asked about City School. My children were there for three years, and it was a wonderful experience! It is a small, unpretentious school that has a very rich and rigorous curriculum. They follow the Charlotte Mason method, which places a heavy emphasis on the arts and nature study. The school offers preK through 8th grade. The curriculum includes artist, composer, and poetry study, Spanish, music, drama, a great PE program, library, nature study, field trips, and many other things. I know that the whole school uses Saxon math, but beyond that, I'm not sure what other textbooks are used.
For a private school the student body is quite diverse, both ethnically and economically, as about half the school receives some level of financial assistance. Kids come from all parts of Austin. The teachers seem to love their jobs and to really care about their students. I highly recommend City School.

[Regents Student]

I actually attend Regents and happened to run across this thread. I mainly joined just to discount what forgone said earlier in the thread.

So, here's my opinion:

Nothing forgone said has applied in my experience, as Regents actually encourages discussion in every humanities class (and math/science for that matter). This "harkness table" system is very similar to what you will hear about at colleges across the country when they try to sell small, discussion based classes.

Every class is under 20 students, and during all humanities periods (and even in my language classes), we sit in a big circle and discuss a wide variety of topics. No one is grilled for their beliefs. In fact, oftentimes those who disagree with the class' common opinion are awarded with a better "participation grade" as they usually end up participating more while defending their stance against their peers.

I am utterly confused by his statements relating Regents to protestantism, as it is not tied to any denomination (this is allowed by us running a school separate from any church unlike hyde park-that is the only example Im sure of, but I believe St. Andrews, St. Michaels, etcetera are affiliated with single churches).

If you have any questions, please ask.

[Regents Student]

I must also respectfully disagree with those that claim that Regents students struggle in Mathematics. In fact, maths and sciences are my strongest subjects when it comes to standardized testing, so I would say that math and science really is not a struggle whatsoever. If you doubt this, please tell me and I can post some scores, but I guarantee you that it is not because I am a weak writer.

As I said, if you would like, I can send you my PSAT for this year (Sophomore), but I scored in the top 99th percentile of high school juniors on that test

[redwood92]

I went to Regents and currently attend a top 20 university. My university required that I take a writing course my first semester, and while my peers were struggling to get even B's, I received all A's. My professor was astonished at my writing capabilities and the way my school (Regents) had prepared me to form and articulate arguments. At Regents, I was considered an average writer.

Just some direct proof to contradict a few of the statements above.

[conversegirl13]

I go to Veritas Academy. I really enjoy it! My teachers are the best I've ever had, and I love the scheduling set up for the high school. There are lots of athletic opportunities and fine arts programs that the school offers.
As far as the science/evolution question goes, the school teaches the theory of evolution but does not support it. They allow us to hold our own beliefs no matter what the topic and we have great discussions in most classes.

I used to attend City School as well and didn't like it at all. The school was very small and I only had ten kids in my class at the most. I didn't like my teacher one year because he could be confusing- teach one thing but demonstrate another, and was always changing the rules and confusing me and my class mates. One year in P.E. all we did was run up a hill, down a hill, and run laps. We had game day once a month. The school also didn't have a drama or music class this year becasue the school could not afford to have a teacher. I didn't like the Charlotte Mason set up either.
We also had to take part in Art, Music, Drama, and P.E.. I only partially enjoyed art and Drama, and even then only a little. I didn't have a very goo experience with this school.
They are also not going to be haveing a seventh and eighth grade in the coming school year, 2011-2012- something to consider as well.
Overall, I really recommend Veritas Academy. Reestration starts the 1st week of March I believe so if you're interested you might want to get a move on looking into it.

[Raskolnikov]

This is an old thread, and I started it. Funny to see its still going. My child now has attended Regents for 2 years and we absolutely love it. The teachers are great, the curriculum is top notch and our child is thriving. It's the best choice we ever made as far as he's concerned. The school has surpassed my expectations on basically every level. The parents have to be very involved which might be a turn off to some. The postings about a closeminded environment are nonsense, we haven't seen that AT ALL.

[MaryleeII]

I really don't belong on this thread, being totally unfamiliar with any of these schools.

But Saxon Math caught my eye. Its so overrated! I homeschooled my son for 5th grade, we tried using Saxon math and went to other materials. I detested the whole method! Basically, they use the "spiral method" although it sounds good in theory, it doesn't give a kid enough drill.

They start each and every lesson by reviewing previous material, sort of a warm-up. Then they introduce new material, then finish by going back to review old material. the idea is not to stress the poor little darlings. start off with something they know so they can ease into the day's lesson, then gradually slip a new concept in. Then, give 2-3 problems on the new concept, then, oh, my little darlings are now stressed---quick, stop teaching, go back to the already rehashed-to-death topics.

My son wasn't learning anything, just constant review of the SOS. Saxon Math is more worried about not stressing kids than teaching them anything beyond 3rd grade level. I don't understand why it gets such high reviews, just my opinion. I would seriously NOT consider a private school that uses that method!

[centralaustinite]

Most private schools today have moved on to Singapore Math! Including many mentioned upthread, this is a very old thread. Singapore is very different from Saxon. Saxon gained fame because of its popularity with homeschoolers. Singapore Math is adapted from the math program of Singapore which produces the very highest math scores in the world (until 2011 when it was passed by Shanghi)