Kirby Hall Private school? (Austin, Andrews: chapel, private schools, live)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My son is at KHS in kindergarten and we are gnashing our teeth about the future. Let me list the positive attributes and then the negatives.
Pros: VERY small class size: his class has ten students. His teacher is fantastic. It's her first year there and she has been a treat-she has an education degree from UT and it is obvious. She thinks a lot about how to enrich the children-outside the KHS parameters. I think so highly of her that I wish she would leave the restraining curriculum. On MLK day (which they did NOT get off, but they do get "Victoria Day" off, whatever that is), his teacher spent a lot of time talking about MLK and Rosa Parks. My son came home with a lot of questions and I know he thought more about MLK than the kids who had the day off. The other kids are terrific with one exception, which I'll address in a moment. My son's reading has skyrocketed this year and he is easily doing first grade work. His teacher even reduced the amount of homework on her own because she thought kids should be flexible with their learning styles. LOVE her.
Cons: Yes, the admin. is strange but I've stayed under the radar so I've not been affected. I've heard stories, though, that are similar to those here. One child was 'removed' because his Hindi parents questioned the amount of evangelical Christianity the teacher was bringing to the classroom. Yes, the school backed the teacher and removed an intelligent, sweet child (they used the excuse that he was disruptive!!!!) Remember when I referred to terror child above? She is a huge bully but hasn't been asked to leave. Go figure. I am VERY offended to read about the MLK and Langston Hughes stories. My son's teacher taught a lot about MLK that day and I was very happy but still saddened that the school chose not to honor him on his holiday. The financials are weird-they talk about building a new gym but it seems kind of slapdash. I may be wrong because, again, I fly under the radar. There is ZERO parental involvement in terms of parents' council or anything like that. Parents have no say in anything, there is no board of trustees to bounce issues off of, there is no accountability. If my son didn't love his friends so much, we would probably leave.
My son is at KHS in kindergarten and we are gnashing our teeth about the future. Let me list the positive attributes and then the negatives.
Pros: VERY small class size: his class has ten students. His teacher is fantastic. It's her first year there and she has been a treat-she has an education degree from UT and it is obvious. She thinks a lot about how to enrich the children-outside the KHS parameters. I think so highly of her that I wish she would leave the restraining curriculum. On MLK day (which they did NOT get off, but they do get "Victoria Day" off, whatever that is), his teacher spent a lot of time talking about MLK and Rosa Parks. My son came home with a lot of questions and I know he thought more about MLK than the kids who had the day off. The other kids are terrific with one exception, which I'll address in a moment. My son's reading has skyrocketed this year and he is easily doing first grade work. His teacher even reduced the amount of homework on her own because she thought kids should be flexible with their learning styles. LOVE her.
Cons: Yes, the admin. is strange but I've stayed under the radar so I've not been affected. I've heard stories, though, that are similar to those here. One child was 'removed' because his Hindi parents questioned the amount of evangelical Christianity the teacher was bringing to the classroom. Yes, the school backed the teacher and removed an intelligent, sweet child (they used the excuse that he was disruptive!!!!) Remember when I referred to terror child above? She is a huge bully but hasn't been asked to leave. Go figure. I am VERY offended to read about the MLK and Langston Hughes stories. My son's teacher taught a lot about MLK that day and I was very happy but still saddened that the school chose not to honor him on his holiday. The financials are weird-they talk about building a new gym but it seems kind of slapdash. I may be wrong because, again, I fly under the radar. There is ZERO parental involvement in terms of parents' council or anything like that. Parents have no say in anything, there is no board of trustees to bounce issues off of, there is no accountability. If my son didn't love his friends so much, we would probably leave.
Hence, the gnashing of teeth...
Great post. First hand, balanced & informative. Thanks for sharing.
I attended Kirby Hall from 5th grade to 11th (my graduation)
Here are some things to know about Kirby hall
- Small Class Sizes- through this may seem like a great thing during my years this did not always lead to the kind of one-on-one instruction that you would expect with smaller class sizes.
-One way of teaching- as said in previous reviews they don't seem to branch out with their teaching methods. Most teachers were book and homework based. There was very little student-centered instruction it was all teacher-centered.
-If your child is GT an "out-of-the-box" thinker then this is not the school for you. During math classes we were not rewarded for the right answer (although that was a part of it) we were rewarded for solving the problem the correct way. We were penalized for not following the formula given in class even if the answer was correct. There is one way to solve these problems only. Any teacher worth their weight knows that any way to solve a problem as long as it always yield the correct result is wonderful. Most of us love seeing that new imaginative way.
-Teacher turn over rate- is high. There are some teachers that have been there for ever. Senor De llata in particular is great as is Mr. Rumrich (history) however the rest of the time it felt we had a new teacher every year that didn't know anything about the last year. Teachers first years can be a bit wobbly instruction wise without the previous teachers curriculum which they never seemed to have.
-Teachers don't have to be certified. Now in some cases the uncertified teachers have been wonderful. They were born to teach and didn't need that silly piece of paper. Other times you could see them start to flounder and drown a few weeks into the year.
High school- I ran out of classes to take by my 11th grade year I had no choice but to graduate. Did I feel prepared to enter UT? NO. The High school, though once a great place and I am hearing that it's had a bit of an upward turn recently, was a joke. We were forgotten about and left upstairs in the senior lounge to hang out. Some of our classes were a joke. One class I remember we got study hall 3 times a week. We just hung out and talked.
-Those that succeed at this school are those that would succeed anywhere. If
your child has no learning disabilities and can pick things up quickly they will do great. However, if you need that little bit extra the only advice from the school will be to get a tutor. I ended up tutoring kindergarten students with their reading. Neither one had any major problems they just couldn't use the phonetic method. Most teachers would have recognized this and tried a different method (personally I had trouble with the phonetic method and i was a UT Education Junior) however these students were made to attend tutoring instead.
-Certain parents have to much say. The administration does listen to parents if they shout long and loud enough. There are certain parent (during my day) that were running the school because the made themselves a pain. The teachers were told to listen to the parents and this lead to situations such as the MLK jr. incident and such
I have told you everything from my point of view and am glad to be proven wrong on some points. After reading reviews on other sites that were either written my teachers of Kirby Hall or their children including some of the bad ones. I decided to write this account of the school as truthfully as I could. I have given enough details so that the administration know who I am. I am a Certified Teacher. I hope to begin teaching in Pflugerville this coming school year. Any questions about his school both the good and bad point
I will try to answer truthfully.
About when did you attend? It sounds like shortly after my son graduated, and things were already going downhill at that point.
There was a time when it was a school specifically FOR GT "out of the box" students - that's why the school was started in the first place, to provide a place for those students.
I attended Kirby Hall from 5th grade to 11th (my graduation)
Here are some things to know about Kirby hall
- Small Class Sizes- through this may seem like a great thing during my years this did not always lead to the kind of one-on-one instruction that you would expect with smaller class sizes.
-One way of teaching- as said in previous reviews they don't seem to branch out with their teaching methods. Most teachers were book and homework based. There was very little student-centered instruction it was all teacher-centered.
-If your child is GT an "out-of-the-box" thinker then this is not the school for you. During math classes we were not rewarded for the right answer (although that was a part of it) we were rewarded for solving the problem the correct way. We were penalized for not following the formula given in class even if the answer was correct. There is one way to solve these problems only. Any teacher worth their weight knows that any way to solve a problem as long as it always yield the correct result is wonderful. Most of us love seeing that new imaginative way.
-Teacher turn over rate- is high. There are some teachers that have been there for ever. Senor De llata in particular is great as is Mr. Rumrich (history) however the rest of the time it felt we had a new teacher every year that didn't know anything about the last year. Teachers first years can be a bit wobbly instruction wise without the previous teachers curriculum which they never seemed to have.
-Teachers don't have to be certified. Now in some cases the uncertified teachers have been wonderful. They were born to teach and didn't need that silly piece of paper. Other times you could see them start to flounder and drown a few weeks into the year.
High school- I ran out of classes to take by my 11th grade year I had no choice but to graduate. Did I feel prepared to enter UT? NO. The High school, though once a great place and I am hearing that it's had a bit of an upward turn recently, was a joke. We were forgotten about and left upstairs in the senior lounge to hang out. Some of our classes were a joke. One class I remember we got study hall 3 times a week. We just hung out and talked.
-Those that succeed at this school are those that would succeed anywhere. If
your child has no learning disabilities and can pick things up quickly they will do great. However, if you need that little bit extra the only advice from the school will be to get a tutor. I ended up tutoring kindergarten students with their reading. Neither one had any major problems they just couldn't use the phonetic method. Most teachers would have recognized this and tried a different method (personally I had trouble with the phonetic method and i was a UT Education Junior) however these students were made to attend tutoring instead.
-Certain parents have to much say. The administration does listen to parents if they shout long and loud enough. There are certain parent (during my day) that were running the school because the made themselves a pain. The teachers were told to listen to the parents and this lead to situations such as the MLK jr. incident and such
I have told you everything from my point of view and am glad to be proven wrong on some points. After reading reviews on other sites that were either written my teachers of Kirby Hall or their children including some of the bad ones. I decided to write this account of the school as truthfully as I could. I have given enough details so that the administration know who I am. I am a Certified Teacher. I hope to begin teaching in Pflugerville this coming school year. Any questions about his school both the good and bad point
I will try to answer truthfully.
Ok....my curiosity has gotten the best of me. The MLK incident?? BTW, you sound like you have the makings of a great teacher!
Just wanted to post an update: we decided (happily) to put our son in Saint Andrew's for 1st grade on. It is a good fit on many levels, is much more professionally run and has more diversity. It is also FAR more progressive politically than KHS. (Go to Kirby's web site and read the 'principles', then do research into Hillsdale Academy.)
Funny part of my story is that not one single person even noticed or asked why we were leaving until eight weeks after the re-enrollment fee was due and we got a confused email from the accountant (who, I just hear today, has left after six months), asking if we were renewing.
None of the other kinder parents were asked if they were staying or why they were leaving.
Typical Kirby Hall-they could care less about individual families.
Thanks I hope the school administration thinks the same.
and
The MLK jr. incident is mentioned in an earlier post. A teacher was asked to take down and MLK jr. poster as the children didn't need to be exposed to things like that.
As some have stated, students are left unsupervised quite often. They can be found playing online games upstairs, making out in the "senior lounge" (where they spend most of their day), and most concerning is the terrible curriculum. Just walk around on your own, without their tour guide. People have to understand, the Shirley Method is a home school method in which the students simply recite back what the teachers tell them. There is NO critical thinking taught in any grade. No one uses the Saxon Math anymore either, simply more recitation. Look at the drop rate, nearly no student continues beyond 8th grade, and most drop before middle school. Just ask about the curriculum committee (there is none), how long the curriculum has been used, and if it is EVER reviewed. Please just be concerned and ask questions.
concerned1parent, I have to correct you on something. I am currently a high school student at Kirby, and we ARE supervised. We use the computers for work, not online games...we don't have time for that sort of thing. The senior lounge is a room that is used for study halls (the key word being "study"), and on the rare occasion that we don't have any homework or studying to do, we talk. Again, we're supervised, which means no making out...that statement is funny to me because it's so untrue. concerned1parent, if you personally have seen high school students make out, then I stand corrected, but really, it couldn't be further from the truth. There is one particular teacher that checks on us at least twice during study halls, and other teachers come in and out the senior lounge all the time to ask students questions.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
