Kirby Hall Private school? (Austin, Andrews: fit in, house, middle school)

[koalabebe]

Has anyone heard about Kirby Hall school? It's a private school. I am curious about how this school does..... I am looking for a private school for my kids, but a private school not affiliated with any religion. And I would prefer that the school is more academic oriented.... Any suggestion?

[AGA]

I have heard only good things about it.

[mimimomx3]

What I know is that it has a very strong academic program, very limited extracurriculars and some fairly severe organizational problems. The class sizes are very small, especially as you go to higher grades. The teachers I know there are wonderful, but the administration is not so great. If you are looking for a non religious private school, I would recommend the Waldorf school- although you should do some reading on their teaching philosophy, it's not for everyone and requires a considerable amount of family support.

[traceyr13]

I was offered a position there to teach English in spring 2006, but turned it down after the English teacher I was replacing (I spent the day there observing and meeting with the teachers) told me that the administration asked her to remove authors like Langston Hughes because "those" authors were "too controversial".

Just yesterday when I was at another private school substitute teaching, one of the 2nd grade teachers told me that she taught at KH for 3 years back in the late 90s, and was asked to take down a poster of MLK Jr. because the students didn't need to be "exposed" to that (this was BEFORE I told her my personal experience during the interview day).

The teachers I met were wonderful, but I just couldn't work for a school with an apparent overarching philosophy like that.

[koalabebe]

Originally Posted by traceyr13

I was offered a position there to teach English in spring 2006, but turned it down after the English teacher I was replacing (I spent the day there observing and meeting with the teachers) told me that the administration asked her to remove authors like Langston Hughes because "those" authors were "too controversial".

Just yesterday when I was at another private school substitute teaching, one of the 2nd grade teachers told me that she taught at KH for 3 years back in the late 90s, and was asked to take down a poster of MLK Jr. because the students didn't need to be "exposed" to that (this was BEFORE I told her my personal experience during the interview day).

The teachers I met were wonderful, but I just couldn't work for a school with an apparent overarching philosophy like that.

Both of my kids are currently in the private school in Ann Arbor. The area where I live is similar to the Eanes area which is old and superior public school. We did not like the enviornment and thus we decided to send our kids to private school since then. At their current school, there is some administration problem going on in this school at the moment. Parents are either love or hate the school administration even though the school is highly rated. I am hoping to find a non-religion school (we are Jewish) for them. I know that Eanes is a good public school, but we would like a bigger and newer house for our kids. Therefore, private school would be our only option and Kirby Hall came out on my research. We will visit Austin at the end of Feb. and hopefully we will get to visit Kirby Hall, Waldorf and St. Andrews. Thanks a lot!!!

[aurora310]

I would strongly recommend that you avoid Kirby Hall School. We moved to the Austin area, and I thought I had done thorough research into the school, and I visited there, along with my children. What we found after they were enrolled was not at all in line with the "reputation" we had heard, nor what we had been told at the school.
My children knew by the third week that KHS could not compare to their former school as far as academics were concerned. Most of the teachers are out of touch with current accepted teaching practices, such as brain-based learning - it is strictly by the book/workbook, canned curriculum, and if your child does not fit into their box, there is nothing to be done. Basically, you MUST do things "the Kirby Hall way." For high achievers/gt students, it is a disaster! And there are hours of pointless homework every night - with no higher level thinking skills required, just drudgery to be survived. My children had always loved school, but Kirby Hall quickly squelched the idea that learning can be fun.
I complimented the school many times regarding their website, but no one ever bothered to tell me that the parent who had created it was long gone. I talked with the founder of the school (an elderly woman who is rarely onsite) at one point about what she perceived that they did for differentiation in the classrooms, and she asked me, "What exactly do you mean by that?" If my older child had stayed there this year, he would have had three or four teachers in core subjects change by Nov. 1 - certainly not desirable at any grade level, but in high school? The computer teachers left last year, taking their child out of the school, and now there are no computer classes - college prep? I don't think so! The school is losing students at an unbelievable rate, and I don't see how it will continue to survive. The woman who runs the school on a day-to-day basis is a parent who started as a volunteer and moved into the front office - she has NO background in education, not even a college degree! But she holds all the power. The best teachers that are still there are looking elsewhere.
You won't find Kirby Hall on GreatSchools.net, because last year, so many parents had posted about their negative experiences that the administration was up in arms. All of a sudden, high ratings and reviews started appearing in stark contrast to the honest comments that had been posted, and those of us in the school knew that they were being supplied by members of the school faculty and staff. After several weeks, the listing was pulled completely.
There are much better choices in Austin, including St. Andrews and St. Francis, which have both received a good number of Kirby Hall students. I have also heard good things about Paragon Prep, St. Gabriel's and St. Michael's, though I have not been there personally. Keep looking, and good luck, but I would mark Kirby Hall off your list - I wish that someone had given me that advice two years ago; I would have saved my family a tremendous amount of grief and protected my children from an absolutely miserable, wasted year.

[AGA]

If your kids are middle school age, check out PARAGON PREP. I just wnet to a meeting with them and am VERY impressed with all they do. Too much to mention but check out the website and get some info!

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by koalabebe

Both of my kids are currently in the private school in Ann Arbor. The area where I live is similar to the Eanes area which is old and superior public school. We did not like the enviornment and thus we decided to send our kids to private school since then. At their current school, there is some administration problem going on in this school at the moment. Parents are either love or hate the school administration even though the school is highly rated. I am hoping to find a non-religion school (we are Jewish) for them. I know that Eanes is a good public school, but we would like a bigger and newer house for our kids. Therefore, private school would be our only option and Kirby Hall came out on my research. We will visit Austin at the end of Feb. and hopefully we will get to visit Kirby Hall, Waldorf and St. Andrews. Thanks a lot!!!

This would have caused me to smile...even if you currently lived in Austin....but you haven't even moved here yet?

[koalabebe]

[quote=aurora310;2924400]I would strongly recommend that you avoid Kirby Hall School. We moved to the Austin area, and I thought I had done thorough research into the school, and I visited there, along with my children. What we found after they were enrolled was not at all in line with the "reputation" we had heard, nor what we had been told at the school.
My children knew by the third week that KHS could not compare to their former school as far as academics were concerned. Most of the teachers are out of touch with current accepted teaching practices, such as brain-based learning - it is strictly by the book/workbook, canned curriculum, and if your child does not fit into their box, there is nothing to be done. Basically, you MUST do things "the Kirby Hall way." For high achievers/gt students, it is a disaster! And there are hours of pointless homework every night - with no higher level thinking skills required, just drudgery to be survived. My children had always loved school, but Kirby Hall quickly squelched the idea that learning can be fun.


Thanks so much!!! We are in Austin now for three days to visit schools and with your information, that will definitely help us to limit the schools we should avoid. The only reason this school came up on our list is "non-religious" school on its website. Anyway, thanks so much!!!

We will also check out the schools you mentioned.

[Trainwreck20]

Paragon is probably the most highly regarded non religious private school in the area. don't have any personal experience, though.