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Hi everyone!
We're planning to move to Southern NH within the next year and have narrowed it down to Bedford or Hollis... and then I impulsively started digging even way back into past threads about the type of education kids are getting at the schools and kinda freaked myself out. But those posts are at least a few years old so...
Can anyone who lives in either Bedford or Hollis tell me what things are like in the schools 2017? Is participating in the IB program compulsory at BHS? Is Hollis Upper Elem truly telling kids not to use "big words" and dumbing down the gifted kids? I realize that questioning a cross-country move based on posts from people like Sweetbottom and LisaG is insane, but I'd love a little reassurance from people with kids currently in the Bedford or Hollis school system that they're NOT churning out easily-triggered, America-hating, "precious snowflakes" -- if you know what I mean...
I used to work for Fidelity Investments in Merrimack, NH, many of my colleagues lived in Bedford and Hollis.
One of the things to consider is that Bedford is a much larger community and school system than the Hollis-Brookline school district. If you are looking for a more rural lifestyle, then Hollis-Brookline may be the way to go. However, if you desire a more traditional suburban environment, then Bedford may be the better fit. Both school systems are excellent, but the communities they serve are somewhat different.
We've had three kids go through the Amherst NH school system (K - 12) and have been happy with the schools. The kids were well prepared for college, life, and career. When we moved here 20 years ago, Hollis had not built its new high school (it passed in a narrow vote) and Bedford was sending it kids to high school in Manchester.
BTW, if you live in Mont Vernon NH, you get the Amherst schools from 7 - 12. Brookline NH and Hollis share the same high school.
Another option is the Academy of Science and Design in Nashua, a charter school...
Current Hollis Brookline school family here. Couldn't be happier with the schools. There is a difference between Bedford and H-B as stated already. Bedford is one of the largest High Schools in the state. It has a great reputation, but it is big. Hollis Brookline is half the size, with 100 kids being from Hollis, and 100 kids being from Brookline (per grade). No, HUES is NOT dumbing the kids down to use small words (quite the opposite). I've got two kids. One is a high achieving typical student at HBMS, the other is a special ed student at HUES. Both kids have flourished in the H-B school system. In my opinion, Hollis Brookline has the perfect setup for ages between the schools. HPS and RMMS are primary elementary schools Pre-K thru 3. HUES and CSDA are grades 4-5-6. HBMS is the smallest school with grades 7 & 8. HBHS is grades 9-12, with just 800 kids.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you had about the system, and community, from someone who's currently living in it (until next week).
I have lived in Bedford for the last 20 years, my twins just completed 6th grade and the schools in Bedford are EXCELLENT. Bedford is also the third wealthiest community in NH, so they spend a lot of money on the education system. As far as Bedford high school being huge, I disagree. Previous poster may be confused because the middle school is connected to the high school, but the 7/8 kids never see the high school kids- they have their own gym, own cafeteria etc.
referring to the bolded part, I know exactly what you mean. That's the public system in general everywhere you go though. They're using public schools more for social engineering than academics. Just so you know, there's a huge ongoing push to enact transgender bathroom policies in NH schools so that boys who think that they are girls can pee and shower with the girls. Oh and if you say anything you'll be called hateful bigot.
Can we PLEASE stay away from fruitless bathroom debates? There are bigger problems in the world. Indeed, bigger problems in our state like drug deaths.
"Gifted" education? When our daughter was growing up, never saw anything useful from several "high performing" school districts. Did our D not qualify, or did the places not have it? Some of both, I suppose. Any enrichment she had, like CTY, was at our initiative and expense. We did not sweat the schools at all, since I learned that the "gifted" programs are more a sop to parents than a benefit to the kids. BTW, she went on to win a Rhodes Scholarship her senior year in college, no real thanks to her grade school especially, who fought any sort of acceleration or extended learning. HS was a different story, fortunately.
"Gifted" education? When our daughter was growing up, never saw anything useful from several "high performing" school districts. Did our D not qualify, or did the places not have it? Some of both, I suppose. Any enrichment she had, like CTY, was at our initiative and expense. We did not sweat the schools at all, since I learned that the "gifted" programs are more a sop to parents than a benefit to the kids. BTW, she went on to win a Rhodes Scholarship her senior year in college, no real thanks to her grade school especially, who fought any sort of acceleration or extended learning. HS was a different story, fortunately.
that's good to hear -- he's in CTY and Davidson already and going to do all those camps when he's old enough - and you're right, most of his education is from us at home really... maybe we're overthinking it. But it's such a huge move we just want to do right by him.
Keep in mind that there is no upside for a school to offer any meaningful services to advanced students. I avoid the term "gifted" because it is so meaningless these days. Reason is that every parent wants their kids to be "gifted" etc.
Julian Stanley, who founded Hopkin's Center for Talented Youth pioneered the identification of youth with exceptional talent and learning skills, initially in math, and later in other subjects. I even had the pleasure of speaking with him regarding school acceleration (grade skipping). His work is fascinating regarding a subsegment of children with a different style that is ignored by most educators.
Their summer programs are loved by the kids they're aimed at. My daughter affectionately refers to it as "nerd camp" (not that she was a nerd). She has maintained friends from there almost 2 decades later.
So yes, we parents took charge of her education (actually she did!) working with the school when we could, and outside of it when it was appropriate. I think we should approach the education of our kids that way.
In HS, a larger school often means more opportunity to take a wider variety of AP courses
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigbear99
Keep in mind that there is no upside for a school to offer any meaningful services to advanced students. I avoid the term "gifted" because it is so meaningless these days. Reason is that every parent wants their kids to be "gifted" etc.
True -- NH has no state-level legislation or regulation regarding "gifted" education, but does track the number of students enrolled in advanced placement courses.
About a third of Bedford H.S. students take at least one AP course, compared to over half of Hollis-Brookline H.S. students.
AP courses are an interesting thing. There's a big difference between enrollment and passing. Even of those that pass, there's difference in scores. An education writer, Jay Matthews, for the Washington Post is famous for pushing AP for all, even if no one passes the test. Finally, better colleges have been increasingly not giving credit for many AP courses because they are not rigorous enough.
So the problem in comparing schools based on AP enrollment is that the HS administration often controls enrollment. This means the number or fraction enrolled does not tell you much about school quality (or anything else useful from a parent point of view!)
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In HS, a larger school often means more opportunity to take a wider variety of AP courses
