High schools for kids who excel at math? (private schools, university) - St. Louis - Missouri (MO) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

STL1980 · 07-21-2017, 12:56 PM

I don't have kids in the Clayton School District, so I wouldn't be the best person to say, I graduated 20 years ago...ha I would reach out to the high school though to do some research. A number of kids at Clayton were also sent to Wash U for higher level AP classes, etc. When I was there, the class above me (160 students) had six applicants accepted to Stanford and three to Harvard; there was some overlap in those.

TM77 · 07-21-2017, 01:15 PM

Is there a risk with any of these school districts (let's just take the list recently mentioned: Ladue, Parkway, Rockwood, Clayton, Brentwood, Kirkwood, Lindbergh) where moving into the district boundary does *not* guarantee placement, especially if you move close to the beginning of the school year? Are any full and pushing new kids to a different district?

STL74 · 07-21-2017, 03:48 PM

I'm not aware of any public school district in this area that would not have a spot for a kid that moved into the district, even at the last moment. Maybe someone else knows if I'm wrong, but I doubt it.

Now, the high achieving magnet schools in the city? I'd say there is no way you'd get in at the last minute or without a decent amount of planning. Same with many of the private schools (for instance at John Burroughs, there would be very very little chance of getting a high schooler in at any point...they take their students at grade 7 and almost no one leaves)

TM77 · 07-21-2017, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STL74

Now, the high achieving magnet schools in the city? I'd say there is no way you'd get in at the last minute or without a decent amount of planning. Same with many of the private schools (for instance at John Burroughs, there would be very very little chance of getting a high schooler in at any point...they take their students at grade 7 and almost no one leaves)

Ok. This matches my perception as well. For any private school, we'd have to follow normal application deadlines (generally January). For any lottery-based school, we'd have to buy a house before the lottery which is unlikely to happen since they're generally in the spring.

TM77 · 07-21-2017, 05:57 PM

I know that public vs. private can be almost a religious debate for many people, but if you removed the "I really believe in public schooling" sentiment or the "I don't trust the government to school my kids" sentiment, and simply looked at the academic side of the schools themselves, are there any private schools that are hands down better academically than the best public schools (say, Ladue or Clayton or choose your favorite)?

STL74 · 07-21-2017, 06:57 PM

It depends on your measurement of better. I think it is 100% kid dependent. Burroughs is considered kind of a top tier university pipeline. There is definitely some cache you would get from there to certain universities. There are other schools with really strong academics, but I'm not really sure they are better than the college prep classes in the public schools...it's just that their student populations are pared down to only the high achieving kids, so they don't have to offer lower level courses and the results are skewed. Their main benefits are going to be things like smaller class sizes, differing willingness to work with 2E kids (this is the one thing that a friend of mine has hated about Ladue...a gifted kid with a LD, ADHD, etc. does not get the accommodations necessary despite a lot of fighting...this was a big reason we scratched Ladue off our list...if your kid is just highly intelligent with no other challenges, I think you'd find it great for him), adaptable teaching methods, family like atmosphere, some kids are more motivated if everyone is on a college prep track...different reasons for different kids. So, the private schools can be better schools for some kids, but absolutely better schools, nope...I think the public schools can be better for some kids.

MUTGR · 07-22-2017, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TM77

I know that public vs. private can be almost a religious debate for many people, but if you removed the "I really believe in public schooling" sentiment or the "I don't trust the government to school my kids" sentiment, and simply looked at the academic side of the schools themselves, are there any private schools that are hands down better academically than the best public schools (say, Ladue or Clayton or choose your favorite)?

Burroughs and MICDS probably are in that category although it's hard to say better "hands down." Priory, Chaminade and SLUH seem highly thought of on the Catholic side of things for boys. I'm not qualified to say if the academics are better per se, but given the cost you are buying into a pretty exclusive club although there are some financial aid packages available for some.

TM77 · 07-22-2017, 10:15 PM

STL74: Thanks for letting me know about accommodations at Ladue. Thankfully we don't seem to have either 2E or asynchrony issues, but I can see that being frustrating--normally I'd expect public schools to deal with that better than privates, not the other way around. I'm surprised

As for the private schools: as far as I can tell Ladue has as much or more math classes as any others, including Burroughs and SLUH both of which only appear to go up to AP Calc BC. SLUH boasts that it has the best computer science program of any high school, and I definitely agree--it has a bunch of classes to choose from including compiler construction and Unity programming.

Does anyone know if SLUH is more academic or more sportsy ("jock" school)? We saw the video of all of them running, shirts off, with blue body paint, and my kid didn't feel like he'd fit in with that. But the CS courses are definitely what he wants.

Also, are there any schools with a fencing team?

MUTGR · 07-23-2017, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TM77

STL74: Thanks for letting me know about accommodations at Ladue. Thankfully we don't seem to have either 2E or asynchrony issues, but I can see that being frustrating--normally I'd expect public schools to deal with that better than privates, not the other way around. I'm surprised

As for the private schools: as far as I can tell Ladue has as much or more math classes as any others, including Burroughs and SLUH both of which only appear to go up to AP Calc BC. SLUH boasts that it has the best computer science program of any high school, and I definitely agree--it has a bunch of classes to choose from including compiler construction and Unity programming.

Does anyone know if SLUH is more academic or more sportsy ("jock" school)? We saw the video of all of them running, shirts off, with blue body paint, and my kid didn't feel like he'd fit in with that. But the CS courses are definitely what he wants.

Also, are there any schools with a fencing team?

I have several friends and co-workers whose kids go to or recently graduated from SLUH. From my perspective, it is both a jock school but also pretty strong academically. I would say the school spirit there is very strong for jocks and non-jocks alike. Some of the other Catholic high schools in St. Louis are more on the jock side, but SLUH seems to manage both.

STL74 · 07-23-2017, 12:18 PM

If you are going by the stereotype that athletic boys (jocks) are not as smart, then no, SLUH is not a "jock school". But they do have a strong sports program. Boys can be athletic AND highly intelligent. It's not a rare combination. SLUH is a strong academic school with highly intelligent boys. Some of them are also into sports. Some of them are not. As far as I'm aware, they all get along pretty well. I don't have a kid there though. Private school spirit is pretty high though, so you will likely see non sporty guys watching games and enjoying cheering for their school.