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.
Does anyone have insight on Parish? We are wondering why there is an inherent stigma attached to it and it “doesn’t compare to Greenhill, ESD, Hockaday, etc” by most people.
We looked at where the recent graduates are going to college next year, and there are some good universities on that list. And it’s certainyl priced like the schools mentioned above.
I have a child in his first year at Parish (Kinder) and am happy to provide more information on our experience if you want to send me a PM. This was discussed a little bit somewhere in this thread or another recent thread, but IMO (and I realize I'm going to be a bit biased) part of it is that Parish only went through 6th grade until a decade or so ago, so its upper grades don't have as established of a reputation as the other schools it tends to compete with. Although I have more direct experience with the lower school, we have been very impressed with the STEM offerings in the upper school (for example the Rover team with article linked below) and they are in the process of building a new performing arts center which seems designed to be more competitive with GH in that area. I believe/hope that the stigma you are talking about will fade away with time as there are more Parish graduates going to great universities, etc., but it's not going to appeal as much in the meantime (if ever) to people who prioritize brand name as their #1 qualification. TBH, if our son had gotten into GH, we would have sent him there, so I'm not criticizing the brand name folks, but so far we have not been disappointed in our less than one year of experience at Parish.
Thanks Stan4 and bobbles4816. Appreciate any insights on Alcuin and what parents/ families have been disappointed about? I have heard great things about Greenhill but we were thoroughly impressed by Alcuin as well.
THANK YOU!
I’d love insight into the disappointment at Alcuin too. We are there currently and are happy with it (my kids are little) but starting to think about if we want to apply elsewhere in the fall. We have friends in the high school this year who have been really happy so far. They started at Alcuin for preschool then went public for elementary and middle school.
My daughter was waitpooled at Hockaday, elementary, non-expansion year. I’m curious to know if everyone applying got wait-pooled or if she truly stands a chance of getting admitted at the next expansion year (5th).
I’ve already read that even in the wait pool it is highly unlikely she will be admitted for next year.
Don't want to out anyone - relating to nonresponsiveness to concerns about acceleration of certain topics and the way reading was being taught.
Oh that’s interesting to hear. Ours is only 4, so he’s not reading yet but knows the sounds for all the letters and has sounded out a few short words. Our neighbor works in early childhood literacy and he’s said that Alcuin is one of the best in the city in that! We’ve also been told by both of my children’s teachers that if they advance ahead of the materials in class, they can bring in materials from the next class up (but we haven’t reached that stage so I can’t say whether it actually happens or not yet!) I know my son is working ahead of his “grade” in math materials but his fine motor skills/writing isn’t very good!
Some of you are asking for personal experiences with Alcuin, so please don’t crucify me for speaking up!! I wasn’t sure if I should even post this, but here it goes...
I currently have a child at Alcuin in the Primary program, and she’s been in Montessori for many years. We were extremely excited to be offered a seat after a wonderful and pleasant admissions process! We even talked about enrolling our other one in the toddler program for the following year! Our excitement quickly faded over the first 4 months.
I am very involved at the school, and the parents talk freely about their experience. I learned how primary teachers are quick to refer young children to therapy, and I’m surprised about the frequency that this occurs. There are many children in therapy at Alcuin. This is not singled out to just one teacher in one classroom either. The teacher’s reasons are vague, and they struggle to give concrete examples. The parents with children referred to therapy all seem to receive the same response verbatim from their teachers:
1. “Child is unable to freely and independently choose challenging work.” Let me be clear when I say “freely.” What they mean is that your child can freely choose from a limited number of options that is defined by the teacher. There will be a lot that a child is not allowed to touch including books. Therefore, the work may not be challenging at all, and as a parent, the teacher rarely lets you have a say in this or give input on your child’s abilities.
2. “Child is not interested in the work and does not use it productively.” Well, this makes sense if it is something the child has done many times and still not allowed to move on to the next step or choose material that they seem interested in doing. Your child might know all the sounds of the alphabet and be reading at a 1st-3rd grade level, but they STILL have to do many repetitions of work well before they can touch a kindergarten level book. It may be months or even another year before they can work with the moveable alphabet and build words.
3. “Child is disruptive and wants to socialize instead of focusing on the work available to him/her.” The teacher told us that our child is way too social. I asked if this was because of her never ending questions. She agreed and called it an “anchor.” Since when is asking questions a bad thing?
To me, this seems counterintuitive with the school’s mission. The mission that attracted us to the school in the first place. I chose Montessori, so our child can freely and HAPPILY work on material that appropriately matched her ability. Unfortunately, every child has to start off at the same level. No matter what. If your child is a new 4 yr old preschooler, expect your child to only be allowed to work on material with the 3 yr old preschoolers even if your child was in another Montessori program prior to that and has the curriculum documented!!
After small changes were implemented, my daugther’s “behavioral problems” went away. The school no longer recommends therapy for our 4 year old. These changes only took place after 2 months of meetings and advocating while moving up the chain of command. It was extremely exhausting and draining.
I should point out that I am an advocate for therapy. This post probably doesn’t sound like it. My concern is that there are way too many young children being referred to therapists that specialize in ADD, OCD, Anxiety, etc. By the way, the parents I know that proceeded with therapy were told that their children were either gifted or completely normal for their age!!
Unfortunately, my trust and faith in the school has been tarnished, and after this year and much contemplation (along with other concerns at the school), we decided to accept a seat at another school for Kinder. I had high hopes and a lot of excitement after a wonderful admissions process and the parents were kind and accepting from the beginning! I hate that it’s been a disappointing experience for us!
Good luck to all of you! In the end, your child might have a completely different experience. I wish you all the best!
Some of you are asking for personal experiences with Alcuin, so please don’t crucify me for speaking up!! I wasn’t sure if I should even post this, but here it goes...
I currently have a child at Alcuin in the Primary program, and she’s been in Montessori for many years. We were extremely excited to be offered a seat after a wonderful and pleasant admissions process! We even talked about enrolling our other one in the toddler program for the following year! Our excitement quickly faded over the first 4 months.
I am very involved at the school, and the parents talk freely about their experience. I learned how primary teachers are quick to refer young children to therapy, and I’m surprised about the frequency that this occurs. There are many children in therapy at Alcuin. This is not singled out to just one teacher in one classroom either. The teacher’s reasons are vague, and they struggle to give concrete examples. The parents with children referred to therapy all seem to receive the same response verbatim from their teachers:
1. “Child is unable to freely and independently choose challenging work.” Let me be clear when I say “freely.” What they mean is that your child can freely choose from a limited number of options that is defined by the teacher. There will be a lot that a child is not allowed to touch including books. Therefore, the work may not be challenging at all, and as a parent, the teacher rarely lets you have a say in this or give input on your child’s abilities.
2. “Child is not interested in the work and does not use it productively.” Well, this makes sense if it is something the child has done many times and still not allowed to move on to the next step or choose material that they seem interested in doing. Your child might know all the sounds of the alphabet and be reading at a 1st-3rd grade level, but they STILL have to do many repetitions of work well before they can touch a kindergarten level book. It may be months or even another year before they can work with the moveable alphabet and build words.
3. “Child is disruptive and wants to socialize instead of focusing on the work available to him/her.” The teacher told us that our child is way too social. I asked if this was because of her never ending questions. She agreed and called it an “anchor.” Since when is asking questions a bad thing?
To me, this seems counterintuitive with the school’s mission. The mission that attracted us to the school in the first place. I chose Montessori, so our child can freely and HAPPILY work on material that appropriately matched her ability. Unfortunately, every child has to start off at the same level. No matter what. If your child is a new 4 yr old preschooler, expect your child to only be allowed to work on material with the 3 yr old preschoolers even if your child was in another Montessori program prior to that and has the curriculum documented!!
After small changes were implemented, my daugther’s “behavioral problems” went away. The school no longer recommends therapy for our 4 year old. These changes only took place after 2 months of meetings and advocating while moving up the chain of command. It was extremely exhausting and draining.
I should point out that I am an advocate for therapy. This post probably doesn’t sound like it. My concern is that there are way too many young children being referred to therapists that specialize in ADD, OCD, Anxiety, etc. By the way, the parents I know that proceeded with therapy were told that their children were either gifted or completely normal for their age!!
Unfortunately, my trust and faith in the school has been tarnished, and after this year and much contemplation (along with other concerns at the school), we decided to accept a seat at another school for Kinder. I had high hopes and a lot of excitement after a wonderful admissions process and the parents were kind and accepting from the beginning! I hate that it’s been a disappointing experience for us!
Good luck to all of you! In the end, your child might have a completely different experience. I wish you all the best!
Very insightful. I think several issues you mention are somewhat inherent in Montessori curriculum and you would very likely find this across the board at Montessori schools. I really liked Montessori for early childhood for my children, but was disappointed as they got older (kinder and up) and I felt they were ready to move ahead and could have skipped over many works, but were not allowed to do so. At their school, there seemed to be limited amounts of each work, and if they did not hurry and get it before other classmates, they could be stuck for quite a while unable to prove they had skills to move on from something they probably had already mastered in their personal time.
It made me very sad, because I thought a huge part of Montessori was allowing a child to work at his or her own pace (and in theory, it is a huge part), but for some reason, in reality, this principle does not seem to work in the school setting.
For those who got a flat out "no" and are wondering whether to reapply - I think it is worth it if your interest in the school is really that high and your feel that your kid is truly a fit for the environment. We know multiple families at GH and Hockaday that received a rejection and later got into the school (sometimes after multiple rejections.) I don't know what the admissions office policy is on meeting with non-connected families. I know they will meet with connected families to discuss specifics, but I can't remember whether that option is available to non-connected applicants. From what I have heard from others, if you were waitlisted, they are less likely to give you feedback - they will say your kid is qualified, but there were too many applicants. If you get a no, they are usually more transparent about the weak parts of your application. Considering how many people apply each year, it makes sense that the admissions committees wouldn't want to meet with every family that didn't get in, but if you are truly curious and willing to wait until later in the semester when admissions stuff has died down, I'm guessing someone will be willing to meet with you (or at least provide some sort of feedback via email/phone.)
FWIW, GH seems to have doled out more rejections this year than any year in recent memory. Stan4's experience echoes our own - about half of the connected families we know got a no rather than a waitlist. We also know a few connected families at Hockaday that got a no, so the "maybe they waitlist everyone" notion is clearly false. Just from surveying our small sample, it truly feels like a waitlist position is a win this year - at least at these 2 schools!
Parish suffers (reputation-wise) from being a newcomer to the scene. IMHO, GH struggled with the same reputation way back in the day when they opened and St. Mark's and Hockaday were the big guns. To some extent, GH still experiences bias as a result of their later emergence (relative to SM and Hock), but most people would acknowledge their value in this day and age. Personally, I think Parish may be one of the most underrated schools in the Dallas private school world. They truly care about their students and their mission. In my opinion, they are a more nurturing school than SM/Hock/GH and are arguably better than most schools about individualizing education. I have absolutely no connection to Parish, but I get gritchy when people act like it is a lesser school - especially when they have no experience there. Every family I know that has had a child there has raved about the education and the family-like atmosphere. They have also indicated that they frequently have to waive off criticism from other parents that the school isn't "top tier." If Parish is a fit for your kid, I would choose it in a heartbeat and never look back. Don't listen to the haters.
To the person considering GH and Alcuin - if you truly think your kid would fit well at GH in lower/middle/upper school, I would accept there. A number of people here have given you very detailed feedback about Alcuin, so I won't rehash any of that, but GH's preschool program (pre-K and K) are highly focused on social-emotional development and learning through play. Kinder and Pre-K both feel pretty intimate at GH and the preschool is separate from the other divisions (even though the kids have crossover experiences.) There's a pretty rough transition (IMO) between Kinder and 1st as a result of the curriculum differences between preschool and lower school, but the kids catch on quickly. We know families that have transferred into GH from Lamplighter at 5th who think their kids are better prepared for middle school than the kids that started at GH, but I've never heard that from any of the Alcuin transfers we know - in fact, I'd say we've heard the opposite.
For those on waitlists, hang in there! It's highly unlikely that anyone will hear anything from these schools until after Spring Break is over and even then, it may be a few days more. There are people who decide to pay the deposit and sign the enrollment contracts with tuition insurance at one school and then pull out (losing their deposit) after the enrollment deadline when offered a spot at another school, so the waitlist continues to move past the 22nd.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news! For those who feel disappointed by the results, give yourself time to process how you are feeling and know that by virtue of being an invested parent, your kiddo already has an advantage.
For those at Parish, how religious is it? We aren’t religious at all and don’t really want much, if any religion in a school (which really narrows our options)!
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.
