Private School Admissions - 2019 (Paris: calculating, money, build)

[Stringzs]

Originally Posted by daltgrmum

Is this just something for GH? Because St. Mark's explicitly states in FAQs that preference *is* given to connected kids, all other factors being equal.

Are alumni and sibling candidates given preference in the admission process?
Sons of employees, alumni, trustees and siblings of current and former students will receive preferred consideration when all other factors are considered equal. First and foremost, admission decisions are based upon the qualifications of the individual candidate.

I think this policy is the same at most schools in general. Obviously every year is different but nothing unusual about it at GH or SM.

[eastdallasmom]

Originally Posted by Stringzs

This year was very unusual for PK is my understanding. I'm sure they will normalize this to whatever their target is.

A parent with younger kids than mine from our kids' pre-school, which has typically been a feeder for GH and many of the other schools frequently discussed here, told me the "buzz" at the pre-school this year was that you have to apply your kids elsewhere starting at PK or they may not get in to a "good" school. I was actually surprised to hear this, since my impression was that Hockaday was the main school where you have to apply at PK or likely miss out (I guess Lamplighter too, but they start at PK-3), and in past years lots of families (including ours for our son) waited until K to try to move the kids. However, anecdotally, we went ahead and applied our daughter to GH and Parish for PK this coming year, in part because my son was placed in the wait pool at GH for K last year and we figured it might be easier to get in for PK. (The other "part" was wanting to move her to Parish with my son, but we figured we'd give GH one more try while we were at it.) I see now that the "PK might be easier" strategy was totally off, but I wonder if there are more parents feeling the pressure to move their kids early on and that may change some of the statistics over time?

Also, I hear what people are saying about this not being the norm for GH, but we have now had two children wait pooled at GH, so it seems like our kids are good but not quite good enough to overcome the lack of a connection. We're ok with it since we're happy at Parish and were mostly trying to keep our options open.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by Stringzs

This year was very unusual for PK is my understanding. I'm sure they will normalize this to whatever their target is.

Maybe this is what you meant, but my guess is they will attempt to revert to the target rather than normalize in a subsequent year to achieve the desired ratio. As others have noted, there were plenty of connected families turned down this year, and this is a private school that relies on donations from families who attend. Absent extenuating circumstances where children have wildly different abilities, most families will be extremely disappointed for second child not to be admitted. It seems unlikely that they will compensate for 90% of admitted kids being connected this year by admitting only 10% of class next year as connected kids.

[privschmom]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

I would go with your gut - which was your first choice to begin with? Both have amazing resources for your kid. Logistically, ESD will be on one campus which could matter down the road if you have other children and don’t want to have two drop off and pick up situations. You’re going to be at the school a lot - if one is significantly closer to home that matters too. From an exit option perspective, your is going to have similar opportunities at either place so it’s going to have to come down to fit and how you felt about each school.

So our first choice was Parish, the school seemed to be on more of an upward trajectory over the next 13 years and had more stable leadership. We liked the new ESD head of school but he is an unknown and couldn't get a feel for his philosophy. However, we really liked the concepts behind the new lower school and the early childhood coordinator at ESD. We have to let Parish know soon and are still confused. Any other thoughts from you folks?

[Waterdragon8212]

Originally Posted by privschmom

So our first choice was Parish, the school seemed to be on more of an upward trajectory over the next 13 years and had more stable leadership. We liked the new ESD head of school but he is an unknown and couldn't get a feel for his philosophy. However, we really liked the concepts behind the new lower school and the early childhood coordinator at ESD. We have to let Parish know soon and are still confused. Any other thoughts from you folks?

What do you lose out on if you decide to take the spot at Parish? It's important to read the fine print. If you signed a contract for ESD and bought tuition insurance, you will probably just be out the deposit. If in the long run you feel better about Parish, then the deposit may be worth sacrificing considering your gut feel. The parent population is quite different at the 2 schools, as is the school culture. It remains to be seen what the new head of ESD will bring to the school, but Dave Monaco is a know entity and Parish parents have been very pleased with his vision for the school as well as his execution of that vision. Good luck with your decision!

[Stringzs]

Originally Posted by privschmom

So our first choice was Parish, the school seemed to be on more of an upward trajectory over the next 13 years and had more stable leadership. We liked the new ESD head of school but he is an unknown and couldn't get a feel for his philosophy. However, we really liked the concepts behind the new lower school and the early childhood coordinator at ESD. We have to let Parish know soon and are still confused. Any other thoughts from you folks?

This was posted earlier. I think this will give you a great sense of Parish if you have not seen this.



[vimeo]315721181[/vimeo]
https://vimeo.com/315721181/fb3fd2bc25

[walker1977]

Go Parish IMHO. For all the reasons that have been stated earlier plus I think the families are a little more down to earth from a social standpoint.
Also, regarding connected families at SM, GH, Hock, they will take more connected kids early on but later on middle school and later I think everyone is on a much more even playing field and it is much more numbers based as there is more data to differentiate kids.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by walker1977

Go Parish IMHO. For all the reasons that have been stated earlier plus I think the families are a little more down to earth from a social standpoint.
Also, regarding connected families at SM, GH, Hock, they will take more connected kids early on but later on middle school and later I think everyone is on a much more even playing field and it is much more numbers based as there is more data to differentiate kids.

I see what you’re saying about ESD families because there are some very high profile families affiliated with the school, but if you talk about it in aggregate, a higher % of families at ESD are on financial aid, and they start offering financial aid at preK (vs K at Parish) so there are indicators that point to a high commitment to financial diversity. I suppose the flip side could be that such resources are possible due to the incredible wealth of many of its families and supporters. I’m not trying to steer PP to ESD. If their gut was that Parish is the better fit, they should choose it and eat the tuition deposit. Just trying to point out that a lot of the “common knowledge” about many of these schools is only loosely based on fact.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

I see what you’re saying about ESD families because there are some very high profile families affiliated with the school, but if you talk about it in aggregate, a higher % of families at ESD are on financial aid, and they start offering financial aid at preK (vs K at Parish) so there are indicators that point to a high commitment to financial diversity. I suppose the flip side could be that such resources are possible due to the incredible wealth of many of its families and supporters. I’m not trying to steer PP to ESD. If their gut was that Parish is the better fit, they should choose it and eat the tuition deposit. Just trying to point out that a lot of the “common knowledge” about many of these schools is only loosely based on fact.

Good post. For one any notion/accidental implication that Parish does not sport a number of fantastically wealthy families needs to be quashed. Probably the most famous old line oil money family around has long tentacles into Parish..........the upper school's location and straight up awesome physical plant would not be possible without big money.

[privschmom]

Thank you all for the advice, we are going to take the Parish offer and come off their waitlist.