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Doesn't Breck have daily chapels? I thought I read that on their website. Maybe I misunderstood. I thought chapels were religious meetings. I'm happy to consider Breck if it's a truly secular environment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yowza12
I'm not sure that's the case but, in any event, Breck is an outstanding school. I, too, was completely against a "religious" school. As soon as I went on a tour I realized that the bit of religion taught is distributed evenly among religions. If I felt that one religion was being favored over another I would have run for the hills, and I'm not Christian. All in all, having visited all of these schools, Breck was the clear winner for us. The students who come out of there are amazingly well-rounded and intelligent. Be warned, though, that Breck has far more homework than Blake and it can be daunting. From what I understand, Blake recently eliminated the homework requirement from the lower school based on some very questionable studies. If you won't consider Breck I would strongly suggest looking at SPA or public schools. We easily preferred our public option over Blake.
I'm willing to consider public school in the cities that are comparable. Otherwise I might have to look at east coast schools for high school.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yowza12
I'm not sure that's the case but, in any event, Breck is an outstanding school. I, too, was completely against a "religious" school. As soon as I went on a tour I realized that the bit of religion taught is distributed evenly among religions. If I felt that one religion was being favored over another I would have run for the hills, and I'm not Christian. All in all, having visited all of these schools, Breck was the clear winner for us. The students who come out of there are amazingly well-rounded and intelligent. Be warned, though, that Breck has far more homework than Blake and it can be daunting. From what I understand, Blake recently eliminated the homework requirement from the lower school based on some very questionable studies. If you won't consider Breck I would strongly suggest looking at SPA or public schools. We easily preferred our public option over Blake.
Doesn't Breck have daily chapels? I thought I read that on their website. Maybe I misunderstood. I thought chapels were religious meetings. I'm happy to consider Breck if it's a truly secular environment.
If I may answer, they are once a week. And don't let the term "chapel" confuse you. It's just like general religious/community studies and a very small part of the big picture. We are constantly amazed all that our children have learned at Breck. Super school! Lots of Breck teachers send their own children there despite not getting a tuition break. At Blake, teachers get a big break and, yet, a much lower % send their own kids there. Make your own assumptions.
Middle class families can't afford this. I think I will stick to public school/ As I have heard many many good things about the schools in The twin Cities and suburbs.
I have been doing a lot of research , it is looking good to move to MSP area. My daughter will be starting middle school. She was accepted at an option school here (health and science) which is part of the public school district. I just hope I can find something similar. The school is much smaller than the regular middle school.
Wow. I just looked at matriculation for blake and am glad I saved my money and went with SLP schools. I too am put off by any religion in schools. SLP's matriculation is pretty impressive for no additional tuition. And I would bet Southwest and Edina are similar.
Whomever posted the tuition was way off. At Blake, Breck AND Providence -- lower and middle school tuition is almost $30,000 per year.
That is a lot.
The western suburbs public schools are a great option but they are public schools.
As for those who are so opposed to religion -- I would ask you to keep an open mind. Raised by scientist / atheist parents (with a strong moral fiber) today's kids are iPhone and digital screen generation. They grow up much faster. We were in California and really worried about the influences and wild nature of some of the kids in SoCal. I see religious education as providing a good character foundation. As long as it's not indoctrination.
Also, even as a believer in progressive values, there is some crazy stuff that goes on in "progressive" education. It can be taken too far. One of the things that disappointed me in our Western suburbs "great" public school was they covered daily News tops in the middle of elementary school. My sweet sheltered child suddenly had nightmares and had to sleep with the light on because of all the heavy-duty dark topics they suddenly started covering on a daily basis (really heavy). I complained and being that they're a public school, while they were very nice, their attitude is "too bad." I'm like if you are going to scare the sh1t out of 4th graders and give a morning lecture on Ebola -- something that scared grown-ups -- you might want to also tell the children that there was a cure and some people were saved. Etc. Etc. Or instead of daily, cover awful news weekly and balance it out. The attitude at public is just, "too bad. We do it our way."
We are looking into privates for middle school. We can't quite afford it but almost. We may apply for financial aid. My child tested gifted and got into the gifted summer session but all the classes were full immediately.
The western suburbs public schools are pretty academically rigorous, even non-gifted is academically strong, that part is impressive but the social aspects are a bit worrisome. I grew up in a private school and am not used to that "public-y" school feeling. All the middle school and high schools are huge. That is why we are looking into private.
Whomever posted the tuition was way off. At Blake, Breck AND Providence -- lower and middle school tuition is almost $30,000 per year.
That is a lot.
The western suburbs public schools are a great option but they are public schools.
As for those who are so opposed to religion -- I would ask you to keep an open mind. Raised by scientist / atheist parents (with a strong moral fiber) today's kids are iPhone and digital screen generation. They grow up much faster. We were in California and really worried about the influences and wild nature of some of the kids in SoCal. I see religious education as providing a good character foundation. As long as it's not indoctrination.
Also, even as a believer in progressive values, there is some crazy stuff that goes on in "progressive" education. It can be taken too far. One of the things that disappointed me in our Western suburbs "great" public school was they covered daily News tops in the middle of elementary school. My sweet sheltered child suddenly had nightmares and had to sleep with the light on because of all the heavy-duty dark topics they suddenly started covering on a daily basis (really heavy). I complained and being that they're a public school, while they were very nice, their attitude is "too bad." I'm like if you are going to scare the sh1t out of 4th graders and give a morning lecture on Ebola -- something that scared grown-ups -- you might want to also tell the children that there was a cure and some people were saved. Etc. Etc. Or instead of daily, cover awful news weekly and balance it out. The attitude at public is just, "too bad. We do it our way."
We are looking into privates for middle school. We can't quite afford it but almost. We may apply for financial aid. My child tested gifted and got into the gifted summer session but all the classes were full immediately.
The western suburbs public schools are pretty academically rigorous, even non-gifted is academically strong, that part is impressive but the social aspects are a bit worrisome. I grew up in a private school and am not used to that "public-y" school feeling. All the middle school and high schools are huge. That is why we are looking into private.
My 2 choices are Breck and Providence.
The goal of schooling isn't to continue sheltering your child from the realities of existence. I would hope that a 4th grader could handle age-appropriate news; the fact that yours couldn't indicates they NEED the exposure (also that you called your child sweet and sheltered...sheltered is not necessarily considered a GOOD thing). As a Minnesotan, presumably not traveling to the Liberian bush, there was absolutely zero reason for your child to be afraid of ebola (though given that you stated it was "something that scared grown-ups" leads me to believe you were also fearful, and that you seemed to be unable to provide the reassurance your child needed to combat their fear). There is nothing wrong with learning about our vulnerabilities as humans. But yes, please send your children to private school so you can continue to shelter them from the reality of current events and keep them from the joys of being an educated, worldly citizen.
I'm also curious about your comment "the social aspects are a bit worrisome" re: public schooling in the western suburbs (typically composed of an upper middle class or wealthier population). Which social aspects? Drugs? Alcohol? Because you can bet your bottom dollar that those are just as accessible, if not more so, at schools like Breck.
So glad we made the decision to buy in the city and send our kids to ZOMG URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Neither schools are outstanding athletic schools-the are marginal at best. Frankly, there are public schools that are better academically and athletically then both of these as well as the rest of the private schools, just so you know. You don't need a private school in MN to get top notch education.
The best athletic private school is probably Cretin-Durham Hall if that matters. Academically the best private school is probably St. Paul Academy, but then you pay about $15,000/year too.
LOL.
Both schools are excellent if you an afford them. They are the best the Twin Cities has to offer.
And sports? Seems Breck is a big hockey school, they appear in the State High School Hockey Tournament far more often that you would expect a school of that size.
Benilde-St Margaret's is also an excellent choice along with Holy Family in Plymouth.
If you consider the east side, Hill Murray is top notch. Public schools are not what they used to be and are getting worse every day.
Whomever posted the tuition was way off. At Blake, Breck AND Providence -- lower and middle school tuition is almost $30,000 per year.
That is a lot.
The western suburbs public schools are a great option but they are public schools.
As for those who are so opposed to religion -- I would ask you to keep an open mind. Raised by scientist / atheist parents (with a strong moral fiber) today's kids are iPhone and digital screen generation. They grow up much faster. We were in California and really worried about the influences and wild nature of some of the kids in SoCal. I see religious education as providing a good character foundation. As long as it's not indoctrination.
Also, even as a believer in progressive values, there is some crazy stuff that goes on in "progressive" education. It can be taken too far. One of the things that disappointed me in our Western suburbs "great" public school was they covered daily News tops in the middle of elementary school. My sweet sheltered child suddenly had nightmares and had to sleep with the light on because of all the heavy-duty dark topics they suddenly started covering on a daily basis (really heavy). I complained and being that they're a public school, while they were very nice, their attitude is "too bad." I'm like if you are going to scare the sh1t out of 4th graders and give a morning lecture on Ebola -- something that scared grown-ups -- you might want to also tell the children that there was a cure and some people were saved. Etc. Etc. Or instead of daily, cover awful news weekly and balance it out. The attitude at public is just, "too bad. We do it our way."
We are looking into privates for middle school. We can't quite afford it but almost. We may apply for financial aid. My child tested gifted and got into the gifted summer session but all the classes were full immediately.
The western suburbs public schools are pretty academically rigorous, even non-gifted is academically strong, that part is impressive but the social aspects are a bit worrisome. I grew up in a private school and am not used to that "public-y" school feeling. All the middle school and high schools are huge. That is why we are looking into private.
My 2 choices are Breck and Providence.
As a believer in the value of independent and religious education, I am glad you are considering these schools and working through the financial aid process to see if that can help to make it happen.
That said, you are misrepresenting the tuition costs, at least at Providence. Upper School tuition is barely over $20,000 and Middle School is less than that. It is a lot of money, though Breck/Blake/SPA crossed the $20,000 threshold about a decade ago and no doubt have continued climbing.
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