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please, private schools are so overrated. the kids who are going to succeed are going to do so no matter where they go to school. and this is HIGH SCHOOL we are talking about. who cares??!!! I lived in St. Louis Park and I went to St. Louis Park High School. We had the worst athletics teams in our conference and nobody wrote articles about our academics, but school is school. You get out of it what you put into it. It is a waste to spend money on school when you can get it for free. Save it for college.
I came across this conversation after googling a question asking which school is better...Blake or Breck. And, believe it or not, I have one child who has already completed upper school at Breck and I have another who has spent grades 2 - 7 at Blake. And I am still asking the question....which school is better? Would I be better off sending my youngest to Edina HS or switching him to Breck?
I also have a son who just graduated from college at the top of his class and has landed a highly coveted job at a prestigous company. He attended a very highly respected private college preparatory school in another state. It is ranked among the top 25 private schools and it just keeps getting better each year. And my daughter, who attended Breck, attended a wonderful all-girls school prior to going to Breck.
I feel that both Blake and Breck fall drastically short of the two schools my kids attended before moving to MN. Breck did not prepare my daughter academically for college. And the college counseling office was abysmal. We had to hire an education consultant just to help her sort out which colleges would be a good fit for her. While she loved her years at Breck socially, the overall teaching was poor (with the exception of a few great teachers).
I will say with 100% certainty that the Arts and Drama programs at Breck are far superior to those at Blake. And we feel that Breck has a warmer, friendlier, more supportive environment compared to Blake. And I feel that Breck has less tolerance for bullying and has a culture of more inclusiveness at Breck. And while Breck had its share of cliquey, snobby, kids who felt they were superior to the others, there are far more kids like that at Blake. There is also more diversity at Breck, although Blake is working on that (although they seem to be accepting more Asians and Muslims than African Americans, which is interesting).
I cannot compare the upper schools of Breck & Blake academically, but from my daughter's experience at Breck, I think Blake is most likely stronger. The middle school at Blake has been excellent academically (although still not at a level it should aspire to.) I think Blake kids have better acceptance rates at more elite colleges.
But another thing to consider is that Breck has a new Headmaster who could be making some real changes for the better. Although he has been there for two years and some of the flakier teachers my daughter had are still teaching.
I came across this conversation after googling a question asking which school is better...Blake or Breck. And, believe it or not, I have one child who has already completed upper school at Breck and I have another who has spent grades 2 - 7 at Blake. And I am still asking the question....which school is better? Would I be better off sending my youngest to Edina HS or switching him to Breck?
I also have a son who just graduated from college at the top of his class and has landed a highly coveted job at a prestigous company. He attended a very highly respected private college preparatory school in another state. It is ranked among the top 25 private schools and it just keeps getting better each year. And my daughter, who attended Breck, attended a wonderful all-girls school prior to going to Breck.
I feel that both Blake and Breck fall drastically short of the two schools my kids attended before moving to MN. Breck did not prepare my daughter academically for college. And the college counseling office was abysmal. We had to hire an education consultant just to help her sort out which colleges would be a good fit for her. While she loved her years at Breck socially, the overall teaching was poor (with the exception of a few great teachers).
I will say with 100% certainty that the Arts and Drama programs at Breck are far superior to those at Blake. And we feel that Breck has a warmer, friendlier, more supportive environment compared to Blake. And I feel that Breck has less tolerance for bullying and has a culture of more inclusiveness at Breck. And while Breck had its share of cliquey, snobby, kids who felt they were superior to the others, there are far more kids like that at Blake. There is also more diversity at Breck, although Blake is working on that (although they seem to be accepting more Asians and Muslims than African Americans, which is interesting).
I cannot compare the upper schools of Breck & Blake academically, but from my daughter's experience at Breck, I think Blake is most likely stronger. The middle school at Blake has been excellent academically (although still not at a level it should aspire to.) I think Blake kids have better acceptance rates at more elite colleges.
But another thing to consider is that Breck has a new Headmaster who could be making some real changes for the better. Although he has been there for two years and some of the flakier teachers my daughter had are still teaching.
It's very complicated. I welcome any thoughts.
Well my comments would be-my husband graduated #1 in his college class with a 4.0 from a prestigious university, landed a job with a very prestigious company, worked his way up to a top management position and now owns his own financial company-a top ranked company in their industry and he went to a lowly public school in a small town in MN-after scoring a perfect score on his ACT of course. His parents let him decide which college to attend and didn't have to hire anyone to help him make that decision because he was able to do that on his own. I also managed to get into a top school, picked it all on my own, also graduating from a public school in MN. In fact, my chemistry and biology classes were pretty much a review from what I learned in high school. I slacked off part of my senior year and only graduated with a 3.8 . I was very well prepared for college and really had no problems adjusting.
Do we want to talk about our good friend, our friend that is a professor at Harvard with 2 masters degrees and 2 PhD's who graduated from a school with 35 kids in his grade-it was a cooperative school with 5 towns of about 200-500 people in each town. Oh, he also had 4 majors and 3 minors for his undergrad too-did that in 5 years though so he might have struggled a bit. He is fluent in 5 languages-including Greek and Latin but since Latin is dead, maybe we should only count that as 4.
Oh, how about the Rhodes Scholar the graduated from a public high school in our school district last year?
I think some people put WAY too much emphasis on where their kids go to school and think that it really makes that much difference down the road. Those of us that have been in the real world know that it really doesn't matter past the first interview WHERE you went to school.
We are letting our kids pick where they want to go to college too. I didn't even know you could hire someone to make that decision for them. The counseling staff at our lowly public school has been incredible and extremely helpful with everything. We also got to save the $20K+/year on tuition which is just a side bonus.
Thank you, KathyMn for your comments about both schools. My son is very excited to start Breck on Monday and I had made some of the same observations you have mentioned. I believe the reason he loved Breck although he did not know any students there and chose it over Blake (where a classmate of his is starting next year) is that warm, friendlier, supportive atmosphere that you mentioned. My husband and I felt the same way. It feels more down to earth at Breck, with more diversity and at every function we have attended so far for new parents, I, myself feel like I want to go there. 2 of my classmates at college attended Breck, one I knew pretty well. She was a lifer and Breck totally prepared her for the tough academics at the Ivy we attended and she was really well-rounded, participated in so many different things at college, and just loved Breck. So, i guess, quite a different academic experience than that of your daughter. Some of the upper school teachers she had are still at Breck today.
If you do analyze some of their statistics on the college profiles, I think Blake does come out a bit on top. I attribute some of that due to the fact that approximately 1/3 of their graduating class came to Blake from middle school and on up. (They add about 25 kids to 6th grade and then another 20 by 9th to have a graduating class of about 120-125) At this age you have standardized test scores on real subject matter--not just IQ tests on 4-5 year olds--that is a better indicator of success on the SAT or ACT. On the other hand, I believe Breck increases their class from approximately 80 at the end of 4th grade to just around 100 at graduation--a class size about 20% smaller than Blake's. I think it is hard to tell which 4 or 5 year old is going to be the best test takers by the time they are teenagers. And, with 20-25 more graduating seniors at Blake it makes sense that there elite college placement numbers may be slightly higher. But I do believe they have similar percentages of NMS. I also heard from someone that Blake really emphasizes the SAT/ACT prep courses. I have heard from some that Blake can be described as very academically intense by high school, (maybe more so than Breck, and I kind of got that feeling from the information sessions I went to and the way some of my questions were answered) but I think that can vary also depending on the child. I don't necessarily need or want my child to be in the most academically intense place there is...just challenged and pushed to excel, but not pushed too hard where he is overstresed. If he needed the most academically intense place there is to be pushed, than perhaps Blake would be the better fit.
I strongly believe that academically, you can't go wrong with either school (that is what everyone has told us, too)...it is just a different experience. I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about either school no matter which school their kids attend or even others who don't have kids at either school. But I do also believe that a school can only do so much. A lot of it is up to the child and how they are taking advantage of the opportunities placed in front of them. I recently met a mother (who went to Blake) of a new Breck middle schooler, but felt along with her child, that Breck was a better fit for them. And i'm sure the reverse exists as well. In the end, sometimes I think you just have to go with your gut feeling over all the other "analyzing".
The new headmaster at Breck, is amazing! Truly inspiring. We are happy with the middle school administration so far, the Deans are just wonderful and we feel very much at home and at ease speaking with them all. I think every school has a different culture and each child and family may feel the fit is better at one vs. the other. I don't know if my 11 year old will end up at an Ivy or not...but regardless of where he goes to college, my hope is that he is also prepared for life, is happy and has a love for learning. For him, Breck is where we think (and he seemed to feel this way too, being unequivocal about Breck being his first choice) he will be the happiest and thrive academically and socially.
I am not trying to offend anyone or put down the public schools at all. I have other children in public schools and they are all so different and thrive in different environments. Paying for Breck is not easy for us. We are making a lot of sacrifices to make this happen, and will see if it works out for our child.
As for Blake, I think it is a wonderful school and would have been happy sending my son there as well. I would love to be able to do what is best for each of my children, individually even if that means sending them to different schools (which we are currently doing). I did not really look at the lower schools too much for Breck and Blake but I would not hesitate sending one of my other children to Blake if it was a great fit and i'm definitely not ruling the school in the future. From an outsider perspective learning about the 2 schools as best I can, there are things that I like better about Blake than Breck and vice versa. I am impressed with Blake's highcroft campus in Wayzata (closer to us!) for half of their lower school students and could very much see one of my other children thriving there. But the reality for us is that private school for grade school is probably not a viable option and the public elementary schools around here are fantastic. My son scored very well on the standardized tests as do my other children in public school.
In the end, I really think there is no "perfect" school. There are pros and cons to all and you just have to try to do what you think is best for your child and family.
Shince- While it is true that the Highcroft campus of Blake offers an overall wonderful lower school experience, the quality of the teachers can vary quite a bit. When my son was at Highcroft, there was one teacher for almost every grade level who offered a better overall experience than the other.
And while the school administrators tell the parents that they do not accept or honor teacher requests, don't believe it. I respected that rule and every year my son drew the short straw with teachers. Go ahead and be a squeaky wheel. But a note of caution- it was impossible not to notice that there was a core group of children who always seemed to be placed with the best teachers. It bothers me to spell this out, but it's the truth: the wealthy, Wayzata families never drew the short straws.
Last edited by kathymn; 09-05-2009 at 06:15 AM..
Reason: left something out.
Well my comments would be-my husband graduated #1 in his college class with a 4.0 from a prestigious university, landed a job with a very prestigious company, worked his way up to a top management position and now owns his own financial company-a top ranked company in their industry and he went to a lowly public school in a small town in MN-after scoring a perfect score on his ACT of course. His parents let him decide which college to attend and didn't have to hire anyone to help him make that decision because he was able to do that on his own. I also managed to get into a top school, picked it all on my own, also graduating from a public school in MN. In fact, my chemistry and biology classes were pretty much a review from what I learned in high school. I slacked off part of my senior year and only graduated with a 3.8 . I was very well prepared for college and really had no problems adjusting.
Do we want to talk about our good friend, our friend that is a professor at Harvard with 2 masters degrees and 2 PhD's who graduated from a school with 35 kids in his grade-it was a cooperative school with 5 towns of about 200-500 people in each town. Oh, he also had 4 majors and 3 minors for his undergrad too-did that in 5 years though so he might have struggled a bit. He is fluent in 5 languages-including Greek and Latin but since Latin is dead, maybe we should only count that as 4.
Oh, how about the Rhodes Scholar the graduated from a public high school in our school district last year?
I think some people put WAY too much emphasis on where their kids go to school and think that it really makes that much difference down the road. Those of us that have been in the real world know that it really doesn't matter past the first interview WHERE you went to school.
We are letting our kids pick where they want to go to college too. I didn't even know you could hire someone to make that decision for them. The counseling staff at our lowly public school has been incredible and extremely helpful with everything. We also got to save the $20K+/year on tuition which is just a side bonus.
Golfgal, I'm so happy for you that you, your husband and your friends have all done so well...and from such lowly beginnings. You have achieved so much. Your independence, brilliance and resourcefulness can be looked upon as inspiration for us all. And I am so glad you are here on this forum as a Moderator, maintaining a level of decorum and civility that we can all look up to and aspire to.
Shince- While it is true that the Highcroft campus of Blake offers an overall wonderful lower school experience, the quality of the teachers can vary quite a bit. When my son was at Highcroft, there was one teacher for almost every grade level who offered a better overall experience than the other.
And while the school administrators tell the parents that they do not accept or honor teacher requests, don't believe it. I respected that rule and every year my son drew the short straw with teachers. Go ahead and be a squeaky wheel. But a note of caution- it was impossible not to notice that there was a core group of children who always seemed to be placed with the best teachers. It bothers me to spell this out, but it's the truth: the wealthy, Wayzata families never drew the short straws.
Kathy,
I had to comment on your post because it at our last school the same thing happened. We are in the MN public schools here, but in FL - the quality of teachers at our priv. school varied, and although the administration claimed they didnt honor requests - after our first year and speaking with other parents I realized certain families did not "draw the short teacher straw." I had to become a squeaky wheel at least when it came to selecting teachers.
People are forgetting that in the corporate world, it is more about WHO you know that WHAT you know. Going to schools like Blake or Breck gives parents and children a network of people they normally would not meet. I think that is more about what going to these schools means more than academics. Networking gets you places and if you think it does not, your head is in the sand.
I have worked in the corporate world for a LONG time and have seen LOTS of kids hired because someone in the upper tier of the company knew their parents. That is just the way it is. Sure, there are people who can work their way up but most kids who have parents who "know" people, don't have to climb that ladder.
I agree that who you know is important, and obviously networking is important, but disagree that in the Twin Cities that Breck or Blake make that much of an impact. It's not like every, or even most, people working in the corporate world (even if limited only to the Twin Cities) have or have had kids in private schools. Some do, yes, but overall in the Twin Cities there isn't a private school "culture" like what you find in some cities; you'll find "higher tier" parents in both public and private schools in the metro area, not to mention at any number of other places.
The whole school thing in the Twin Cities is overall is really relaxed; there is no "best" preschool (and you'd better put your name on the waiting list at birth, then be ready to ace the interview if you actually want to get a spot when the time comes) that will feed you into the "right" elementary school, and from there the "best" private high school. Even the better known local private schools have really high acceptance rates (I've personally never known anyone who applied and didn't get in, as long as they could pay the tuition), so there's not even the aura that only the "best and brightest" go to these schools.
It's one thing to choose one of these schools because they best meet your child's personal needs, but to do so thinking that attendance at these schools is going to make any long-term impact on a child's career potential (other than what any solid, quality education at any decent school would do) is rather naive. In other words, networking possibilities are easily found in places other than just private schools.
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Experience w/ Blake & Breck
. I was very well prepared for college and really had no problems adjusting. 
