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I did the research too and applied at both schools, I only chose Breck for one arcane academic subject that they happen to offer that is important to our family. Other than that I thought they were both excellent but if they both had the specific subject I was looking for I would probably have chose Blake - it seemed more "with it' in terms of technology, global issues, etc.
Basically you can't go wrong either way.
And to correct the previous poster, they both are full of people interested in status. If you aren't interested in status you go to public school.
Reading this thread after my wife and I who both did undergrad and grad in the Ivy League (Yale and Princeton, Harvard) and have conducted college interviews for a number of years for those schools. We have to say the most impressive public school kids seem to Orono. The ones that accel in academics come off better then the breck students.
But the kids that really seem to have surprised us over the last few years are the Providence interviews(never would have guessed that reading this thread)They seem to have a solid maturity about them along with academics that seem to have passed Breck. Providence seems to be more of a traditional college prep school have a neighborhood kid that goes to providence that we thought went to breck based on uniform and have been amazed at how well he interacts with others.
Blake students seem fragile and the parents are very high maintenance(seriously having your mom spy on the interview ?) and Breck students have a bit of an ego as though hard work is not longer needed and Ivy League should just happy to get a Breck student.
All are good schools but would say providence seems to be at the top currently.
Have taken tours of all three schools now that our children are almost pre-k and have been surprised at the facilities and the diversity at Providence. Blake seems a bit run down and in need of capital refurb and Breck has some great facilities but programs for gifted students early on is lacking.
Would push Orono or Minnetonka for public Orono's gifted program seems to be very solid and Providence and Breck for private with attention the peer set at Breck due to kids all being from the same mold with little real diversity.
I went to minnetonka and hated it, so I went to Blake and it gave me a much better learning experience and the teachers were amazing. Blake and Breck are much better than public schools.
Do the research. Breck is a stronger school on all fronts.
Just finished reviewing this entire thread. In any case, having visited both Blake and Breck, having painstakingly reviewed the academic programs at both, having met many of the staff at each and after spending some time visiting the schools during school functions, the decision to send both of our kids to Breck was clear. First, at Breck, the academics are stronger. It would be hard to imagine that anyone who actually spent the time meeting with the instructors at both schools would not see a distinct difference. As another reviewer correctly pointed out, there is no coordination among teaching strategies at Blake. The teachers at Blake just seem weaker across the board. The quality of education was the deciding factor for us. For whatever it’s worth in regard to this review (and it probably isn’t worth anything) my wife and I have strong academic records and degrees from the “best” colleges where we both did well academically.
Next, the difference in diversity is striking because at Blake there is none, which is a tremendous disadvantage. Let’s see how colleges view students who come from a basically all white school over the next decade. :-/
Breck has a much stronger community involvement/volunteering component, something that is, not surprisingly, almost absent at Blake. Breck has a warm community feel and offers students an extremely rich and involved educational experience.
The fact that Breck teaches students about all religions (there is no one religion that outweighs another) gives students a great leg up in today's diverse world. Absent at Blake.
While private schools tend to have a higher concentration of elitist families involved (families who spend (probably mostly beyond their means) to impress others) Blake much worse that Breck. I’m not suggesting that it doesn’t exist at Breck, but at Blake the feeling of parents who have little-people syndrome is palpable. This has to be one of the most dangerous things for children to learn. What a student knows carries much more weight than which family he or she is from, the latter factor probably being more relevant 20+ years ago. Blake hasn’t figured this one out and is behind the times.
Last, as a number of people have point out, there really is no comparison in terms of facilities. At Breck, we walked in and immediately noticed a larger group of students having a deep history discussion in one of the three beautiful libraries. As mentioned above, academics were our top deciding factor, and it’s hard to imagine that students at Breck do not benefit from having such inviting study areas. The school is state-of-the-art, beautiful and comfortable. Of course, this factor is secondary to the teaching but still very relevant.
If Blake were significantly less expensive perhaps it might be worth it for some people to consider over Breck. Frankly, some of the MSP public schools might also be worth considering over Blake. Being around the same price, though, the decision for us was obvious.
From what we understand, these schools were much more comparable many years back, which explains why there are so many opinions. Dig deep in 2015 and the decision of Breck over Blake will be very obvious for you as well. Good luck!
I have no real need to defend Blake, but MSPAssociation's post defames it unjustly.
This poster came to a decision in favor of Breck that he/she is clearly excited about, but to say the decision will be "obvious" to everyone is an exaggeration in the extreme.
Using broad-brush strokes like "all-white" is the clearest evidence that the evaluation is not serious.
Just presenting the facts as I see them after doing a huge about of due diligence. Fair point about "all-white." Blake is, in fact, dramatically less diverse than Breck. Check the stats as they are easily available, or just visit both schools and see for yourself. In any event, it is my belief, and I think that most would agree, that schools that don't embrace diversity are going to be a thing of the past.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TxTnVtMn
I have no real need to defend Blake, but MSPAssociation's post defames it unjustly.
This poster came to a decision in favor of Breck that he/she is clearly excited about, but to say the decision will be "obvious" to everyone is an exaggeration in the extreme.
Using broad-brush strokes like "all-white" is the clearest evidence that the evaluation is not serious.
As a current Blake parent, I do feel the need to defend the school. While I think MSPAssociation raises some good points, I also feel like there is a lot of misinformation and/or bias in the post.
Like many others on this particular thread, we did a lot of research into schools in the Twin Cities, both private and public. We live in a good school district and our local public elementary school is a great place and a popular choice among our neighbors. But we were a bit underwhelmed by the school and decided to look at private schools. Ultimately, we narrowed it down to Breck and Blake and were surprised to discover just how different the two schools were, despite being superficially similar (and I'm pretty sure the similarity of the schools' names is a source of confusion to many!)
We visited both schools three times and took the time to talk to teachers, interact with students, etc. We had the opposite experience to MSPAssociation in that the curriculum and the teachers at Blake blew us away while the teachers at Breck were less impressive. More importantly, they were either unprepared to answer our questions or completely dismissive in a way that did not leave us with positive thoughts from the experience.
I think Breck deserves a world of credit for embracing a diverse and inclusive culture long before this was the norm among private schools in the Cities. Seen from a purely numbers perspective, Breck is definitely more diverse. But there's another issue here that I think doesn't get discussed very often in forums (fora?) like this one: there are multiple ways to approach diversity.
We are a first generation immigrant Asian family, and we did not feel welcome at Breck at all. There were several instances of casual racism that were both appalling and deeply unprofessional. Throughout the admissions process, there was a sense that while we were minorities, we were not the sort of minorities Breck was interested in. So it's true that Breck has a larger percentage of minority students overall, but I think Blake embraces a wider range of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, linguistic background, etc., which ultimately leads to a greater diversity of viewpoint.
I don't understand the comment about community engagement and volunteerism being almost absent at Blake. My son (2nd grade) has been involved in community projects and volunteering since preschool at Blake. That they are citizens of the world and need to participate in it more fully is a theme frequently impressed on studens at Blake from pre-K all the way to 12th grade.
I also don't think it's true that Breck "teaches all religions." That is certainly the marketing pitch that was made to us when we visited, but if you look at the Lower School curriculum, it is based specifically on Judeo-Christian teachings and chapel attendance is mandatory. Blake is a non-sectarian school and embraces the idea that social and moral values can be taught independent of religion. At the same time, Blake provides regular opportunities for students of non-Judeo-Christian backgrounds to discuss their culture and religious practices in a way that is open and friendly without casting any value judgments.
I also don't think Blake suffers from little-people syndrome any more than Breck does. Both schools include a significant portion of the student body from very privileged backgrounds. This is not an unbiased opinion, of course, but I think Blake gets this right more often than Breck. Also, given that this is Minnesota we're talking about, there is a distinct allergy to flaunting one's wealth anyway, and this is obvious at both schools.
Personally, I think the situation may be worse at Breck. Here's just one story I'll use as an example. Each school hosted a meet-and-greet session where the parents' of prospective students could meet with the head of school. At Breck, this was a seriously fancy affair, complete with silver tea service, overstuffed armchairs and a roaring fire (and the food was great, fwiw). At Blake, it was juice and cookies in the gym. We went away from the experience with the sense that Blake is much more focused on "doing school right" than on showing off.
Breck's new Upper School with the fancy science wing is pretty great, I admit. The Blake campus at Hopkins and the Upper School could use some renovation. On the other hand, the grounds at Blake are some of the prettiest I've seen at any school and the Highcroft campus (where our son goes) is a warm and welcoming environment that is perfect for K-5.
Having said all that in defense of Blake, my sense is that the differences between the schools are mostly at the margins and they are otherwise very similar in terms of academics and cost. I think school choice often comes down to "feel" and we just felt more at home at Blake than at Breck. I think a child would get a great education and start in life at either school. Ultimately, it's about whether a school fits your child(ren) and your family.
Disclosure: I’m a parent of a lower school student at Breck.
The post by scribbles2015 above has some fair points, however, there are several things that are extremely different from our experience. Point by point:
Comment:
We visited both schools three times and took the time to talk to teachers, interact with students, etc. We had the opposite experience to MSPAssociation in that the curriculum and the teachers at Blake blew us away while the teachers at Breck were less impressive. More importantly, they were either unprepared to answer our questions or completely dismissive in a way that did not leave us with positive thoughts from the experience.
Response:
This is vague. There is no connection between teachers and teaching strategies at Blake. In terms of years of experience Blake teachers simply have fewer. More experience plus a much more organized curriculum make Breck much stronger academically from our perspective. Interestingly, significantly more Breck teachers send their own children to Breck than do Blake teachers send their kids to Blake. This is particularly interesting considering the fact that Breck teachers to not get a tuition break.
Comment:
We are a first generation immigrant Asian family, and we did not feel welcome at Breck at all. There were several instances of casual racism that were both appalling and deeply unprofessional. Throughout the admissions process, there was a sense that while we were minorities, we were not the sort of minorities Breck was interested in. So it's true that Breck has a larger percentage of minority students overall, but I think Blake embraces a wider range of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, linguistic background, etc., which ultimately leads to a greater diversity of viewpoint.
Response:
Claims of racism (and with zero detail) are absolutely absurd!! Breck deeply embraces Chinese studies and classes alternate between Chinese and Spanish study curricula. There are regular lectures and lessons about Hinduism and Buddhism. The head of the whole school is Asian!! The head of the lower school is also Asian!! Please be serious here.
Comment:
I don't understand the comment about community engagement and volunteerism being almost absent at Blake. My son (2nd grade) has been involved in community projects and volunteering since preschool at Blake. That they are citizens of the world and need to participate in it more fully is a theme frequently impressed on studens at Blake from pre-K all the way to 12th grade.
Response:
Very little compared to Breck. Breck is service focused. At Blake service is almost absent.
Comment:
I also don't think it's true that Breck "teaches all religions." That is certainly the marketing pitch that was made to us when we visited, but if you look at the Lower School curriculum, it is based specifically on Judeo-Christian teachings and chapel attendance is mandatory. Blake is a non-sectarian school and embraces the idea that social and moral values can be taught independent of religion. At the same time, Blake provides regular opportunities for students of non-Judeo-Christian backgrounds to discuss their culture and religious practices in a way that is open and friendly without casting any value judgments.
Response:
Learning about ALL religions is mandatory at Breck and religious studies are extremely diverse and are NOT weighted to one religion or another. You should have read more carefully. Such perspective on the world gives Breck students a real advantage over those at Blake. As another poster indicated, this might not have been the case many years ago but it certainly is true today.
Comment:
I also don't think Blake suffers from little-people syndrome any more than Breck does. Both schools include a significant portion of the student body from very privileged backgrounds. This is not an unbiased opinion, of course, but I think Blake gets this right more often than Breck. Also, given that this is Minnesota we're talking about, there is a distinct allergy to flaunting one's wealth anyway, and this is obvious at both schools.
Response:
What does “gets it right” mean?!?! It would be hard to imagine that any person who is conscious would not immediately notice that there is a dramatically stronger sense of materialism at Blake. Doesn’t seem present much at all at Breck. If that’s what a parent wants for his or her child then perfect. Let’s be honest though.
Comment:
Personally, I think the situation may be worse at Breck. Here's just one story I'll use as an example. Each school hosted a meet-and-greet session where the parents' of prospective students could meet with the head of school. At Breck, this was a seriously fancy affair, complete with silver tea service, overstuffed armchairs and a roaring fire (and the food was great, fwiw). At Blake, it was juice and cookies in the gym. We went away from the experience with the sense that Blake is much more focused on "doing school right" than on showing off.
Response:
So you are more of a juice and cookies kind of person. Both schools take in very significant funds and, yet, Blake is kind of a dump. I’ve never seen any silver tea services at Breck but I suppose it wouldn’t bother me too much if I did. The school isn’t cheap!
I think that anyone who is serious about these schools will visit both. We did and it was apparent that Blake is very 1980s private school stuffy and not as strong academically.
Cheers!
Last edited by Dshibes; 06-14-2015 at 08:08 PM..
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Do the research. Breck is a stronger school on all fronts.
