High schools for kids who excel at math? (St. Louis, Kirkwood: house, magnet school)

[TM77]

We are considering a move to St. Louis, and I am looking for information on the high schools.

In particular, I noticed that Ladue High School has done really well in Math competitions and one of their students competed in the International Math Olympiad which is very very very impressive. Sometimes kids do this despite schools, and sometimes they do it because they have full support and coaching from teachers.

If you have kids in Ladue's HW High School, I'd be very interested in knowing your experiences--what do you like/dislike about the school? Is academic excellence driven by the parents despite the school or driven by the parents/school as a team? How do they deal with kids who are accelerated in math by a couple of years (yes, I've emailed them, but they're on vacation right now). Are the kids doing math competitions being coached by the school, or just doing it on their own (or as one dept chair once put it "No, we don't help them at all, they're just super motivated.")

Are there other high schools that you think are better for "math kids"? And if you know what the dual enrollment options are for kids who max out the high schools' courses, would love to know.

[STL1980]

I would look at Clayton High School as well.

[TM77]

Originally Posted by STL1980

I would look at Clayton High School as well.

Do you have kids in Clayton HS? If so, would love to know same thing as above--what do you like/dislike, do you feel that the kids do well academically because of the school or despite the school (and because of parent pressure instead).

[glamatomic]

The St. Louis Post Dispatch recently ran a post about three best high schools for Math in the St. Louis Metro.

Three top 3 were:
1) Parkway West
2) Brentwood
3) Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience (magnet school in St. Louis City)

Ladue ranked 4th. Clayton didn't make the Top 10, very surprisingly.

My children are all PreK so I'm no help in that regard. I do have friends with children in Parkway and Ladue SD's though who seem to be very happy overall.

[TM77]

Thanks! I'll look into those (though I don't think my kid is into medicine, but that's really interesting).

[wustu87]

My son attended and graduated from LHWHS a few years ago and there are a lot of students there studying very high levels in math. While he was in middle school some of them were taking math at the high school (fortunately very close by) and when he was in high school some of them were taking math courses at WashU since they had completed all the AP math courses at the high school. The high school does coach the math team and they consistently do very well in competitions. My son did not want to compete but he was friends with some who did, and they are a pretty intense group.

Note that the high school is currently under renovation so it is a bit of a mess, but hopefully the renovations will be completed before your kids attend there. The teachers there are quite exceptional and they are used to dealing with high performing students with very demanding parents (which are also prevalent in the district!)

[billiken]

Originally Posted by glamatomic

The St. Louis Post Dispatch recently ran a post about three best high schools for Math in the St. Louis Metro.

Three top 3 were:
1) Parkway West
2) Brentwood
3) Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience (magnet school in St. Louis City).

My kid is like, 12 years from HS, but my neighbor who works for SLPS as a math teacher insists that Collegiate School for Medicine and Bioscience is the best option in the city and I feel like its barely talked about.

[TM77]

Originally Posted by wustu87

My son attended and graduated from LHWHS a few years ago and there are a lot of students there studying very high levels in math. While he was in middle school some of them were taking math at the high school (fortunately very close by) and when he was in high school some of them were taking math courses at WashU since they had completed all the AP math courses at the high school. The high school does coach the math team and they consistently do very well in competitions. My son did not want to compete but he was friends with some who did, and they are a pretty intense group.

Note that the high school is currently under renovation so it is a bit of a mess, but hopefully the renovations will be completed before your kids attend there. The teachers there are quite exceptional and they are used to dealing with high performing students with very demanding parents (which are also prevalent in the district!)

Thank you! This is VERY helpful. I was wondering about the WashU thing. Do you know how the kids get from the school to WashU? City bus/driving themselves/being driven?

Good to hear about the teachers being used to high performing students. I try hard not to be a tiger parent, but when it comes to kids, it's a lottery, and I got one of the "intense" ones. He's very social, though, so he's much happier if he has a nerdy cohort to hang out with.


How's the emotional environment? Are there a lot of stressed out/suicidal kids feeding off of each others' stress, or can kids enjoy themselves if their parents are laid back about their expectations? I feel like most pressure comes from parents, but I think there are schools where the stress is so pervasive that you could be the most laid back kid in the world, and you'd start feeling stressed because of everyone around you.

[TM77]

Originally Posted by billiken

My kid is like, 12 years from HS, but my neighbor who works for SLPS as a math teacher insists that Collegiate School for Medicine and Bioscience is the best option in the city and I feel like its barely talked about.

Thanks! Looks like the Magnet is intended to be for future Medical professionals. Sounds like a fantastic option for kids who are going that route, but wouldn't be a good match for my older kids right now. But I'll definitely keep it in mind.


I think we'd also have trouble getting into a magnet right away as we'd probably have to have a house already by the time the lottery happens which I suspect is before the previous school year ends.

[STL74]

I just went through a decision process. My kids go to private but we live in Ladue and our friends there love it. I would trust any of the highly rated districts (Ladue, Parkway, Rockwood, Clayton, Brentwood, Kirkwood, Lindbergh , and others I'm sure I'm missing)and many of the private schools to be good for math kids. My son rates in the 98th %ile in math and nothing we looked at gave me any pause. Check their course offerings and extracurricular activities as well as AP level classes in math and make sure your kid is covered.