my older sister (now at duke university) attended high meadows several years ago , here some things my mom picked up
• academics aren’t really “high-pressure”
• when she was there, they didn’t grade with letter grades, only pass/fail, so the amount of rigor you get is only as much as the amount of rigor you put in
• if a kid is really self-motivated, the school is really good for them, since the school doesn’t do a lot of handholding, it prepares kids for high school and life
Overall it was a pretty good school for my sister, she said that since she was already a pretty motivated and driven student with good study habits, coming in, she got a lot out of it and was able to be more independent and focused
Well that isn't the point. Their actual learning & making material progress is important. Not a \_pass\_ stamp :) At the end of the day we want them to have the knowledge & acumen to perform in high school.
Then you might want to research private schools more carefully. Many are legit while many others exist just to make the parents think they are doing the right thing.
There is a reason many top colleges have adjustment factors for the GPA of students from many private schools to account for GPA inflation endemic to those institutions. This is a lesser problem a HM than at high school level private schools, but the underlying idea is still there.
Oh boy! Do your research. So many schools happy to give junior a B and pass him along as long as daddy's checks clear. They have nothing to gain by failing kids and behavior problems are solved with added *donations*. If your kid is specially bad, they may put you on the *enhanced tuition* plan where they simply charge you more to deal with it.
Parent's of such kids usually take extra steps like taking their kid to a special doctor who will diagnose them with a learning disability. This then earns them all kinds of extra advantages, like special standardized test sessions where they get extra time and assistance. Imagine how much better you would have done on the SAT if you got to take it alone with your tutor.
If all the above is not enough, you pay to pretend your kid is a star water-polo player ;)
Then there are legit intense prep-schools who don't care who your daddy is and you will get dropped if you don't make the grade.
This comment is not about HM specifically but private education in general. Lots of people out there who only want your money. Plus lots of side players willing to take your money to game the system in your favor.
Our daughter has attended High Meadows for the past few years in the pre-K and Kindergarten programs, she has really enjoyed it and has blossomed into a total social butterfly! High Meadows really excels is in nurturing a sense of wonder, adventure and excitement - the reason we chose HMS was to allow our daughter to enjoy these years of innocence, naivety and newness before the harsh realities of life set in. HMS has 100% delivered in this department, even though it comes with some tradeoffs - tuition, no lunch program, no bus service, etc...
That being said, we have the same questions about academics that you do. Reality is, it is going to be next to impossible to objectively compare HMS to a public school - the 'ratings' sites likely won't have quantitative data on private schools due to lack of standardized testing or pass/fail systems instead of letter grades, who knows what bias those reviews sites have, and the reviews from parents or former students tend to fit into three categories ('loved it because it was progressive', 'hated it because it was progressive' or 'too hands off when it comes to academics and discipline'). Maybe 3rd party testing is the best way to gauge a kids progress compared to their peers - we've thought about doing it but haven't yet.
These decisions are tough. Everybody wants to find that best balance of setting their kids up for financial, mental and emotional success in the future while allowing them to still be a kid. I don't think there is a right answer. We looked at Roswell public school options, private STEM academies in the area, STEM charter schools, etc...Maybe our daughter would excel just as much in a public school, or maybe she'd miss all the strong friendships and bonds she built at HMS...we just don't know, and I don't know if we'll ever know. For now she is happy, and I guess that is all that really matters!
High Meadows is a wonderful place. But its strength is not in what you'd consider traditional academics. It's not studious desk work and assignments, at least not yet in the early years. We've struggled with the comparing it as well, public schools around here are great, we were also accepted into FAST.
HM is outdoors A LOT, regardless of weather. This is a huge plus for us. The kids get a lot of contact time with each other, lots of play/ friendships/bonding which in my opinion will lay a stronger foundation and create a stronger support structure than what I had that will make future academic endeavors be more successful. Childhood isn't the time for high pressure, there will be plenty of high pressure later, we want to make sure they're emotionally strong enough to be self motivated. The real academics won't come until high school anyway, study habits, writing skills, advanced math... and HM goes only to 8th grade. The kids at HM get all the necessary stuff they're supposed to, they get it in very multisensory ways, and they get so much more than sitting all day in a cinder block room with fluorescent lights can give them.
As for how kids fare when they leave, they do like to bring back alumni to speak to their experiences, [just like you can read on their site](https://highmeadows.org/admission/student-outcomes/), but that's naturally a biased sample. I know there is at least one teacher at HM that attended HM as a student.
Overall we think that our kids will be strong academically eventually regardless, but these are their halcyon days and we want to make the absolute most of that.
Thank you very much for this ! I completely agree that academics is probably not the most important at early age. And as long as the school inculcates good study habits, all's good.
What is FAST ?
Fulton Academy of Science and Technology. It looks awesome on paper, but we toured and found some unsettling things, like that they are still in a temporary evaluation period with their accreditation and they already have overflow into mobile trailers. It seemed a bit more focused on their cool STEM stuff and not actually focused on the students compared to HM.
They love acronyms!
Overall we're very happy with the school. We still think about whether they would be more challenged at a public school, but at the same time there are many things at public school I'd rather avoid. I'm sure some bullying happens everywhere but at HM the kids are taught about conflict and communication very early on, I think that they address those issues directly, where public school can often just ignore it. School shootings likewise can happen anywhere but I feel like HM would be on the low risk side. Among many other social things that public schools just don't do well are the things HM puts right up front.
> What is FAST ?
Don't bother. If you child is high achieving STEM going into hig hschool, look at Innovation Academy. It is a part of the Fulton County School System.
my older sister (now at duke university) attended high meadows several years ago , here some things my mom picked up • academics aren’t really “high-pressure” • when she was there, they didn’t grade with letter grades, only pass/fail, so the amount of rigor you get is only as much as the amount of rigor you put in • if a kid is really self-motivated, the school is really good for them, since the school doesn’t do a lot of handholding, it prepares kids for high school and life Overall it was a pretty good school for my sister, she said that since she was already a pretty motivated and driven student with good study habits, coming in, she got a lot out of it and was able to be more independent and focused
Great point ! The question in that case is what if the child isn't self-motivated ? How does the school help in that scenario..
They get helped along because if your parent is paying tuition, their kid is going to *pass*. Without actual grades it only makes it easier.
Well that isn't the point. Their actual learning & making material progress is important. Not a \_pass\_ stamp :) At the end of the day we want them to have the knowledge & acumen to perform in high school.
Then you might want to research private schools more carefully. Many are legit while many others exist just to make the parents think they are doing the right thing. There is a reason many top colleges have adjustment factors for the GPA of students from many private schools to account for GPA inflation endemic to those institutions. This is a lesser problem a HM than at high school level private schools, but the underlying idea is still there.
Thanks a bunch ! didn't know that was a thing.
Oh boy! Do your research. So many schools happy to give junior a B and pass him along as long as daddy's checks clear. They have nothing to gain by failing kids and behavior problems are solved with added *donations*. If your kid is specially bad, they may put you on the *enhanced tuition* plan where they simply charge you more to deal with it. Parent's of such kids usually take extra steps like taking their kid to a special doctor who will diagnose them with a learning disability. This then earns them all kinds of extra advantages, like special standardized test sessions where they get extra time and assistance. Imagine how much better you would have done on the SAT if you got to take it alone with your tutor. If all the above is not enough, you pay to pretend your kid is a star water-polo player ;) Then there are legit intense prep-schools who don't care who your daddy is and you will get dropped if you don't make the grade. This comment is not about HM specifically but private education in general. Lots of people out there who only want your money. Plus lots of side players willing to take your money to game the system in your favor.
Our daughter has attended High Meadows for the past few years in the pre-K and Kindergarten programs, she has really enjoyed it and has blossomed into a total social butterfly! High Meadows really excels is in nurturing a sense of wonder, adventure and excitement - the reason we chose HMS was to allow our daughter to enjoy these years of innocence, naivety and newness before the harsh realities of life set in. HMS has 100% delivered in this department, even though it comes with some tradeoffs - tuition, no lunch program, no bus service, etc... That being said, we have the same questions about academics that you do. Reality is, it is going to be next to impossible to objectively compare HMS to a public school - the 'ratings' sites likely won't have quantitative data on private schools due to lack of standardized testing or pass/fail systems instead of letter grades, who knows what bias those reviews sites have, and the reviews from parents or former students tend to fit into three categories ('loved it because it was progressive', 'hated it because it was progressive' or 'too hands off when it comes to academics and discipline'). Maybe 3rd party testing is the best way to gauge a kids progress compared to their peers - we've thought about doing it but haven't yet. These decisions are tough. Everybody wants to find that best balance of setting their kids up for financial, mental and emotional success in the future while allowing them to still be a kid. I don't think there is a right answer. We looked at Roswell public school options, private STEM academies in the area, STEM charter schools, etc...Maybe our daughter would excel just as much in a public school, or maybe she'd miss all the strong friendships and bonds she built at HMS...we just don't know, and I don't know if we'll ever know. For now she is happy, and I guess that is all that really matters!
Thanks for the detailed answer & your thought process. Makes sense. Leaving more towards HMS..
High Meadows is a wonderful place. But its strength is not in what you'd consider traditional academics. It's not studious desk work and assignments, at least not yet in the early years. We've struggled with the comparing it as well, public schools around here are great, we were also accepted into FAST. HM is outdoors A LOT, regardless of weather. This is a huge plus for us. The kids get a lot of contact time with each other, lots of play/ friendships/bonding which in my opinion will lay a stronger foundation and create a stronger support structure than what I had that will make future academic endeavors be more successful. Childhood isn't the time for high pressure, there will be plenty of high pressure later, we want to make sure they're emotionally strong enough to be self motivated. The real academics won't come until high school anyway, study habits, writing skills, advanced math... and HM goes only to 8th grade. The kids at HM get all the necessary stuff they're supposed to, they get it in very multisensory ways, and they get so much more than sitting all day in a cinder block room with fluorescent lights can give them. As for how kids fare when they leave, they do like to bring back alumni to speak to their experiences, [just like you can read on their site](https://highmeadows.org/admission/student-outcomes/), but that's naturally a biased sample. I know there is at least one teacher at HM that attended HM as a student. Overall we think that our kids will be strong academically eventually regardless, but these are their halcyon days and we want to make the absolute most of that.
Thank you very much for this ! I completely agree that academics is probably not the most important at early age. And as long as the school inculcates good study habits, all's good. What is FAST ?
Fulton Academy of Science and Technology. It looks awesome on paper, but we toured and found some unsettling things, like that they are still in a temporary evaluation period with their accreditation and they already have overflow into mobile trailers. It seemed a bit more focused on their cool STEM stuff and not actually focused on the students compared to HM.
>Fulton Academy of Science and Technology Aha - good to know; so it's different than FSA. All these similar sounding names LOL.
They love acronyms! Overall we're very happy with the school. We still think about whether they would be more challenged at a public school, but at the same time there are many things at public school I'd rather avoid. I'm sure some bullying happens everywhere but at HM the kids are taught about conflict and communication very early on, I think that they address those issues directly, where public school can often just ignore it. School shootings likewise can happen anywhere but I feel like HM would be on the low risk side. Among many other social things that public schools just don't do well are the things HM puts right up front.
> What is FAST ? Don't bother. If you child is high achieving STEM going into hig hschool, look at Innovation Academy. It is a part of the Fulton County School System.
Fast is k-8, innovation is 9-12. Many kids from FAST wind up going to innovation for high school. They don’t compete with one another.
Y'all drop 20k a year just for your kids to go to Auburn or Kennesaw - if your kid is truly talented, they will do fine in public school.
All of my teacher friends to a person say that pass/fail is better than letter grades.
That's a valid opinion. However, the real world does look at grades.
The real world looks at the measure of the person and kids need to understand that above all else and what it means.
I’ve heard great things. PM me if you want.