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We are coming from SoCal as well, but not from the public schools. However, we by no means shelter our children from news and I don't think it has anything to do with not being religious. That is a weird assumption to make. It's not that I have a closed mind toward people who are religious or their religious education, it's that I don't want my own kids receiving factually incorrect science education, or a science education that does not discuss evolution because it will hurt people's feelings. Which unfortunately is the case, even in the best public schools. I also don't want my kids to be considered "weird" for not participating in chapels. We are not a superstitious family.
We are considering public education in Wayzata, even with the gigantic size of enrollment. My kids just think that means more friends! However, I may consider OE into Orono, but not sure if that is appropriate when all the neighbors would go to greenwood and wayzata west. We are not even into the high school range yet. But my oldest has her sights set on east coast boarding schools for that. However, since we are looking to western suburbs of Mpls, Blake is still on the radar for middle/high school if wayzata doesn't meet our expectations. Which admittedly are very low coming from a good district in SoCal that wasn't good enough.
As a Mounds Park Academy alum, I can tell you that you are making a great decision choosing an independent school. Both Blake and Breck are fantastic options in the west metro, and MPA and SPA are tremendous schools in the east metro (Providence and Minnehaha, the other two schools in the IMAC are very strong as well).
Much has been said in this thread about public schools vs. independent schools but the truth is, you have to find one that is right fit for your family.
There are so many great schools in the Twin Cities, consider touring as many as possible. Ask questions about each school's character development program, if they have a no cut athletic policy or not, what the attrition rate is, how new students are integrated into the school community, what the transportation options are, etc.
Also realize that the best fit school for your family may be a 30 minute drive from where you live, but it may be worth it to make sure your children have a wonderful, collaborative community. Lastly, it is really worth attending an independent school from Kindergarten - Grade 12. You just don't get the full experience coming for high school alone.
Add for Breck. We can't imagine sending our kids to a better school. They have learned such a tremendous amount over the years and have become exceptionally well-rounded. It seems like the great majority of parents there share the same sentiment. Set up a tour and I'm pretty sure you'll see what so many rave about.
It seems that this link has fizzed but, as I found it so incredibly useful in making a decision that it just seems fair to give my opinion and personal experience.
After reading all of the posts in this thread, but before going to either Blake or Breck, it seemed that a common theme was that Blake used to be better that it is today, and that Breck had gotten stronger over the last decade or so.
*Spoiler alert* We went with Breck, and it was an easy choice. Having now learned about both schools inside and out, I am under the impression that this thread was probably more fitting in 2008 when it started than it is today. Yes, it seems that Blake used to be a stronger school than it is today and, yes, Blake has historically worked hard on college matriculation and getting parents to take part in surveys so that Blake appears on lists of great schools. But those factors certainly weren’t going to sway us to Blake, particularly since Breck is now ramping matriculation efforts so much and offers academics, facilities and cultural experiences that are orders of magnitude better than Blake. In terms of the surveys, Breck remains uninterested in surveys were rating are obtained by self-voting- makes sense to me.
In terms of the schools themselves, another common point in the thread is that the Twin Cities has public schools that are similar in quality to Blake. Certainly there are some friendly teachers at Blake but, of the many that we met, very few were impressive like those at Breck. Even more, we just didn’t find the Blake teachers to be any better than those who we met at the public option.
A couple of other noteworthy points: The guidance office at Breck indicated that the number of those who apply from Blake has increased fairly dramatically over the years and that, in almost every case, Blake students (when admitted) enter Breck behind other Breck students and that it can be tough for them to catch up. After hearing this I asked the admissions office at Blake about how commonly kids from Breck transfer to Blake and they indicated that is was rare – kind of telling…
Again, as others have pointed out, Blake seems a little bit like a country club, but one from the late 1980s. It’s easy to see how it used to be a place for white privileged kids children whose parents were of status in the community. This also helps to understand the historically good matriculation. Parents of the students probably had strong influence and could help their children to get into some good schools. Breck is dramatically more diverse and a representation of the real world that our children will actually experience. Even then, Breck’s matriculation is superb and getting better.
Finally, yes, you have some level of showy parents at both schools, but I think that another reviewer was accurate when he or she said that Blake is the kind of school where non-working moms show up in their black escalades and give each other air kisses. I agree with so many reviewers who indicated that Blake is a place to start your kids off early trying to win an unwinnable a race to the top of the world of materialism. From our perspective, Breck is a far better and more rounded school. It turns out children who have great values and who are strong contributors to society and extremely bright.
It seems that this link has fizzed but, as I found it so incredibly useful in making a decision that it just seems fair to give my opinion and personal experience.
After reading all of the posts in this thread, but before going to either Blake or Breck, it seemed that a common theme was that Blake used to be better that it is today, and that Breck had gotten stronger over the last decade or so.
*Spoiler alert* We went with Breck, and it was an easy choice. Having now learned about both schools inside and out, I am under the impression that this thread was probably more fitting in 2008 when it started than it is today. Yes, it seems that Blake used to be a stronger school than it is today and, yes, Blake has historically worked hard on college matriculation and getting parents to take part in surveys so that Blake appears on lists of great schools. But those factors certainly weren’t going to sway us to Blake, particularly since Breck is now ramping matriculation efforts so much and offers academics, facilities and cultural experiences that are orders of magnitude better than Blake. In terms of the surveys, Breck remains uninterested in surveys were rating are obtained by self-voting- makes sense to me.
In terms of the schools themselves, another common point in the thread is that the Twin Cities has public schools that are similar in quality to Blake. Certainly there are some friendly teachers at Blake but, of the many that we met, very few were impressive like those at Breck. Even more, we just didn’t find the Blake teachers to be any better than those who we met at the public option.
A couple of other noteworthy points: The guidance office at Breck indicated that the number of those who apply from Blake has increased fairly dramatically over the years and that, in almost every case, Blake students (when admitted) enter Breck behind other Breck students and that it can be tough for them to catch up. After hearing this I asked the admissions office at Blake about how commonly kids from Breck transfer to Blake and they indicated that is was rare – kind of telling…
Again, as others have pointed out, Blake seems a little bit like a country club, but one from the late 1980s. It’s easy to see how it used to be a place for white privileged kids children whose parents were of status in the community. This also helps to understand the historically good matriculation. Parents of the students probably had strong influence and could help their children to get into some good schools. Breck is dramatically more diverse and a representation of the real world that our children will actually experience. Even then, Breck’s matriculation is superb and getting better.
Finally, yes, you have some level of showy parents at both schools, but I think that another reviewer was accurate when he or she said that Blake is the kind of school where non-working moms show up in their black escalades and give each other air kisses. I agree with so many reviewers who indicated that Blake is a place to start your kids off early trying to win an unwinnable a race to the top of the world of materialism. From our perspective, Breck is a far better and more rounded school. It turns out children who have great values and who are strong contributors to society and extremely bright.
Sorry to have to say it, but this is an unhelpful and extremely irresponsible post. Broadbrush, inaccurate generalizations all the way down. I am personally unaffiliated with either Breck or Blake and not in the market to send my children to either, but I would discourage anyone who is discerning between these two quite different institutions (apart from their shared independent status) from paying any heed to this post. Celebrating your decision to attend Breck does not and should not require you to paint a distorted view of Blake.
Sorry to have to say it, but this is an unhelpful and extremely irresponsible post. Broadbrush, inaccurate generalizations all the way down. I am personally unaffiliated with either Breck or Blake and not in the market to send my children to either, but I would discourage anyone who is discerning between these two quite different institutions (apart from their shared independent status) from paying any heed to this post. Celebrating your decision to attend Breck does not and should not require you to paint a distorted view of Blake.
Ultimately we simply couldn't afford for either but we did consider both. I agree that broad brush strokes can be problematic but, in this case, I wouldn't say that they are totally inaccurate. Anyone who has read all the way to this post will probably visit both schools as I have and, at least from our experience, it's difficult to find many holes in the post to which you are referring. There's a ton of money at both schools for sure but Breck seems to be more conscious about minimizing the impact that insecure parents have on the children (e.g. use of uniforms to discourage labels etc). Also, I suppose I'd say that if you're not in the market for either school it's unlikely that you know them as well as someone who apparently read through this whole thread, went to both schools and made a decision. The title of the thread is "Blake or Break school?" so all opinions should be welcome IMHO, particularly if the posters have done a bunch of diligence.
Anyway there does seem to be a very consistent theme of Breck getting better (than Blake), and it's not hard to understand after a visit to both. While we were not able to send our daughter to Breck I would tell you that it would have been a dream to do so.
Also, I suppose I'd say that if you're not in the market for either school it's unlikely that you know them as well as someone who apparently read through this whole thread, went to both schools and made a decision.
You assume too much. I said I am not in the market to send my children to either school. I have significant professional experience working with both schools and knowing a good number of administrators at both. That poster's characterization of Blake trades in lame stereotypes, simple as that. Even your comment about "insecure parents" requires a lot of unpacking before it could be useful. Anyone who thinks that parents do not have an impact on independent education regardless of the institution probably doesn't understand the experience very well.
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