Breck or Blake school? (Edina: teacher, place, complaints)

[Freezemont]

Originally Posted by iameexc

Don't be fooled by the admission team.

https://patch.com/minnesota/eagan/li...e-universities

https://www.polarislist.com/best-hig...s-in-minnesota

Please take into account the size of the schools when you interpret the data. The gap between Blake and Breck is bigger now than 2018 for obvious reasons. Let's hope no one is going to make fake data after viewing this post.

Right. So now, when people clearly prefer their tour of Breck over Blake, they shouldn't trust the admissions team. Absurd. That being said, I would go a step farther. Prospective parents should interview teachers. There is no coordination among teachers at Blake whatsoever, and another teacher (honors English) just left as a result. At Breck, there are complex projects that have component portions that go through, English, science and history.

As has been covered many times here, Blake pushes parents to participate in the surveys that lead to these rankings - Breck has no involvement in pushing rankings whatsoever, and yet they still
do well. Blake has slightly more legacy families, from when the school was much better than it is today. In fact, with all of the legacy families, the admissions rates should be significantly higher as legacy admissions rates range from 30% on the low end to 100% for children of double legacy parents.

You aren't a Breck parent. You know nothing about the school. While your children certainly may be wonderful and exceptional, your myopic and unformed view only pushes them into the pool of average kids who never become unique because they are only focused on grades and test scores. So many tiger moms like you push their kids to get the grades and test scores, and to do as many extracurriculars as possible, but end up with kids who aren't unique. Top schools pass on kids like that all day long. You focus solely on parent driven rankings, and have said nothing about how you want your children to be in a supportive environment that will help them to be great people. I'm sure that you are perfectly happy with the toxic environment and one upmanship that has been so well documented at Blake for years. You are operating under the belief that the rankings will help your children, but as you are not a legacy of a top school, you are out of luck.

[iameexc]

Originally Posted by Freezemont

Right. So now, when people clearly prefer their tour of Breck over Blake, they shouldn't trust the admissions team. Absurd. That being said, I would go a step farther. Prospective parents should interview teachers. There is no coordination among teachers at Blake whatsoever, and another teacher (honors English) just left as a result. At Breck, there are complex projects that have component portions that go through, English, science and history.

As has been covered many times here, Blake pushes parents to participate in the surveys that lead to these rankings - Breck has no involvement in pushing rankings whatsoever, and yet they still
do well. Blake has slightly more legacy families, from when the school was much better than it is today. In fact, with all of the legacy families, the admissions rates should be significantly higher as legacy admissions rates range from 30% on the low end to 100% for children of double legacy parents.

You aren't a Breck parent. You know nothing about the school. While your children certainly may be wonderful and exceptional, your myopic and unformed view only pushes them into the pool of average kids who never become unique because they are only focused on grades and test scores. So many tiger moms like you push their kids to get the grades and test scores, and to do as many extracurriculars as possible, but end up with kids who aren't unique. Top schools pass on kids like that all day long. You focus solely on parent driven rankings, and have said nothing about how you want your children to be in a supportive environment that will help them to be great people. I'm sure that you are perfectly happy with the toxic environment and one upmanship that has been so well documented at Blake for years. You are operating under the belief that the rankings will help your children, but as you are not a legacy of a top school, you are out of luck.

Lol... Now everybody can see how mean people from Breck can be...

[Freezemont]

Originally Posted by iameexc

Lol... Now everybody can see how mean people from Breck can be...

Right. Your comments have one thing in common - zero substance. Again, people will visit the schools and see for themselves. Breck is a school where lack of kindness isn't tolerated. Blake is well known for the viscous nastiness that even some of your own posts references. Hard to keep your story straight?

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Freezemont

Blake is well known for the viscous nastiness that even some of your own posts references. Hard to keep your story straight?

I think you meant to say vicious...unless Blake has some strange things going down in their science experiments....

Originally Posted by Freezemont

So many tiger moms like you push their kids to get the grades and test scores, and to do as many extracurriculars as possible, but end up with kids who aren't unique

Wow...is Breck aware that one of its top online boosters isn't afraid to lob ethnic slurs ('tiger mom') at people????

[Freezemont]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

I think you meant to say vicious...unless Blake has some strange things going down in their science experiments....

Lol. Auto correct mistype.



Wow...is Breck aware that one of its top online boosters isn't afraid to lob ethnic slurs ('tiger mom') at people????

It's not an ethic slur, and I certainly did not intend it as one. There is actually a mother at Breck with the license plate "TGRMOM," and ethnic slurs are not allowed on license plates. It's certainly not an exclusive designation for Blake parents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_parenting[/url]

[iameexc]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

I think you meant to say vicious...unless Blake has some strange things going down in their science experiments....

Thank you for pointing out the spelling error. It sounds like you are a scientist, or at least someone who understands science.

Replying to one of your previous posts: I have direct and indirect experience with multiple private schools. I think there ARE real advantages to attending private schools if tuition is not an issue. For example, if there is something to change, private schools in general can make the change more quickly. And in most cases, private schools are willing to cooperate and provide more “individualized” education. Given that public schools in Minnesota are highly ranked, and some are among the strongest in academics, maybe the edge is not that noticeable and important. I don’t know. We are happier with the assigned teachers this fall. We may just keep the options open. We live in a reasonably good school district, and our public schools welcome us to join any time. One of the friends who introduced Breck to us said that they actually apply to both Blake and Breck every year. So far they haven’t made the switch.

[Freezemont]

Originally Posted by iameexc

Thank you for pointing out the spelling error. It sounds like you are a scientist, or at least someone who understands science.

Replying to one of your previous posts: I have direct and indirect experience with multiple private schools. I think there ARE real advantages to attending private schools if tuition is not an issue. For example, if there is something to change, private schools in general can make the change more quickly. And in most cases, private schools are willing to cooperate and provide more “individualized” education. Given that public schools in Minnesota are highly ranked, and some are among the strongest in academics, maybe the edge is not that noticeable and important. I don’t know. We are happier with the assigned teachers this fall. We may just keep the options open. We live in a reasonably good school district, and our public schools welcome us to join any time. One of the friends who introduced Breck to us said that they actually apply to both Blake and Breck every year. So far they haven’t made the switch.

I'd love to have a discussion with you about any aspect of science, although that's a bizarre topic to bring up out of nowhere.

I can only imagine the kinds of values that you instill in your children. In any case, given all of your posts, it really does seem like Blake would be a great place for you, your kids and your complaints.

[iameexc]

I wonder how many schools ask students finish Kumon-style homework.

[iameexc]

Originally Posted by Freezemont

I'd love to have a discussion with you about any aspect of science, although that's a bizarre topic to bring up out of nowhere.

I can only imagine the kinds of values that you instill in your children. In any case, given all of your posts, it really does seem like Blake would be a great place for you, your kids and your complaints.

Ha... Thank you for excluding us from Breck, repeatedly. Indeed, that is very "kind" and "inclusive". I guess you have a good point. We will certainly check out Blake more closely.

If what you said about homework is true, I think Blake may have a point. Smart kids do not need that much repetition. They need more challenging work and flexibility instead. To them, Kumon-style homework is a torture and does not work. I think good teachers should honor this and be flexible with homework. Students should be treated in different ways based on their needs. Some of our teachers are pretty flexible with not finishing boring work, but maybe Blake is a better solution.

[Freezemont]

Can we please get to the point where we acknowledge that you do not have students at Breck? As someone who has many years of experience at Breck, it’s crystal clear that you have no experience at the school. I can guess your motivation (e.g. regretful for having spent money on Blake, didn’t get into Breck etc.), but your posts clearly show that you have no experience with Breck. At the same time, you have acknowledged the unpleasant environment at Blake, so it seems as though you might have experience with Blake.

While Breck requires students to understand all of the main world religions (something that I believe gives students a huge advantage in 2023), you have indicated that your kids find religion to be “boring,” and you clearly haven’t felt that it might be worthwhile to teach them about how understanding other perspectives can be helpful. It seems as though teaching your children to understand other people isn’t a priority. Breck does work hard to keep out people who don’t value inclusion, and I suspect that this might have impacted you. I echo this perspective, and believe that Breck’s selectivity helps the school to have a great culture, and fewer of the parents who waste the administration’s time with distracting and empty complaints.

I’m not quite clear what you are trying to say in your email regarding homework, but it sounds like you understand that Blake is very light on homework. This is, in fact, the case. While I don’t know your profession, your statement, “Some of our teachers are pretty flexible with not finishing boring work, but maybe Blake is a better solution.” tells me that you aren’t a teacher. You think that homework is “boring”, so Breck would definitely not be for you. There is certainly a group of folks who think that homework isn’t good, and while I could not personally disagree more, a lot of Blake families share this sentiment. The amount of work at Breck is, as so many have already pointed out, significantly higher than Blake, so it sounds like Blake would be perfect for you. Your comment about “kumon-style homework” is 100% baseless and yet another attempt to disparage Breck without having any experience there. The teachers are coordinated, hands-on and highly available when needed. Your anger and associated need to say nonsensical and untrue things about a school that is so well-respected is concerning.