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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.
Wow! I am very amazed by your reply and your patience. Maybe I should worry if my children will be mistreated by Breck. Schools have so much power on students.
All schools are different. It is important to find a good fit and feel comfortable. Some schools are willing to be flexible, to accommodate different students' need, some are not. Schools are free to make their own choices. Families are free to make their own choices as well. Everyone has the right to share their true feelings. Word of mouth reputation is much more important. It is not necessary for every person in the US to go to church every week to learn how to appreciate different people's beliefs.
Wow! I am very amazed by your reply and your patience. Maybe I should worry if my children will be mistreated by Breck. Schools have so much power on students.
All schools are different. It is important to find a good fit and feel comfortable. Some schools are willing to be flexible, to accommodate different students' need, some are not. Schools are free to make their own choices. Families are free to make their own choices as well. Everyone has the right to share their true feelings. Word of mouth reputation is much more important. It is not necessary for every person in the US to go to church every week to learn how to appreciate different people's beliefs.
Once again, you are replying with the hope that people will not read what you are replying to. There is nothing whatsoever in this thread, over years, about students being mistreated at Breck. Your rookie psychology isn’t going to work.
You are correct in that some schools are willing to be flexible and, while I cannot speak about Blake’s flexibility with students, Breck has been completely flexible each year, and the teachers and admin have gone way out of their way to support children who have unique needs.
You are also correct about students not needing to attend church however, much like English, history, math etc., studying the various religions helps students to have an understanding of the people in the world, and the religious teaching is minimal and equally weighted. Clearly you don’t agree, and neither does Blake. It’s certainly personal preference. A couple of decades ago when diversity and inclusion weren’t as front and center, Blake thrived with the country club mentality. Times are different.
It's interesting how you continue to half-heartedly maintain that you have children at Breck (which obviously is not the case), but have so many negative comments about Breck which are disconnected from reality. I think that a lot of people who read your posts must wonder how you can expect people to believe that you have children at the school. Clearly the lower homework, non-religious, hostile social click, teach-to-a-standardized test environment at Blake sounds great to you. Why in the world would you want to be at Breck? I think that you would be very happy to Blake, and getting in likely wouldn't be an issue.
LOL! Are you feeling okay? Yet another random and bizarre baseless statement. After years of being there, I have never heard anyone make such a comment.
After a few friends saw some of the emails we got from a Breck teacher this year, they commented that "she was just lazy". They asked me to lower my expectations because it happens in public school as well. We the parents talked about a different teacher from last year. We concluded that we should not expect much from a teacher who doesn't love reading and who is struggling with vocabulary herself. Maybe the overall quality of teachers is getting worse in every place. We don't know.
After a few friends saw some of the emails we got from a Breck teacher this year, they commented that "she was just lazy". They asked me to lower my expectations because it happens in public school as well. We the parents talked about a different teacher from last year. We concluded that we should not expect much from a teacher who doesn't love reading and who is struggling with vocabulary herself. Maybe the overall quality of teachers is getting worse in every place. We don't know.
LOLOL! Of course! And your roommate's brother's cousin's sisters's friend also agreed. Your childish agenda to disparage Breck isn't working. Sticking to hard facts, Blake lost an honor's high school English teacher last year who left because of the disjointed teaching, poor leadership (at least over the English dept) and arrogant students. Look into the teacher who left last year. Her family pulled all of their kids out of Blake and they now attend Edina high school.
Your comment, "They asked me to lower my expectations because it happens in public school as well" is likely in response to all of the posters here who said that they would go with a public school over Blake (not one such comment amount Breck). You would never be at Breck if you were so unhappy. Again, your rookie strategy to deceive is failing.
LOLOL! Of course! And your roommate's brother's cousin's sisters's friend also agreed. Your childish agenda to disparage Breck isn't working. Sticking to hard facts, Blake lost an honor's high school English teacher last year who left because of the disjointed teaching, poor leadership (at least over the English dept) and arrogant students. Look into the teacher who left last year. Her family pulled all of their kids out of Blake and they now attend Edina high school.
Your comment, "They asked me to lower my expectations because it happens in public school as well" is likely in response to all of the posters here who said that they would go with a public school over Blake (not one such comment amount Breck). You would never be at Breck if you were so unhappy. Again, your rookie strategy to deceive is failing.
Thank you for the information about the Blake English teacher. If it is true, apparently she did not join Breck. Otherwise, she would send her kids to Breck instead of Edina High. It is fairly common that private school teachers move to good public schools, for job stability and better benefits. The question is if they can get in or not. It is also not uncommon that a private school teacher gets fired because of poor performance. Of course she would not say that she did not do her job well. I would not over-interpret the information you provided without knowing the details. I just called a friend whose daughter is in Blake High School 10th grade yesterday. Her daughter said that Blake has a very welcoming environment.
Thank you for the information about the Blake English teacher. If it is true, apparently she did not join Breck. Otherwise, she would send her kids to Breck instead of Edina High. It is fairly common that private school teachers move to good public schools, for job stability and better benefits. The question is if they can get in or not. It is also not uncommon that a private school teacher gets fired because of poor performance. Of course she would not say that she did not do her job well. I would not over-interpret the information you provided without knowing the details. I just called a friend whose daughter is in Blake High School 10th grade yesterday. Her daughter said that Blake has a very welcoming environment.
Good observation! Yes, she didn’t join Breck because they were not hiring. We know this teacher well, and she wasn’t happy at Blake for at least a couple of years. Same is true of the Blake Middle School director who quit a couple of years ago. He was at odds with their no homework policy. I can assure you that he was not fired.
You reminded me of another point worth mentioning. Blake gives its teachers a substantial tuition accommodation for their children while Breck does not. When we looked at Blake, the percentage of teachers who had their own children at the school was roughly 1/2 that of Breck, despite the accommodation. That was another reason why the aforementioned teacher didn’t send her kids to Breck.
You have plenty of completely unique N of 1 experiences to share here (e.g. my brother's friend's neighbor's drinking buddy said....), but they are diametrically opposite of the years of commentary from people who actually have students at these schools. Your weak and transparent attempts to disparage Breck are unfortunate. And despite all of the baseless and negative comments, you claim to have children at the school. It may help you to speak with someone about the pains that cause you to do this stuff.
Once again, you are replying with the hope that people will not read what you are replying to. There is nothing whatsoever in this thread, over years, about students being mistreated at Breck. Your rookie psychology isn’t going to work.
You are correct in that some schools are willing to be flexible and, while I cannot speak about Blake’s flexibility with students, Breck has been completely flexible each year, and the teachers and admin have gone way out of their way to support children who have unique needs.
You are also correct about students not needing to attend church however, much like English, history, math etc., studying the various religions helps students to have an understanding of the people in the world, and the religious teaching is minimal and equally weighted. Clearly you don’t agree, and neither does Blake. It’s certainly personal preference. A couple of decades ago when diversity and inclusion weren’t as front and center, Blake thrived with the country club mentality. Times are different.
I am not sure about "complete flexibility". That sounds a bit extreme. Does that mean "ignorance"? It might be as bad as "complete rigidity". What if the family does not know what they are doing at all? How do Breck teachers rule out that possibility? I am not sure all parents are professional educators. I think teachers should provide at least SOME guidance, at least they try to do that. However, I do understand if they are not able to, it is better to leave the family alone.
Last edited by iameexc; 10-05-2023 at 08:06 PM..
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