Breck or Blake school? (Minnetonka, Edina: credit, homes, elementary school)

[MDINWI]

WOW, I can't believe how hateful the remarks that came from people who went public school and did well in college and in their chosen career(s). The question wasn't even directed to them. I suspect that their careers weren't as glittering as they claim. Sad.
Finding the right school for your child is a little more complicated today than it was when Minnesota ranked tops in the nation for academics. Those days are over. Some affluent school districts continue to produce great results and some well funded urban schools continue to do well. But in rural Minnesota as well as most of America, our schools are struggling to teach and our kids are struggling to succeed. All this person wanted to know is if you had any constructive advice as to which school was better at preparing it's students for graduation. The public school system is created for the "average" student. If you or your child is "average" they will do well (or well enough) but if you child is special in anyway; you'll have you work cut out for you finding the right fit. If you judge schools on placement in college, etc, then Blake is the clear choice. Cretin-Derham has produced excellent results as has St Paul- Summit school. I attended public schools until my sophomore year when I transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy (as as scholarship student), and it really saved my life. To be a gay kid in a large factory public school was suffocating, to be able to be my self without threat of reprisal in the late 70's in high school was truly a gift I can never truly repay.

[ocsid]

Originally Posted by interesting_human

Blake is the best academic school in MN. Providence is too strict, restrictive, and intolerant (with no competitive athletic programs); IS is a poor excuse for a private school. Breck is fine for a top tear Minnesota private school, but Blake is simply a top tear national private school that happens to be located in Minnesota... many similar institution can be found on the eastern seaboard.

Providence is a hard core right-wing, closed minded school, much like many of the private schools in the south. It's mainly for kids whose parents think there is some liberal conspiracy in the public schools, or want to shelter their kids from anything but their small-minded worldview.

Breck and Blake are much more of the old money type schools, similar to many private schools in the Northeast. SPA is an old military school, as is Shattuck in Faribault (although the latter is basically now an athletic factory, most known for hockey, but now for soccer and figure skating as well). CHD, Hill-Murray, Holy Angels, De La Salle, etc. are just Catholic schools, like any other in any city.

[ocsid]

I meant to say that St. Thomas Academy is an old military school - not SPA.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

People continue to focus on averages. My primary focus is what my kids achieve. They went to Anoka. Plenty of people on this forum wouldn't even consider this school.

I could have sent my kids to Blake or Breck. Putting it as nicely as I can, the tuition wouldn't be a big deal to me. Same with many other people that send their kids to Blake or Breck. I went to Anoka back in the early 80's. I'd like to think I did rather well for myself. I wouldn't have sent my kids to Blake or Breck because it's too far of a drive and why bother spending more money? I can look at my kids achievements and know they got a fantastic education and they both are on a nice path. Maybe others see the value or know that there kids are better off. Then it's a good deal for them.

[uptown_urbanist]

My friends from Blake and Breck have done fine, but so have my friends who went to any number of other schools in the Twin Cities. I can't remember what I said earlier in this thread, but also FWIW, the one thing that I always associated Blake and Breck with was the heavy use of drugs and alcohol! I've heard many other people (both older and younger than me) comment on that, too. If I were a parent I'd be concerned about that. Of course that can be at any school, and I would assume that it's no different at, say, Edina or Wayzata high schools, but it's something to consider, that's all. Of course not all the kids who go to those schools are into the hard-core partying, but it does sound like a big part of the culture.

My own public high school had excellent academics and lots of alumni doing impressive things, but I think it is true that the elite private schools have better networking connections. I liked my school and am still friends with some of my old classmates and teachers, but I don't feel a bond to it in the way that my private school friends do. I think it's that lifelong bond that forges the sense of identity even long after high school and enables the networking factor. If you want a more formalized web of contacts united by a common high school, then private is definitely the way to go. I tend to think it's silly to go out in the adult work world and network based on high school, but that's just because that's just not the way it works for most of us public school grads.

As far as college placement, plenty of kids from other local schools go on to big-name colleges. I would never choose a school simply because I was worried about my kid getting into the "right" school. I'm more concerned about overall solid education (which Breck and Blake can obviously do, too). Then again, I have very low tolerance for the whole "you failed at life if you don't get into HYP, or at least Brown," mindset.

[ISMparent]

Since someone was asking about the International School, I wanted to put in my "two cents" about the school. My husband and I moved from the East Coast and checked out Blake, Breck, and SPA, but decided to apply only to ISM for lower school. At least for the lower school, I thought that it was the most academically rigorous of the schools (along with SPA, which is unfortunately too far from where we live), which is why we enrolled our children there and have been very happy with it. We will likely transfer them to a different school for high school (or even middle school) just because we want them to have more academic and extracurricular choices when they are older, but I think that ISM's lower school (which starts at pre-school, not just pre-kindergarten, like Blake or Breck) is great.

Frankly, several of my friends whose kids have gone to Blake since kindergarten told me that I was wise to save my money (i.e., ISM is considerably less expensive than Blake) because they didn't think that Blake's elementary school was nearly as good as its middle school and high school programs are. They admitted that they were too worried about their child's chances of getting into Blake at a higher grade (because I believe fewer kids apply for kindergarten) to wait until the higher grades to apply. I guess we will just be taking our chances if we decide to apply later...

I also wanted to say that another great thing about ISM is that the students generally do come from more "international" families than many other Minnesota private schools (e.g., many of the parents grew up in Asia, Europe, or South America, and either work for a foreign company here or do international work for a Minnesota company, like Cargill or General Mills). Because so many of these parents are not native to Minnesota, I think that it may be easier for "transplants" from elsewhere to feel welcome. For example, I know of a husband who moved here from the East Coast who specifically chose the school because he thought his wife would have an easier time befriending other parents at ISM than she would at the local public school in their upscale suburb or at Blake or Breck, which historically has had more students from "old Minnesota money" families).

Another example of the "international" emphasis is that all of the children have a foreign language class (taught by a native speaker, not by an American with an accent) every day, starting even in pre-school (it's a 30-minute class through kindergarten, and then it's for 1 hour each day starting in 1st grade); this is not immersion, but I do believe it is more than Blake or Breck offer in their lower schools.

[jayhopethismeeturstandard]

Eden Prairie Public Schools should be up on this list. I graduated there this year and I own a house and I didn't have near the options that most of those kids have. Its literally a private school feel in a public setting.

[nachos136]

I transfered to Breck my freshman year and was a year behind in the academics because the Breck kids were so far ahead. I stayed connected with my public school friends and we were doing things as freshman that the public school sophomores were doing. For example, average math at Breck freshman year is Geometry, which was advanced at public school and was average for the SOPHOMORES at public school. As a freshman we also took physics which many seniors take at public school. Our English class read a book first semester that the public school kids read last semester. Breck is very advanced academically and is a very good college prep school.

[nachos136]

the class size is also much smaller so the kids get much more attention and more one-on-one time if need be. The teachers pay much more attention to the kids and it is near impossible to fall through the cracks at Breck. If a student receives less than 70% on a test, an email is sent to the parents and advisor and a plan is made to help the student get back on track and make sure that doesn't happen again.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by nachos136

I transfered to Breck my freshman year and was a year behind in the academics because the Breck kids were so far ahead. I stayed connected with my public school friends and we were doing things as freshman that the public school sophomores were doing. For example, average math at Breck freshman year is Geometry, which was advanced at public school and was average for the SOPHOMORES at public school. As a freshman we also took physics which many seniors take at public school. Our English class read a book first semester that the public school kids read last semester. Breck is very advanced academically and is a very good college prep school.

Taking classes out of sequence doesn't mean you are "advanced". Geometry is pretty standard freshman math in our area . Taking physics as a freshman really isn't a good idea. The background for much of what you do in physics is built on other science and math classes along the way. A TRUE physics class uses a lot of calculus, which, as a freshman you would not have had. That is not to say that Breck isn't a good school, it is, but your examples aren't what makes it a good school.