quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

I don't think school 'quality' matters as much as the fact that the people who work for those schools know how to play the college admission game. calculus is calculus.

exeter and philips academy & c. def give you a leg up in applying to elite schools, I mean who wouldn't turn down an exeter kid, can you even imagine

nothing matters you guys

lagoons school had private philosophy coaches

hah

I had a public philosophy coach

recent study on people who were accepted to harvard/stanford/etc but chose state school instead found no diff in lifetime earnings and so forth, so you can send yr kid to a fancy private school so theyll get into a fancy college but w/e

eh I think it depends on a case by case basis, there are definitely career-paths where going to a top college is either a huge leg up or the only way in the door. otoh if you're gonna be a dentist or something, really doesn't matter.

thats cool great empirical study man

I call it the dentist study

recent study on people who were accepted to harvard/stanford/etc but chose state school instead found no diff in lifetime earnings and so forth, so you can send yr kid to a fancy private school so theyll get into a fancy college but w/e

― lag∞n, Tuesday, February 14, 2012 4:15 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

think about all the noogies you'll get when you show up at pine valley w/o an ivy league degree, the nerve

i went to school once

it was ok

max brb'd me on gchat and now I find him here

how embarrassing

entitlement issues imho

i had to go buy an orange

you can choose between sushi, a macrobiotic lunch, or an orange (which you have to buy)

i like the school my kids go to. its small. doesn't cost 30k a year. people are friendly. thought it might be too crunchy for me, but its not. its well thought of around the country by educators. its a model of sorts. they teach kids how to be decent people. its not montessori. its not waldorf.

max put all that time and money into school and here he is buying a single orange like a schnook

we had magnet schools that had some vocational classes and AP classes and "alternative" schools for kids who bombed out of the mainstream or were out of the traditional environment for other reasons

are Country Day schools rich-kid schools elsewhere in the country?

i went to a private school in an old mansion where u didnt have to do anything

On an interesting note, I found a facebook group through a friend for parents of a Montessori-style school that is actually part of the local public school system and it seems like it's just full of parents who have way too many opinions about the teachers and administration. Like the overbearing members of a PTA gone haywire

mission statement for my kid's school:

The Greenfield Center School integrates a challenging curriculum with ethical decision-making to develop the skills and convictions for creating just communities.

The Center School promotes personal growth in an atmosphere of warmth and mutual respect. The school’s practices are built around an integration of social and academic learning. Children and adults form a vision of equitable and compassionate communities through active participation in their classroom, school, and the world beyond.

The Center School fosters a developmental approach to education, recognizing that children need a balance of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual learning. The school’s philosophy supports classroom communities in which individuals feel known and included. The curriculum is designed to engage participants in meaningful intellectual, academic, and creative endeavors.

Through critical engagement with their work and their world, students and teachers become informed, ethical problem solvers. The Center School's graduates are well prepared to excel in any academic setting. In addition, the school’s goal is that students emerge with the skills and inclinations to be reflective, empathetic, hopeful, and courageous citizens in the world.

i know, i know, hippies, but it's nice.

only goes up to the 8th grade though.

Honestly this is all relevant to my interests with a kid on the way and a wife who teaches in public schools. I have no idea what the fuck people do - it seems like unless you live in Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, the *good* public school options in Brooklyn are very limited, and even those, again, are often overbooked. So I guess there's Queens? I mean I don't need to send my daughter to the best elementary school in the city or anything, but I would like it to be an environment that feels safe with competent teachers and I would like her to not be the only white and/or jewish kid.

But it seems like the city is hellbent on closing publics and opening charters right now.

there are lots of good reasons to move to queens

feel like hippies r good w/children

I know it's tragic, having to move like .2 miles

I am seriously considering it!

and they aren't even really hippies. or new age-y either. its just when people are positive and talk about fairness i instinctively put up my misanthropic hippie shield. i'm trying to be nicer though.

they sound more like commies than hippies

its a fine line

People are weird about who they trust their kids with these days.

Remember when it was just like, "Well, you're school age, let's go to the school and register you" in like August or whatever and you went to the school nearest your house (or second nearest, if the districts were drawn oddly) and you were assigned a teacher and ate the crappy cafeteria food and kicked overused balls around on the playground over recess?

are Country Day schools rich-kid schools elsewhere in the country?

There's one in a rich part of Detroit suburbs (Grosse Pointe??) that was my high school's tennis nemesis, iirc.

"tennis nemesis" is a wonderful turn of phrase

reminds me of the store in LA called 'the merchant of tennis'

If kids grow up knowing it is important to treat others well, are willing to work and know how to solve problems, then they've been "raised right".

'right' into the hands of stalin

exeter and philips academy & c. def give you a leg up in applying to elite schools, I mean who wouldn't turn down an exeter kid, can you even imagine

lol

lol I need to proofread :\

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/35/7/all_brooklynbabycinnos_2012_02_17_bk.html

http://i.imgur.com/VRKKs.jpg

not nyt but give em a few days I guess

lol some stylebeat reporter is getting an earful for missing the scoop I'm guessing

hey thats the coffee shop that i live next door to

you should order one

good opportunity for original reporting

As an aside, I am beginning to wonder if there is some "Ye Olde Rustic Style Distressed Ceiling Company" somewhere in brooklyn catering to all of these shops to give them that same romantic rehabbed look.