# Prep Schools?



## Curator (Aug 4, 2005)

There have been a number of threads discussing universities and mentioning prep schools in passing in the past month or so, and I thought it would be interesting to see in greater detail what prep schools are represented by members of this site. It would also just be worthwhile, I think, to see the mix of private vs. public high schools, (US definitions.)

I'm a Buckingham Browne & Nichols School man, (sadly disappointed that stylish school ties/cufflinks don't seem to exist for my alma mater.)

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"It is an old trick. The playgoer who does not like dirty plays is denounced as a prude; the music-lover who resents cacophony is told he is a pedant; and in all these matters the final crushing blow administered to the man of discrimination is the ascription to him of a hidebound prejudice against things that are new because they are new. -Royal Cortissoz


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## JLibourel (Jun 13, 2004)

I went to the Midland School, Los Olivos, California, which in my day had a very rugged, Spartan environment. In my first year, all the house prefects could administer beatings.

I don't have much use for the place these days since they admitted girls. It has also become fearfully expensive. There is no way I could have sent my stepson there, although my mother, a war widow who certainly had limited means, was able to send me there.


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## bwep (Apr 17, 2005)

My wife and I are proud graduates of public education, though we both attended private universities. Not bad for a couple of medical professionals... My two children are enrolled in local private prep schools, howevere....

"...always aspire to live simply and elegantly." - Madeleine Finn


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## Coolidge24 (Mar 21, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by bwep_
> 
> My wife and I are proud graduates of public education, though we both attended private universities. Not bad for a couple of medical professionals... My two children are enrolled in local private prep schools, howevere....
> 
> "...always aspire to live simply and elegantly." - Madeleine Finn


I am a proud graduate of public education as well, from a small shoreline Connecticut town. Being a Hotchkiss legacy on one side of the family several times over and a Gunnery legacy from my dad, prep school was certainly a consideration, but then, since my public high school had only 450 students and a lot of good teachers, as well as all of my friends, we collectively decided it wasn't worth the extra money to go away.

Considering the amount of extra curricular activities offered and small class sizes (7 people in AP English, for example) I consider it a savings well made, especially since my classmates were very competitive. While I've heard the prep school experience is a unique one, I'm still close with my high school friends and am glad I made the choice I did.

I went on afterwards to private Connecticut College but am now back in public UConn Law School.

I've been pretty happy with all of them.


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

I went to a public high school in NC, in a school system with the 2nd lowest per pupil expediture in a state with one of the ~bottom 5 per pupil expenditures in the country.


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## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

Public education, Grosse Pointe North high, which is a darn good school. The AP programs placed me out of most of my first year college classes, including the dreaded chemistry classes. 


Good/Fast/Cheap - Pick Two


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## Holdfast (Oct 30, 2005)

^My public school (UK definition = private school), and a lot of fun it was too.


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## bwep (Apr 17, 2005)

It is nice to see that a few of us commoners (public school grads) exist out here...

"...always aspire to live simply and elegantly." - Madeleine Finn


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## zegnamtl (Apr 19, 2005)

Like you Bwep, I am a product of the public school system.

Again, like you, both my daughters are in the private school system and will remain so through private college.

I see no other option with the deterioration of the public system from 20 years of cuts in funding and a battery of great private schools all within minutes from home.


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## jasonpraxis (Mar 29, 2005)

The Albany Academy. Since then I've been in both public and private colleges and universities. My preference, probably due to attending and enjoying the Academy at a formative age, is for the smaller and more demanding.


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## anonterm (May 2, 2005)

I went to Saddle River.


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## Joe Frances (Sep 1, 2004)

Portsmouth Abbey School, fka, Portsmouth Priory School.

Joe


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## gmac (Aug 13, 2005)

Grammar school in Scotland followed by Edinburgh University.

My 5 year old son is in the French immersion program in public school here in BC which means that basically all his schooling is done in French. The program is seen as the best education available on the public dime in our part of the world - small class sizes, a focus on academics and high parental involvement. Of course, he will also be effectively bilingual should he continue in the program.

We supplement this with English reading tutoring and a lot of home reading to ensure his English skills are up to par. However, I'm not concerned about that really as anecdotal evidence suggests that the French immersion program produces an above average number of high achievers.

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## manicturncoat (Oct 4, 2004)

Loomis Chaffee school in Windsor, CT


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## Sid Hatfield (Nov 10, 2005)

I attended a military school in the South.


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## Mr. Knightly (Sep 1, 2005)

Saint Paul Academy and Summit School in MN. I'm wondering if it's universal for prep school grads to feel that their school is going down the tubes when they go back for a visit. Certainly the new facilities are gorgeous but it just doesn't seem to be as demanding as it used to be. Of course, the thing that will always make my soul weep is the demise of their once legendary soccer dynasty.

I went to undergrad at Carleton College, also in MN. Planned on going out east but my dad insisted I look at CC because he and his brother went there. Glad I did, it was a great experience.

Now I'm at grad school at U Chicago. It's a great school but not nearly as happy a place as Carleton.

Coolidge, I didn't realize you went to Conn College. I almost went there myself. My brother was an Amherst man and tried to disuade me from other NESCAC schools. My sister and her husband live very close by and we always go running through campus when I'm in town. It's really gorgeous.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.


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## Sid Hatfield (Nov 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Mr. Knightly_
> 
> My brother was an Amherst man and tried to disuade me from other NESCAC schools.


One of my very good friends is an Amherst man -- class of '39, and still going strong!  That old man is a true inspiration...


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Frankenmuth High School in Michigan (a public school).

I have a coworker who went to Grosse Pointe North. (Also, they went to the state Semi-finals in basketball last year.)


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## Concordia (Sep 30, 2004)

Phillips Academy.


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Gents,

No Catholic school grads here? I graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in New York - Non Scholae Sed Vitae - but graduated from a Methodist University - SMU in Dallas.

Karl


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## Curator (Aug 4, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Concordia_
> 
> Phillips Academy.


Finally someone from my neck of the woods, not ISL but close enough. Played you guys in soccer a few times.

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"It is an old trick. The playgoer who does not like dirty plays is denounced as a prude; the music-lover who resents cacophony is told he is a pedant; and in all these matters the final crushing blow administered to the man of discrimination is the ascription to him of a hidebound prejudice against things that are new because they are new. -Royal Cortissoz


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## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

New Hyde Park Memorial H.S. - Long Island, NY. I'm just a public school grad, but proud of it. [8D]


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## M. Kirk (Aug 11, 2005)

Woodberry Forest School


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## 14983 (Sep 25, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Concordia_
> 
> Phillips Academy.


ditto


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## PartagasIV (Dec 13, 2005)

I went to both Brooks and Westminster.
Hello to fellow ISLers


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Langley High School, McLean, Va., Class of 1980.

When I got to Denison University ("The Harvard of Central Ohio") I was the only one of my crowd (mostly prep school grads) who could write a decent essay. My services were in demand, and I took great pleasure in exploiting those poor deprived prep school kids.

In a purely advisory capacity, I hasten to add.

(Actually, I tried ghosting a history paper for a guy once, but we agreed the result couldn't be too much of an improvement or the prof would smell a rat. But writing like this guy proved too difficult - I abandoned the idea and returned the money. And thus did laziness save me from dishonesty )


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## Havana Jake (Nov 28, 2005)

Phillips Andover. Second generation. But I must say that I am thinking of Groton or St Georges for the kids. Just a feeling I have that Andover is now too liberal and too big.

Christopher Mullen
Havana, Cuba


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## Sir Henry Billingsgate (Dec 14, 2005)

The Hill School, Pottstown, PA.


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## 14983 (Sep 25, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Havana Jake_
> 
> Phillips Andover. Second generation. But I must say that I am thinking of Groton or St Georges for the kids. Just a feeling I have that Andover is now too liberal and too big.
> 
> ...


Mr. Mullen, I checked you out on Bluelink. I also went to Andover and Cornell! (But then Columbia for grad). 
Andover's size these days is pretty good, I think. But you'll be happy to know I think the plan is actually to reduce the size a bit by a couple hundred students. As for it's being liberal, I'm afraid it's true, but that's pretty much true of every educational institution these days.


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## AzChilicat (Dec 18, 2005)

I went to a high school in the farming country of southern Ontario so nothing special for me. However, my wife attended Ponahu, probably the most prestigious private school in Hawaii (she was born and raised there). The current brightest star from there is Michell Wei but it also boasts the likes of Barrack Obama (just "Barry" back then I hear) and Steve Case, the billionare founder of AOL. She assures me that she is a mild disappointment for her school, only have degrees in microbiology and engineering, never having gone to an Ivy League school or having become a doctor or attorney (thankfully her sister saved the family and is an attorney!).


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## crs (Dec 30, 2004)

Blair Academy, Blairstown, N.J., four years on scholarship.



> quote:_Originally posted by Mr. Knightly_
> 
> I'm wondering if it's universal for prep school grads to feel that their school is going down the tubes when they go back for a visit. Certainly the new facilities are gorgeous but it just doesn't seem to be as demanding as it used to be.


More of the current-era students wind up at Ivy League universities than in the 1970s. I'm not sure if that means anything, though, because in my day most of the kids wanted smaller colleges, some being just as difficult to get into as the Ivys.

Endowment is much larger, facilities are upgraded. As for comparing the quality of education, I wouldn't know, although I feel I got an excellent education there in spite of myself and think it would be difficult to improve on the teachers we had. It's still a small (400 or so), friendly place. Athletically, the school always has been strong, but is on another level now, with the wrestling team usually No. 1 in the USA Today poll and three alumni in NBA.

Great place then and now. I love going back to visit.


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

My prep school's gone way to the left. The alumni magazine rotates one of three cover stories from issue to issue: globalism, multi-culturalism, and diversity. The editorial tone is so full of white liberal guilt that it's painful to read. They even hired a Director of Diversity. Then one year a member of the senior class came out as a gay man and they tried to expel him (this is _not_ a religious school). I guess that wasn't the kind of diversity they were trying to direct. Bunch of hypocrites.

Edit: I'll be d****d if I'm going to contribute to an annual fund that simultaneously pays the salary of a Director of Diversity and tries to expel gay kids.


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## lameduck (Jan 6, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by rojo_
> 
> My prep school's gone way to the left. The alumni magazine rotates one of three cover stories from issue to issue: globalism, multi-culturalism, and diversity. The editorial tone is so full of white liberal guilt that it's painful to read. They even hired a Director of Diversity. Then one year a member of the senior class came out as a gay man and they tried to expel him (this is _not_ a religious school). I guess that wasn't the kind of diversity they were trying to direct. Bunch of hypocrites.
> 
> Edit: I'll be d****d if I'm going to contribute to an annual fund that simultaneously pays the salary of a Director of Diversity and tries to expel gay kids.


A school tried to expel a pupil solely on the basis that he is homosexual? I find that a little hard to believe.

Regards


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by lameduck_
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I did too until I met him and he told me about it. Maybe he left out part of the story but he sounded sincere.


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## Coolidge24 (Mar 21, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by rojo_
> 
> My prep school's gone way to the left. The alumni magazine rotates one of three cover stories from issue to issue: globalism, multi-culturalism, and diversity.


Must have taken a page from Conn. College's "CC Magazine", except you also need a picture of some trustifarians tossing a frisbee. I dont plan to give them a cent either. So I glad I have finally escaped that crazy place...in law school there are still plenty of these people but they are too busy doing work or trying to find a job to have time to chalk sidewalks, hold vigils, and declare bias incidents.

Edit: Of course I'm hardly unbiased in this issue, being a committed Republican who, while last year serving my 4th and senior year on SGA, attempted to filibuster the passage of the Center for Comparative Race and Ethnicity. I was removed (politely, as I did not want those clods manhandling my madras blazer) by campus safety after 20 minutes but was not charged with anything. It was a fun last stand [}] The College, apparently, does not follow the rules of order as prescribed by the real Senate and can forcibly remove people who say things they don't like.


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## Mr. Knightly (Sep 1, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Coolidge24_
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A filibuster in student government! I'm impressed. I would have been there with you.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.


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## calistan (Dec 25, 2005)

Interesting topic.

Myself: 

Cheshire Academy, Connecticut

Lehigh University, Pennsylvania

Regards.


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## James Gordon E. (Oct 2, 2005)

I currently attend an institution run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (the LaSallian Christian Brothers).


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## Badrabbit (Nov 18, 2004)

Montgomery Academy, though people who went there refer to it as "The Academy" or "M.A."


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## Innovan (Dec 7, 2005)

The US prep schools are outlined best in:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1880559641

Aldrich, who is as Old Money as they come, goes one step further and points out the differences in attitudes between the different schools. It still remains for someone to use the RJ Rowling shorthand of "these schools are Gryffindore, these schools are Ravenclaw, and this batch is Hufflepuff". But which school you choose says much about what you want your children to become, and they are far from interchangable.


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## msh14 (Nov 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by zj_
> As for it's being liberal, I'm afraid it's true, but that's pretty much true of every educational institution these days.


Ah, but does every institution have a Dean of Community and Multicultural Developement as does Andover?


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## crs (Dec 30, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by msh14_
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Why would anyone consider this a bad thing? Unless you believe the purpose of a school is to indoctrinate rather than teach people to think for themselves, how could exposure to people of different races, beliefs, economic status, upbringings possibly be viewed as harmful?

I would guess from looking at my classmates from the class of 1977 that my school turned out both liberals and conservatives, as any institution will regardless of its leanings. But at least an exposure to different people and different ideas allowed us to come by our political beliefs individually rather than simply adopting those of our parents and peers.

I never knew any black people until I went to prep school. Also, we had many students from overseas, especially from South America. Getting to know them was part of my education.

Do you really want children to spend their prep school years isolated from an increasingly diverse United States? I would think that doing so would place them at a distinct disadvantage once they join the real world.


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## pleasehelp (Sep 8, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by crs_
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Excellent Point. I strongly believe that cultural/ethnic/racial/economic/etc. diversity greatly enhances classrooms and campuses


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## erasmus (Sep 26, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by AzChilicat_
> 
> However, my wife attended Ponahu, probably the most prestigious private school in Hawaii (she was born and raised there). The current brightest star from there is Michell Wei but it also boasts the likes of Barrack Obama (just "Barry" back then I hear) and Steve Case, the billionare founder of AOL.


Yes, Punahou is probably the most well-known private school in Hawaii. Great school in terms of quality of faculty and administration. Its rival is Iolani. Both regularly send many of their alumni to excellent colleges and universities.

However, the most wealthy private educational institution in Hawaii is Kamehameha Schools, whose colossal endowment of $6+ billion exceeds those of some Ivy League universities.

"Ease and grace in everything" - Gracian


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## Allthingstrad (Jan 5, 2006)

Saint Albans School, Washington, D.C.

"Since it's a traditional, preppy look it's best if balanced by a relatively small four-in-hand knot." He sips his martini, recrossing his legs. "Next question?"


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

In recent years my old prep school has achieved its longtime goal of building enrollment of Students of Color to more than 30%. The implication of diversity and multiculturalism as typically practiced on American campuses is that "latino students" or "black students" are all alike, all have the same experience and background, and all contribute the same thing to a school because they are defined by their race and skin color and are therefore virtually interchangeable. The Liberal drive for diversity focuses not on what a student brings to the school as an individual with unique talents, ideas, and experience, but as a member of this or that race. My grandmother was born in Mexico and I still have cousins living there; I promise you that not all Latinos have the same beliefs, upbringing, or economic status. 

Admissions should be colorblind, looking at students as individuals, not as members of a group. The underlying assumption of racial quotas in the name of diversity is that race above all else defines who and what we are, and that idea by definition is extremely racist.

Case in point: even 25 years ago when I was in school, many of the black students lived in the same expensive suburbs and had parents who belonged to the same clubs as the rich white kids. What kind of diversity is achieved by giving preferential admission to this kind of black student simply because he or she is black?


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## crs (Dec 30, 2004)

In some ways I agree with you, Rojo, but I feel that my prep school tried hard to ensure true diversity. The South Americans were wealthy -- they tended to be attracted by word of mouth because an assistant headmaster, a Castillian, went out of his way to make Spanish-speaking students feel at home. Most of the black students were part of the A Better Chance program, a scholarship program that sends minority kids to prep schools. Perhaps because we were a small school -- about 400 students -- we did achieve admissions in which each applicant was treated as an individual rather than slotted into a quota. But since the school is located in a rural area, I doubt there would have been much diversity if the school hadn't made an effort to achieve it.

https://www.abetterchance.org


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## msh14 (Nov 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by crs_
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You, my friend, have given us a perfect example of the logical fallacy known as the "Straw Man". I said that having a Dean of Multiculturalism is ridiculous and you insinuate that I believe prep schools should isolate their students from all people of different races, beliefs, economic status, etc.

There is the Dean of Students, Dean of Faculty, Dean of Studies, Dean of Discipline, etc. A Dean of Multicultural Affairs isn't on the same level. Awarding a Deanship to "Multicultural Affairs" is just paying lip service to the idea of diversity. "Hey look at us! We have a Dean of Multiculturalism! We're not an elitist prep school we swear!" The fact of the matter is, and you would have to be more familiar with the school to know this, but the deanship to which I am referring served little more than to segregate the community.


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## crs (Dec 30, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by msh14_
> Awarding a Deanship to "Multicultural Affairs" is just paying lip service to the idea of diversity.


A staff of seven sounds like more than lip service, it sounds like a solid commitment. According to their Web site, they do a lot of community service:


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## mark6016 (Sep 8, 2003)

Graduate of two private schools in England. The first having a hard-nosed approach to education and disipline, incorporating corporal punishment to the fullest extent. The second school was run by Quakers, a religion that does not believe in acts of violence against its students. I was able to sit down in comfort for the first time in 5 years!


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## msh14 (Nov 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by crs_
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As I said, awarding a Deanship to Multiculturalism is just paying lip service to the idea of diversity. It's not as if the Office of Community and Multicultural Development would disappear without a Dean. The athletic department still thrives sans Dean, as does the music program, the history department, and the Commons.


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## Curator (Aug 4, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by mark6016_
> 
> Graduate of two private schools in England. The first having a hard-nosed approach to education and disipline, incorporating corporal punishment to the fullest extent. The second school was run by Quakers, a religion that does not believe in acts of violence against its students. I was able to sit down in comfort for the first time in 5 years!


As a proud Quaker and a graduate of a Quaker middle school and current student of a Quaker liberal-arts college, I think your latter educational decision was a wise one.

"It is an old trick. The playgoer who does not like dirty plays is denounced as a prude; the music-lover who resents cacophony is told he is a pedant; and in all these matters the final crushing blow administered to the man of discrimination is the ascription to him of a hidebound prejudice against things that are new because they are new." -Royal Cortissoz

www.williamlcoleman.com


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## Sir Henry Billingsgate (Dec 14, 2005)

> quote:Graduate of two private schools in England. The first having a hard-nosed approach to education and disipline, incorporating corporal punishment to the fullest extent. The second school was run by Quakers, a religion that does not believe in acts of violence against its students. I was able to sit down in comfort for the first time in 5 years!


My roommate my fourth form year had previously attended Charterhouse. He said they still ( ca. 1972 ) caned students.


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