small world...I think I missed playing against you in college as we got stomped by UMD 16-3 in '78. Worstel, Boniello, Ott, Lamon...we were a lot better in '79, but that was still in struggling days. Great Maryland teams.KI Dock Bar wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 4:38 pmMD - my son went to Spalding, we were extremely pleased with his development despite the pandemic extinguishing the better part of his sophomore year. He played lacrosse his freshman year (2 games until the pandemic hit) and sophomore year until he suffered a labral tear. He had to have have it repaired 7 months after the first surgery costing him his junior year. He kicked for the football team as a senior and they had a great season, winning the 'A' conference championship.MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 3:41 pmahhh, then I gotta ask what your favorite dock bar is!KI Dock Bar wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 1:23 pm MD - I live on Kent Island - I coached soccer and lacrosse at Kent Island HS for 20 years, hanging up my lanyard in 2019. I have taught at the middle school level on Kent Island since 2000. I was at Loyola Blakefield from 1986-1999 - coached soccer & lacrosse there as well. I attended public school in Baltimore County, Maryland all 12 years.
Yes, social media has changed so much and so many of the students at the middle school level do not handle it well. Our local state's attorney comes to the middle schools in our district every year. He speaks to the students about social media and the what can happen to them if they post inappropriate content. He talks about the immediate effect and the long term effects.
I do not see a significant increase in students who live in higher socio-economic areas going to private school. IMO, this is a middle class phenomenon. What I believe is happening is that more parents, as a whole, are seeing the benefits of a private school education. My sons high school claims they receive upwards of 600 applications for 9th grade every year and 300 students are admitted. Now, some students choose to attend a different school. At the catholic school where my wife teaches, they are busting at the seams. When she was there as a 1st grader 52 years ago there were 52 students in her class which was taught by a nun. Now she has 18-20 students in her 1st grade class and she has an aide who is there from 8-12. When she taught 1st grade in the public schools in Anne Arundel County in MD (she retired in 2021) she had 22-24 students and no aide. I believe this class size is typical of most public schools in our area. In addition to that, the privates can separate themselves from a child. Only in extreme cases does this happen in public school. Classroom management is much less of a challenge in the privates. The teachers are no different, the students are. They benefit from like-minded students and their parents who put great value on their education.
I really think we are seeing a trend toward parents at least considering a private school education for their child who would not have in the past. This trend was accelerated by the pandemic. Only time will tell if it continues. The girl who does my wife's hair sends her son to my sons alma mater. Her husband is a real estate agent and since the recent downturn in the market they are struggling to pay tuition. They are thinking of taking out a second mortgage on their home to make up the shortfall. Just one example, but I think it speaks to what some folks will do to keep their child in what they believe is a school that will ultimately make a significant difference in their child.
My wife and I and sometimes son with us come down and do an easy bike ride usually from Jetty parking lot up to park and back. Enough to work up a taste for good fish sandwich and some cold ones...
We used to always end up back out there, usually on the very end of the dock, but have begun to explore...
Some excellent ball out of Kent Islands HS over the years.
But yeah, I guess not in the top 40 publics in MD academically.
Sounds like they had quite a goaltender this past season!
Do you send your son over the bridge to St. Mary's or other, or is there another strong Catholic school on your side?
My brother-in-law is a '76 from Loyola Blakefield, his son a 2014.
I was Gilman '76, son a '12, my dad was McDonogh '50.
The girls all Garrison Forest.
We've chosen the private route for the reasons you describe others do when the public options aren't super stellar.
My wife, however, benefited from a public education in Falmouth MA where the real estate taxes and local scientific community of Woods Hole drove good opportunities. Her family couldn't have afforded private (she paid her own way to college and B-school), but fortunately her HS was strong. Her sister just retired from teaching in middle school there, one niece is the school counselor/coach in a county over.
Near where we are in Baltimore County, Hereford, Towson, Carver (arts and technology), and Dulaney are the best public options and they're pretty darn good from all I can tell. But so many private options...
yes, there was definitely a pandemic related bump in demand and in the year thereafter for private/independents, but it's a pretty open question as to whether that will be sustained.
The best dock bar IMO is the Big Owl Bar - the food at the Crab Deck is good. Riding the Cross Island Trail is nice cause not too many hills over here on the shore. I suggest parking at Kent Island HS or Love Point Park and heading to the narrows from there - it is a 5 mile ride, about 30 minutes.
I graduated from Hereford HS in '78 and went on to play lacrosse at Maryland from '79-'83. The '79 team was loaded - we only lost 2 games, both to Hopkins. Regular season 13-12 and the championship game 14-9.
When we used to go south from Hereford to Dulaney & Towson they used to moo at us cause we were the rednecks from the sticks. Now, a lot of those folks are living in the Hereford zone. It is now widely considered the top public high school in Baltimore County. I bailed hay as a teenager at what is now Genesee Valley Farm for Tommy Lamonica for .50 cents/hour. Tommy used to lease my parents 12 acre field to harvest hay.
Spalding has been excellent in the recent era. Bummer on labral tear, my son had a torn hip labrum early in senior season, played on it, but very painful, repaired freshman year in college. He'd had a meniscus tear as a sophomore in HS, but that operation and repair was relatively easy. Great that your son was able to kick!
Yes, Hereford was "up there" in those days, not so much anymore!
I recall wrestling there and at Belair and it was a hike for each for us Roland Parkers...
I spent a month one summer in HS on a farm north of Monkton, tossing bails of hay, brutal hot barn, herding cows, etc...good for the wrestling though!