My mother graduated from Brooklyn’s Midwood High School in 1943, when it was brand new. She has nothing but the fondest memories of her alma mater and she urged me to take OSFO on the admissions tour for a look.
We went. We saw.
Impressive.
Midwood appears to be a traditional, orderly, rigorous, large (4,000) urban high school with excellent facilities, strong sciences, humanities, PSAL sports and clubs.
Big as it is, the kids who spoke to the tour said over and over that the school has a “family-like” atmosphere and many ways to feel known through caring teachers and involvement in clubs
It’s a real school spirit kind of place where kids attend football games and other varsity sports and cheer for the home team.
Rah.
A senior from Park Slope told the group that she wanted to go to Beacon but that her mother secretly signed her up for Midwood. She couldn’t be happier as she feels that the school allowed her to grow and excel. “I would be different in another school. In a bad way,” she said.
We also met with this year’s mayor of Midwood, a fantastic, incredibly poised kid named Jules, who is on track for a four-year scholarship at a small liberal arts college.
The tour guide and the kids spoke of the numerous opportunities available at Midwood for those who work hard and seek them out.
While it’s not one of the “specialized schools” the selective programs in the science and humanities have the feel of a gifted academy with their many Advanced Placement and College Now classes and internships. It’s all for the taking to those who thrive at Midwood.
The school is also a “zoned neighborhood school” for its local catchment (which does not include Park Slope) and admits 475 kids per class without the screening process.
Last week we toured Murrow and the two schools couldn’t feel more different. Murrow is high school from another planet. Big, with its own way of doing things, it has a fun, messy, creative feeling to it: a progressive school for 4,000 students, which is no small feat.
Midwood is more recognizable. It’s high school with a capital H. Serious, competitive and full of opportunities for the hard working student.
In an educational era where small is considered good, Midwood seems to suggest that big can work, too. For the right kids.