Can someone talk to me about the cottage school and/or Highlands Latin in Louisville?

[Fireweed Prep]

Life has changed drastically for us in the last month. We have just now enrolled all three kids in Gulf Coast Classical Academy (it's a newly formed full time Memoria Press school here in Clearwater FL). We are 90% sure we are moving to Louisville, KY this summer. I would love to message, email, or even talk on the phone with families enrolled in either the cottage school or the "brick and mortar" Highlands Latin school in Louisville, to hear some pros and cons of each option. My eldest would certainly prefer to be in school full time, but I'm exploring our options up there!

[tanya]

Well, this is exciting news! We have a close relationship with Gulf Coast and also can't wait to welcome you to Louisville. Either option in Louisville would be a good one, but sometimes it's hard to find an opening at the full-time school, so you should definitely keep your eyes on the cottage school as a way in if that is indeed a problem for your grades.

It would be great if you could visit sometime during the school year on a Monday and Tuesday. Then you could observe both schools. They are similar in appearance (students in the same uniforms marching across campus, sitting at the same desks our full-time students use, using the same cafeteria). But the cottage school does feel a little more informal and relaxed since students are only here once a week. They aren't quite so "institutionalized" I guess. The main difference is your role. For the cottage school, you are still the main educator of your children because we only have them one day a week. They are accountable for a certain amount of work, but you have to get that work done. In the full-time school, you only have to get homework done on Monday, but it is totally assigned and the teachers have more control over your children's education because they are directing it the majority of the time. The tests are all graded by the teachers, assessments are taken on penmanship and participation, and all subjects are covered. In the cottage school, the classes are a la carte, so students can take as few as one or as many as four, so they aren't necessarily with the same class of students all day.

Those are just some general notes I happened to think of. Dianna Kennedy could be of good help here since she has had students in both situations! Dianna!!! (I'm calling people out a lot today!)

Tanya

[Fireweed Prep]

Thanks, Tanya! I looks like Louisville has classes during our spring break, so I will talk with my husband about coming up for a few days. Great suggestion.

[DiannaKennedy]

Well, this is exciting news! We have a close relationship with Gulf Coast and also can't wait to welcome you to Louisville. Either option in Louisville would be a good one, but sometimes it's hard to find an opening at the full-time school, so you should definitely keep your eyes on the cottage school as a way in if that is indeed a problem for your grades.

It would be great if you could visit sometime during the school year on a Monday and Tuesday. Then you could observe both schools. They are similar in appearance (students in the same uniforms marching across campus, sitting at the same desks our full-time students use, using the same cafeteria). But the cottage school does feel a little more informal and relaxed since students are only here once a week. They aren't quite so "institutionalized" I guess. The main difference is your role. For the cottage school, you are still the main educator of your children because we only have them one day a week. They are accountable for a certain amount of work, but you have to get that work done. In the full-time school, you only have to get homework done on Monday, but it is totally assigned and the teachers have more control over your children's education because they are directing it the majority of the time. The tests are all graded by the teachers, assessments are taken on penmanship and participation, and all subjects are covered. In the cottage school, the classes are a la carte, so students can take as few as one or as many as four, so they aren't necessarily with the same class of students all day.

Those are just some general notes I happened to think of. Dianna Kennedy could be of good help here since she has had students in both situations! Dianna!!! (I'm calling people out a lot today!)

Tanya

Tanya is correct -- we have had students in both settings.
We've been with the cottage school for seven years (WOW), and my youngest daughter attended full time HLS at Crescent Hill for K and 1st grade. Currently, all five Kennedy kids are in the CS, from K to 10th grade.

Feel free to email me (dianna.kennedy at gmail dot com) with questions.

[jen1134]

Life has changed drastically for us in the last month. We have just now enrolled all three kids in Gulf Coast Classical Academy (it's a newly formed full time Memoria Press school here in Clearwater FL). We are 90% sure we are moving to Louisville, KY this summer. I would love to message, email, or even talk on the phone with families enrolled in either the cottage school or the "brick and mortar" Highlands Latin school in Louisville, to hear some pros and cons of each option. My eldest would certainly prefer to be in school full time, but I'm exploring our options up there!

Ooooh! Does this mean we'll get to see you at Sodalitas??!

[Fireweed Prep]

Ooooh! Does this mean we'll get to see you at Sodalitas??!

I don't know!!!! If we aren't homeschooling anymore...well. I'm sure Tanya could put me to work setting up tables and things so that I can still feel like I have "earned" my participation :-) But it would be truly awesome to meet IRL!

[tanya]

But if you are doing the cottage school, you are still homeschooling! If you are in Louisville, you have to come! It would be really hard to sit at home and know all your forum peeps are just miles away eating together, fellowshipping together, etc.

[DiannaKennedy]

But if you are doing the cottage school, you are still homeschooling! If you are in Louisville, you have to come! It would be really hard to sit at home and know all your forum peeps are just miles away eating together, fellowshipping together, etc.

THANK YOU for saying this.

The Cottage School and the MPOA are essential parts of my homeschool, but it doesn't make me any less of a homeschool mother. Homeschooling doesn't mean I teach every single thing myself. It means that I'm the boss. I get to pick and choose the curriculum and how it's delivered. I may teach something myself, or I may look to outsource. I'm still homeschooling.

[tanya]

Ha! You are the boss!!!

[Fireweed Prep]

THANK YOU for saying this.

The Cottage School and the MPOA are essential parts of my homeschool, but it doesn't make me any less of a homeschool mother. Homeschooling doesn't mean I teach every single thing myself. It means that I'm the boss. I get to pick and choose the curriculum and how it's delivered. I may teach something myself, or I may look to outsource. I'm still homeschooling.

Oh definitely if we use the cottage school I would be homeschooling. I mean if we enroll all the kids in HLS. :-)