Talk:Altamont School

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[edit] interesting institution

• The Altamont School is a very interesting institution. The students are smart (excepting the occasional dimwit), and are very well prepared for college. Most students take AP's and score quite well. However, many students are not happy with the turn the school is taking. For the past few years, The Altamont School has been using a trimester, fixed schedule system, and will be changing to a rotating schedule, semester system, and knowing today's youth and their fear of change and quickness to place blame, the new headmaster is facing a slight loss of popularity. This is very unsettling, considering the fact that he really is doing a fine job. I am a student at Altamont, and I love it. The only feasible complaint I have is that the Coke and snack machines have been replaced with healthier alternatives, but these new sources of nourishment are part of a growing American trend that can't be stopped, and is probably for the best. All in all, Altamont is well worth the money, and is a wonderful place of education and administration for the adults of the future.

65.5.224.79 02:51, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

• As a graduate of Altamont during Mr. Hames' final year as headmaster I can say that Altamont is not the same place. The caliber of student has diminished significantly as the new administration has acquiesced to the trend in high school education of valueing testing and scores as opposed to classical, liberal learning. What made Altamont unique was that it had an emphasis in excellence based on classical liberal education not governmental "public school" standards. Altamont is NOT worth the money. Send your kids to Hoover, Mtn. Brook, John Carroll or Vestavia for the same education at a lower price. Essentially now you are paying for a public school education at Altamont. I am thankfully about to graduate from college and have reaped the benefits of the classical "Hamesian" (sic) education from Altamont. Sadly, the students now are being drastically shortchanged. Wheelock has to GO to save Altamont. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 137.113.114.148 (talk • contribs).

• As a current student of Altamont, I think the truth lies somewhere between these points of views. Altamont is a school where certain types of students can thrive: students that are self-motivated; students that are different "per se" that would otherwise be ignored at a public school; students that enojoy meeting different types of people with different views. The switch to a rotating schedule has been a welcome change and the movement to semesters has hardly been a factor. The only change that has really hurt the school is having 6 one-hour classes. Although it has greatly reduced the stress on teachers, I have found that classes are approximately 20% more unproductive. The current problem right now is a result of the instability during Hames final years and Wheelock's first two years. There are many students at Altamont right now that really do not belong, but it is a sad truth that we are in debt due to a building project several years ago. It is also true that many of the top teachers left Altamont due to retirement/allegiance to Hames but Mr. Wheelock has done a great job of bringing in young motivated teachers (especially in the Math Department). It is also true that Altamont is in dire need of new facilities to join the elite of prep schools. The post above is not accurate and it suffers from conflicting loyalties to Mr. Hames and Altamont in itself. Furthermore, it seems that the parents of Altamont students (especially those that previously attended Mnt. Brook or other public schools) are disillusioned as to the actual goal of Altamont. The objective of this private school is not to give someone an easy A so that they can get into a better college. It is to create complete, educated, and well-rounded adults for better or for worse as far as college goes. Altamont is not for everyone but for the right student it is definately worth the money. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.83.252.250 (talk • contribs).

• This is all very absorbing, but allow me to interject that article talk pages are intended for collaboration toward an encyclopedia article and that original observations are not part of the encyclopedia. (See WP:TALK and WP:NOT). Surely you can find another forum for this discussion. --Dystopos 17:26, 15 February 2007 (UTC)