Comments on: Midland School and Progressive Education: A Q&A with Derek Svennungsen, Director of Admissions

By: SH

SH — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:24:02 +0000

whoever believes midland is a terrible school probably either couldn’t adjust or got kicked out.
Midland isn’t meant for everyone. If you are sincerely miserable there then you shouldn’t stay. Only if you’re comfortable with the school can you truly prosper. Unless you’re have severe social and mental deficiencies, you will probably do well at Midland. It’s not a military school, while I do agree it is rather hippie-like. You’re not forced to live there and even if you were that would be a privilege. So whoever it was who wrote midland is a “terrible” school, I’d like to know if you graduated from midland or even attended. Or are you from Dunn?

By: you know

you know — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:48:48 +0000

midland is a terrible school. the children are protected and ignorant. if you don’t play by midlands ways then they will eat you alive. oh and change. they hate it. they do not know what there talking about they think recycling is good when in fact it only is environmentally friendly when its aluminum cans. they have two phones so reaching your son or daughter is impossible. some of the teachers don’t help you at all. the n the rooms in upper yard are the smallest Ive ever seen.They are not a.d.d trained. this is a “hippie military school”. for the money you are about 10x better to apply for an east coast boarding school. midland is a great school with nice people. but unless they change then no one will be going there for any longer.

By: SR - Midland Parent

SR - Midland Parent — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:27:31 +0000

Unlike any of our other experiences with “progressive” schools, Midland is in every way exactly what they purport to be. In addition to Derek’s description of student jobs, responsibilities and shower fires, Midland prepares students for the “real world” through students’ interactions with faculty, requirements of formal, semi-and “quarter-“ formal attire for various events, speaking to the whole community about things that matter, and quality studies with a faculty of quite impressive breadth and depth. The “real world” has human and natural environments that have problems and require creative, compassionate and effective solutions. Midland students work these out both with faculty and each other such that their actions have direct, very real consequences on their living environment. As in the “real world,” sometimes others have control over situations, sometimes outcomes are not “fair,” and not all endings are “happy”; Midland, however, does not shy away from or hide difficulties. Midland also nurtures the arts and fosters appreciation for the diverse human talents that any successful community requires: the labor of building a shower fire, growing and preparing food, and keeping bathrooms clean, is just as important as intellectual labor. A “progressive” vision respects the “natural” world, human diversity and cooperation. I keep taking photos at school events where head of school, Will Graham, presides over the division of meal remnants into recyclables, compostables, slop for the livestock and the diminishing trash. Everyone must play multiple roles for the whole community to thrive. We feel so lucky that our children get to blossom at Midland. (And I’m someone who really criticizes just about everything!)

By: MH

MH — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:18:24 +0000

I’m an alum who recently underwent the transition from Midland to the “real world”. The adjustment for me, from Midland to University in another continent, has been in seeing pathways for the values and life skills inherited at Midland to be applied in any environment or living/work situation. In the end the difficulty has been in really missing that community, being surrounded by and working with people you have an automatic and very real connection with. The consciousness of a functioning community (or ecosystem) and sense of responsibility and empathy that I can only attribute to having been at Midland is without a doubt the most valuable tool I have for life.

By: V.W.

V.W. — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:57:18 +0000

As a Midland parent, I would like to say that our decision to send our son there was the best decision we could have made for him and us. We would in no way be as close to the students in the public school that he attended prior to Midland. At Midland we are all very much closer, we know the other student’s names, and we know most of the parents. It is a family atmosphere all around. We spend Thanksgiving together.
My son is a very well rounded person because of Midland, We do not have to worry about him having to take care of himself. By the time they are seniors they are able to take care of themselves as well as the underclassmen that they are given responsibility for.
I love Midland and what it stands for, how many parents can say that about their high schools?

By: S.R

S.R — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:23:03 +0000

In response to what happens to kids when they hit the “Real” world, well as a Midland Alum let me tell you. We are the well adjusted individuals you see taking on the challenges of everyday life. We are the students sitting next to your son or daughter in college. We are the people who don’t mind taking on demanding tasks at work, because in all honesty if we can survive the first year or two at Midland, we can survive anything! As a Midland grad I would have to say that I would never change my decision to attend Midland. Midland will always be a part of who I am as a person, and to this day I am still using the things I learned at Midland in my everyday life. Midland is more than just another college prep boarding school; it is a community filled with people who in all honesty have your best interest at heart, Midland is a family, and a way of living and co-existing with those around you. For anyone who ever gets the chance to participate in the Midland community, take that chance without ever looking back.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:06:00 +0000

Wow, and what happens when the kids hit the “Real” World?
Very interesting, I think very few schools are “Progressive” in the Midland sense, even though that is what they try to convey.