not if you value your time and personal safety. hard pass.

What situation have you been in in which that advice was helpful to you, much less qualify as among the best advice you’ve ever received?

Yeah seconded, it’s a short trip up on the Northeast Regional, no reason not to come to the city once or twice first

Can you head to Alko out on Kelso Drive? I think they can embroider whatever color you need, and they should have the logo. Maybe call ahead if needed.

I hate to tell you this, but there are other ways to get around the city besides personal vehicle.

There’s a few cobblers around the city.. Also, you can for to Penn station and get a shine on the quick in the morning.

When I went to bsa I didn’t know it was the place for me. Before highschool I knew I really liked making art, I learned best from my art teachers in middle school and my parents encouraged me to explore that outlet. I was also in between taking a more traditional academic route and bsa. When it came down to making a decision I realized I wanted to give my talent a shot at a school where other students were doing something similar and I could take classes that were designed to help me build my art career and skills. It was a pretty big decision to make as a young person who’s still wondering a lot. If your kid likes to be challenged artistically and intellectually and is curious about their own music experience then bsa might be a good fit. It wasn’t a “traditional” highschool experience, but it gave me a lot of art experience that many kids who were interested in art didn’t get until college or later. Again happy to answer any more questions you have!

So you support making public transportation policy based on a comedian's jokes?

The lack of turn signals is not because we are in an apocalypse and the people in Baltimore aren't zombies. This is psychotic dribble coated thinly in racism. Go outside, you need it.

Yep

The amount of BMW's and Lexus's I've seen not use turn signals really throws the poverty excuse out the window.

>You wouldn't get it.

Originally I was going to say that's because you couldn't explain it, which means you're probably wrong. But you're probably right in this for me. I wouldn't get it.

For example, as someone in a position of trust with people I'm a mandated reporter. Even though it means I have to do uncomfortable things it means I'm protecting innocent people. I embrace that part of my job.

The church has fought off being mandated reporters and in fact hides things from the government as part of what they do. I'll never understand putting people, including children, at risk for more abuse. And I'll never understand people who support those institutions.

Edit: I can give an even better concrete example. The Church won't release it's report about the schools in Canada. They know who committed which crimes. They're all old. People just want confirmation. Church won't give it to them. I won't ever understand.

As an outsider I'd say it's the later. They view their membership in their local church and don't see it as necessarily part of the larger whole. They see the good in the church but can mentally ignore the bad.

It's also hard for some people to separate from institutions they've brought up their whole lives. Look at Hogan and Republicans. He can see that the party has huge rotten components and that those are the majority within the party. But he can't leave it.

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I grew up rural poor (like no indoor plumbing and no heating in the winter poor). My dad grew up the same. My mom grew up poor in the Caribbean and then in the projects of Newark. Of course there were assholes around but they weren't assholes because they were broke.

Again…WTF does poverty have to do with turn signals…there are a bunch of pompous assholes driving cars who think they own the road because they drive luxury cars weaving in and out of traffic for the fuck of it..point me to these ridiculous studies or is this your implicit bias/stereotype based on demographics? There are a lot of inconsiderate idiots (poor, working class and rich) making bad or absent minded decisions driving cars.

For sure! I can’t give too much info because I wasn’t in the department but hearing from my friends who were in the music department, it’s a great atmosphere and holds a lot of different music opportunities outside of bsa. I believe throughout your 4 years at bsa there are smaller auditions for music students to participate in to be in different school performances. Music students get 1:1 lessons from talented and highly recommended teachers. I know at times music students will stay after school for rehearsals and that’s a big commitment plus practicing outside of school hours. The students in the music department are close to each other and I know other bsa music alumn stay in close touch and get into excelled programs afterwards if that’s their direction with music.

>As a public school survivor, I am more concerned with the ongoing public school sex abuse scandals, which are 100 times as widespread as the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals of the twentieth century. There are sickening parallels between the decades-old abuse cases in the article and the ongoing abuse still happening in public schools today.

There absolutely is widespread abuse in the public school system. There is also widespread abuse in the Catholic church. It's a little silly to blame it on hippies and free love but ok.

I'd argue that public school systems, when alerted to abuse, try to do the right thing. The Catholic church covers it up.

Sounds like the real culprit would then be 1) lack of accountability and persecution of slum lords for being slum lords, 2) lack of appropriate urban planning and resourcing neighborhoods and schools to have proper food, 3) lack of investment in public school students and teachers. Blaming poverty low-key just blames the poor people, not the greater structure that keeps poverty as a permanent fixture.

It’s very focused. My daughter was music and although they had a semester of collaborative classes, crossing disciplines is generally only done on a “for fun” basis. Mainly because half the day is a full academic schedule and the other half is their chosen discipline, which doesn’t leave time for other stuff. It’s a longer school day to accommodate this already. That doesn’t mean she won’t have friends in other disciplines - my daughter had friends in all areas. Also because of this the choice of classes in general is less diverse, which is either a drawback or a blessing depending on your kid.

Music. Specifically violin. Do you think the choice of discipline would influence whether she goes there or not?

Thank you for your response!!

Did you complete the IB program?

The sentiment you shared about being very prepared for college is one we’ve heard a lot. Did you ever feel like that preparation came at a price? Like, was it very stressful studying in that rigorous of an environment?

As a Baltimore City college graduate I world recommend it to anyone that can get in, but it’s not an art school. if art is her passion BSA; otherwise city.

This is a wonderful response. Thank you so much.

What would you say are the pros and cons of the music department?

Also, when you went to BSA, did you know it was the place for you? Or were you faced with a similar choice with a another high school? What factored into your decision?

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

One big question we have about BSA is how beholden are the kids to their area of focus? Like, if they’re there to study music, how free or limited are they to take an acting or studio art class?

Did you and your daughter love having an area of focus, or was it ever limiting?