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There is a lot of discussion about Payton vs Northside. Can you list your experiences/anecdotes of which one is better in terms of leadership, teachers, culture and college placement? Seems like Payton still enjoys the best school reputation but not sure what contributes to that.
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I agree that location is the prime driver of choice.
Payton tends to rank ever so slightly higher in national standings (which aren’t terribly reliable in my opinion) and test scores, but the differences are negligible and can mostly be explained by the fact that Payton’s population is overall wealthier.
Northside is more diverse in terms of both race and income. This is true generally for Northside; only Northside and Whitney Young tend to have more diverse populations. The remaining selective enrollments have become less diverse over the last decade. This is important to some families, but not to all. For BIPOC students it may make a very big difference in comfort level.
The biggest difference is climate. Payton is definitely more driven and competitive. Northside is more nurturing and laid back. Some students do better in one environment or the other, so it is definitely something to consider.
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This might shed some lights, written by a former WP student
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Great article! Thanks for sharing. Is there a way to find similar details on Northside as well specifically college placements and leadership.
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In WP, every other week kids have seminar day. This is when they take courses in whatever they are interested. Day lasts 8-12, taking 2 classes; since the start of the school year my kid took: debate, programming, neuroscience and strategic games. Also, classes are organized in blocks, days being on repeat every other day. (apologies if I am reiterating what is being said in the article.)
We are extremely satisfied with the school. But we were also satisfied with his previous one, Lane Tech.
No experience with Northside.
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Yeah, I was repeating some of the things said in the article.
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Again thanks for the information on Payton. Any insights on Northside? Is it as good as Payton or what are the major areas it scores less than Payton. Academics, college placements how do they compare?
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I think the differences as another post said are negligible. They are #1 and #2 in the state, and if you look at their national rankings it seems based more on AP classes for seniors more than anything else. I agree location leads to demand for Payton and from talking to kids they have different cultural reputations that might appeal to different types of students.
They both seem to use a block schedule, both have seminar or colloquium (as NCP calls) both are top in scores, and so on. I would imagine they have similar tracks to college and the college grad rate for each is close as well. NCP’s principal started in the role during the pandemic, so I get the sense as things are still fully getting back to normal she is finding her footing a bit, but nothing troublesome.
When we start getting too granular in comparing two extremely good high schools, I’m not sure what the benefit really is. We are at NCP and are very happy, and I imagine most Payton parents would say the same. But if you want to see how US News compared them for rankings last year though, you can look here: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings
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