Private Schools in Greater Philadelphia area

[Anonymous]

My husband is interviewing for a job in Philadelphia, so I’ve started looking at private, independent schools in the area. Pretty websites don’t give you the real story about a school. Does anyone have insights into Germantown Friends, The Episcopal Academy, the Baldwin School or the Hill School? Are these places pressure cookers? Do you have to be super wealthy and connected to be accepted? We’re looking for a strong academic experience, but not a grind-them-down kind of school. Does such a place exist? We’re open to suggestions as we’re just starting to look around.

[Anonymous]

Just realized Baldwin School is for girls. We’re looking for a co-Ed school for our son.

[Anonymous]

These are all really different. The Hill School is very far from the city and the Trump sons boarded there. Germantown Friends is elite and progressive with great exmissions and in a still-gentrifying neighborhood. Episcopal is a solid private in the suburbs. You may also want to look at Penn Charter if focusing on Philly proper and Germantown Academy if looking at suburban schools.

[Anonymous]

There are very good public schools if you are in the heart of the mainline — Gladwyne, Wayne, etc . . .

[Anonymous]

I'd add Friends Central and the Shipley School to your list.

[Anonymous]

Don’t know which neighborhood we would be living in yet (if he gets the job), so open to schools in the ‘burbs and the city.

My husband and I are politically liberal so a super conservative school wouldn’t be a good fit. Frankly, I’d strongly prefer a school that doesn’t espouse a political bent.

[Anonymous]

Germantown Friends can be very intense at the HS level, known for being liberal, with nerdy and intellectual kids, many go on to top colleges.

Penn Charter is definitely sportier, more well rounded. Not really Quaker anymore.

Friends' Select is in Philly downtown.

Episcopal has moved really far out of Philly with their new campus.

Haverford School is all boys.

There are boarding schools nearby like Westtown and George School.

As mentioned, there are top public high schools on the Main Line so you have to really want to choose private.

[Anonymous]

I would take a good look at Penn Charter which is in a more outlying area of the city and as others advise, strongly consider public if you end up in Lower Merion or Radnor school district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t know which neighborhood we would be living in yet (if he gets the job), so open to schools in the ‘burbs and the city.

My husband and I are politically liberal so a super conservative school wouldn’t be a good fit. Frankly, I’d strongly prefer a school that doesn’t espouse a political bent.

In other words you sound like 1990s Democrats?

If looking for an apolitical school, that would rule out most of the Quakers except Penn Charter, which may be your best fit, along with Germantown Academy. I'd consider EA apolitical but it will draw many conservative families.

Keep in mind the school locations and where you eventually buy a house. EA and Germantown Academy are pretty far apart. Do you have a sense of where you'd like to live?

[Anonymous]

I attended a mainline private; my sister's kids attended the same school recently.

Academics: Overall not as overt pressure cookers as DC. If your kid is driven s/he can do first rate academics and likely shine but the middle of the pack kids at these schools end up at pretty mediocre colleges in recent years.

IMO, the suburban public high schools are more of a pressure cooker: Radnor, Conestoga, Lower Merion.

Admissions:
It is defin. not as hard as DC to get in, especially prior to high school. In 9th a lot of schools expand their class size significantly while losing some # to boarding school so there are spots.

Geographics: Hill School is really far out. If your DH is working in the city there would be significant commuting. Episcopal is 20 minutes from the inner suburbs, while Hill is 40 minutes.

Politics:
I dont know enough about Hill. Most mainline schools (like Episcopal) will have both liberals and conservatives, kids will be more progressive than parents. GFS (and most city privates) will be predominantly liberal.

[Anonymous]

What is your housing budget?

Do you prefer pre-war homes or new builds?

Are you sporty people who will want to join a golf or cricket club or are you more focused on work and intellectual or artistic pursuits?

[Anonymous]

We would likely rent at first as we don't know Philly neighborhoods at all (only visited twice in our lives). Budget would be around $3,500-$3,750 (maaaaybe $4k)/month. Since most of the private schools seem to be in/near the mainline, we'd likely try to move there, but no idea if that's possible with our budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t know which neighborhood we would be living in yet (if he gets the job), so open to schools in the ‘burbs and the city.

My husband and I are politically liberal so a super conservative school wouldn’t be a good fit. Frankly, I’d strongly prefer a school that doesn’t espouse a political bent.

In other words you sound like 1990s Democrats?

If looking for an apolitical school, that would rule out most of the Quakers except Penn Charter, which may be your best fit, along with Germantown Academy. I'd consider EA apolitical but it will draw many conservative families.

Keep in mind the school locations and where you eventually buy a house. EA and Germantown Academy are pretty far apart. Do you have a sense of where you'd like to live?

The Quaker schools wouldn't turn us off. If fact, we like the idea of discussing social justice and equity and the option to take, say, a world religions class. We just don't want hyper-conservative (husband and I went to v conservative Catholic, fire-and-brimstone schools growing up), and while we are liberal, we are not interested in sending our child to a school devoted to "making our child an activist" to very loosely paraphrase one DC school's mission. If our child ends up an activist as an adult, fantastic! But we want him to find his own way and be exposed to a variety of opinions since we have to listen to others we disagree with and work with them in society. We want him to learn how to think rather than be told what to think, if that helps.

[Anonymous]

Couple of thoughts:

Germantown Friends -- in the city, pretty liberal.

The Episcopal Academy -- in the suburbs, ultra fancy, maybe a little more conservative

The Baldwin School -- a girls' school

The Hill School -- I think this is a boarding school, or at least has some residential students. It's WAY out in the boonies.

I would just say that the landscape of private school is not as competitive or crazy around Philly as it is in DC. There are a lot of other good options -- La Salle, Malvern Prep, St. Joe's Prep if you like the city. There are also a lot of very well regarded public school districts. I just skimmed the thread, so I saw you lean liberal. Look at Lower Merion and Upper Merion, Haverford, Treddyfrin-Eastown ... all really good.

[Anonymous]

p.s. I agree with Penn Charter, Germantown Academy and Radnor as other good bets.