McLean School of Maryland

[Anonymous]

I am curious to know what parents think about the McLean School of Maryland. I have two kids with ADD and ADHD with different learning styles and one may have dysgraphia, for which he is being evaluated for. I have heard they are welcoming to bright students but with some learning issues that might fall through the cracks or be tracked into special Ed in a public school. I'd be interested in hearing from parents who have children at the school.

[Anonymous]

We had a DS there for middle school years. It worked quite well for him (3 years total). Classroom size was small. His issue was mild ADHD. My info is a few years old so I am giving you stale info. But at the time of application, Mclean was very difficult to get into. It is very picky about the nature of the learning disability that the student has. They don't take behavioral problems My son's best friend just graduated from there (high school) so I have kept up somewhat - but that individual's issues were sight only. Some children had hearing aids. Approx. 50% of the student body (again, this may have changed) were siblings who had no learning issues whatsoever. Parents just liked the school for its excellent teachers. I could not tell you which students had learning issues and which did not. There is an on sight nurse, psychologist, counselors, etc. We left due to cost and because we mainstreamed son into public. The school is expensive and the add-ons, like bus, tutoring, etc. can really add up.

Last I knew, the school was looking for a new head since the current head, DArlene Pietro is retiring. Also, they are looking for a new middle school head. Changes like that can upset a school.

The facilities are large and nice, although I've read complaints on this site about the cluttered lower classrooms. Check the archives on that. The entire school tried to move into new space which would have been near Suburban hospital but that all (wisely) collapsed with the beginning of the recession.

My only gripes were with some old-school type teachers in the middle school who were surprisingly rigid and demanding about homework - especially for a school that is supposedly for kids who need more support. I wish we had had much less homework; complaints to the counselors on the topic went unanswered.

There is also a lot of wealth at the school. And fewer intact families than we were accustomed to at our last private school.

I don't know if this matters to you, but because the school is in an eruv, there are a lot of Jewish students. The school supports the children as they work their way through the bar/baht mitzvah process. Counselors often applaud the children who are trying to manage homework and studying for bar/baht mitzvahs at the same time. My son (not Jewish) must have gone to at least fifteen classmate's mitzvahs during his three years there.

Bullying is not tolerated in any form. We had one incident where a child forcibly bullied our son and was caught in the act. They were gone the next day.

Some bus transportation is available (tack on fee) from the Bethesda area and No. Virginia.

Please post if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer.

[Anonymous]

Where do you live? There's also Commonwealth Academy in N. Alexandria, founded by Mary Matalin and James Carville, for college-prep kids with ADHD. Much smaller than The McLean School but a great commute for us.

There's the Lab School, of course, but I don't know anything about it except that it has a stellar reputation. But I think its mission may be to help kids with more serious problems than mild ADHD. Happy to be corrected.

[Anonymous]

My children are twins, currently in 4th grade and in a great DCPS school but need more academic support and I am concerned about them going to Deal, which is large and where I am afraid they may fall through cracks. The teachers and special Ed coordinator were very accommodating and responsive in crafting a 504 plan as soon as I requested it and seem to sticking to it but there is no way to predict if this will be the case in 5th grade and beyond. They need a tutor to stay on top of the work and it will only become increasingly challenging. I am hoping McLean or Lab (applied there too) will offer the kind of nurturing learning environment needed for the to thrive and not just get by. Plus, I need them to be prepared for college which is no guarantee in a public school for kids who need additional support.

McLean just hired a new head. His name is Michael Saxienian and he is from Sidwell and starts in July. From what I have read about him, he is currently (until July) Assistant Director of Sidwell and its Chief Financial Officer and seems to be highly regarded. They seem overwhelmingly excited to have him take over the school. The current and soon former head had been there for some time and it may have been time to refresh the leadership.

I recognize the cost is high as are most of the privates in our area and probably even moreso at school like McLean and Lab given the experts required to teach children with different learning styles. Do you know McLean's record on financial aid to 2-plus children families? I noticed at the open house there were a few families with 3 siblings. Also, what is their reputation for racial and ethnic diversity? We are African American. I also have an AA son and do not want him in an environment where he is treated harshly or insensitively.

I welcome further feedback.

[Anonymous]

You also might want to look at The Siena School, Kingsbury, st Andrews and Bullis. Siena and Kingsbury are special education schools while St. Andrews and Bullis have programs in place to help and support kids with learning issues and learning styles. For HS, St. Johns and Good Counsel also have programs for kids with learning issues.

The reason that the school is excited to have a new head is that mclean has been going through a rough patch for the last few years. The school has lost a lot of kids partly due to the recession and partly due to a feeling among a lot of parents that the school was just not teaching their kids well.

because of the losses, it becomes a very small social environment especially in MS and HS. Athletics are also hard. They have had ok bsketball and soccer team's but if you have kids that are athletic, it will not be great for them. The HS classes run 25-35 kids total which is hard for kids who want to have a social life.
The move to the new building was supposes to be for the HS. When that fell through, lots of kids decided not to stay.

Many MS kids are hesitant to stay for HS. Lots of ex Mclean students at Bullis and St.Andrews.

The complaint about too much HW is strange because for us in MS, we found too little. It did not prepare my DC for HS at all.

You also mention that teachers are experts and that is why the tuition is high. We found a wide variance in teacher's abilities and experience in dealing with kids with learning issues. You need to ask about the backgrounds and find out what their actual training is.

Most of the kids are from Maryland with a sprinkling of DC and Va kids. You asked about diversity. it is a predominately white school. There are AA kids and the head of the LS is AA. We never saw any issues with AA kids being treated harshly or insensitively.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your insight. I am hoping to transition my kids back to public (Wilson) or closer in private like St. Johns for high school. I just feel that my twins need to be in an environment where they can get more support for middle school but not feel like they are "special" which they are not and may tracked into at Deal Middle. I am glad you mentioned the weak athletic program at McLean as my kids are very sports centered, both swim competitively and play on their current schools boys and girls basketball teams which are competitive teams. They are outgoing socially and will likely not want to remain for high school if there are limited social outlets and sports is not strong.

I have not heard good things about Siena and the facilities do not seem grat and for all the mony you will spend, I want nice facilities. Kingsbury', while it is the closest in proximity, the tuition would be cost prohibitive for two and I am not sure my outgoing twins would like that envronment. I would consider Bullis for HS. Two of the girls on the twins'in the twins summer swim club attend the MS and HS there and seem happy.

My gut feeling, with no hard evidence, is that the new Head at McLean coming from Sidwell will enhance the schools visibility and reputation and as a result increase the interest and enrollment in the school. He will probably assess the school heads in the lower, middle and upper to determine if they fit his vision of where he and the board want to take the school, I presume, to the next level. At least that is how it works in a corporate environment and I am sure the private school environment is very competitive although more insular.
Does anyone have a different opinion? Interesyted in your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your insight. I am hoping to transition my kids back to public (Wilson) or closer in private like St. Johns for high school. I just feel that my twins need to be in an environment where they can get more support for middle school but not feel like they are "special" which they are not and may tracked into at Deal Middle. I am glad you mentioned the weak athletic program at McLean as my kids are very sports centered, both swim competitively and play on their current schools boys and girls basketball teams which are competitive teams. They are outgoing socially and will likely not want to remain for high school if there are limited social outlets and sports is not strong.

I have not heard good things about Siena and the facilities do not seem grat and for all the mony you will spend, I want nice facilities. Kingsbury', while it is the closest in proximity, the tuition would be cost prohibitive for two and I am not sure my outgoing twins would like that envronment. I would consider Bullis for HS. Two of the girls on the twins'in the twins summer swim club attend the MS and HS there and seem happy.

My gut feeling, with no hard evidence, is that the new Head at McLean coming from Sidwell will enhance the schools visibility and reputation and as a result increase the interest and enrollment in the school. He will probably assess the school heads in the lower, middle and upper to determine if they fit his vision of where he and the board want to take the school, I presume, to the next level. At least that is how it works in a corporate environment and I am sure the private school environment is very competitive although more insular.
Does anyone have a different opinion? Interesyted in your thoughts.

The problem with athletics is that the facility McLean uses is a former elementary school, so there is only one field in the back. No swimming at all. For league sports, most of the the school buses the kids to other facilities. They are land-locked with homes all around the school, so they can't expand. DS played volleyball so we were not affected by that, but it is a negative if you have swimmers.

I don't think your twins would feel labeled "special needs", if that is what you meant at McLean. As I posted previously, half of the school is comprised of siblings with no issues. I could not tell who had issues and who did not unless the child was wearing an obvious hearing aid.

I'm the poster who had the good middle-school experience - but my information is stale. I don't know anything about attrition due to teaching problems. I do know that the recession hit many of us hard. That is why we left and mainstreamed into public (a very good decision, it turned out).

There is a financial aid office - Darlene even mentioned to us that we should apply when we told her we were leaving. I think they would laugh at our stats on paper. I'm sure we make too much money to qualify for financial aid, yet we really need it because we are the sandwich generation taking care of elderly parents and young children and trying to save some for college, all at the same time.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the new head, but will ask a family I know who still attends there.

I've never even heard of Siena, so can't help you there. I thought Kingsbury was for more serious issues than mild ADHD (I know one very disruptive boy who attended there) but am happy to be corrected. Same with Lab, but I really shouldn't comment because I haven't toured those schools.

Middle School is rough. I'm glad we did McLean for middle school because it did give DS an almost cocoon-like atmosphere for three years. I did think there was too much homework, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My children are twins, currently in 4th grade and in a great DCPS school but need more academic support and I am concerned about them going to Deal, which is large and where I am afraid they may fall through cracks. The teachers and special Ed coordinator were very accommodating and responsive in crafting a 504 plan as soon as I requested it and seem to sticking to it but there is no way to predict if this will be the case in 5th grade and beyond. They need a tutor to stay on top of the work and it will only become increasingly challenging. I am hoping McLean or Lab (applied there too) will offer the kind of nurturing learning environment needed for the to thrive and not just get by. Plus, I need them to be prepared for college which is no guarantee in a public school for kids who need additional support.

McLean just hired a new head. His name is Michael Saxienian and he is from Sidwell and starts in July. From what I have read about him, he is currently (until July) Assistant Director of Sidwell and its Chief Financial Officer and seems to be highly regarded. They seem overwhelmingly excited to have him take over the school. The current and soon former head had been there for some time and it may have been time to refresh the leadership.

I recognize the cost is high as are most of the privates in our area and probably even moreso at school like McLean and Lab given the experts required to teach children with different learning styles. Do you know McLean's record on financial aid to 2-plus children families? I noticed at the open house there were a few families with 3 siblings. [b]Also, what is their reputation for racial and ethnic diversity? We are African American. I also have an AA son and do not want him in an environment where he is treated harshly or insensitively.
[/b]
I welcome further feedback.

Mother with stale information back: I found there was great racial and ethnic diversity at McLean when we were there. As previously posted, many of the students were going through their Bar/Baht Mitvahs at a time of great stress (start of middle scchool) There definitely were African American children in the school. I never once heard a racial comment. I suspect you might just sail right in to the school with ease (remember I said it was hard to get into?) because you have two African-Americans. I haven't looked up McLean's diversity stats in years but I imagine they would be thrilled to have you.

[Anonymous]

Since it sound like you are in the district, you might also want to look at Commonwealth Academy. I didn't know it existed when I had my son apply to McLean. Had I known, I would have sent him to C/A in lieu of McLean. C/A is much cheaper and the student faculty ratio makes it feel like private tutoring in all classes. It's much smaller than McLean but feels very protective, so is a happy, safe place during the middle school years. I mention it to you because the school has an affiliation with the YMCA across the street so the students can use all their facilities, but I doubt (?) that the school has a formal swim team. I can ask if you like

[Anonymous]

Your comment about the financial stats would be comical if it weren't serious. We are in the same boat as are many families in the affluent, educated DC metro region. My husband and I are both professional making decent salaries but because of the "sandwich issue", it would be a financial strain paying for two kids. I am hoping we can get 10-15K in aid. Perhaps I am being unrealistic but we have to ask. Making 250K and beyond is not rich in this area and a lot of families consider themselves need based if they have more than one child in private school. However, to give our twins the support they need right now and an opportunity for the lightbulb of learning to go off is worth the financial sacrifice. I don't want to look back three year from now and have regrets about keeping them in public when I should have switched to private.

I have not toured Kingsbury either but I know kids who have gone there and their issues seemed stronger than my kids. My kids are ADD/ADHD mild to moderate with some processing issues and my daugher may have dysgraphia. Is this a typical McLean student?

[Anonymous]

OP - ask your questions on the special needs sight and you will get more answers.

There is a ton of info on the SN forum about McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your insight. I am hoping to transition my kids back to public (Wilson) or closer in private like St. Johns for high school. I just feel that my twins need to be in an environment where they can get more support for middle school but not feel like they are "special" which they are not and may tracked into at Deal Middle. I am glad you mentioned the weak athletic program at McLean as my kids are very sports centered, both swim competitively and play on their current schools boys and girls basketball teams which are competitive teams. They are outgoing socially and will likely not want to remain for high school if there are limited social outlets and sports is not strong.

I have not heard good things about Siena and the facilities do not seem grat and for all the mony you will spend, I want nice facilities. Kingsbury', while it is the closest in proximity, the tuition would be cost prohibitive for two and I am not sure my outgoing twins would like that envronment. I would consider Bullis for HS. Two of the girls on the twins'in the twins summer swim club attend the MS and HS there and seem happy.

My gut feeling, with no hard evidence, is that the new Head at McLean coming from Sidwell will enhance the schools visibility and reputation and as a result increase the interest and enrollment in the school. He will probably assess the school heads in the lower, middle and upper to determine if they fit his vision of where he and the board want to take the school, I presume, to the next level. At least that is how it works in a corporate environment and I am sure the private school environment is very competitive although more insular.
Does anyone have a different opinion? Interesyted in your thoughts.

I would encourage you to look at Bullis for MS. There is a lot of support for kids with learning issues (learning center in the library) and the athletics and facilities can't be beat. It has been become very popular in the last few years because of the support for lots of different learners and for the increase in the strength of the athletic program. MS has about 60 kids per grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your insight. I am hoping to transition my kids back to public (Wilson) or closer in private like St. Johns for high school. I just feel that my twins need to be in an environment where they can get more support for middle school but not feel like they are "special" which they are not and may tracked into at Deal Middle. I am glad you mentioned the weak athletic program at McLean as my kids are very sports centered, both swim competitively and play on their current schools boys and girls basketball teams which are competitive teams. They are outgoing socially and will likely not want to remain for high school if there are limited social outlets and sports is not strong.

I have not heard good things about Siena and the facilities do not seem grat and for all the mony you will spend, I want nice facilities. Kingsbury', while it is the closest in proximity, the tuition would be cost prohibitive for two and I am not sure my outgoing twins would like that envronment. I would consider Bullis for HS. Two of the girls on the twins'in the twins summer swim club attend the MS and HS there and seem happy.

My gut feeling, with no hard evidence, is that the new Head at McLean coming from Sidwell will enhance the schools visibility and reputation and as a result increase the interest and enrollment in the school. He will probably assess the school heads in the lower, middle and upper to determine if they fit his vision of where he and the board want to take the school, I presume, to the next level. At least that is how it works in a corporate environment and I am sure the private school environment is very competitive although more insular.
Does anyone have a different opinion? Interesyted in your thoughts.

In our experience with a new head of school coming in, usually a new head takes about a year to decide on a strategy and then starts making changes the following year. That would mean your kids would spend 2 years in a transition phase of the school. Things just don't move all that qucikly in private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your comment about the financial stats would be comical if it weren't serious. We are in the same boat as are many families in the affluent, educated DC metro region. My husband and I are both professional making decent salaries but because of the "sandwich issue", it would be a financial strain paying for two kids. I am hoping we can get 10-15K in aid. Perhaps I am being unrealistic but we have to ask. Making 250K and beyond is not rich in this area and a lot of families consider themselves need based if they have more than one child in private school. However, to give our twins the support they need right now and an opportunity for the lightbulb of learning to go off is worth the financial sacrifice. I don't want to look back three year from now and have regrets about keeping them in public when I should have switched to private.

I have not toured Kingsbury either but I know kids who have gone there and their issues seemed stronger than my kids. My kids are ADD/ADHD mild to moderate with some processing issues and my daugher may have dysgraphia. Is this a typical McLean student?

Yes, soon there will be jokes about what "kind" of sandwiches we are. Open faced = two parents dead? Lots of cheese in the middle = good college trust fund. I would certainly ask any school you apply to but AFTER you get in. A mother friend just did that at Flint Hill but pressed so hard on the financial aid issue that they received an outright rejection letter. Yes, i agree about what you said about Kingsbury. What you describe are perfect students for McLean - I would ask about the dysgraphia - I don't know if that is one of McLean's fortes.

[Anonymous]

12:34 back again. Re the dysgraphia. I don't know if that will be a problem with McLean, but McLean does offer tutors every day after school (for a cost) to tutor kids and certainly they could bring in a fine motor skills person to work with your children.

I also wanted to say that since you are battling dysgraphia, you want to get your children typing ASAP. The McLean School and Commonwealth Academy both let children take laptops to school with them to organize themselves and to take notes.

And if you want a speed typing course for your girls - so they can get out of the hunt & peck mode and into qwerty, Landon offers a summer keyboarding class that is a lot of fun. Both of my kids have taken it and are now super typists (but still bad handwriting).