Main Line Philadelphia Schools

[Anonymous]

Move coming up within the next year. How do the mainline Philadelphia schools compare two hours? Haverford, Agnes Irwin, Episcopal, Shipley etc compared to NCS/STA, Sidwell, Potomac etc

[Anonymous]

Well for starters, DC area schools probably would teach “to ours.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well for starters, DC area schools probably would teach “to ours.”

Thank you for translating. I was at a loss as to what the OP was really asking!

[Anonymous]

Haverford is excellent but a boys school.

Episcopal is excellent and sort of reminds me of Potomac but with religious.

Agnes Irwin-no and I would just say no again.

Shipley—another no

St Joes Prep is like Gonzaga

Villa Maria and Malvern -Catholic brother/sister-brings in mainline families but may be too far.

Penn Charter-like a Sidwell

I love Philly!! You will have a great time. My pick would be Episcipal. Lots of positive energy and great education

[Anonymous]

I can't make comparisons but have a good friend whose two children went to Episcopal and both parents and children were happy with it. Both have graduated and were happy with their college outcome. I'd also say the two kids are very different in terms of learning style, academic prowess, and career interests - but the school worked well for both.

[Anonymous]

Baldwin

[Anonymous]

I know tons of people that went to Shipley. It is a wonderful school with many successful graduates. A lot of alumni send their kids to the school. The campus is very nice. I have no idea why another poster said no without explanation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know tons of people that went to Shipley. It is a wonderful school with many successful graduates. A lot of alumni send their kids to the school. The campus is very nice. I have no idea why another poster said no without explanation.

I would say this is true for Agnes Irwin as well. PP, are you saying that they don’t have equivalents among DC privates? I can’t speak from personal experience but they are both well-regarded in Philadelphia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move coming up within the next year. How do the mainline Philadelphia schools compare two hours? Haverford, Agnes Irwin, Episcopal, Shipley etc compared to NCS/STA, Sidwell, Potomac etc

I don't think anyone can really answer this (the number of people with direct experience at both will be vanishingly small) but they are well-regarded schools. The Philly area is over-served by private schools (ie, fewer kids go to private than 20 years ago, and there are more spots than students) so the schools are pretty eager for kids. Demand has probably gone up during Covid but I think that's probaby short term.

Shipley has a reputation for being kinder/gentler and serving kids with a range of learning needs, although probably all the schools do to some extent. I know a lot of people who concentrated their search between Shipley and Friends Central (also coed).

The single sex schools are probably more conservative and sporty overall. I have boys and when I was looking at privates my kids' doctor, who is well connected and sees kids from the area, crapped all over Haverford, which made me not want to pursue it further. It has a great campus.

Episcopal is too far west to be a contender for us. Germantown Friends, in the city, is probably the school with the best academic reputation.

[Anonymous]

I went to a private in Philadelphia. I don't have a kid at a DC private, so I can't straight-up compare schools. (Mine's in a small private in the far-out suburbs now)

From your list, it sounds like you've eliminated the Catholic schools, but there are a lot more independent catholic schools in PA than there are in DC. Notre Dame, Merion Mercy, and Villa Maria for girls, and Malvern, Devon, and St Joes Prep for boys are all excellent schools and aren't associated with the diocese - they are more like Gonzaga in DC.

From your list, I'd probably pick Episcopal if looking for co-ed. Single sex would really depend on if you're ok with the catholic schools or not.

[Anonymous]

I posted before and Germantown friends is north of the city and I would say the biggest thing from the school is Bradley Cooper. Not sure about Haverford did because it is a well regarded school. Shipley just isn’t very good and Agnes Irwin is just for rich and snotty mainline crew. Very very old mainline and hard to break into that club and who wants to anyway. I still say Episcopal is the best all around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted before and Germantown friends is north of the city and I would say the biggest thing from the school is Bradley Cooper. Not sure about Haverford did because it is a well regarded school. Shipley just isn’t very good and Agnes Irwin is just for rich and snotty mainline crew. Very very old mainline and hard to break into that club and who wants to anyway. I still say Episcopal is the best all around.

You are thinking of Abington Friends. Germantown Friends is IN the city and is quite different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted before and Germantown friends is north of the city and I would say the biggest thing from the school is Bradley Cooper. Not sure about Haverford did because it is a well regarded school. Shipley just isn’t very good and Agnes Irwin is just for rich and snotty mainline crew. Very very old mainline and hard to break into that club and who wants to anyway. I still say Episcopal is the best all around.

You are thinking of Abington Friends. Germantown Friends is IN the city and is quite different.

Germantown Friends is in the city, but I think it's got a better academic reputation than Abington Friends.

OP, the public schools in these areas are all very, very good. I don't know enough to comment on each of these schools, but I would suggest that you consider public as well.

[Anonymous]

The public’s are fine. Germantown friends is better than the public’s. I grew up there. Publics are better than the parochial for sure.

[Anonymous]

Which is the best for sports? Boy/girl lacrosse? Girl soccer?