Edlin School vs LCDS

[Anonymous]

We are looking to move our son from Montessori to another school starting September and just came across Edlin school where we did a tour and have a recommendation from parents of a current student. Our son will be in 4th grade. The other school we are considering is Loudoun Country Day School.

Until our friends recommended it I had not even heard about this school. The tour gave an impression that it is a small intimate school with small class sizes and specialized attention. But I am wondering how does it compare to LCDS? Anyone has thoughts, reviews?

I did go through some of the earlier reviews but they do have a new management since 2 years so cannot go off the older reviews. Hoping to get some current inputs.

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

first time hearing about either school

[Anonymous]

I had heard that the new management at Edlin had a very rocky start, that they were inexperienced in running a school and had problems with teacher turnover. But that was 2-3 years ago and I haven’t heard anything lately, so maybe they’ve settled in ok. The previous head (who founded the school) was a nut case. I don’t know anything about London Country Day.

[Anonymous]

^Loudon. Autocarrot.

[Anonymous]

Have no idea about Edlin, but can answer about LCDS. Are you looking for any particular info?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous[b wrote:]I had heard that the new management at Edlin had a very rocky start, that they were inexperienced in running a school and had problems with teacher turnover. But that was 2-3 years ago and I haven’t heard anything lately, so maybe they’ve settled in ok. The previous head (who founded the school) was a nut case.[/b] I don’t know anything about London Country Day.

Agree and the reports of the new head are not good. Look at a recent thread comparing Edlin and Nysmith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have no idea about Edlin, but can answer about LCDS. Are you looking for any particular info?

Yes how is LCDS in general in terms of the curriculum and how they teach the classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had heard that the new management at Edlin had a very rocky start, that they were inexperienced in running a school and had problems with teacher turnover. But that was 2-3 years ago and I haven’t heard anything lately, so maybe they’ve settled in ok. The previous head (who founded the school) was a nut case. I don’t know anything about London Country Day.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]I had heard that the new management at Edlin had a very rocky start, that they were inexperienced in running a school and had problems with teacher turnover. But that was 2-3 years ago and I haven’t heard anything lately, so maybe they’ve settled in ok. The previous head (who founded the school) was a nut case.[/b] I don’t know anything about London Country Day.

Agree and the reports of the new head are not good. Look at a recent thread comparing Edlin and Nysmith.

Yes I did take a look at that but most of that thread was from long time ago. But the new head is coming from Nysmith and had spent 20 years there.

[classof25]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no idea about Edlin, but can answer about LCDS. Are you looking for any particular info?

Yes how is LCDS in general in terms of the curriculum and how they teach the classes?

The rigor is sufficient, and like many schools (even the most commonly discussed here), it is what the student makes of it. Students learn well in most subjects, have hands on projects and trips, etc. The language program needs (or needed if they're working on it) improvement in my opinion and they need to find consistent faculty there, but it seems to be getting better. They have had pretty good faculty in most subjects thus far, some are very good and not just grasp and teach the subject matter but really get the kids involved and excited. A few are leaving or moving positions. I don't think it is necessarily anything out of the ordinary or means that they will have new faculty that is worse by any means- it just means I would not be able to comment on anyone with whom I am not familiar (or know anyone that is).
As students get older they have multiple mathematics classes so that they can be in different levels depending on their ability/mastery, as well as a separate STEM class. Students are for the most part well behaved. I do not think they do enough to support high achieving students so if you have a smart kid be prepared to chart your own course, find your own way, and supplement according to the needs of your child. This is not necessarily unique to this school. While I can understand why this can happen, it can nevertheless be frustrating. That being said I will leave open the possibility that perhaps my expectations were just too high.
It is a K-8 so you will need to apply to HS if you are not planning on switching to public at this point. You have a very good likelihood of admission to a couple of schools (so much so I would almost consider it a feeder), but if you want anything else they do not at all seem to reach out and build relationships with other privates in the DC/nova metro region beyond those two schools. This is another area where you need to do your own homework, research, and legwork. They do have HS fairs and some previous parents come and speak/answer questions. The classes and community is pretty close knit, however, and this does give your child the opportunity to create good, respectful relationships with teachers and faculty- this helps with not just the learning process but also potentially when it comes to recommendations.

All this comes with a caveat: their longtime HOS recently retired, though the last year he has been a temporary MS director. The new HOS I think came from Flint Hill (don't quote me on that, maybe she was there at one point? some history there at least, not sure what). There have been a number of changes already. They are really enhancing security, etc. next year and this seems to have taken the main focus. You can decide whether some of these measures are important to you. A few other minor academic changes as well. I am not sure what else could be in the works, though I have not heard of any negative impacts to the curriculum. In fact I think they're starting a few clubs I wish were available when we were there, restarting spelling and geography bee, etc. I do not know enough about made or potential changes to really comment, but it may be a good question to ask when touring.

Overall it is a good option and the only k-8 alternative in the area I would consider would be Nysmith, but at the higher cost I would then also start looking at k-12s if I was considering staying with private through HS. I went to school at a K-12 that is often discussed on these boards and I felt that LCDS was relatively comparable overall academically, with allowances for time passing. I had never heard of the other school you mentioned, but looking at it briefly I would be significantly more hesitant and would need to know a lot more about it before going that route. But this is just one person's opinion.
I hope you find the option that best fits the needs of your student and family.

[Anonymous]

No way would I pay money to send my kid to Edlin. I guess there’s a new HoS now but it’s gonna take years to undo the damage done by the previous Head.

[Anonymous]

LCDS would be my choice. The Hill school, a little bit up the road is great too.

[Anonymous]

classof25 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no idea about Edlin, but can answer about LCDS. Are you looking for any particular info?

Yes how is LCDS in general in terms of the curriculum and how they teach the classes?

The rigor is sufficient, and like many schools (even the most commonly discussed here), it is what the student makes of it. Students learn well in most subjects, have hands on projects and trips, etc. The language program needs (or needed if they're working on it) improvement in my opinion and they need to find consistent faculty there, but it seems to be getting better. They have had pretty good faculty in most subjects thus far, some are very good and not just grasp and teach the subject matter but really get the kids involved and excited. A few are leaving or moving positions. I don't think it is necessarily anything out of the ordinary or means that they will have new faculty that is worse by any means- it just means I would not be able to comment on anyone with whom I am not familiar (or know anyone that is).
As students get older they have multiple mathematics classes so that they can be in different levels depending on their ability/mastery, as well as a separate STEM class. Students are for the most part well behaved. I do not think they do enough to support high achieving students so if you have a smart kid be prepared to chart your own course, find your own way, and supplement according to the needs of your child. This is not necessarily unique to this school. While I can understand why this can happen, it can nevertheless be frustrating. That being said I will leave open the possibility that perhaps my expectations were just too high.
It is a K-8 so you will need to apply to HS if you are not planning on switching to public at this point. You have a very good likelihood of admission to a couple of schools (so much so I would almost consider it a feeder), but if you want anything else they do not at all seem to reach out and build relationships with other privates in the DC/nova metro region beyond those two schools. This is another area where you need to do your own homework, research, and legwork. They do have HS fairs and some previous parents come and speak/answer questions. The classes and community is pretty close knit, however, and this does give your child the opportunity to create good, respectful relationships with teachers and faculty- this helps with not just the learning process but also potentially when it comes to recommendations.

All this comes with a caveat: their longtime HOS recently retired, though the last year he has been a temporary MS director. The new HOS I think came from Flint Hill (don't quote me on that, maybe she was there at one point? some history there at least, not sure what). There have been a number of changes already. They are really enhancing security, etc. next year and this seems to have taken the main focus. You can decide whether some of these measures are important to you. A few other minor academic changes as well. I am not sure what else could be in the works, though I have not heard of any negative impacts to the curriculum. In fact I think they're starting a few clubs I wish were available when we were there, restarting spelling and geography bee, etc. I do not know enough about made or potential changes to really comment, but it may be a good question to ask when touring.

Overall it is a good option and the only k-8 alternative in the area I would consider would be Nysmith, but at the higher cost I would then also start looking at k-12s if I was considering staying with private through HS. I went to school at a K-12 that is often discussed on these boards and I felt that LCDS was relatively comparable overall academically, with allowances for time passing. I had never heard of the other school you mentioned, but looking at it briefly I would be significantly more hesitant and would need to know a lot more about it before going that route. But this is just one person's opinion.
I hope you find the option that best fits the needs of your student and family.

Wow thank you so much for the detailed feedback! I agree when we did the tour in LCDS it seemed like if a kid is high achieving they would not have much to offer, but on the other side I think with my son I do not want to push him to be 1 or 2 grade levels above if he is not ready (this is what I got out of the tour in Edlin that all their kids are 1 or 2 grade level above).

Which 2 HS are you pointing to? Yes I am not sure which HS are good in this area since I feel like there isn't much nearby. Interesting that you mention that they do not have much relationships in the area with other privates HS, because in Edlin the current parent has mentioned that they have a lot of acceptance to TJ. I personally have heard a lot about TJ but have not really spent a lot of time thinking about HS yet.

Enhanced security is always good! Definitely that is an important feature. We had toured last year since we were looking for last year as well but then decided not to change his school at that point. Great point about asking a question with respect to the change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way would I pay money to send my kid to Edlin. I guess there’s a new HoS now but it’s gonna take years to undo the damage done by the previous Head.

Ya that is what threw me off in the tour that they are going through so many changes right now that I am not sure if its stable enough to put our son in there. But my husband was leaning more towards Edlin.