Siena vs Lab

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC at Lab and while reading has been pretty well remediated (still very slow reading but amazing to see how fluent from moderate to significant until 3/4 grade), they haven’t been great on the dysgraphia and output side and often teach “down” to the kids. Also DC really dislikes the social atmosphere and the over the top “we’re so special” special Ed-ness of the school. Significant number of kids with behavior issues. But each kid and their needs are very different so need to gauge trade offs.

DC came home from shadow day very turned off by Lab. In contrast, shadow day at Siena and Mclean School went very well and those are the two options we are now considering. I overheard an acquaintance made during the shadow day very casually mention on a phone call to my DC that their parent had confiscated all the knives in the house for fear the child would hurt the parent or their sibling. While I feel sorry for this child and don't even know if it's true, I did not feel this was a good sign. Behavioral issues happen as do mental health issues but we're already dealing with learning disabilities and anxiety and we are worried about surrounding DC with too many kids struggling with major mental health issues in such a small school. It also made me wonder if the school has the ability to appropriately support the needs of these kids given their hyper-focus on dyslexia,

[Anonymous]

Our DC diid not like McLean or Lab, but loved Siena. We were surprised because Siena is small and DC is currently at a much larger public school. DC was adamant that Siena was the only possibility otherwise DC wanted to stay at the public school with friends. It worked out and DC is headed to Siena and we are happy about this because it is clear that the public school could not provide DC the support that is needed.

[Anonymous]

Hello. I'm curious if there are any Oakwood families here. We are considering the Lab, Sienna (closest to us), and Oakwood in Annandale, VA but I haven't found a ton of reviews/thoughts on Oakwood. Thanks for all the info on the Lab and Siena schools everyone!

[Anonymous]

Oakwood family here! Our DC was admitted to Oakwood, Lab, and Sienna NoVA and we chose Oakwood. In our experience, Oakwood excels at remediating dyslexia and has a very systematic approach. Dyscalculia is more challenging to address and their approach varies more from teacher to teacher. ADHD is tolerated but here also, the approach to addressing the impact of ADHD on learning varies from teacher to teacher. I do wish the approach to ADHD was strengths-based. Perhaps this is what Lab is getting at with their emphasis on how special each student is?

Socially, Oakwood is a very welcoming school with an emphasis on kindness. The class size is a max of 12 so individual students do have an impact on the dynamic but so far, my child has always been in classes where the kids are all friends and there are no cliques or excluded students. The small class sizes are critical for learning, so there is really no way around this if your child needs the level of personal attention that most dyslexic kids need.

Logistics are a hugely important part of this decision. Not only do you need to get your child to and from school each day, but you also need to transport them to see their friends outside of school. We had not been part of a school that draws from a large geographic area before and I hadn’t really considered the impact on my child’s friendships until we got there. In retrospect, I’m relieved that I didn’t put my kid into a situation where their best friend lives an hour away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oakwood family here! Our DC was admitted to Oakwood, Lab, and Sienna NoVA and we chose Oakwood. In our experience, Oakwood excels at remediating dyslexia and has a very systematic approach. Dyscalculia is more challenging to address and their approach varies more from teacher to teacher. ADHD is tolerated but here also, the approach to addressing the impact of ADHD on learning varies from teacher to teacher. I do wish the approach to ADHD was strengths-based. Perhaps this is what Lab is getting at with their emphasis on how special each student is?

Socially, Oakwood is a very welcoming school with an emphasis on kindness. The class size is a max of 12 so individual students do have an impact on the dynamic but so far, my child has always been in classes where the kids are all friends and there are no cliques or excluded students. The small class sizes are critical for learning, so there is really no way around this if your child needs the level of personal attention that most dyslexic kids need.

Logistics are a hugely important part of this decision. Not only do you need to get your child to and from school each day, but you also need to transport them to see their friends outside of school. We had not been part of a school that draws from a large geographic area before and I hadn’t really considered the impact on my child’s friendships until we got there. In retrospect, I’m relieved that I didn’t put my kid into a situation where their best friend lives an hour away.

Thanks so much for this info! Is Oakwood the closest of those 3 schools to you? We are closest to Siena (15 min.) with Oakwood and The Lab both being 30 min from us. My son is currently at the Newton School in Sterling and before that, we were homeschooling. So, 12 in a class will most likely feel large to my son.

[Anonymous]

Not to hijack the thread, but OP---check out the summer camp offered by Oakland School outside of Charlottesville for kids with dyslexia. It was a huge game changer for our child. They combine academics---which kids with learning differences need to stay on top of during the summer---with traditional camp activities like swimming, horseback riding, games, etc. They mix it all up throughout the day, which is also great for ADHD kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another question for actual Lab/Siena parents. Realistically, do the schools intend to keep kids through 12th (Lab) and 8th (Siena) and work to that end? Or is the goal to remediate back out to mainstream public/private? I honestly don’t think we can afford keeping our DC at Lab school for more than a couple years. So we need to focus on remediation and working skills to get back to mainstream by middle school if possible.

Siena goes through 12th grade as well. Although several students don’t stay through 12th at Siena I think one of the cool things Siena does is gives students a couple of weeks to do internships outside of school for a variety of jobs. This helps kids get an idea of what they might want to focus on in college. They also get to visit a lot of area colleges and get a lot of support on the college application process.

[Anonymous]

Congrats OP! From your description I would say Lab is a better fit for you right now as I don’t think Siena provides as much hands on interventions as your child might need. I know several kids that have gone to Lab and later transitioned to other private schools or public schools in middle or high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are fortunate to have both of these schools as options for our DC for next September. We are torn. Cost is one consideration. We love that Lab has a vibrant community, a lot of research-based and cutting edge methods, and it also has the reputation of being “The” private school in the DC area for students with dyslexia. Lab accepted DC right away, and has been proactive about reaching out and answering questions, putting us in touch with other parents and resources.

We like Siena’s smaller size, more intimate setting, and less institutional approach to learning. They put a lot of effort into working with DC during the admissions process, with multiple day-long visits over multiple days, to make sure it was the “right fit.” Not sure if the quick acceptance vs slower more cautious acceptance is better? DC likes both schools; but they are quite different. DC is in mid-elementary and has a variety of learning disabilities (moderate to severe dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, working memory and auditory processing delays). Also some speech and OT needs. We are not sure if long-term SN school is the right approach for the next 8-9 years. But after the last two years in public, DC is not meeting IEP goals and needs some intense remediation. But then we would love to get him back into public school. Would appreciate any tips or advice.

Hi OP! Where did you end up sending your DC? I'm so curious what you chose and how you like it as we are in the some situation now. Also, were you considering Siena in Silver Springs or Oakton?

For anyone else - do you know if there is much difference in the Silver Spring vs Oakton campus, since Oakton is so much newer?