Congressional Middle School?

[Anonymous]

We're considering Congressional for my rising 6th grade DC. Any insights from current or recent families?

[Anonymous]

Not considered very rigorous.

[Anonymous]

I have friends with kids there....they love it but the rep of the school isn't the best among the heresay crowd. I've seen some of their 8th graders in HS interviews and they are quite impressive

[Anonymous]

This board really loves to trash Congressional. I have a kid in middle school there who transferred from public, and we are very happy with the school. Things my kid really likes are smaller classes but larger physical space. Teachers really take advantage of the whole campus, like using the physical space for science experiments. There are many more opportunities for electives. They didn't have to decide on just one elective for the whole year. Sports are available to everyone. The teachers know my kid really well and have provided a supportive environment for them to thrive. The homework isn't insane so there's plenty of time for after-school activities. The classes are only 50 minutes long except for occasional longer blocks and I find my kid retaining a lot more information compared to the 80 minute block classes in the previous school. The grades are small, but my kid found their people and is really happy there.

[Anonymous]

I have a middle schooler at Congressional and one who graduated. I’m very happy with the academics and electives. My older child ended up at a Top 5 and tested into top academic classes. My child couldn’t have been more well prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have friends with kids there....they love it but the rep of the school isn't the best among the heresay crowd. I've seen some of their 8th graders in HS interviews and they are quite impressive

Also not considered a great school by people who can spell hearsay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have friends with kids there....they love it but the rep of the school isn't the best among the heresay crowd. I've seen some of their 8th graders in HS interviews and they are quite impressive

Also not considered a great school by people who can spell hearsay.

Don’t you have better things to do? Get a life. Obviously a typo

[Anonymous]

I don’t know much about this school but would advise OP to only take posters with RL experience seriously. The snobby assumptions tied to selectivity admissions data in this area often has little to do with school quality or compatible school cultures.

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teen-and-mother-sue-northern-virginia-private-academy-over-handling-of-alleged-attack/2019/04/22/a335dd1a-6061-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teen-and-mother-sue-northern-virginia-private-academy-over-handling-of-alleged-attack/2019/04/22/a335dd1a-6061-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html

Whats the latest on this story? Are the same people still there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teen-and-mother-sue-northern-virginia-private-academy-over-handling-of-alleged-attack/2019/04/22/a335dd1a-6061-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html

Amazing that the law firm the school hired didn’t even bother to interview the victim.

[Anonymous]

Trolls back on this school. Old HOS.

[Anonymous]

Look at Westminster as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This board really loves to trash Congressional. I have a kid in middle school there who transferred from public, and we are very happy with the school. Things my kid really likes are smaller classes but larger physical space. Teachers really take advantage of the whole campus, like using the physical space for science experiments. There are many more opportunities for electives. They didn't have to decide on just one elective for the whole year. Sports are available to everyone. The teachers know my kid really well and have provided a supportive environment for them to thrive. The homework isn't insane so there's plenty of time for after-school activities. The classes are only 50 minutes long except for occasional longer blocks and I find my kid retaining a lot more information compared to the 80 minute block classes in the previous school. The grades are small, but my kid found their people and is really happy there.

+1 This has been our experience as well. DC is now in 7th, and there are longer learning blocks so that kids can do science labs, have longer math sessions, etc. I also like that they require the kids to take financial literacy each year and public speaking. The small class sizes really are wonderful from an academic perspective, as the teachers have more latitude to teach to the child's individual level. The school does a very good job of preparing the kids for high school by teaching executive functioning skills, note-taking, etc.

We also have been very pleased with the COVID precautions and keeping the school open all last year through the pandemic when most public schools were online. The new HOS is wonderful - the Post article is about the prior administration.

[Anonymous]

Two questions: how big is each MS class and any thoughts on how it compares to Burgundy Farms? They seem similar as far as campus.