New to the private school discussion - nova family

[Anonymous]

I’ve been looking through the forums and past posts as I try to get a general idea of the private school landscape for our Northern Virginia family. We’re in Arlington and thought the kids would go to public schools because ‘the schools were great’. At some point in time we learned that the high schools were not as great and we might want to consider private for that. We made ourselves to the idea that we would apply private for middle school or high school. And then the last two years happened and now we’re wondering if we should consider private sooner since it sounds like admissions have gotten much more competitive. I’m trying to come up to speed on this earlier than I expected.

My questions:
a) I kept reading about going to school close to where you live. Obviously there is Potomac. What are other options in this area? Madeira is all girls so that’s not an option for one of our kids. Langley sounds great, but I’m weary about doing the application again in HS especially for my kid who is not super social - seems rough to pull them out of public, then Langley, then somewhere else for HS but maybe people do It and it’s fine. We like where we live and moving for a school seems daunting
b) Are there set “entry years” when more spots open up usually or does it vary at all schools? Does it make more sense to apply for K (missed that boat), 6th, or 9th grade?
c) We’re Catholic but I hadn’t really considered Catholic schools - I’m not sure why. I think maybe I inadvertently ranked schools in my head as public, then Catholic and then independents like Potomac and if we’re gonna pull them out of public then try to go all the way. But I’m open to suggestions if there are exceptional ones to consider. Is it common that catholic school families would apply / get into Potomac type schools for HS?

We want solid academics with less emphasis on devices and more emphasis on textbooks. Child loves learning and is not an athlete. We’re big on social Justice values (I feel a little guilty about potentially going private) and educating the whole child / inculcating values. And we’re minorities so a bit concerned about that as well, though I’ve mostly come to terms that private schools will not have the level of diversity I would prefer in an ideal world.

All suggestions welcome but please be kind to this newbie

[Anonymous]

Why do you think other private schools are better than Catholic schools? Don't listen to the anti-Catholic trolls on here - just the word Catholic send them for the salts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think other private schools are better than Catholic schools? Don't listen to the anti-Catholic trolls on here - just the word Catholic send them for the salts.

OP here: Admittedly I have no basis for this, except that I see neighbors driving to Catholic schools that are in DC (HTS) when there are Catholic schools in Arlington much closer to us. I suppose not all Catholic schools are created equal - as with independent schools. What are considered the “best” Catholic options in this area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think other private schools are better than Catholic schools? Don't listen to the anti-Catholic trolls on here - just the word Catholic send them for the salts.

This anti-Catholic sprnt a lot of years in the Catholic schools. The privates are better. The publics are better.

[Anonymous]

If you’re open to Catholic, we have several friends and neighbors happy at St. Thomas More (k-8). Bishop O’Connell could be an option for high school, plus there are some DC Catholic schools worth considering. You’re more likely to have textbooks rather than devices. And some Catholic schools are actually pretty diverse, as they cost less and offer more financial aid.

[Anonymous]

I was going to suggest Burgundy Farm (k-8) as it sounds like it lines up with your educational and family values and it isn’t far from Arlington. However, the textbook requirement would rule out Burgundy. I would probably look at SSSAS and Potomac given your requirement, but I don’t know if they use textbooks in lower school. Catholic schools may be the way to go!

[Anonymous]

We’re in Arlington and getting into the city is really not a big deal. Further, many schools have busses from Arlington (Bullis, GDS, Landon, Field just to name a few) or are very accessible by public transit (as they get into middle/high school) (Maret, WIS, GDS, Burke).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in Arlington and getting into the city is really not a big deal. Further, many schools have busses from Arlington (Bullis, GDS, Landon, Field just to name a few) or are very accessible by public transit (as they get into middle/high school) (Maret, WIS, GDS, Burke).

Thank you this is helpful. You are right that coming
From Arlington crossing the bridge may not be as big an issue. Burke in particular seemed like an interesting place. Only wish it were closer to Key Bridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think other private schools are better than Catholic schools? Don't listen to the anti-Catholic trolls on here - just the word Catholic send them for the salts.

This anti-Catholic sprnt a lot of years in the Catholic schools. The privates are better. The publics are better.

Res ipsa.

[Anonymous]

DMV has standard Catholic parochial schools but then a whole lot of other Catholic independent schools. You have all sorts of Jesuit, Benedictine, Catholic boys, girls and co-Ed schools. Look at niche maybe to get started on this topic.

[Anonymous]

What grade are you applying for? We live in Arlington. My DC is at the Country Day School in McLean for Pre-K right now and will be going to Beauvoir in the fall for K.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, do you want textbooks specifically, or just something other than devices? A lot of independent schools don’t use textbooks in the lower school years, but also don’t use devices much. I have a third grader, and, for example, this week in science they were learning about magnetism through a variety of inquiry-based activities and experiments with magnets. For social studies they’ve been learning about native peoples using a range of primary source material including documents, guest speakers, and artifacts. They’re learning to do research in the library. They don’t have textbooks not because they’re on devices but because it’s much more hands-on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re in Arlington and getting into the city is really not a big deal. Further, many schools have busses from Arlington (Bullis, GDS, Landon, Field just to name a few) or are very accessible by public transit (as they get into middle/high school) (Maret, WIS, GDS, Burke).

Thank you this is helpful. You are right that coming
From Arlington crossing the bridge may not be as big an issue. Burke in particular seemed like an interesting place. Only wish it were closer to Key Bridge.

Field is an easy skip from the Key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think other private schools are better than Catholic schools? Don't listen to the anti-Catholic trolls on here - just the word Catholic send them for the salts.

This anti-Catholic sprnt a lot of years in the Catholic schools. The privates are better. The publics are better.

Hmm. Your experience [20 years ago?], possibly even in Catholic schools in a different area? (OP seems to be in McLean based on what they are saying?) does not mean this is true today, here.

[Anonymous]

We are also in Arlington and sending our kids to private next year. They will all be in lower school, never thought we would head down this path, but i have no faith in APS at this point. DH and I are both from public school background. Lots of bus options to the Bethesda schools from N. Arlington/Mclean. Applied to Potomac, but were waitlisted. Its very difficult to get into with so many people going private right now, whether that will change as we get farther away from Covid, who knows. I think Covid just really highlighted how public school cannot be creative and pivot when the situation calls for it. I honestly don't see that changing and that's why we are going private. I'm cannot believe how much we have to pay for it though...i'm still processing that, but if I'm going to spend my money on something, my kids education seems like the right way to allocate it.