Girls’ school recs for relocating, non-traditional sporty girl

[Anonymous]

We will be moving to DC the summer before my DD enters 5th grade. Not this upcoming summer. We would consider Catholic parish schools through 8th grade and then an all-girls high school, or any combo of public/parish school to wait for an entry grade at the right all-girls school.

I was intrigued by the comment in the St. Anselms thread about how its more low-key attitude toward sports accommodates boys who do non-school extracurriculars.

My daughter is a gymnast, for now, and trains a lot. I’d love to send her to a school where not being seriously involved in an school-based arts extracurricular or on a team like field hockey or lacrosse won’t make her socially isolated and/or wouldn’t be accommodated by the school. Or, if she decides to stop gymnastics, I’d like her be able to find a school sport that she would enjoy that is friendly to beginners but at a school that takes it seriously. She has excellent grades and testing and we would not apply for FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We will be moving to DC the summer before my DD enters 5th grade. Not this upcoming summer. We would consider Catholic parish schools through 8th grade and then an all-girls high school, or any combo of public/parish school to wait for an entry grade at the right all-girls school.

I was intrigued by the comment in the St. Anselms thread about how its more low-key attitude toward sports accommodates boys who do non-school extracurriculars.

My daughter is a gymnast, for now, and trains a lot. I’d love to send her to a school where not being seriously involved in an school-based arts extracurricular or on a team like field hockey or lacrosse won’t make her socially isolated and/or wouldn’t be accommodated by the school. Or, if she decides to stop gymnastics, I’d like her be able to find a school sport that she would enjoy that is friendly to beginners but at a school that takes it seriously. She has excellent grades and testing and we would not apply for FA.

Stone Ridge starts middle school in grade 5, so that is an entry year. They are very competitive athletically in HS but encourage girls to just try different sports in MS and see where they enjoy. They have a wide range of abilities in different areas - athletic, academic and arts and a lot of emphasis on community spirit and personal growth.

NCS is not Catholic but Episcopalian. They are very strong in different areas but I assume your bright, athletic girl may do very well there.

Holton Arms and Madera are two DMV secular girls’ Schools that are strong all round.
I don’t know much about them except some girls thrive there.

[Anonymous]

Many of the Montgomery county parish schools have very smart and capable students and are blue ribbon schools. Their CYO teams are fun with a have mix of athletes who are relatively new, just coordinated athletes or are on other travel teams - for basketball or soccer. CYo Track and field popular as well. Gymnasts make fantastic sprinters and long/triple jumpers.

[Anonymous]

non catholic but look at langley and madeira

[Anonymous]

What type of school is your daughter in right now? Parish elementary? Independent Catholic/religious? Independent non-religious? Public?

This would be of help in our recommendations. Fifth grade is not a traditional entry year for most local private/parochial schools.

[Anonymous]

Try the AISGW.org web site for private schools, adw.com for Archdiocese of Washington schools, and arlington diocese.org for northern Virginia Catholic schools

Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

Holton Arms

[Anonymous]

If she is superior in her sport, NCS is known to accommodate girlls like her and the professional training schedules they may have in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fifth grade is not a traditional entry year for most local private/parochial schools.

For this reason alone, you may have to cast a much wider net than usual if not choosing public. That said, I'd aim for entry to an all-girls school no later than 6th/7th because admissions for 9th is way tougher if you're seriously considering places like NCS or Holton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she is superior in her sport, NCS is known to accommodate girlls like her and the professional training schedules they may have in high school.

Thank you! This is the info I was looking for. She is currently at an independent Catholic school and occasionally needs accommodations for her schedule. We looked at other schools near us and parish schools didn’t understand the situation and independent schools were reluctant to make an exception and saw us as a family that didn’t take school seriously. We found our current school by talking to families of dancers from the dance school that feeds into our city’s professional dance company.

I’m trying to find a school that might be similarly accommodating without asking them directly and inadvertently raising red flags against my daughter’s future application. I don’t know if she will stay in gymnastics so I wouldn’t want to burn bridges with great schools by seeking answers that may be irrelevant to our family by 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fifth grade is not a traditional entry year for most local private/parochial schools.

For this reason alone, you may have to cast a much wider net than usual if not choosing public. That said, I'd aim for entry to an all-girls school no later than 6th/7th because admissions for 9th is way tougher if you're seriously considering places like NCS or Holton.

Thank you, this is helpful and I’ll take it into serious consideration.

[Anonymous]

Stone Ridge is good at accommodating athletes. Holton will in upper school, but not middle school, which was a huge issue with our daughter and gymnastics. I'd also look at where you might train for gymnastics as Holton/Stone Ridge might be more convenient than NCS if you were to end up at Hills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stone Ridge is good at accommodating athletes. Holton will in upper school, but not middle school, which was a huge issue with our daughter and gymnastics. I'd also look at where you might train for gymnastics as Holton/Stone Ridge might be more convenient than NCS if you were to end up at Hills.

Hills would be likely if there were a spot for her. The distances/traffic from NCS are the same as our current situation if not better, but we have a few more upper optional gyms to choose from in the same radius. There are less potential schools, where we live, so it’s a good trade-off. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Holton parent-5th is not an entry year but they still take 2-5 girls that year depending on the class and I think coming from out of state will help you a bit.

My daughter does a sport where she trains out of school, but doesn’t necessarily miss school. It hasn’t been an issue. I know a girl who moved from another private because Holton was more supportive of her out of school sport. P

[Anonymous]

MCPS Pyle MS and Whitman HS accommodated a ton of state level athletes including our hockey kids. One eventually went to boarding school to play there and a Boston club, and that was a 9th grade big process too. We missed a lot of Fridays for tournaments or flights.