Normal, Co-Ed High School Experience

[Anonymous]

I have been reading the STA thread about Prize Day, and the myriad Landon flames and wondering were I can send my son to high school so he will not be a total ass or feel like a loser. As a product of single-sex high school, I would like for him to go co-ed as well. Other than moving to Montgomery County and going to BCC or Whitman, what are the "normal" high schools in DC, where you don't have to pass through a metal detector? And by normal, I guess I mean "middle of the road"--we're not "down" with the first-name basis at GDS, for example.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I cannot think of a top DC private school that is selling a "normal" experience. Even the MoCo publics like Whitman and BCC are do not offer a "normal" experience.

[Anonymous]

I don't know where your son will end up, but I might suggest that reading DCUM threads is a really awful way to choose (or rule-out) a school.

If your only criteria are co-ed and no metal detectors, you have many choices. If you add never-been-slammed-on-DCUM, you are left with none.

[Anonymous]

All of these schools are sort of rarified and although I like them they all have at least 1 thing that makes me cringe. Try the suburban publics but then you've got the class size and teaching to the test issue.

[Anonymous]

Why not St. Johns's?

[Anonymous]

sidwell,

[Anonymous]

Sidwell is probably the least "slammed" school on this board.

[Anonymous]

I heard it is near impossible to actually get into Sidwell!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not St. Johns's?

I was going to suggest that as well if OP is interested in a Catholic school. St. Johns has a solid Honors track and a rigorous program for average kids (GASP are there any of those around here?! :lol There are a vaiety of ethnicies and economic groups and as of a few years ago it is co-ed.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell is not selling a "normal" experience. Recent grads have spoken of a lot of privileged kids and the school's catering to the privileged, especially a few favored families. I have also heard of a cut-throat academic competitiveness and pressure-cooker atmosphere that the school's espousal of Quaker values cannot eradicate. It's not impossible to get into, but it does have a low acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Maret

[Anonymous]

St. Andrews in Potomac

[Anonymous]

I thought OP was askign for schools in DC proper. If we are talking 'burbs, I would say that Bullis gives a close-to-normal experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought OP was askign for schools in DC proper. If we are talking 'burbs, I would say that Bullis gives a close-to-normal experience.

Bullis
Maret
Potomac
Gonzaga
O'Connell
NCS/STA
Flint Hill
St Andrews
St Johns
SSSA
Mclean
Marshall
Yorktown
Madison
Oakton
Langley [it's MD counterpart Churchill always seems to have some weirdness in the news]

[Anonymous]

I agree that STA and NCS should be considered together because the schools' Coordinate Program of coed courses starting in middle school and expanding by upper school gives the best of both worlds, between single-sex and coed education. My son just finished 8th grade, and he sees and interacts with NCS girls all the time (much more than he wants to, at this point, since he's not really into girls yet).