Congressional 6th Grade Admissions

[Anonymous]

Daughter is in fourth grade and doing well in elementary school. We do not like the middle school we are zoned for so we want to take her private in sixth grade. Congressional makes the most sense for a lot of reasons. How competitive are admissions for sixth grade? Any tips on preparing?

[Anonymous]

One thing to keep in mind is that Congressional’s middle school starts in 5th. New kids definitely come in 6th (and 7th), but the MS years are kind of chunked 5/6 and 7/8. But you absolutely can join in any year and your child will find friends. My kid’s class actually had more new students in both 6th and 7th than in 5th, but those were likely due to pandemic bailout from public schools, so I can’t say what is most typical.

We have absolutely loved our time at Congressional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind is that Congressional’s middle school starts in 5th. New kids definitely come in 6th (and 7th), but the MS years are kind of chunked 5/6 and 7/8. But you absolutely can join in any year and your child will find friends. My kid’s class actually had more new students in both 6th and 7th than in 5th, but those were likely due to pandemic bailout from public schools, so I can’t say what is most typical.

We have absolutely loved our time at Congressional.

thanks! That is really helpful. Any information about how difficult it is to get in for middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind is that Congressional’s middle school starts in 5th. New kids definitely come in 6th (and 7th), but the MS years are kind of chunked 5/6 and 7/8. But you absolutely can join in any year and your child will find friends. My kid’s class actually had more new students in both 6th and 7th than in 5th, but those were likely due to pandemic bailout from public schools, so I can’t say what is most typical.

We have absolutely loved our time at Congressional.

thanks! That is really helpful. Any information about how difficult it is to get in for middle school?

I honestly don’t know. We had special circumstances and applied out of cycle, so we didn’t even participate in the usual process to get in. We did of course fill out the application, take the SSAT, and even managed to squeeze in a shadow day before the end of the year, but I was entirely new to the DC private school scene and really had no idea how competitive it could be, and have no idea how many may have applied that year. It’s certainly not competitive like the big 3/5/whatever in DC, but beyond that, I’m sorry I can’t be more help with that aspect.

[Anonymous]

It's not unusual for kids to move around at 6th grade even though Congressional's middle really starts at 5th grade. I had a kid start there in 4th grade. The school does a great job bringing new kids into any grade since this area is so transient. The last couple years have been a bit wonky with kids coming and going with COVID, so I think there were something like 5 new kids in 6th grade my kid's year and the same number left to go back to public school or other privates that would continue to high school. I love their middle school, though. They still have recess and they have a variety of electives and activities to choose from and it was just a much kinder place than my older kid's public middle.

[Anonymous]

I never heard of a child getting rejected, but I have no inside knowledge.

[Anonymous]

What is Congressional middle school like for more introverted kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is Congressional middle school like for more introverted kids?

My DD is very introverted, and we started in MS. She had one or two best friends for a couple of years that she mostly socialized with (covid didn’t help with that), but then she started coming out of her shell more and ended with a solid friend group of several girls and boys.

I think it’s small enough (they aim for 30-35 kids per grade; current 8th is smaller at 25 and current 7th larger at 39) that it isn’t overwhelming for an introverted child but still enough that they will find at least a couple good friends quickly, and likely expand from there.

The classes also help shy students develop skills that, even if they never get really comfortable with public speaking, are really important for later in school and life. DD hated the speech and debate parts of speech and drama class (which is one trimester every year of the four MS years), but recognized that it was very useful and did become a more confident speaker, even if she didn’t like it. Most classes do at least a couple of project presentations, both group and individual, over the year.

[Anonymous]

Mine was a lifer there, but similarly introverted but found herself part of a good group of friends, some of whom have remained close into HS. The kids there are generally kind and welcoming to newcomers. Can't think of a single year from PK through 8th where there wasn't a new student added. We were very appreciative of our time at Congressional.