| Hello all, we are considering TMS, any feedback on the school as a whole? |
| Well first, when communicating with the school, use the correct name, McLean. |
| What are you looking for from the school? What grade? It's a kind of special needs light environment. For the right child, it is perfect. If your child needs smaller classes with built-in executive function supports, I feel like that is there greatest strength. If your child needs more than that, they nickel and dime you for lots of extra tutoring and services. If your child does not need and supports, it will be very nurturing, but might be more than what your child needs. |
| Not true on the extra tutoring and services. The support is built into the classes for those who need it. Only extra $ is speech and OT (and that's a lot of younger kids mostly). |
| Very clean…even MClean |
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Is McLean School a good fit for an above-average Lower School student without any learning difficulties? Will the student receive enrichment and be appropriately challenged? Thank you in advance.
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| That’s not the market - not who they’re targeting. McLean’s raison d’etre is kids who need extra support. The second sentence of their website includes a list: dyslexia, anxiety, ADHD, or organizational challenges. |
No, it’s a school for kids with learning differences who need academic support. |
| McLean is a special needs school. |
For a totally neurotypical kid, there are lots of schools with similar size, in a similar area, at a similar price point, but with more neurotypical peers. So unsure why you would pick McLean over any of those options. My kid is neurodivergent which is why we looked at it, so I mean no judgement. |
I think they would be well supported. There are a wide range of students - some need extra support in maths but above average in reading and other subjects. Some need extra support with reading but are above average in maths. There are several siblings who attend and don’t need extra support but attend because a sibling attends. Also most subject/class is split into groups by ability so a student will be placed in higher grouping if additional support not needed. |
| McLean felt joyless to us when we visited. Did we catch it on an off day? I’m asking genuinely because there were many programmatic and support related elements that we really liked. |
| Current family here. I'm so sorry it felt joyless on the day you visited. NOT what our child experiences. We've honestly been transformed as a family and there's true joy in learning now and going to school. |
How’s the peer group? |
We are in the middle school. Our daughter has a great mix of friends. As the grades go up there are more kids in the grade, so there's more of a social variety. She's fairly sporty so her closest friends are on middle school team sports with her, but she also hangs plenty with other kids too. |