Washington Episcopal School -- what is it like?

[Anonymous]

Exploring some schools around Bethesda for 6th grade. Saw that WES offers study trips included in the tuition. What is the community like? Is it a rich-kids-only sort of school? Are the kids inclusive of the kids who enter after elementary grades?

[Anonymous]

WES is pretty starkly not a rich kid vibe— and I say that as a family with kids at another private that is very different in that respect. In my experience, WES has a notable number of families who have prioritized sending their kid to WES as opposed to families that have always known that all of their children would go to private school. This being the case, there is movement every year— kids coming and going from various public schools, and because it is also a very international community, people moving to and from the area. Fourth, fifth, and sixth grades are all big entry years. It is very welcoming.

[Anonymous]

Very welcoming community made up of predominantly down to earth families. Having sent ilder DCs to single sex schools, we opted for something different for our youngest and have been pleasantly surprised. We hadn’t looked at it for younger kids because we’d been scared away by the tuition, but after meeting several families in our older DCs’ high schools who had gone to WES, we applied for your youngest. Very happy we did and our only regret is not sending the older kids as well.

[Anonymous]

It's vibe is like William and Mary

[Anonymous]

What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.

[Anonymous]

^ Also, starting this year, there is a weekly after-school writing lab for students who would like extra help or assistance with high school essays, if that's what you're looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ Also, starting this year, there is a weekly after-school writing lab for students who would like extra help or assistance with high school essays, if that's what you're looking for.

PP, this is really helpful feedback - what a great concept!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.

Current WES parent here. The school is amazing at recruiting talented faculty. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years, the teachers expect constant improvement and self-advocacy. High school preparedness is consistently mentioned in classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.

Current WES parent here. The school is amazing at recruiting talented faculty. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years, the teachers expect constant improvement and self-advocacy. High school preparedness is consistently mentioned in classes.

WES is a great school for students with learning challenges, and there are many middle school students who need and get extra support. The school is easy going on workload, with lots of grace shown on late or missing assignments.

[Anonymous]

Current WES parent with a sibling WES grad. There's money around, no doubt (private school in the DMV after all), but not in any way in your face among parents or in the daily life of students. Writing curriculum is great, and echoing the above to say the English teachers are amazing and well prepare students for high school.
It's just also an excellent place to spend middle school years, which are generally awful otherwise. This is a school that lives its values, and my son's current cohort is full of caring, good kids who look out for one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current WES parent with a sibling WES grad. There's money around, no doubt (private school in the DMV after all), but not in any way in your face among parents or in the daily life of students. Writing curriculum is great, and echoing the above to say the English teachers are amazing and well prepare students for high school.
It's just also an excellent place to spend middle school years, which are generally awful otherwise. This is a school that lives its values, and my son's current cohort is full of caring, good kids who look out for one another.

Great info! Any downsides/things you would change? Do you feel like your child ended up at the right high school for them *because* WES knew them so well vs. just joining a K-12 as a way to bypass the high school admissions process? How hard is the HS admission process? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.

Current WES parent here. The school is amazing at recruiting talented faculty. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years, the teachers expect constant improvement and self-advocacy. High school preparedness is consistently mentioned in classes.

WES is a great school for students with learning challenges, and there are many middle school students who need and get extra support. The school is easy going on workload, with lots of grace shown on late or missing assignments.

Can you expand on this? I talked with admissions last spring and they told me that WES is not the best place for kids with LDs that need support.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you![/quote]

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.[/quote]

Current WES parent here. The school is amazing at recruiting talented faculty. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years, the teachers expect constant improvement and self-advocacy. High school preparedness is consistently mentioned in classes.[/quote]

WES is a great school for students with learning challenges, and there are many middle school students who need and get extra support. The school is easy going on workload, with lots of grace shown on late or missing assignments. [/quote]

Can you expand on this? I talked with admissions last spring and they told me that WES is not the best place for kids with LDs that need support.[/quote]

Perhaps this is dependent on the specific needs of the student, the grade the child is entering, and the needs of the existing students in that grade. WES can accommodate basic learning differences, and also puts extensive focus on executive functioning, but they are probably not able to accommodate more extensive learning differences, and may be hesitant if applicants present potential behavioral concerns. The middle school is celebrating neurodiversity this month, and kids could choose to speak about their differences. A teacher spoke about her autism, which I thought was great. That all said, no school is perfect, but I feel like WES is pretty delightfully mainstream on most things, making it feel welcoming and accommodating of families, regardless of their cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Current parent, again, from the previous post.

Of course, WES does not emphasize providing a special education program or anything remotely similar to that. Per grade, there are maybe 5-7 kids (out of 36-38) who are part of the ASC program. They receive special assistance, and (especially) the MS learning specialist is talented. But again, WES is very traditional not a special-ed focused school based on factors such as resources and the small class sizes.