Our Savior Lutheran School

[Anonymous]

Can anyone comment on the volume of homework at OSLS in Arlington during the middle school years? Any other comments about experiences at that school would be helpful as well.

[Anonymous]

I know someone who sends their kids there. They are happy. They are religious though.

[Anonymous]

We are at OSLS but a long ways from middle school. We hear that homework volume is fairly high comparatively to ACPS at least.
Hear stories of kids who move into the school from ACPS and are taken aback because ACPS has zero homework. I'm not really clear that the homework is voluminous or that ACPS has zero and it just shocks everyone to have any.

We live in the vicinity of the school and ACPS word of mouth in our area is garbage. Parents of our middle school babysitter (bright girl in a family that move around/military) told us to find something--anything--as another option prior to having our kid in the designated ACPS middle school. At OSLS itself we have run into families couple times where they placed one sibling in OSLS to test it out and then the other siblings quickly follow. Have seen some kids leave for public and then return out of disappointment -- lack of attention at ACPS; gifted program lacking at ACPS.

We are not religious and that does not seem to be a big issue.

[Anonymous]

Great school. Really nice community and yes there is some religion but they are open to all religions. Fantastic principal and teachers. Yes there is homework and that can be a big change from APS. We know families that left then returned and brought in siblings. It is a hidden gem.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks all! These are very helpful comments. My kids are in Catholic school right now but find the class size is bigger than expected, not a lot of individual attention, and definitely a lot of homework. OSLS seems like the class sizes are very small and there is much more opportunity for one on one interaction. If anyone does have experience with that on the middle school side I'd love to hear more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at OSLS but a long ways from middle school. We hear that homework volume is fairly high comparatively to ACPS at least.
Hear stories of kids who move into the school from ACPS and are taken aback because ACPS has zero homework. I'm not really clear that the homework is voluminous or that ACPS has zero and it just shocks everyone to have any.

We live in the vicinity of the school and ACPS word of mouth in our area is garbage. Parents of our middle school babysitter (bright girl in a family that move around/military) told us to find something--anything--as another option prior to having our kid in the designated ACPS middle school. At OSLS itself we have run into families couple times where they placed one sibling in OSLS to test it out and then the other siblings quickly follow. Have seen some kids leave for public and then return out of disappointment -- lack of attention at ACPS; gifted program lacking at ACPS.

We are not religious and that does not seem to be a big issue.

ACPS = Alexandria, not Arlington. Which one are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Apologies. APS. I don't post here enough to know all the lingo.

[Anonymous]

Our savior Lutheran

[Anonymous]

I have two kids currently at the school, and they do have nightly homework. Always math, sometimes other subjects. One of my kids has some mild learning disabilities as well as ADHD, the other is above-average (and was considered “gifted” when in our local APS elementary.). Both kids are doing really well there. Homework is definitely more difficult with ADHD, but we have an ongoing and open dialogue with the teacher about what is manageable vs. overwhelming. We have definitely valued the personalized approach. My oldest child completed middle school there and was well prepared for high school, particularly in math.

[Anonymous]

OP again, that is really useful, thank you! Do you find the teachers are flexible and understanding with your ADHD child? We've struggled with this at our current school. Did your oldest child go on to public or private high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, that is really useful, thank you! Do you find the teachers are flexible and understanding with your ADHD child? We've struggled with this at our current school. Did your oldest child go on to public or private high school?

My oldest ended up in private Catholic school - but that was due to recruitment for athletics. The Our Savior graduates split between public and private high schools, and I imagine we will likely end up back in public high school for our younger kids due to financial reasons. Regarding ADHD, I am upfront about specific needs each year and keep an ongoing dialogue with the teacher. It is certainly not documented like a 504 plan, but yes, they are willing to accommodate. To move my kids there from public school, I met with the classroom teacher to make sure it would be a good fit. They were very willing to set up that conversation.