Thoughts on Congressional?
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Anonymous
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I just attended the open house and got a great impression. This is the first I have visited for my child. I couldn’t tell how strong the academics were.
Although middle school is far off, it sounded like there were only 40 kids per grade all the way through middle school. That seems like too small of a grade for 7th and 8th graders. I believe our local public has 500 kids per grade in middle school and around 100 kids per grade in elementary. |
Anonymous
| “Too small” is obviously in the eye of the beholder. Many of the DC privates have 40-60 kids in middle and then expand in high school. There are quite a few families that specifically are seeking that smaller number versus the 500+ in publics to which you referred. |
Anonymous
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DC was at Congressional from 5th through 8th (MS) and loved it. The grade size is about 35 give or take all four years, but that was fine. But I could see if being very dependent on the actual mix of kids in your given year — although I think thats true anywhere.
DC is now at a k-12 for HS that Congressional routinely sends multiple kids to each year. That’s actually kind of fun, because even though they spread out into the much larger class size (about 120 per grade), they often know people a grade above or below them already, too. Socially DC was happy at Congressional. Academically, it was wonderful, in our experience. There was only one teacher that DC really didn’t click with personality/teaching approach-wise, but that was a good lesson in learning how to manage different personality types. DC got an excellent foundation in all the core classes and has really appreciated it as those subjects come up in HS classes. Even better, Congressional did a great job in teaching students how to learn — study skills, time management, self-advocacy, etc, that have been hugely helpful. DC also got to experience a wide range of electives and extra curriculars that helped them figure out what they really enjoyed, so they signed up right away for those activities in HS which was a great way to meet people as a new freshman. All in all, we (parents and kid) were delighted with the experience in Congressional’s MS. |
Anonymous
| Would echo the above. Both of mine were lifers at Congressional. Enjoyed their cohorts and classes. Sufficiently challenged and well prepared for their respective high schools. |
Anonymous
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Another lifer family. We had agreat experience all the way through and DC was very prepared for high school overall. I will say Congressional seems a little behind in math compared to the K-12 where we landed for high school.
Socially, it definitely depends on the mix in your grade, but the small size also seemed to keep the cliqueiness down some. There just weren't that many of them. |
Anonymous
| Waste of money. Only go if you have a not up to par public school. |
Anonymous
Ignore this person. Congressional has historically gotten hate on this board for not being prestigious enough. We visited and really loved it for DD. Had we lived a little closer it likely would have been our choice, but we went with something closer to home. I remember being very impressed with their approach to academics and working with the kids. They also have an amazing campus. |
Anonymous
For us (and this goes back a bit as our kids are in college now) math there offered excellent differentiation. The more recent grad came out in a position to progress beyond calculus BC in high school. |
Anonymous
| My kids do not go to Congressional but their school has about 45 kids per grade through 8th. Through about 7th gr, it felt like a nice number. In 8th gr, it started feeling like my older one could use a bigger school. So, I think that number is mostly fine but I would want a bigger high school experience (at least 100). |
Anonymous
| I mean, 40 kids per grade is why you pay for private school. |
Anonymous
No, fewer kids per grade is. 35-40 is incredibly small for a middle school. Most have twice that while maintaining small classes, not grades... |
Anonymous
| waste of money and check out some past lawsuits. abuse and a student not punished . some of those employees still there. |
Anonymous
| They have an amazing optional after school horse riding program. |
Anonymous
| We have had children in Congressional for years. We were initially very pleased, but problems have arisen in the older grades including cheating, cyberbullying and disruptive students. The goal is now 22-24 students per class section per grade, which is higher than years past where full capacity was considered 18 per class section. There is a very weak English program with continuous teacher turnover. There is also very little supervision on the large campus leading to ongoing problems at recess, the extended hours program, and at summer camp. There was an allegation about sex abuse at summer camp and some parents are afraid that the administration is more interested in avoiding bad press than fixing long standing problems. The administration does not discipline and hold parents and students accountable for bad behavior and does not back up teachers having problems controlling their classes. It also does not share information about school/grade-level overall performance on standardized tests. Long-time families have left because of bullying and we will be leaving the next academic year too. We are sad about how the place has changed. |
Anonymous
The same problems in that lawsuit are still going on. The school chooses to give students freedom that is not age appropriate. You will see kids of all ages walking the halls and campus without supervision. Kids even ditch class to play lacrosse and no one notices. And yes, the Middle School Director is still there enraging parents across all the grades. |