Oakwood School, Virginia versus McLean School, Maryland
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Anonymous
| Hello, anyone with recent experience at either Oakwood School, Virginia or McLean School, Maryland. Our child has been accepted at both in the first grade and we are wondering which school to pick. |
Anonymous
| Pick the one closer to where you live. A lot of parents don't cross state lines for playdates. Plus you don't want a young kid to have a commute. |
Anonymous
|
Agree with PP above. Don’t underestimate the commute time.
Is your child dyslexic or have a reading/writing LD? If so Oakwood is the better school, you will probably need a CALT or OG trained teacher if you pick McLean (we know families that had to that also for Oakwood because their child had more severe dyslexia, but Oakwood provides more explicit reading instructions in general). Oakwood has in the past counseled children out that are more than 2 grades behind, something to keep in mind. |
Anonymous
| I'm not sure I quite follow the above post. My child is in Lower School at McLean and all those who teach reading have great OG experience and are delivering a very explicit reading program that supports students with dyslexia. Do you mean get a tutor? That's not typical anymore - I've heard that happened in the past, but not my experience at all. My understanding is oakwood is designated special education. Maybe that's what you mean by explicit reading? Becuase more of their population has a disability? But - we do love it there and yes, we cross state lines for get togethers. |
Anonymous
| Oakwood is a fantastic school but most kids don't start in first grade (because they haven't been id'ed yet or because their parents try other options first). Your child will probably be in a mixed-age"team" in first grade. This will change as they get older and may or may not matter to you, depending your child's personality. You are very lucky to be starting either school at such a young age. Early intervention is the best option if you can pull it off! Echoing the other posters on on the commute. This is a critical part of the decision. |
Anonymous
| Oakwood is a school for kids with language based learning disabilities (i.e. not special education broadly). |
Anonymous
When we toured Mclean they definitely seemed to rely in n outsude tutoring during the day. They had designated space for it. We were not going to do private+tutoring. Stayed in public with tutoring. |
Anonymous
| We attend McLean, and I don't know what "designated space" for tutoring you're referring to at all. When did you tour and see this? |