Capitol Hill Day School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP 18:06 My neighbor sends her DH to the school and is looking for another place, even though like for you (and our family too) it pretty close. She is also depressed because she applied for her DH to go elsewhere this coming school year and was not accepted anywhere (waitlisted, though). They are going to try again next year, but she is unhappy enough with the school that it is scaring us away from thinking of it for our DH (who is only 3). Mainly it is what others have hinted, there seems to be a lot of change coming and not necessarily for the better. She also has issues with the board and administration.

What are the concerns? Is it relating to the expansion?

[Anonymous]

Bump.

[Anonymous]

It probably relates to the very poor administration and the quality of teachers. The school exists because the local public school is possibly worse than CHDS. If CHDS was located in NWDC its doors would have closed already.

If you live in the area then you have limited choices and you do what you need to do. If you live elsewhere then you have other choices that are exceedingly better. The school AD said they strive to be what a public school should be - she wasn't kidding. Whether you think that's good or not, when you're paying over $20k it's not very impressive.

Ask the AD about their attrition and enrollment success. Ask them how qualified their early childhood teachers are - do they have experience beyond two years at a daycare like setting for example.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to weigh in, though I am not entirely qualified to do so, because my kids don't go to CHDS. But I'm familiar with it and have friends with kids there. We seriously considered it for our kids and they got wait listed. They both ended up getting in off the wait list, but not until after we had made irrevocable plans elsewhere. If that hadn't happened, we'd have sent them to CHDS and we will likely reapply in the future. I found CHDS warm, imaginative, welcoming, and pretty much my dream school for my children. Obviously, I can't speak about the administration, but the people we encountered during our numerous visits seemed thoughtful, kind, and professional-- teachers and administrators alike. And my friends with kids there have been VERY happy. I'm really taken aback by 20:21's post-- to us, CHDS is "public school-like" in its diversity and lack of pretension, but it has a vastly richer and more creative curriculum, small classes, and far more warmth. The children seem happy; they greet teachers with enthusiastic hugs. And certainly their outplacement suggests that the academics are just fine.

I don't know, but I am inclined to think it is a question of style. If you're someone who needs gleaming, spotlesss facilities-- lots of "history"-- that "We are the elite" air-- then CHDS is probably not for you. It's small, funky, creative, progressive (both educationally and politically), urban, and genuinely diverse. Your kids won't play much squash and they won't go to Cotillion, so yeah, if that's what you're looking for in a private school, this will not e the right fit for you. But though I suppose I should be trying to scare off those extra applicants who made it hard for my kids to get in during round one, I hate to see a gem of a school getting a bad rap for no very obvious reason.

[Anonymous]

I have a very good friend whose child has attended the school for three years. She and her family have been very happy with it. When she first decided to enroll her child in the school, her family did not live anywhere near the school. She chose it because an educational psychologist spoke very highly of the school and referred to it as one of D.C.'s hidden gems.

[Anonymous]

We were very impressed after our tour the other day. Warm and cozy school. Lovely teachers and impressive staff. Can anyone new to CHDS or tell us whether their experience so far has matched their expectations?

[Anonymous]

I am not new but have a child in the middle school who has been there since pre-k and another now in high school who graduated from CHDS. We absolutely love the school. The teaching is really exceptional and I appreciate that more now that my DD is in a much more expensive school with more mixed quality of teaching. She often compares her current teachers to her CHDS teachers, and usually she thinks the CHDS teachers are better.

Another thing I really like about CHDS is the diversity. My DSs class is 40% AA. This is important to me because our local suburban public school is 95+% white (as are we).

There is lots on this board about whether there are normal families at independent schools in DC. I guess it depends on the definition of normal but if there are normal families at independent schools they are certainly at CHDS. It tends to be a school where both parents work, although there are exceptions to that.

Happy to answer other questions, although we are a few years removed from the early childhood years if you are looking at those.

[Anonymous]

We toured the other day. Cozy is really the best word for it. The kids did seem a bit messy and disheveled (we had just toured Beauvoir the prior week, so maybe I'm just drawing an unfair comparison), but a nice, sweet lot as far as I could discern.

[Anonymous]

too few gigantic hair bows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:too few gigantic hair bows?

God, I can always count of these boards to give me a good daily laugh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:too few gigantic hair bows?

God, I can always count of these boards to give me a good daily laugh

Yeah, this one was pretty good (having a DC who just graduated from Land of the Big Bows).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:too few gigantic hair bows?

God, I can always count of these boards to give me a good daily laugh

Yeah, this one was pretty good (having a DC who just graduated from Land of the Big Bows).

Okay, do you mean Beauvoir? I'm a Beauvoir parent, of a boy, so maybe I haven't really noticed.

[Anonymous]

Yes Beauvoir (sorry to CHDS...you would think that you could have your own damn thread without Beauvoir entering AGAIN!).

Anyway, maybe that is DC independent school wide, but last year's girl class was like a giant bow parade. (seriously, not normal size bows, giant bows).

[Anonymous]

We toured CHDS. DH is smitten. I'm worried. He's smitten because it felt the "least private" of the private schools we are looking at, which is mainly the Big 3 along with others in that orbit. Well, frankly, I'd rather not pay private school tuition for something that doesn't feel private. In other words, I want the bells and whistles and everything else that you'll find in, okay, the Land of the Big Bows. Please convince me that DH is right, and I'm just a materialistic social climber. If you can't do that, please at least fill me in on how things are going at CHDS these days.

[Anonymous]

CHDS has wonderful academics and faculty - equal to any of the other privates (based on how well prepared the kids are when they graduate and move on to other private schools). My impression is that the parents are indeed more down to earth than some parents in the big 3, based on people I know at the other schools. There is also more diversity. To me that's been a huge plus, not a negative.