Private school recommendations- northern VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a SA like this for HS but not hockey. It’s very difficult to get modified schedules and exemptions from homework. The public schools are much easier to work with. We thought private would be easier but teammates at public had it much easier to have the flexibility needed.
FH is a good place to start.
Good luck.

Sorry, but what does SA mean in this context? The only meaning I’m familiar with is not at all appropriate here.

Student Athlete is SA here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a SA like this for HS but not hockey. It’s very difficult to get modified schedules and exemptions from homework. The public schools are much easier to work with. We thought private would be easier but teammates at public had it much easier to have the flexibility needed.
FH is a good place to start.
Good luck.

Sorry, but what does SA mean in this context? The only meaning I’m familiar with is not at all appropriate here.

Student Athlete is SA here

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you! Just to clarify- we are not looking for a school with competitive sports- she gets enough of this playing competitive hockey.
Sports will be done outside of school.
We want her to get a good education, but also have time for activities outside of school. Is doing 3 hours of homework every day the only way to get a good education? I mean, kids spend about 7 hours in school. 3 hours of homework on top of this plus homework on the weekend brings their academic workload to 55 + a week.
Is this reasonable to expect a teen to maintain this workload for several years?

My competitive athlete daughter attends one of the highly rigorous schools in the DMV and continues to take advanced classes. We have a sit down family dinner every night. She does not do three hours of homework every day (I’d say almost never) and still has 3.85gpa.

The hours for a club sport requires a lot of time management. My daughter uses her free periods to get work done, and saves socializing to lunch. This makes homework highly manageable.

Look for a school with a block schedule. Teach your daughter to use her planner and plan for her week accordingly on Sundays. Require her to leave her phone with you while she does homework.

It’s not the workload at any of these schools, it’s time/phone management.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you! Just to clarify- we are not looking for a school with competitive sports- she gets enough of this playing competitive hockey.
Sports will be done outside of school.
We want her to get a good education, but also have time for activities outside of school. Is doing 3 hours of homework every day the only way to get a good education? I mean, kids spend about 7 hours in school. 3 hours of homework on top of this plus homework on the weekend brings their academic workload to 55 + a week.
Is this reasonable to expect a teen to maintain this workload for several years?

With regards to this, my kid goes to SSSAS. I believe there is a Virginia state PE requirement that at SSSAS is met by participating in a certain number of seasons of team sports (I believe alternatives are being a manager, robotics or being in the play). SSSAS will not give a waiver for participating in outside club or travel sports, even if the hours in that sport are significant. I have had this issue with multiple kids and the school will not budge stating that it is a state requirement. SSSAS does not offer a general PE class to meet this. Sports practice AFTER school until 5:30.

I cannot speak for Flint Hill or Potomac. But I have another kid who also goes to a DC private and does not have the same requirement.

[Anonymous]

SSSAS has the possibility of giving waivers, but they are strict about it. Best bet is if your kid participates at a high level in a sport the school doesn’t offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS has the possibility of giving waivers, but they are strict about it. Best bet is if your kid participates at a high level in a sport the school doesn’t offer.

We have only been able to get a waiver in middle school for this reason. They would never give us a waiver in US, even if the sport wasn't offered. Maybe that has changed as the last time we tried was 2 years ago but I believe the same person who decides these is still there.

It's worth asking admissions if this is a big issue for a family, especially with time management these travel/club sports can be huge time suckers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a SA like this for HS but not hockey. It’s very difficult to get modified schedules and exemptions from homework. The public schools are much easier to work with. We thought private would be easier but teammates at public had it much easier to have the flexibility needed.
FH is a good place to start.
Good luck.

Sorry, but what does SA mean in this context? The only meaning I’m familiar with is not at all appropriate here.

Student Athlete

[Anonymous]

Block schedules help with managing time and workload but they are also very difficult to work around if needing to leave early or come to school late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS has the possibility of giving waivers, but they are strict about it. Best bet is if your kid participates at a high level in a sport the school doesn’t offer.

This. My daughter was offered waiver for outside athletics for something not offered at SSSAS. They also offer anatomy and similar classes that can be taken in lieu of some of the required athletics. Participation in band, chorus or orchestra can also count toward activities credits and are done during the school day/