The McLean School in Potomac
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Anonymous
| The website seems clear that mcLean uses various methods and modalities to teach children with different learning styles. And, the testimonials at the open houses and information sessions make it pretty clear as well. So, I can't imagine who would feel deceived. |
Anonymous
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It is not a SN school, but it is a mainstream school open to kids with learning differences. At the open house I attended they said half the students have a diagnosis and half don't. There are plenty of kids there who need the benefit of small classes with individualized attention. I suppose its more of a hybrid school. But if a child has more involved SN or LD issues, they will not take them.
As for former parents being bitter, I know quite a few who aren't. Many of the families at McLean would otherwise send their children to public schools and they will often leave when they think their child has enough of a benefit to handle public school. Many of the families cycle out while others (probably my DS) stay for the duration. |
Anonymous
These are vague terms if you are coming from a different country. It is PC speak, lost in translation. |
Anonymous
"Half our students have a diagnosis," is pretty clear. Maybe that wasn't said at the open house they attended. I'm sorry they were confused but I don't think thats the school's fault. The language about learning differences may sound like PC speak to you, but it very specifically describes what McLean does. It is not a special needs school, its a mainstream school that is open and supportive of kids with learning differences. I don't know how else they could describe it. A special needs school is like Lab or Deiner, and that is not at all what McLean is. if they looked at any other schools in addition to McLean they would have seen the ways that McLean is different. |
Anonymous
The general community does not view McLean as a mainstream school. |
Anonymous
I don't know who the "general community" is, nor do I care. I think its clear that its how the school describes mission, and as I said its a bit of a hybrid. Mclean has a unique nitch that perhaps defies labels. In any event, your posts (if these are all yours) make it sound like there is something nefarious going on here, like the fact that a school supports kids with SN is somehow a bad thing, that they are trying to slip past people. I think most people "in the community" know the kind of student best served by McLean. |
Anonymous
| I think it might help those of us who are not clear if it was clearly defined what "kind of students are best served by McLean". I don't think anything nefarious is going on but would like to understand the program and what kind of special needs it serves, which is not clear from the website. |
Anonymous
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10:31, I think the best answer for whether or not it is a good fit for your child is to meet with admissions there. But, in general, the teaching is highly individualized and the classes are small and very structured. There are a lot of kids there with ADHD and there are some with mild learning disorders. If the learning disorders aren't mild, they won't take the child. Similarly, they won't take children with behavior problems. I've seen children sent there because they were very shy and therefore did better with the kind of attention students are given at McLean.
But I don't think you'll find a laundry list of what children they serve. Just think about it in terms of small classes, individual attention, structure, but not major needs. |
Anonymous
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I think they spend a lot of time on fit - take two children with similar profiles on paper - they might feel that they can serve one but not the other. When we interviewed, I was really impressed that they take a lot of time to assess whether the child will benefit from the McLean approach, and they really looked at DC as an individual, not a set of test scores. DC doesn't have particular learning issues, but would very definitely benefit from the McLean approach, individualized attention and smaller classes. We're very impressed.
If you look at the description from the search company for the new head, you'll see that they really want to make an effort going forward to be identified as a main stream school with a good support system. I'm sure they'll succeed. We really liked the model. |
Anonymous
| 13:15, what kind of questions did you encounter during your interview or the kinds of assessments they did to determine if your child was a "good fit"? |
Anonymous
So how is this different than schools like: St. Andrew's Bullis Field Edmund Burke St. John's Good Counsel Sandy Spring Holy Child All these schools offer the same approach. Good Counsel and st. John's offer specific programs for kids with learning issues. Mclean's niche is not really a niche anymore. Many schools offer small classes, individual attention to mild learning issues, accommodations such as extra time on tests or using a computer for notes. Schools like Bullis have added a learning center to help kids the extra help needed to be successful in school. There is much more recognition in the mainstream private school community of kids who have these needs. In addition, the level of extra's many of these schools can provide mclean can't compete with especially if you have a kid who is really athletic or wants more of a social life. mclean doesn't want kids with serious learning or behavioral issues so schools like Diener, Maddux, Auburn and Siena have filled that void. |
Anonymous
Not sure why you are so antagonistic to McLean. Several of the schools on your list are progressive schools with a lot less structure than McLean. Several are religious. Some start in middle school. Most don't provide the same level of individuation. They are all larger. I have a child at one of these schools and we love it, but it would not be a good fit for my child at McLean specifically because of the lack of structure. |
Anonymous
| I would add that learning centers at private schools are nothing like the attention kids at McLean receive. I have a child who went to such a school, that was soooo proud of its learning center, which was really, really sub-par. You just can't generalize that all schools get it now. |
Anonymous
| The degree of structure has a lot to do with fit. We have friends there who were very happy with the lower school for their children. When our child visited, however, he felt it was too structured and it was clear he would be happier (and more relaxed, so learn better) in a somewhat more flexible environment. So it really does depend on the kid. One other distinguishing feature between McLean and some of the other schools listed above are the numbers of kids who need that extra attention. If the above posts are true about 50% of the kids having diagnosed LD, then that is likely a much higher percentage than at some of the other schools above which may be well equiped to address the exact same needs of a smaller number of children, but not 50% of their classes. |
Anonymous
| The degree of structure has a lot to do with fit. We have friends there who were very happy with the lower school for their children. When our child visited, however, he felt it was too structured and it was clear he would be happier (and more relaxed, so learn better) in a somewhat more flexible environment. So it really does depend on the kid. One other distinguishing feature between McLean and some of the other schools listed above are the numbers of kids who need that extra attention. If the above posts are true about 50% of the kids having diagnosed LD, then that is likely a much higher percentage than at some of the other schools above which may be well equiped to address the exact same needs of a smaller number of children, but not 50% of their classes. |