Private options?

[Anonymous]

WES might work. People are very happy with the middle school. Not sure about commute - it's off River Road near Little Falls, right behind Friendship Heights. Same comments re religion apply. Episcopal schools stress inclusion.

[Anonymous]

Re: the commute.

GDS aand Sidwell Friends are within walking distance of the Tenleytown Metro station on the Red Line. Maret and St. Albans are within walking distance of the Woodley Park - Zoo Metro station on the Red Line. If he is allowed/has a certain amount of independence, your son should be able to handle this.

Re: after school activities.

All the private schools that go through 12th grade have athletics daily the last period of the day, usually 2:00 - 3:30 in the afternoon, with most schools starting interscholastic sports in the 6th grade. With schools that only go to grade 8, sports generally go from 3:00 - 4:30, also with teams starting in grade 6. If his after school activity is music, drama or other artistic endeavor, that is generally handled within the daily class schedule and with some after school rehearsals for bigger productions (school play, concert, chorale and dance performances).

Re: religious schools

Religion light. Episcopal schools I have encountered, St. Andrew's, St. Albans, Episcopal, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes, Grace, etc. generally require a one semester course in sexuality and a one semester course in ethical decision making in middle school (meeting once or twice a week, not every day) Chapels, although presided over by the School Chaplain are conducted by the students themselves who generally give their reflections on the Chaplain's Daily Reading from the Old or New Testament or on how The Supreme Being (God, Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, etc) has impacted their/our lives. Since the faculty accompany their students to chapel, they will on occasion be called upon to give a talk.
No dogma, no specific rules, just lessons on how we should conduct ourselves as ethical, moral and tolerant human beings.

[Anonymous]

Some privates are more flexible than others re sports. For example, if you child's after school sport is one that our school offers, he cannot get any school credit for playing it outside of school. On the other hand, if your child's sport is one not offered at the school, then if it meets a certain minimum number of hours per week he can get school credit for it. Some schools require participation every season, but other schools require less participation. If your child is really into a given sport, you should ask these questions too. That certainly can impact your commute, etc.

[Anonymous]

So, if sport is swimming year-round then I should ask about credit. Would be great, actually, if he could use some of the school's in-school sports time for homework. It's one of his big concerns with practice -- that he doesn't have enough time for homework.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I recall a couple of years ago there were one or two students at St. Andrew's who were competitive swimmers and I believe that was their sport for credit. The same was true for a girl who rowed and a boy who was a serious ballet dancer (and last I heard dances professionally with a ballet in Boston).

[Anonymous]

To clarify -- there may be some limitation on how many semesters/trimesters per year of credit is available for outside sports. Probably in the curriculum guide posted on web sites.