Feedback on Oakwood School in Annandale?

[Anonymous]

Is Oakwood considered Fairfax County?

[Anonymous]

Yes, Oakwood is in FFX and they do go by the FCPS school calendar. So, if your kids were out on Nov 4 -5 because of the teacher development conferences, so was Oakwood.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have current reviews of this school - or of Commonwealth Academy?

Also the tuition prices for these schools are quite high. How generous are they with financial aid? Is anyone pupil-placed by their public school system?

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised by some of the positive feedback on this school. We spoke to them years ago regarding DS. They were not very cordial and gave us the impression he didn't have the right academic profile to succeed there. We kept him in FCPS instead and he graduated with an advanced diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by some of the positive feedback on this school. We spoke to them years ago regarding DS. They were not very cordial and gave us the impression he didn't have the right academic profile to succeed there. We kept him in FCPS instead and he graduated with an advanced diploma.

Can you describe your DS? What were his "issues" and why were you considering Oakwood? I have a 2e DS in FCPS and I'm wondering if private would serve him better. He's in 5th grade now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by some of the positive feedback on this school. We spoke to them years ago regarding DS. They were not very cordial and gave us the impression he didn't have the right academic profile to succeed there. We kept him in FCPS instead and he graduated with an advanced diploma.

Can you describe your DS? What were his "issues" and why were you considering Oakwood? I have a 2e DS in FCPS and I'm wondering if private would serve him better. He's in 5th grade now.

Different poster. I have a "2E" child in FCPS. He is a math and science kid. When we were in peak frustration with FCPS, we looked into private schools (3rd grade and 7th grade). DC has LDs and ADHD. None could come close to the math options in FCPS. The two schools that came close to fitting his profile were Lab and Oakwood (CA at the time was not really considering LDs and DC's LDs are profound- Oakwood was also reluctant but willing to talk). We chose to stay with FCPS and HS has been the complete opposite of the nightmare of MS. I am glad we stayed. He is a junior and currently taking AP Bio, AP Physics I and AP Calc BC. Next year he will take AP Physics C, AP Chem and the Multi Var and Matrix Algebra courses. This would not have been an option had we gone private even for MS as his math classes in MS prepared I'm well for the math classes in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by some of the positive feedback on this school. We spoke to them years ago regarding DS. They were not very cordial and gave us the impression he didn't have the right academic profile to succeed there. We kept him in FCPS instead and he graduated with an advanced diploma.

Can you describe your DS? What were his "issues" and why were you considering Oakwood? I have a 2e DS in FCPS and I'm wondering if private would serve him better. He's in 5th grade now.

Different poster. I have a "2E" child in FCPS. He is a math and science kid. When we were in peak frustration with FCPS, we looked into private schools (3rd grade and 7th grade). DC has LDs and ADHD. None could come close to the math options in FCPS. The two schools that came close to fitting his profile were Lab and Oakwood (CA at the time was not really considering LDs and DC's LDs are profound- Oakwood was also reluctant but willing to talk). We chose to stay with FCPS and HS has been the complete opposite of the nightmare of MS. I am glad we stayed. He is a junior and currently taking AP Bio, AP Physics I and AP Calc BC. Next year he will take AP Physics C, AP Chem and the Multi Var and Matrix Algebra courses. This would not have been an option had we gone private even for MS as his math classes in MS prepared I'm well for the math classes in HS.

NP. Wow! That's great. Does your DS have an IEP? Can you name the hs/pyramid? We are starting to think that private schools even mainstream ones will not work for our DS and need middle school options. We can move.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Check out Commonwealth Academy -- near Old Town! Excellent!!!


I agree. I have a high-schooler there - but I think OP is looking for kindergarden.

[Anonymous]

OP - I may have the school's mission statement wrong in my head (I've never visited the campus) but I've heard good things about the New School - that's a short drive south (yeah, I know, on the Beltway) from McLean. Worth a visit to the website and a call, though

[Anonymous]

We have a 2e young elementary child at Oakwood and are really happy. They do really well meeting the needs of language-based learning disabilities and have an excellent music program. We are very happy.

We got some financial aid, but not much. It does make attending just barely possible for us, for which we are really grateful. And I assume there are public school placements because I have seen a few school buses, but none from Fairfax county.

I think the school is really good at knowing which kids it can serve well and admitting those. It doesn't appear to try to meet everyone's needs and I appreciate that. The admissions process is quite thorough and the classes are quite small as you would expect.

I can't speak to the math/ science curriculum in later years.

There is one other interesting thing about Oakwood. Their goal is to meet the kids where they are, remediate as needed, and then return to more mainstream education. The timeline for that varies. Some kids are there through the 8th grade, and others head back to their community schools sooner. I didn't hear as much about this at other schools we toured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by some of the positive feedback on this school. We spoke to them years ago regarding DS. They were not very cordial and gave us the impression he didn't have the right academic profile to succeed there. We kept him in FCPS instead and he graduated with an advanced diploma.

Can you describe your DS? What were his "issues" and why were you considering Oakwood? I have a 2e DS in FCPS and I'm wondering if private would serve him better. He's in 5th grade now.

Different poster. I have a "2E" child in FCPS. He is a math and science kid. When we were in peak frustration with FCPS, we looked into private schools (3rd grade and 7th grade). DC has LDs and ADHD. None could come close to the math options in FCPS. The two schools that came close to fitting his profile were Lab and Oakwood (CA at the time was not really considering LDs and DC's LDs are profound- Oakwood was also reluctant but willing to talk). We chose to stay with FCPS and HS has been the complete opposite of the nightmare of MS. I am glad we stayed. He is a junior and currently taking AP Bio, AP Physics I and AP Calc BC. Next year he will take AP Physics C, AP Chem and the Multi Var and Matrix Algebra courses. This would not have been an option had we gone private even for MS as his math classes in MS prepared I'm well for the math classes in HS.

NP. Wow! That's great. Does your DS have an IEP? Can you name the hs/pyramid? We are starting to think that private schools even mainstream ones will not work for our DS and need middle school options. We can move.

I would recommend the HS, but not the middle school. DC has had an IEP since 2nd grade. I am reluctant to say the school as I have already revealed enough to make him identifiable to a few, if I say the ms and HS, it would be easier.