Beauvoir Versus National Presbyterian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the other options for traditional schools? For those looking at Beauvoir and NPS, what other schools did you consider?

You might like Norwood, although it doesn't start until K. Beautiful school; main drawback is the commute to Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

My daughter used to attend NPS and my other daughter was at Beauvoir - so I feel that I actually know something about this topic.

The author who mentioned being attracted to NPS because of the homogeneity of the children and their children has actually captured a very important characteristic of NPS's identity. This is best exemplified by NPS's "in crowd" among the parents who are indeed very homogeneous -- white, protestant, more southern in style and background, lawyers, traditional patriarchical family structures, etc. If you feel comfortable with that, you will probably feel comfortable at NPS.

Beauvoir is a larger school in terms of number of children at each grade level. However, this gives your child more opportunties to have friendships -- and more playdates -- which become very important to the children in terms of their social life and perceived ranking. I was surprised to find that Beauvoir's parent body was actually so much nicer than I would have expected. I found them to be more interesting, smarter, and actually kinder than those at NPS. Beauvoir seems to welcomes diversity so much more than NPS though I'm not sure how they manage it. It seems to me that the parents of minority students feel more integrated into the commuity at B than was the case at NPS.

The curriculum at NSP is also more skills oriented than intellectual -- which has its own merits perhaps. But I found that my Beauvoir daughter seemed to love going to school more because of what she learned. My NSP daughter never showed much interest in what she learned since though there were some themes, they weren't delved into enough to capture the children's imagination. Though NPS is certainly lacking in intellectual content, it does have a small cozy environment for the children. But both schools are very structured, Beauvoir more so. On the downside, I've heard that B has had a large turnover of teachers so both NPS and B's faculty seems to be on the young and inexperienced side. Nevertheless, B has a highly structured curriculum that teachers have to follow -- so this compensates -- which was not the case at NPS when my daughter was there.

Finally in terms of other options for traditional schools, you may want to consider Catholic schools or look in the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

This is very helpful feedback. Are there any specific schools you found to be similar to Beauvoir -- intellectually stimulating, welcoming to various families and children, etc. I know you are just one person with a finite set of experiences, but I thought I would see if you had any other insights since your previous post was so enlightening!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your nice email. You are indeed right, my experiences are finite unfortunately! That being said, another school I like a lot is Capitol Hill Day School. My brother sends his children there. The kids themselves seem to be intellectually engaged since each year there is a theme (at least in elementary school) and much of their course work is integrated with that theme. The school's curriculum is characterized by field trips. (If you go to their website, look under calendars and then at the field education one to get an idea of how extensive it is. They actually have a full-time field trip coordinator.) My brother says that the teachers are smart, usually have outside professional pursuits that they share with the kids as appopriate, and most are very experienced.

I know that both my brother and sister-in-law find the parent body very welcoming. This may be a reflection of the Capitol Hill community or the school community -- I'm not sure. Compared to both Beauvoir and NPS, the parents at CHDS seem more relaxed and more diverse in terms of what they do -- greater balance between lawyers, public servants, non-governmental agency types, etc. Also, I know in my nephew's class last year, they had a great mix in terms of race though less so on ethnicity.

Other intellectual places are St. Anselms (but that is for upper school aged children). Aidan Montessori would also be good at least for the early years (up to about 2 or 3rd grade).

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Had not considered Capitol Hill -- will definitely look into it!

[Anonymous]

nps seems much friendlier and less snooty than beauvior

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nps seems much friendlier and less snooty than beauvior

Did you visit or do you have kids in both schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:nps seems much friendlier and less snooty than beauvior

Did you visit or do you have kids in both schools?

i visited both schools and know people in both schools. an overwhelming majority of the parents i know whose children attend beauvior are very reserved, polite, but not friendly, and only talk to you if you are in the right group or right social class. at beauvoir the children seemed so serious and quiet. i was shocked. when we went to nps the children were laughing in the halls and being children. they all looked so happy. i couldn't believe it. before touring nps and meeting the admissions staff it wasn't even on my list to attend, but to my dismay i loved it there and it went from being at the bottom of my list to the top. these are not sour grapes by the way, as i am in one of those exclusive neighborhoods i am referring to and also we like all of you don't even know where we have been accepted thus far. beauvoir is a great school, don't get me wrong. it was just a gut feeling i had about the two.

[Anonymous]

We have a child at Beauvoir and find that, due to its large size at each grade level, there are plenty of different types of parents there. Some are quite formal, others are not. Some schools with a smaller student body may have more homogenous parent bodies as a result. My child has good friends with parents that are very different from my
DH and I. But, I like that we are drawn into relationships with people we may not have ever entered into but for our children's friendship.

To the point about the kids not seeming to have fun, I think that the school may come across as quiet and orderly on your first visit. I am in the classroom or at school regularly and see very happy, engaged kids. They are asked to remain quiet in the hallways, but I had to do the same in the public school I attended and it didn't seem to bother me.

[Anonymous]

What were exmissions like for NPS for 2008?

[Anonymous]

Extremely good. They got accepted at 14 different schools including Sidwell, Maret, GDS, St.Albans, Landon, Potomac, and NCS. Most kids had a number of choices.

[Anonymous]

Former Beauvoir parent here and I want to address the issue of "minorities". There are several classes in each grade level at Beauvoir and one is always a "majority-minority" class. This is done precisely to avoid the token thing. At points in their Beauvoir years ALL children spend time as "minorities" and "majorities." I think this is one of the ways Beauvoir is thoughtful about its approach to education.

[Anonymous]

I know some people who sent their children to Holy Trinity in Georgetown. Very good academically plus reasonable in price. The students were accepted at numerous privates for high school and the parents could have easily afforded any of the other K-8 schools .

[Anonymous]

Holy Trinity is essentially impossible to get into unless you are a parishioner.

[Anonymous]

Do most of the kids at NPS stay through 6th grade, or apply out for 3rd and 4th? Also, it looks like the major entry point for NPS is Nursery and Pre-K. On average, how many slots are available at K?