What is the most important element: class size, peer group, location, test scores?

[Anonymous]

OP, if you want to stay in DC I'd strongly recommend that you consider Murch. They have been very open to accomodations, have a lot of apartments in bounds, are a short bus or metro ride downtown, K teachers are strong and nurturing, the kids have an hour for recess and an hour of free play in K, and you can't be the new playgrounds (or the green space and trees). We have had a really positive experience, well beyond our expectations. If you want to lock in all the way through, Arlington is also an excellent option.

[Anonymous]

oops, that would be you can't "beat"

[Anonymous]

Teacher.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, NP here. Since you don't identify what sort of special needs your daughter has, my comment may not be relevant to your specific situation. As parent to a MoCo kindergartner located downcounty, I think peer group, teacher, and principal are most important. My child is in a small class; however, about 1/3 of the kids are in ESOL and a handful of others need additional attention due to ADHD, learning challenges, behavioral issues, whatever. In theory all the kids would be getting more attention. In reality, I believe it's the kids who need additional help for whatever reason who benefit a lot from the small class size. The kids who have mastered the lesson are too often left to fend for themselves. If they were in a larger class where all or most kids had more support from home they'd be better served. The principal needs to not just talk about meeting each child's needs, but really believe in it enough to make it happen. I'm not trying to suggest that would be easy. You might try calling some of the county offices to discuss your daughter's specific situation and ask if they have any principals with experience with that issue.

[Anonymous]

What I like about my DC's school is that it adapts and is always progressing/trying new things/evaluating. I like that parents can come up with ideas, get support and try new things. It's small enough to make changes and adapt but big enough to offer extracurricular programs. This takes a great leader, a really good principal who can take advice, criticism and who is very creative. We have one and she has made all the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I like about my DC's school is that it adapts and is always progressing/trying new things/evaluating. I like that parents can come up with ideas, get support and try new things. It's small enough to make changes and adapt but big enough to offer extracurricular programs. This takes a great leader, a really good principal who can take advice, criticism and who is very creative. We have one and she has made all the difference.

Can I ask what school this is?

[Anonymous]

Principals can easily change while your kid is at a school; peer group/demographics of the school surroundings much less likely to change rapidly. So I agree with OP's later post where she indicated she decided this was most important. I caveat that by agreeing with others that you need to stick within your max tolerable commute though. We live in the MD suburbs (eastern Montg county) and are currently trying to make a simliar decision about private vs. public schools since i don't think the ones near us seem good - and at the high school level seem terrible and only likely to get worse given existing elem school demographics vs. high school ones. (I might be using the wrong word but by demographics I mean the amount getting free/reduced price meals and/or getting ESOL assistance which seem in many cases to be indicators of students likely needing more involvement/attention from a teacher than hopefully DD would need.)

[Anonymous]

You want Arlington. Much faster commute downtown than MoCo, fantastic public schools, playgrounds all over the place, a lot of ethnic/race/nationality-type diversity in addition to some economic diversity (though not in some pockets of N. Arlington - but more than you'd think).

[Anonymous]

Peer group, in our experience. And by that I don't mean race or socioeconomic group or diversity, but enough kids who are at the same level, learning-wise. Differentiation within the classroom is EXTREMELY difficult, particularly when you have large classes. If your child isn't right in the middle, ability-wise, he or she runs the risk of not getting the attention/instruction needed.

Don't let the public schools tell you that your child is well-served in a class of 25 kids if you know your child needs something more, or extra, or different. I'm not saying it can't be done, but you will have to keep a close eye on things.

[Anonymous]

IMO class size is number 1. How can even a top teacher be effective in an overcrowded classroom? I think next comes peer group since that has a huge influence once they hit the middle school years especially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all very helpful, thanks. To respond to the person who asked why I just don't send my lovely, sensitive daughter (who has some special needs) to our local public school: because I've visited our local public school to arrange for services for my daughter. We play on its playground, and it feels and looks like a prison. With a playground.

In that sense, I've decided what is most important: the peer group. And my local public school doesn't offer a peer group with which I'm comfortable. A friend of mine of mine moved to another state because her son was hassled there because (she says) he was white.

I was a minority in my school, and it's the worst feeling to be too scared to go to school because someone wants to beat you up. I distracts so much from learning. But I would look less at "peer group" and more at the school safety report card.

For what it's worth, we're in Mclean, where I feel like there is cultural diversity (but not economic diversity). There may not be many African Americans, but there are plenty of everything else.