Is Commonwealth Academy challenging enough for a bright student?

[Anonymous]

My son was admitted there in middle school, and after the day spent visiting, decided he did not want to attend. He did not think the coursework in the classes he attended was sufficiently challenging, especially in language arts, and was disappointed that he could not try a foreign language until high school. The school did offer to place him in a higher grade level for math, which would have helped in that subject.

I would describe his ADHD as moderate, if that is relevant.

[Anonymous]

My child attended the middle school for a year. They were flagged as gifted at C/A. I don't know that they would be classified as gifted at all programs, but they're a pretty bright kid. The first half of the year was a bit of a blur with working on executive functioning skills (lots of 0's on assignments...), but they got it by the second half of the year. We didn't send them back because they didn't really need what C/A offered after that, and they are now doing great at what is considered to be a very challenging school. So, all in all, we got what we needed out of C/A - kudos to the school.

My take (a little stream of consciousness) is this:

- The curriculum and teaching are solid. The teachers are highly qualified and skilled. Kids can learn a lot there.

- The school community is lovely. Nice folks.

- They obviously really get kids with ADHD. It's a welcome change to not need to fight a school for accommodations and understanding. They do a fantastic job getting the kids outside/exercised (PE every day with kids being able to choose between a really vigorous option and something else). This was really important for my kid. And the teaching is very interactive and engaging and geared to kids with ADHD.

- The baseline curriculum is not highly challenging, however. The student body is fairly diverse in terms of scholastic aptitude, and the 6th/7th grade classes are mixed. (So, yes, your 6th grader will be in classes with kids older than they are, but your 7th grader will be in classes with kids younger than they are.) It wasn't clear that there was a big bump up in expectations from 6th to 7th or from 7th to 8th although the 8th graders do take big exams (midterms/finals) and presumably need to learn to study for them. (We asked the administration and a number of parents about this.) The school adds challenge for bright kids by giving them the opportunity to do extra projects. If you have a kid who doesn't particularly want to do extra work, this won't work for them. The school is happy to bump kids up to older math levels if they need/want it, but I don't know that this is an option for other subjects. In English, the 6th/7th grades only read three books all year, and they don't do substantial reading in any other classes. The workload is pretty light because they don't have a ton of classes (7 classes a day - one is PE, another is an elective which won't typically have homework). So most of the kids get all their homework done in the advisory period at the end of the day. This is likely by design and is a godsend if you are coming from a place of nonstop battles with your kid about homework.

- When we were there, they were doing all their work online. This was a problem for us as my kid was really distracted by the educational Minecraft app on their device. (Teachers kept commenting on it, but the school never removed it.) The school is super pro-technology - esports and everything. This has its pros and cons. We want our kid to be tech savvy but have a life off the screen.

- The first semester was miserable, and while the school offers a structured system, in all honesty, they didn't go to any particular effort to figure out how to help our kid learn how to do and turn in their work. There was a ton of parent intervention and misery involved in that process. I had thought this would be different given the importance of the advisory system and the school's focus.

At any rate, C/A is a great place for the right kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Commonwealth parent here. Yes, your child will be challenged and I cannot say enough good things about the experience my DC had at C/A! The love of learning that was reinforced was incredible. DC left C/A after 8th grade for personal reasons (it was just too small socially). DC went to public high school and graduated last June. DC was admitted to 7 colleges (with substantial merit scholarship money), was waitlisted at a college admitting 18%, and denied at a college admitting 15%. I really owe DC's success in high school to C/A. If you child feels it is a fit - I say go for it!

Thank you for this. We are also looking at Commonwealth but live in MoCo and nobody we know has even heard of the school. It's been hard to get feedback.

We're also in MoCo and cannot commute to Alexandria. Are there any schools like Commonwealth that are closer to MoCo? Our son needs academic challenge *and* support for ADHD and building executive functioning skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Commonwealth parent here. Yes, your child will be challenged and I cannot say enough good things about the experience my DC had at C/A! The love of learning that was reinforced was incredible. DC left C/A after 8th grade for personal reasons (it was just too small socially). DC went to public high school and graduated last June. DC was admitted to 7 colleges (with substantial merit scholarship money), was waitlisted at a college admitting 18%, and denied at a college admitting 15%. I really owe DC's success in high school to C/A. If you child feels it is a fit - I say go for it!

Thank you for this. We are also looking at Commonwealth but live in MoCo and nobody we know has even heard of the school. It's been hard to get feedback.

We're also in MoCo and cannot commute to Alexandria. Are there any schools like Commonwealth that are closer to MoCo? Our son needs academic challenge *and* support for ADHD and building executive functioning skills.

Mclean school. Though there are mixed reviews about its ability to be challenging beyond having multiple reading and math levels per grade. But lots of people love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d be curious to hear what specifically they do as “support” that other small privates don’t do. Most of them have close watching advisors. Assignments in clear chunks. Clearly posted directions in multiple formats etc.

We looked at CA, so only speaking from the tour but what I remember is for homework for example, Individual teachers put the homework on the board (chunked I think) and then they walk around and make sure that each kid has written it correctly in their planner. Stuff like that

[Anonymous]

Any current thoughts on Commonwealth? My DD (10, 5th grade) is bright and working at high grade level or above in school. Also is a big joiner of activities and leadership opportunities. But she struggles a lot with EF, specifically organization and planning, and also struggles with anxiety and emotional regulation. We are trying to figure out the best place for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any current thoughts on Commonwealth? My DD (10, 5th grade) is bright and working at high grade level or above in school. Also is a big joiner of activities and leadership opportunities. But she struggles a lot with EF, specifically organization and planning, and also struggles with anxiety and emotional regulation. We are trying to figure out the best place for her.

Previous CA parent - I think there are a lot of opportunities for leadership there. There aren't a ton of clubs but kids can participate in a lot of them, most seniors are captains of sports teams. The grades are small and the MS/HS grades all intereract for sports and clubs. I found that to truly work above grade level, your child needs to be motivated and able to work independently. The teachers are wonderful but they can only pull you through so much if you're not motivated on your own. For our kid, the small classes, standard class schedule, repeat teachers, small school building made anxiety much less - they know what they are getting and felt very comfortable.