Moving from small private school to DC-area. Advice please.

[Anonymous]

I've spent a lot of time in the forums reading about public vs. private, etc., and I've succeeded only in confusing myself more.

We live in the desert southwest, and my daughter is in kindergarten in an Episcopal day school. Class size is 14. She was in pre-K at this school as well. A lot of the reason I chose this school, in addition to the academics (publics here are deplorable by any standard), was the small class size and nurturing atmosphere. DC was very shy, and the environment at the current school has really helped her blossom (I can't believe I'm using that word, but really! She did!).

Now I'm looking at moving to DC, and as much as I wanted to move back East because of the better schools for her (I grew up in Boston and went to both public and private), I'm really struggling with the options -- i feel like the publics have huge class sizes and teach to the test, but the privates in this part of the world seem either frighteningly obnoxious and even if i found one I liked, the tuitions are nearly prohibitive. Daughter's test scores aren't an issue (at least, i don't think they will be).

I'm worried that the social strides my daughter has made would be crushed in a boisterous public, but moving to an area with some of the best publics and then going to private seems counterintuitive. Anyone know of smaller public elementaries or nurturing but not hypercompetitive privates they could recommend?

I've been pretty turned off of the biggies (Sidwell, Beauvoir, etc) by what I've read here and elsewhere. I've been looking at publics like McKinley in Arlington and privates like Grace Episcopal Day in Alexandria and Grace Episc. in Silver Spring/Kensington. I love what I've read about Maret, but I can't imagine the stars aligning and being able to both afford it and be accepted, but that's the kind of vibe I'd like.

I know my dilemma is nothing new, but I'd love any suggestions or advice.

[Anonymous]

OP, some of the local Episcopal day schools around here have small classes, and are nurturing without the eye popping tuition. In MC, we have Grace, Christ, and St. Andrews Episcopal schools.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like Sheridan might be a great match for you!

[Anonymous]

A small parochial school in an affluent suburb? (v. the city center).

[Anonymous]

Grace Episcopal Day School in Silver Spring/Kensington sounds a lot like what you're coming from. FT tuition runs about $18K, which seems like a bargain compared to many DC schools. Grace Episcopal School in Alexandria is not as strong academically, but is also a nice school. Public schools in Montgomery County are often excellent but won't have small class sizes unless they're Title I schools, which is probably not what you're after.

You might get a copy of Georgia Irvin's Guide to Schools from Amazon. It has information on private and public schools in this area. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for the recommendation about the book -- and the info about the Graces -- i was wondering what might set them apart from one another. I've already had contact with the AD at GEDS and that was positive, so I'll keep them on the list.

Thanks again for the insight.

[Anonymous]

I would look at St. Patrick Epis. Day School, St. Agnes in Alexandria, the Potomac School in McLean, and Washington Episocopal School in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Love Grace in Alexandria. Only thing I could change about that school is the lack of more school. It stops at 5th grade. If my children could stay in a school like Grace for 12 years I would pay anything.

[Anonymous]

lowell