Lowell? Do smart kids go there?

[Anonymous]

I've always thought of Lowell as a school for kids who want an independent school education but can't get into the big players. Recently though I've met some really great families and kids who are from Lowell. Before we look at making a change I'd like to know how the school is perceived. Is it rigorous? Do smart kids to there? Or is it like St. Andrews, for the kids who need a bit of help due to disabilities? Where do graduates attend college?

[Anonymous]

Ask about their placement with privates -- exmissions -- and you'll get your answer.

[Anonymous]

Lowell is like St Andrews in that they each have a wide range of kids who later attend a wide range of schools. There are some kids at both schools who are as smart as any in DC area and others at both who are learning to overcome a mild LD that may require some extra help as OP puts it. Among the more popular Lowell exmissions in the past have been Burke, GDS, St Andrews, Field , Sidwell, NCS, Sandy Spribgs , Maret and occasionally others like Bullis, St Albans or Lab. Lowell used to end at 6th grade but this year will have it's first 8th grade class. For St Andrew's, OP 's description fits maybe 25 percent of the class if you count ADD, but not the rest of the school. Their college admissions therefore also span a wide range from most selectve universities and liberal arts colleges to strong lib arts colleges and a few ivies to big state u's and lesser know LACs.

[Anonymous]

Pp sent inadvertently -- replace last line with "Their college placements include some of the most selectve universities and liberal arts colleges as well as large state schools and lesser known LACs."

[Anonymous]

Lowell may not be for everyone (particularly those that care about boasting where their kids go to school), and as with any K-8 school, the academic and even social limitations of being in a small place that practically can not differentiate a lot particularly in math may drive kids to leave for MS, however, the "social education" the school provides, the warmth of the teachers and whole community, the wonderful physical setting in the park, and in our experience creative and strong academics that were absolutely preparative for moving on to any school in the city made it a fantastic place for our kids.
In one class now early in college these are the schools I am aware kids are at: Stanford, Princeton, Northwestern, Northeastern, Bowdoin, USC, Conn College, Wesleyan, Columbia, Bryn Mawr, Claremont, NYU, just remembering off the top of my head. They were at a range of private and public MS and HS, including Sidwell, GDS, Burke, Whitman, Maret, Bullis, St Alban's.
So the point is, if you like the school, don't avoid it because of college placement!

[Anonymous]

Lowell parent here. Agree with PP, Lowell is not for the parents who like to brag about their child's choice of school. As others have said there is a range, but there are many objectively "smart" kids at Lowell. My DD went from Lowell to NCS, does great and is in advanced math. My younger child is still at Lowell, doing great and will have a choice of schools that are right for her. Lowell is a great school for parents who want to make sure their child gets a great education to prepare for high school and life and avoid the schools where parents talk about college placement when their kids are in K.

[Anonymous]

Agree with above posts, but you need to look closely at your grade placement and the type of kid you have and what is important to you. Lowell began as a pre- primary to 3d school, later it expanded to 6th and now just expanded to 8th so that middle school is very new. Lowell is probably stronger in humanities across the board than math, but it depends how you view it and in our last years they improved the science program. In my view, Lowell works best for kids who work best with relatively less structure -- the progressive thing. But middle school is a different issue because it is new and small -- that can be great or it can be too limiting so it really depends on what you want. Ironically, we moved to St Andrews where our DD combined two years of math in one to get into the most accelerated track heading into high school and she wanted to do to more with music and sports which was easier at a middle attached to a high school. But both our kids are strong students across the board and would be at any school (based on standardized tests) so Lowell fundamentals must have been solid (and sure, consider this a plug for St Andrew's for high school too to any other Lowell families that may ever read this and be looking around after Lowell graduation).

[Anonymous]

We have smart kids at Lowell. They are getting a great education. We had reason to compare with a school mentioned a lot on this board and concluded that the curriculum was more robust in the early years by a large margin. The cohort is small in middle school now as the school is just getting established and some kids may need a larger cohort at that time. But we have looked at all of the frequently discussed privates on this board them more than once and we have not seen anywhere better for preprimary, k-3 or more loving to kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always thought of Lowell as a school for kids who want an independent school education but can't get into the big players. Recently though I've met some really great families and kids who are from Lowell. Before we look at making a change I'd like to know how the school is perceived. Is it rigorous? Do smart kids to there? Or is it like St. Andrews, for the kids who need a bit of help due to disabilities? Where do graduates attend college?

OP, you are perpetuating a myth that feeds on parent's insecurity. Its not "the kids" who can't "get in", its simply a numbers game. Most cabinet members, Senators, Ambassadors, WB/IMF employees , WOPA, NPR, Nat Geo, Atlantic, etc... staff have kids. These people move to Washington to take a position here and their kids have to go to school somewhere. Unlikely that their parents will send them to Dunbar or Lincoln, so these kids get divided up among : GDS, Sidwell, Maret, STA/NCS, WIS who only have what, 10 spots a year ( outside of main entry years). Doubtful that a job offer coincides with a main entry year.

Every family has a 1st choice and every school has a first choice list of familes from their applicant pool , once those slots are filled, move onto second choice school, 2nd choice applicant pool. So, yes, some wonderful kids and familes will be going to Lowell, and not because they are "less than " kids, but because maybe just maybe Rahm Emanuel brought three kids with him to DC and that bumped a couple kids form their 1st choice to their second choice, and some familes to their 3rd choice.... that is all it means Nothing to do , at all, with the kids or LOL their WIPPSI.

[Anonymous]

Lowell was our first choice because of its progressive approach, caring teachers and diverse student body. It also has a beautiful campus.

[Anonymous]

I have had children at small community coop schools, public school and a "big three." There are smart kids everywhere! They may be more concentrated in some specific privates or magnets, but they are everywhere! And by the way, there are struggling kids at schools perceived to only educate academically advanced kids too.

[Anonymous]

If you want your child to be independent, learn to problem solve and learn how social emotional skills, then Lowell is not the school for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have had children at small community coop schools, public school and a "big three." There are smart kids everywhere! They may be more concentrated in some specific privates or magnets, but they are everywhere! And by the way, there are struggling kids at schools perceived to only educate academically advanced kids too.

This is true, particularly when the struggling kid has high profile parents, and was accepted largely because of the parent's high profile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want your child to be independent, learn to problem solve and learn how social emotional skills, then Lowell is not the school for you.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want your child to be independent, learn to problem solve and learn how social emotional skills, then Lowell is not the school for you.

Why?

Yes, why specifically?