new to DC area independent school

[Anonymous]

WES may be a good fit. They are academically rigorous, spirited but kind sports and lots of them, great social-emotional skills. If you track students through to their colleges, you’ll see they have great college results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We would love to connect. Do you think the school has good academic rigor? We are not a sporty family, and we got the impression that sports is a big part of the ethos.

Since we are outsiders to the DC area, why do folks dislike Bullis?




quote=Anonymous]Actual Bullis families are very happy. The dislike is from this forum.

Largely because it is a school that kids go to that can't get into the other schools. Doesnt mean it isnt a good school, but this is a large part of the reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you looking for?

NCS is the most rigorous all girls.
STA is the most rigorous all boys.
Sidwell is the most rigorous coed.

In the next tier you have GDS
Then Potomac
Then Maret

Bullis isn't that rigorous. If it's near your house and you want a less intense experience for your kid, it could be a good fit. Their teachers are not as credentialed. At NCS Upper School, most of the Social Science and English teachers have PhDs. You won't find that at Bullis, at least now widespread. Compare the faculty profiles.

Huh. When I was at NCS, Dr. Clevenger was the only PhD in the science department, and all but one of my teachers was excellent (the exception was a woman hired last minute in summer who didn’t go through the regular process; turned out she was an absolute dud and was fired a few weeks into the fall). I guess they’ve started caring more about racking up the credentials than simply finding excellent teachers, regardless of the honorifics in front of their names.

I find it so odd that this NCS alum is frequently posting on dcum about NCS and how it was many moons ago. It is obviously very different now. Curious do you have children or are you just on these forum for fun? I am genuinely curious.

[Anonymous]

I would also look at K-8s. There are a lot of those around here, and then you can figure out the DC private scene and decide where you want to apply for high school. Norwood expands in 4th and sends kids to all the high schools you are considering. There is also WES, Langley, Lowell, Sheridan, Woods, and a couple others. K-8 is a popular model around here, not sure about in New England. There are also some K-6 schools here I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would also look at K-8s. There are a lot of those around here, and then you can figure out the DC private scene and decide where you want to apply for high school. Norwood expands in 4th and sends kids to all the high schools you are considering. There is also WES, Langley, Lowell, Sheridan, Woods, and a couple others. K-8 is a popular model around here, not sure about in New England. There are also some K-6 schools here I think.

I think this is good advice. DC is not New England. It’s showier in some ways, and in some ways more insecure. It’s a city of lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WES may be a good fit. They are academically rigorous, spirited but kind sports and lots of them, great social-emotional skills. If you track students through to their colleges, you’ll see they have great college results

The culture of WES is not showy.

[Anonymous]

Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:WES may be a good fit. They are academically rigorous, spirited but kind sports and lots of them, great social-emotional skills. If you track students through to their colleges, you’ll see they have great college results

[Anonymous]

We are looking at Norwood. We liked HoS, but not so much the others we interacted with at the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also look at K-8s. There are a lot of those around here, and then you can figure out the DC private scene and decide where you want to apply for high school. Norwood expands in 4th and sends kids to all the high schools you are considering. There is also WES, Langley, Lowell, Sheridan, Woods, and a couple others. K-8 is a popular model around here, not sure about in New England. There are also some K-6 schools here I think.

I think this is good advice. DC is not New England. It’s showier in some ways, and in some ways more insecure. It’s a city of lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would also look at K-8s. There are a lot of those around here, and then you can figure out the DC private scene and decide where you want to apply for high school. Norwood expands in 4th and sends kids to all the high schools you are considering. There is also WES, Langley, Lowell, Sheridan, Woods, and a couple others. K-8 is a popular model around here, not sure about in New England. There are also some K-6 schools here I think.

I agree that this is good advice. Especially since some of the schools are very different animals in LS vs US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis gets a lot of criticism on here for at least two reasons.

The first is history. The school has never been thought of as being academically selective. That may be different now. I don’t know. But this reputation is decades old and widely believed.

The second is the academic and social snobbery of a huge swath of DCUM posters who are connected to or who support other schools.

There was a pretty big scandal there in the not very distant past.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/904348.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at Norwood. We liked HoS, but not so much the others we interacted with at the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also look at K-8s. There are a lot of those around here, and then you can figure out the DC private scene and decide where you want to apply for high school. Norwood expands in 4th and sends kids to all the high schools you are considering. There is also WES, Langley, Lowell, Sheridan, Woods, and a couple others. K-8 is a popular model around here, not sure about in New England. There are also some K-6 schools here I think.

I think this is good advice. DC is not New England. It’s showier in some ways, and in some ways more insecure. It’s a city of lawyers.

I would say if you liked the lower school head at Norwood, check out NPS, but it ends in 6th, which you probably don’t want.

You may also like Langley, the private school, not the giant public school. WES, however, is more rigorous. Families at neither school are insecure or showy.

You may also find you like Sidwell. Elementary and middle school experiences can be uneven, it is showier and more insecure than many Boston privates, but of the K-12s it may be more to your taste than the others.

[Anonymous]

The Langley School and Potomac sound like great options for you. While both are in affluent McLean, neither seems to be all about the displays of wealth. Same for most of the DC schools. You have wonderful options!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we are looking for solid academic rigor. We looked at faculty profiles and liked Potomac. However, coming from academia good school does not equate good teacher.

Anonymous wrote:What are you looking for?

NCS is the most rigorous all girls.
STA is the most rigorous all boys.
Sidwell is the most rigorous coed.

In the next tier you have GDS
Then Potomac
Then Maret

Bullis isn't that rigorous. If it's near your house and you want a less intense experience for your kid, it could be a good fit. Their teachers are not as credentialed. At NCS Upper School, most of the Social Science and English teachers have PhDs. You won't find that at Bullis, at least now widespread. Compare the faculty profiles.

OP What grade are you looking at now? Current Potomac LS parent here.

[Anonymous]

Rising 4th, we would love to connect with you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we are looking for solid academic rigor. We looked at faculty profiles and liked Potomac. However, coming from academia good school does not equate good teacher.

Anonymous wrote:What are you looking for?

NCS is the most rigorous all girls.
STA is the most rigorous all boys.
Sidwell is the most rigorous coed.

In the next tier you have GDS
Then Potomac
Then Maret

Bullis isn't that rigorous. If it's near your house and you want a less intense experience for your kid, it could be a good fit. Their teachers are not as credentialed. At NCS Upper School, most of the Social Science and English teachers have PhDs. You won't find that at Bullis, at least now widespread. Compare the faculty profiles.

OP What grade are you looking at now? Current Potomac LS parent here.

[Anonymous]

thank you

Anonymous wrote:The Langley School and Potomac sound like great options for you. While both are in affluent McLean, neither seems to be all about the displays of wealth. Same for most of the DC schools. You have wonderful options!