Advice on Good Fit Private for K with Good Amount of Outdoor and Play

[Anonymous]

Absolutely look at Green Acres. Smaller school with tons of outdoor and play time. It's progressive-based learning and it's wonderful.

[Anonymous]

Great advice! What do you think what type of community is in Norwood?

Anonymous wrote:I say this with kindness OP, since you appear to be a new parent: all independent K-3s in MoCo and NWDC near you will offer a whole lot of outdoor play and creative, hands-on, project-based learning. All of them. Every single one. Concord, Primary Day, Green Acres, Sheridan, Lowell, Beauvoir, GDS, Sidwell, Sandy Spring Friends, Bullis, St. Pat's, Norwood, NPS, Maret, and Washington Waldorf.

I would instead narrow my search using the filters of short commute and good fit with the parent community. There some _very_ significant differences among the parent cultures at these schools. Which, when kids are little, has a lot of impact on their social lives and your general hapiness as a family. Unfortunately, parent :: parent relationships have more impact on things like playdates, parties and pee wee sports teams and activities than they probably should, from the child's POV

You didn't mention parochial / parish schools as an option, but the few of these I know don't present the same level of free play nor outdoor time as the ones I listed (Blessed Sacrament and Holy Trinity in case you're curious)

[Anonymous]

In that neighborhood you should absolutely consider WES. You would have lots of neighbors at school, your commute would be easy, and WES is a great community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say this with kindness OP, since you appear to be a new parent: all independent K-3s in MoCo and NWDC near you will offer a whole lot of outdoor play and creative, hands-on, project-based learning. All of them. Every single one. Concord, Primary Day, Green Acres, Sheridan, Lowell, Beauvoir, GDS, Sidwell, Sandy Spring Friends, Bullis, St. Pat's, Norwood, NPS, Maret, and Washington Waldorf.

I would instead narrow my search using the filters of short commute and good fit with the parent community. There some _very_ significant differences among the parent cultures at these schools. Which, when kids are little, has a lot of impact on their social lives and your general hapiness as a family. Unfortunately, parent :: parent relationships have more impact on things like playdates, parties and pee wee sports teams and activities than they probably should, from the child's POV

You didn't mention parochial / parish schools as an option, but the few of these I know don't present the same level of free play nor outdoor time as the ones I listed (Blessed Sacrament and Holy Trinity in case you're curious)

Ha - not sure what made me sound like such a newbie (since I am looking at Kindergarten, so my child is clearly almost 5!), but no worries. Good to hear almost all the area privates will offer some or all of what we are looking for. We are not looking into parochial schools, which is why we are targeting our search on secular privates, but definitely considering the commute and trying to make sure we have a one-way commute of 20 minutes max. That will likely exclude Potomac School for us but someone mentioned they have a bus from Bethesda. Unsure how to figure out the parent community in advance, but I am sure we could find a nice community at most of the schools mentioned. If you have any feedback on parent communities, please feel free to share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In that neighborhood you should absolutely consider WES. You would have lots of neighbors at school, your commute would be easy, and WES is a great community.

You're right - it's super close and I am sure an excellent school. I am sure there are kids of numerous faiths there but since we are secular and Hindu have been mostly targeting secular schools for now, though I myself grew up in Catholic and Episcopal schools and found them to be very welcoming and progressive (the ones I went to, anyway).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this with kindness OP, since you appear to be a new parent: all independent K-3s in MoCo and NWDC near you will offer a whole lot of outdoor play and creative, hands-on, project-based learning. All of them. Every single one. Concord, Primary Day, Green Acres, Sheridan, Lowell, Beauvoir, GDS, Sidwell, Sandy Spring Friends, Bullis, St. Pat's, Norwood, NPS, Maret, and Washington Waldorf.

I would instead narrow my search using the filters of short commute and good fit with the parent community. There some _very_ significant differences among the parent cultures at these schools. Which, when kids are little, has a lot of impact on their social lives and your general hapiness as a family. Unfortunately, parent :: parent relationships have more impact on things like playdates, parties and pee wee sports teams and activities than they probably should, from the child's POV

You didn't mention parochial / parish schools as an option, but the few of these I know don't present the same level of free play nor outdoor time as the ones I listed (Blessed Sacrament and Holy Trinity in case you're curious)

Ha - not sure what made me sound like such a newbie (since I am looking at Kindergarten, so my child is clearly almost 5!), but no worries. Good to hear almost all the area privates will offer some or all of what we are looking for. We are not looking into parochial schools, which is why we are targeting our search on secular privates, but definitely considering the commute and trying to make sure we have a one-way commute of 20 minutes max. That will likely exclude Potomac School for us but someone mentioned they have a bus from Bethesda. Unsure how to figure out the parent community in advance, but I am sure we could find a nice community at most of the schools mentioned. If you have any feedback on parent communities, please feel free to share.

NP. Let me clarify what the PP is saying. You are a newbie because this is likely your only child and he hasn’t started kindergarten yet so you don’t know much about how school works.

She’s giving you some good advice on what you should be looking for.

[Anonymous]

Look at NPS. Nice community, lots of outdoor time and a brand new playground opening this Fall.

[Anonymous]

K seems like it’s the time to focus on play and outdoor time, but the elementary years go quickly. You really need to be picking a school for long term goals. Are you asking questions like these: Is the reading instruction whole language or phonics based? Does the ELA program explicitly teach. Spelling and grammar? When are screens introduced and how often are they used? Is the Social Studies curriculum content-based or skills based? When does the math program introduce variables, abstract thinking, and how does it handle math fact memorization? There are many more that you can find yourself by doing a little reading on current debates in curriculum.

Honestly, finding a good fit for your family on academic style matters a lot more than outdoor time. All these schools have plenty of outdoor time, but they vary wildly on these other questions.

[Anonymous]

NP. Let me clarify what the PP is saying. You are a newbie because this is likely your only child and he hasn’t started kindergarten yet so you don’t know much about how school works.

She’s giving you some good advice on what you should be looking for.

Appreciating their advice for sure, but the assumptions regarding our family are not needed. That poster is probably right that all of these great schools likely offer most of what we are wanting, which is a great thing to consider. We have a younger child as well and both my husband and I grew up in private schools (though neither in DC/Bethesda), so I am trying to keep an open mind and ask questions from those with direct experience with the schools in this area. We do not have many neighbors utilizing the private schools to ask about, as most do rely on and love Wood Acres, which seems like a solid school as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:K seems like it’s the time to focus on play and outdoor time, but the elementary years go quickly. You really need to be picking a school for long term goals. Are you asking questions like these: Is the reading instruction whole language or phonics based? Does the ELA program explicitly teach. Spelling and grammar? When are screens introduced and how often are they used? Is the Social Studies curriculum content-based or skills based? When does the math program introduce variables, abstract thinking, and how does it handle math fact memorization? There are many more that you can find yourself by doing a little reading on current debates in curriculum.

Honestly, finding a good fit for your family on academic style matters a lot more than outdoor time. All these schools have plenty of outdoor time, but they vary wildly on these other questions.

Solid advice thank you !! Yes, I will definitely be asking and prioritizing their literacy approach, use of screens, etc. I did not think about the social studies question or the math fact question, so thank you for that. We are definitely thinking about long term, and it's good to know that at the early ages, all of these options offer plenty of outdoor time and play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say this with kindness OP, since you appear to be a new parent: all independent K-3s in MoCo and NWDC near you will offer a whole lot of outdoor play and creative, hands-on, project-based learning. All of them. Every single one. Concord, Primary Day, Green Acres, Sheridan, Lowell, Beauvoir, GDS, Sidwell, Sandy Spring Friends, Bullis, St. Pat's, Norwood, NPS, Maret, and Washington Waldorf.

I would instead narrow my search using the filters of short commute and good fit with the parent community. There some _very_ significant differences among the parent cultures at these schools. Which, when kids are little, has a lot of impact on their social lives and your general hapiness as a family. Unfortunately, parent :: parent relationships have more impact on things like playdates, parties and pee wee sports teams and activities than they probably should, from the child's POV

You didn't mention parochial / parish schools as an option, but the few of these I know don't present the same level of free play nor outdoor time as the ones I listed (Blessed Sacrament and Holy Trinity in case you're curious)

Yes. Schooling is a long journey. You're making a major commitment and focusing primarily on the K experience is short sighted. Commute is also huge. We had friends who are in crisis now because they chose WIS and the commute is 45 minutes each way, at least. Such a shame they didn't think it through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In that neighborhood you should absolutely consider WES. You would have lots of neighbors at school, your commute would be easy, and WES is a great community.

You're right - it's super close and I am sure an excellent school. I am sure there are kids of numerous faiths there but since we are secular and Hindu have been mostly targeting secular schools for now, though I myself grew up in Catholic and Episcopal schools and found them to be very welcoming and progressive (the ones I went to, anyway).

If you want secular schools, cross Beauvoir and Sidwell off the list. Episcopal and Quaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In that neighborhood you should absolutely consider WES. You would have lots of neighbors at school, your commute would be easy, and WES is a great community.

You're right - it's super close and I am sure an excellent school. I am sure there are kids of numerous faiths there but since we are secular and Hindu have been mostly targeting secular schools for now, though I myself grew up in Catholic and Episcopal schools and found them to be very welcoming and progressive (the ones I went to, anyway).

If you want secular schools, cross Beauvoir and Sidwell off the list. Episcopal and Quaker.

Beauvoir is not on the list right now - though it seems like an excellent school. We have read about the extent of religious instruction at Sidwell and are comfortable with their approach at this time (but will ask more).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this with kindness OP, since you appear to be a new parent: all independent K-3s in MoCo and NWDC near you will offer a whole lot of outdoor play and creative, hands-on, project-based learning. All of them. Every single one. Concord, Primary Day, Green Acres, Sheridan, Lowell, Beauvoir, GDS, Sidwell, Sandy Spring Friends, Bullis, St. Pat's, Norwood, NPS, Maret, and Washington Waldorf.

I would instead narrow my search using the filters of short commute and good fit with the parent community. There some _very_ significant differences among the parent cultures at these schools. Which, when kids are little, has a lot of impact on their social lives and your general hapiness as a family. Unfortunately, parent :: parent relationships have more impact on things like playdates, parties and pee wee sports teams and activities than they probably should, from the child's POV

You didn't mention parochial / parish schools as an option, but the few of these I know don't present the same level of free play nor outdoor time as the ones I listed (Blessed Sacrament and Holy Trinity in case you're curious)

Yes. Schooling is a long journey. You're making a major commitment and focusing primarily on the K experience is short sighted. Commute is also huge. We had friends who are in crisis now because they chose WIS and the commute is 45 minutes each way, at least. Such a shame they didn't think it through.

We are not focusing primarily on K (though that is when we are applying, so that is how I phrased my question), but are looking for a good fit for the rest of their education starting with K. We are certainly considering the commute as one of the major factors in narrowing down the list. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say this with kindness OP, since you appear to be a new parent: all independent K-3s in MoCo and NWDC near you will offer a whole lot of outdoor play and creative, hands-on, project-based learning. All of them. Every single one. Concord, Primary Day, Green Acres, Sheridan, Lowell, Beauvoir, GDS, Sidwell, Sandy Spring Friends, Bullis, St. Pat's, Norwood, NPS, Maret, and Washington Waldorf.

I would instead narrow my search using the filters of short commute and good fit with the parent community. There some _very_ significant differences among the parent cultures at these schools. Which, when kids are little, has a lot of impact on their social lives and your general hapiness as a family. Unfortunately, parent :: parent relationships have more impact on things like playdates, parties and pee wee sports teams and activities than they probably should, from the child's POV

You didn't mention parochial / parish schools as an option, but the few of these I know don't present the same level of free play nor outdoor time as the ones I listed (Blessed Sacrament and Holy Trinity in case you're curious)

PP gave good advice. Add WES