Where would you send a creative, curious but not super-academic kid for high school?

[Anonymous]

Washington Waldorf School. Check out the post on line for recent article. HS has technology, if that's a concern.

[Anonymous]

Washington Waldorf
Howard Gardner School in Alexandria

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like my kid! Well, except mine is a boy. Delightful, extroverted, artistic, athletic, but not the academic superstar many of the area schools expect.

We were looking in 6th, not 9th, but I really liked SSFS, St. Andrew's, and Bullis for him. My kid seems to draw energy from being outdoors so I decided Burke was too urban for us. I think Field would have been a fit for him but it started in 7th so we didn't look carefully. I also think that St. John's and Our Lady of Good Counsel are potentially good fits for him.

However, after looking at all those schools I looked at some MCPS public schools and decided to move instead. Public school has been a great match for him. It's more structured than many of the private schools we looked at. With expectations clearly laid out he's really thrived. In addition, there are lots of arts programs that he has loved, and the pressure is much more reasonable. He'll move on to high school next year and our plan is to stay public through graduation.

I also love the Ellington suggestion. If my son didn't want to play a sport in high school, I think Ellington would be my first choice for him.

In what sense is public more structured? I'm never sure what people mean when they say a school is structured. Also, what do you mean when you say that expectations are "clearly laid out?" I hope this doesn't sound adversarial, I'm genuinely curious and trying to understand.

For my child an important part of this is that expectations for assignments are very clear, there are rubrics and grading scales that tell him "this is how many points you'll receive for this, and for that. If you want an A these are the expectations for what an A assignment would look like". If there's a research assignment it's clear what materials they are expected to use, and those materials are available at school or through school provided online resources.

In addition, skills like notetaking and essay writing are carefully scaffolded so that kids are independent at each step. There's much less of an expectation that kids are getting substantial help at home, so there are graphic organizers to help kids build sentences, then paragraphs, then essays. If there's a test there's a study guide that offers problems to complete or questions to answer, that they then walk through.

For my kid (not for every kid, not even necessarily for me when I was his age) this structure is good. When he is told "research this topic and write a paper" the paper is lousy. When he's told "write 7 sentences with 4 footnotes from 2 different sources and a topic sentence and conclusion" he can do that, and do it well. When he's told "study until you feel ready for the test" he decides he's ready after 10 minutes and gets a C. When he's told "fill in these 10 answers, find the information in the book to check them, and then make and turn in flash cards for the ones you missed", he can do that and gets an A on the subsequent test.

In addition, in the classroom there's more of a no nonsense atmosphere, with clear expectations for behavior. When I looked at private schools, I found that some private schools had a culture where there was lots of talking, and movement, and choices in the classroom. My kid's elementary was that way, and for my particular kid the choices and movement and talking was really distracting. In addition, there was a culture where kids got to choose how much they participated and in what way. My shy, not academically confident, kid often chose not to participate. Some kids can learn from just watching, but for my kid to bring things from working memory to long term storage he needs to be doing, talking, participating. In public school there is more cold calling, and other techniques that forced him to do that.

I should note that I also looked at other private schools where things were very formal, calm, and had the high behavioral expectations that he needs to concentrate, but they also had a very "formal" academic style with lots of emphasis from learning from books or lectures. My kid doesn't learn well that way. Public school hits the sweet spot of progressive hands on activities (e.g. this week, he's been working on playing golf in PE class, writing and creating a movie in film class, reenacting a scene from Midsummer's Night Dream in English, completing an experiment involving dog urine in science (?), practicing for a county wide chorus competition, and painting scenery for the school play) with more traditional classroom management.

To be clear, I am sure there are private schools that hit that sweet spot. One that I looked at that seemed to offer the right mix was Bullis. However, my income is such that once I realized that I could find a local public that was a very good fit for him, I wasn't willing to pay for the extra bells and whistles Bullis would have provided.

Again, I'm not here to preach about public schools. But since the OP's kid sounds a lot like mine, and the OP is considering moving for schools, I thought I'd share my experience.

We are in the high school version of that (maybe in the same cluster) and my high achieving DC also thrives on the structure and clear expectations. I am frankly a little surprised at how well it has worked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's the one in her dreams and everyone else's dreams as well. Or, she's smoking something.


Indeed, which public school is that? It sounds great!

MCPS middle school in Bethesda.

Yea - my MCPS has 300 6th graders. When it was time for K - there were 12 K classes - if I moved (or could afford to move) 1 mile West my K class would have been 2 classes with 20 students in each class.

I'm the PP who wrote the long email on "structure", and who you just quoted above. Our MS is a little under 1,200 kids. We might be talking about the same school. I think that in some ways the orderliness is in response to having to manage such a huge number of diverse learners. The school definitely feels less chaotic than the tiny progressive non-MCPS elementary school my child attended.

I want to be clear that it's not perfect. No school is perfect, they all have strengths and weaknesses, but for some kids who are well rounded, socially skilled, and not performing at some rare academic level, some public schools can be a really good fit. If a parent has decided that they need to move to find the right school (like the OP said), then exploring both public and private makes sense.

As far as affording to move, I pay less in rent in my district that I would pay in tuition at most DC or MD private schools. Now, if my child went to private it would be with financial aid, but even if we chose to live somewhere less expensive and got 75% aid we'd likely be paying more total.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's the one in her dreams and everyone else's dreams as well. Or, she's smoking something.


Indeed, which public school is that? It sounds great!

MCPS middle school in Bethesda.

Yea - my MCPS has 300 6th graders. When it was time for K - there were 12 K classes - if I moved (or could afford to move) 1 mile West my K class would have been 2 classes with 20 students in each class.

I'm the PP who wrote the long email on "structure", and who you just quoted above. Our MS is a little under 1,200 kids. We might be talking about the same school. I think that in some ways the orderliness is in response to having to manage such a huge number of diverse learners. The school definitely feels less chaotic than the tiny progressive non-MCPS elementary school my child attended.

I want to be clear that it's not perfect. No school is perfect, they all have strengths and weaknesses, but for some kids who are well rounded, socially skilled, and not performing at some rare academic level, some public schools can be a really good fit. If a parent has decided that they need to move to find the right school (like the OP said), then exploring both public and private makes sense.

As far as affording to move, I pay less in rent in my district that I would pay in tuition at most DC or MD private schools. Now, if my child went to private it would be with financial aid, but even if we chose to live somewhere less expensive and got 75% aid we'd likely be paying more total.

Agree. It's not all or nothing.

[Anonymous]

Not sure, isn't parenting a more influential factor on whether a kid's academically challenging herself/himself?

I don't think any school will change that, imho.

Then again, OP may not be trying to get their child to be more academic, in which case, I just read the post wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure, isn't parenting a more influential factor on whether a kid's academically challenging herself/himself?

I don't think any school will change that, imho.

Then again, OP may not be trying to get their child to be more academic, in which case, I just read the post wrong.

Gee, I didn't read that at all. I'm the Bethesda MCPS mom and I read it as she wants her child to have a well rounded experience, and to discover things that make her curious and keep her engaged in school. I know my kid isn't going to Harvard, I've know since he was young. So what? It doesn't mean that I don't want him to have the experience of being excited about something he's learning at school, to discover that while he doesn't love every piece of academics he does like writing science fiction, or reading Greek Myths, and that with good instruction he can feel a sense of mastery over challenging concepts like Algebra or Newton's laws. I want him to be in a position when he reaches senior year that he's choosing from an array of college where he'll be challenged, and have an experience that suits him, and that means putting him in a setting where his skills we be stretched, but not to the breaking point, where he gets the support he needs, where the material is interesting and engaging and the activities suit his learning style. Wanting those things for him doesn't mean I'm pushing him or that I want him to be something he's not. Frankly, I have an amazingly wonderful kid. When I look around me, including at kids I know who are "top" students at "Big 3" Schools, I never for a heartbeat wish my kid was different. He's a great kid in a million important ways and whether his homework assignments say "A" or "B" or "C" isn't going to change that. It also sounds like the OP has a wonderful kid who will be a wonderful adult, and she wants a school that recognizes that too.

As far as whether the school or the parenting is "more"influential. A kid's academic aptitude and school experience is a combo of their own make up, parental influence and school influence. Obviously you can't influence the first (although you can find a school that's a good fit for your child's make up) but you don't choose between the latter two, you can support kids in both areas at once.

[Anonymous]

I wish the previous posters with the well structured public schools would be more specific about their clusters...I am thinking of moving into MC and my child would thrive in that kind of system. So many schools say that's what they do, (including my current private) but in practice, not so much.

[Anonymous]

The original post sounds very much like my 7th grade DD. She loves and is doing well at The Howard Gardner School. It serves grades 6-12 and has an environmental and arts focus. There is a lot of hands-on learning which might appeal to your DD.

Please check out HGS and good luck!
www.thehowardgardnerschool.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish the previous posters with the well structured public schools would be more specific about their clusters...I am thinking of moving into MC and my child would thrive in that kind of system. So many schools say that's what they do, (including my current private) but in practice, not so much.

I'm the parent who described the structured school. My kid is at either Pyle, Tilden or Westland. He has close friends at the other two and they all have pretty much the same experience. I do hear that Whitman, which Pyle feeds into, has more pressure than I'd probably choose for my kid, but at the MS level I think they're very comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish the previous posters with the well structured public schools would be more specific about their clusters...I am thinking of moving into MC and my child would thrive in that kind of system. So many schools say that's what they do, (including my current private) but in practice, not so much.

I also would like to know which cluster is being described because my 5th grader needs to go there! We're hoping to rent a home in the best cluster we afford for the middle and high school years. Please do share the name because we're hoping to find a rental for next school year.

[Anonymous]

I think we cross posted, but I also wanted to add that I have friends with kids who go to Loiderman and Takoma and both are really happy. It happens that those kids don't have the same need for structure that my kid seems to have (e.g. they maybe do well with and without it) so we haven't had as specific conversations with them as I have with the Tilden, and Pyle families so I can't say if it's the same, but it might be.

[Anonymous]

Flint Hill

[Anonymous]

What about Maret? I've heard it's strong in the arts with a diverse student body. I think it's small, so admissions may be difficult b/c they have so many applicants. However, 9th is an entry year, so you might check it out.

If you are willing to consider Catholic schools, you might want to look at Stone Ridge (all-girls).

Others have already mentioned, but I think Flint Hill and Field might be good fits. FH caters to many different learning styles and just might bring out that "hidden potential." (I think Field is similar)... Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Maret is academically rigorous. One of the most. I don't think it's a good fit for OPs DD.