McLean School of MD

[Anonymous]

Anyone have a child there? I'm trying to get a more accurate sense of the school and the kids - I've been on 2 tours and still don't have a good feel. Any insight would be very appreciated. At this point I'm interested in the lower school but any info would be welcome.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I don't have a child there .
But I've been in the special needs community for a few years now and have heard some things about it.
Not sure how accurate. But I'll share anyway.

A couple of my friends were very unimpressed with the Kindergarten classrooms but thought the first grade looked good. The K class was sensory overloaded to them.

I've heard that they are trying to break away from their reputation as a school geared toward learning disabilities.
I've also heard that they are very unforgiving of any type of behavior challenges and that they have asked kids to leave b/c they couldn't handle them.

On the other hand, I have a good friend who works there and couldn't be more impressed. in her words, they really know about teaching.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I've heard that there is kind of a change in mission too, hard to know what you are signing on to. Happily for us DC is very well behaved at school, home is another story. I saw posted rules on the tour and I know that they do a lot of positive reinforcement for behavior. On the first tour the kids seemed very high functioning, on the second tour, much less so. So hard to get a read.

[Anonymous]

Hi --

I have two kids who are in the McLean lower school and I couldn't be more pleased with the setting and the school. I've been through the kindergarten both times, and I think that the concept that the kindergarten is sensory overloaded in any way is absurd. At this point, they have one class (next year for the first time they are planning to have a second class because the demand in previous years was so far in excess of the single class space), and it has been taught for something like 20 years by two veteran teachers who are incredibly capable and who probably have seen everything at least once. They have a very understated atmosphere in that room, although the room itself is not large. Perhaps that is what gave rise to the interpretation that it is sensory overloaded, because they have a lot of centers within the room. However, you certainly don't have noise or random tumult in there.

There is a jaw-dropping amount of respect and compliance in the McLean atmosphere, and the kids just learn from the get-go what their routine and expectations are, and they live very happily within the structure. I think the best way I can describe this is that each of the kids are encouraged to be individuals and they are celebrated for that, but they learn very quickly that they are members of a wider community and there are particular standards that they are expected to uphold. Academically, they are rigorous and keep the kids learning and engaged, but if your child is a particularly adept reader, your child will read books while the other child who might be a weaker reader works on recognizing their letters. No one feels bored, and no one feels stupid. And the kids respect each other.

As for behavior issues not being tolerated, that is partially true. McLean is certainly a haven for children who are extremely bright but need certain accommodations for learning, attention or social quirks. They are not the home for students who have serious self-control or oppositional or other behavioral issues. But I know that they work very hard with kids who have things like transition issues until they get their coping strategies in place, especially in the very youngest grades.

I don't know of any lower school kid getting kicked out for behaving badly, although I certainly know that it is made perfectly clear that any sort of behavior using words or actions to hurt yourself or others is unacceptable at McLean. They have a pledge that they teach every student starting in kindergarten that includes those words, and they bang that message into their students. And from what I see, the kids truly embrace that.

I think the McLean administration is very careful who they let in and who they invest in. They are very picky, I think. But I've witnessed myself a classroom of 14 kindergarten boys sit like angels for an hour straight doing their work during a Halloween party day, which was remarkable. They were sitting there in costumes with balloons and candy sitting outside the door, but somehow they all knew that they had business to take care of first. I was shocked, to be honest with you, but at the end of the day I concluded that they just know how to choose their students so that they are successful within the McLean framework. I suppose that if someone was asked to leave at some point, they had probably demonstrated somehow over time a real lack of fit. I don't know of anyone having that experience in lower school. Doesn't mean it never happened, but I've never heard of it.

I hope I've helped shed a little insight onto some of your concerns. I don't know that this is the school for everyone, but it has been a wonderful school for us. My kids have grown there and more than anything, they have so much confidence and pride. I can assure you that these were not the first words I would have thought of to describe either one a year or two ago.

I don't think McLean is confused about who it is, or who it's for, but I think it is definitely trying to expand because their admissions numbers have been skyrocketing. The only thing I know for a certainty is that in all the time that my kids have been attending McLean, there hasn't been a single day that either of them has ever complained that they didn't want to go, and I think that says plenty. I wish you luck in finding your fit. I hope your children turn out as happy as mine are at McLean.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Wow, that was some testimonial. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I too was told that McLean is struggling with mission identity. Our very bright DC with ADHD and behaviorial challenges was not admitted. A friend's child with no LD, so-so scores and ok behavior was admitted. I did not feel that the K curriculum would have challenged our DC one bit, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise. Fit, as you often read, is very important.

[Anonymous]

Hi-thought I'd chime in. I worked at McLean School years ago and loved it there. It's a traditional private school that accommodates learning style differences. I would say the majority of children thad minor learning issues and some just benefitted from the small teacher-student ratio and multisensory approach to teaching. There were a fair amount kids who might not qualify for an IEP in the public schools and consequently might fall through the cracks/might not reach their true potential. Yes, we did have a number of students who tested in the gifted range who had learning style differences as well. Regarding behavior issues- I would have to agree that at least back then McLean was not the place for children with signficiant behavioral challenges. Of course this is so hard to define because sometimes kids act out until they are in the right educational environment. The school works hard to collaborate with parents and do what is best for the child. I do recall a few instances where parents might not have been forthcoming about pre-existing behavior issues before a child was accepted and that could lead to problems. Open communication is very important, though I know it's so hard to do when there are potential challenges. I completely agree that it's all about finding the right fit.

Re:K. I know those teachers well and they are wonderful, seasoned and skilled. I found their classroom to be very appropriate, calm and condusive to learning. The person who observed "sensory overload" may have caught them on an off day, because those are not words I would use to describe their classroom. Regarding the kids looking low-functioning, that is not how I would describe the typical McLean student when I worked there. I am not familiar with this particular class, but I do know most Ks are half-day, whereas McLean has a full-day K. It might have been that the person saw the kids before they got a break for snack or lunch or when the kids were still adjusting to going to school all-day.

I agree with the poster who said that respect, kindness, community, etc are very important at McLean. McLean focuses on the whole child and character is of course part of that. There are (or at least were) a lot of programs in place to promote character development and create a warm, caring and bully-free environment.

Re: McLean School changing it's mission. This rumor has been around for a while. I think when applications skyrocketted, they could not accept as many people as they used to and the assumption might have been made that they no longer accept children with learning differences. Just a hypothesis. I know the teachers continue to update their training when it comes to working with kids with learning style differences because I run into them at conferences.

I hope this was helpful. I know how hard it can be to find the right fit for your child. I've been there myself!

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much, PP. That information is very helpful.