Which PK/K schools hold on to the most students through graduation?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| I have been wondering, similar to a recent thread and many prior threads, about the benefit of not having to apply again (PK-12) schools versus a mandated reappraisal by schools that only go through 3rd, 5th, or 8th grade. I see the benefit in both, but if a school does a great job changing and accommodating all kinds of learners/kids (assuming no SNs), that would seem like the ideal situation. So which schools that go all the way through have the best track record of holding on to the kids through the years. Would this be the attrition rate? |
Anonymous
| SSSAS is strong, but don't know if you want Va. |
Anonymous
| Many lifers have a problem adjusting to college because they haven't had to make a big change. It's a hassle to change but your child will be learning a different place and people with your support. |
Anonymous
| Change is a good thing. Military kids are very resilient for a reason. |
Anonymous
| Which schools are K-12? |
Anonymous
| Flint hill, Potomac, sidwell, WIS |
Anonymous
|
We intentionally chose a k-8 so we would have to re-evaluate what high school would be the best fit for dc at that time without feeling too settled to care.
|
Anonymous
| Maret has a very low attrition rate |
Anonymous
GDS, Maret, St. Andrew's, possibly Beauvoir/NCS/STA (getting into Beauvoir guarantees admission into NCS/STA for the average kid) |
Anonymous
...and now we've answered the OPs question by listing essentially every k-12 in the area. |
Anonymous
This is not true. Odds of acceptance are better but not guaranteed. |
Anonymous
PP said for the averagekid, which I think means most kids who start at Beauvoir will get into STA or NCS, unless they are below average intelligence/aptitude or a serious behavioral problem. They may not all continue on to one of the Cathedral schools, but most, most, most of those who apply will have the option. |
Anonymous
| In DS's graduating class from Sidwell, there were about 12 "lifers". PK class is around twice that, suggesting that about 50% go all the way through. |
Anonymous
| We were lifers at one school for one kid, and then other kid left the same school after 8th to move to another PK-12 school that in her particular class and sport was a better fit socially/athletically. I would say that perhaps 10-15% of kids that were already at the school left for one reason or another (other than people moving away). Most common was academic mismatch, really almost impossible to have kids come in at PK or K and know that they will be academically a good fit by the time later LS, or MS or US academic demands arrive. Some kids had mild LDs that were only diagnosed later than PK/K and moved to schools such as Lab, or less academically-intense schools. Other kids had social/emotional mismatches with a particular class, or perhaps with the culture of the school. Finally, occasional kids would leave for athletics particularly after MS (to go to a school that actually had a particular team not offered at the first school, or a much more competitive program for a sport like basketball or lacrosse where huge differences in the level of high school play between the different independent schools). Finally some kids went off to public school due to choice or financial issues in the family (particularly 2008-2010!). But seeing this over the course of 15 years at two different schools within the GDS/Sidwell/Maret/NCS-StA/Holton cohort, this level of attrition seemed pretty similar at all the schools, and the schools were supportive of kids moving from one to the other. |
Anonymous
| I went to a K-12 but didn't start until 8th. We always noted how the "lifers" always had issues. They were always the strange ones. I think having to switch at some point is a really good thing. We didn't consider applying to any K-12s for this reason. |