Help deciding between Maret and WIS

[Anonymous]

For a k boy. We are completely frozen with this decision because husband wants language immersion (his language) and I think the all around eduction is more important. Any suggestions on how to resolve. Is there a consultant who could talk this through with us?

[Anonymous]

There is not enough of a difference between Maret and WIS academically (and any difference there is has more to do with the HS not the LS) to go against your husband's very reasonable desire to have his child be immersed and fluent in his language and culture. And the schools are more similar than different-very small, located very close to each other (at least Maret and WIS MS/US), favorites of the international set in DC (not just WIS, also Maret). If your child is an excellent student, and finds WIS too small or not academically challenging enough by HS, then can apply out then for another school (and by then if still love Maret, I suspect they won't hold your decision against you given your family language situation).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a k boy. We are completely frozen with this decision because husband wants language immersion (his language) and I think the all around eduction is more important. Any suggestions on how to resolve. Is there a consultant who could talk this through with us?

Will the child not have an opportunity for learning husband's language at Maret? I've known a few students in the Upper School at Maret who started in the MS and are pretty much fluent in the language they started in 6th or 7th. Also, the community at both schools is very different, particularly diversity. It is much more of a diverse cohort at Maret. Have you contacted the schools to see if there are parents you could talk with? Good luck with your decision!

[Anonymous]

Maret offers Spanish as part of their curriculum and French in after school. What language your husband speaks?

[Anonymous]

Your post seems to assume maret offers a better overall education than WIS. I don't think that's true. If language is important than WIS is the better choice bc it offers a great education plus fluency in another language. I don't think you can really have the same level of fluency starting at age 12 as you can starting at 5, esp if a good accent is a factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is much more of a diverse cohort at Maret.

Interesting, I would have thought the opposite, given the international aspect of WIS (students from more than 90 countries, faculty from 34 countries).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is not enough of a difference between Maret and WIS academically (and any difference there is has more to do with the HS not the LS) to go against your husband's very reasonable desire to have his child be immersed and fluent in his language and culture. And the schools are more similar than different-very small, located very close to each other (at least Maret and WIS MS/US), favorites of the international set in DC (not just WIS, also Maret). If your child is an excellent student, and finds WIS too small or not academically challenging enough by HS, then can apply out then for another school (and by then if still love Maret, I suspect they won't hold your decision against you given your family language situation).

Too small might be a consideration (I don't know the size comparison between WIS and Maret), but there are few students who would find that the IB diploma program at WIS isn't "challenging enough." We do know several students at WIS who applied out for high school, which is common at all schools if only to get practice with the application process they'll be engaging in for college (tests, essays, interviews). They seemed to have zero trouble getting in to other top NW private schools. A few left, maybe looking for bigger schools, but most chose to stay for the IB diploma program.

PP is probably right that Maret is more racially diverse (in the U.S. sense) in high school. WIS, of course, is more diverse in national origin.

Good luck deciding if your child got into both! That's a nice choice to have.

[Anonymous]

If you want the language, go with WIS.
But Maret is the better school, overall,
WIS has a transient population & still has a
World Bank & IMF population, predominantly...
Maret has a more sophisticated Int'l population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too small might be a consideration (I don't know the size comparison between WIS and Maret)

Approximately 900 at WIS and 645 at Maret, according to their websites.

[Anonymous]

If DH wants language in HIS native language, then that would be a good enough reason to go with WIS, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Has your husband been speaking his language with your child at home? I know families where the parent would speak to the child only in the non-English language. It goes a long way...

[Anonymous]

We were at WIS for some years but my kids needed more art, science and math. They already had the other language so it wasn´t a challenge. Check teachers credentials!!! WIS has a teachers´union...LS administration is horrible.

[Anonymous]

My son does already speak spanish at home with my husband. He's worried we will not be able to maintain fluency over time without WIS. My husband didn't learn spanish until high school because his parents pushed English.

[Anonymous]

Visit again. Go during lunch time and examine your gut feeling. Ask to see lunch time of older grades in Elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son does already speak spanish at home with my husband. He's worried we will not be able to maintain fluency over time without WIS. My husband didn't learn spanish until high school because his parents pushed English.

If you want your son to be able to not only speak, but also write and read in Spanish, then go with WIS.