Baltimore privates

[Anonymous]

We are going to be moving from dc to Baltimore. Are there any Baltimore parents on this board? Would love to hear current info on the private schools. My husband grew up there and went to Park but that was many years ago. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Lucky you!

[Anonymous]

You have a few decisions to make. Coed or single-sex? If single-sex, do you have a boy or a girl? Are you looking for a progressive or traditional education? Will you be living right in Baltimore city, or in the county?

We are blessed with lots of wonderful schools here. Post a bit more about what you're looking for and I'm sure some of us would be happy to give you suggestions.

[Anonymous]

We will live in the suburbs. definitely want to do coed. We have 1 son but plan to have another child eventually. I think we would feel most comfortable in a progressive school- but our son is young so it's early to know what really will be best for him. We are Jewish- not sure how much that matters...

To the first pp- were you being sarcastic? We are very excited about this move. Baltimore seems like a wonderful place to raise kids. My husband had a really great childhood there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We will live in the suburbs. definitely want to do coed. We have 1 son but plan to have another child eventually. I think we would feel most comfortable in a progressive school- but our son is young so it's early to know what really will be best for him. We are Jewish- not sure how much that matters...

To the first pp- were you being sarcastic? We are very excited about this move. Baltimore seems like a wonderful place to raise kids. My husband had a really great childhood there.

Coed + progressive makes the list easy. Enjoy your time at Park or Friends. You might also check out the Waldorf school.

Park has a large Jewish population; Friends doesn't, but IMO you'd still be perfectly comfortable there (we also are Jewish and really liked Friends).

Don't listen to the haters. We love living in Baltimore. Come back with any more questions -- and welcome to Bawlmor, hon!

[Anonymous]

We live in Baltimore and DS is starting at McDonogh. I cannot say enough good things about McDonogh based on having gone through the application process, although obviously I can't comment as a current parent.

[Anonymous]

Which suburbs are you considering? There are also some fantastic residential areas within city limits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lucky you!

No, not sarcastic at all! I love the school options in Baltimore and have wished that we could move there. I visited Gilman and thought that it would be fantastic for my son. I am also pretty enamored with Park and the Waldorf school looks awesome too. I know that those are very different schools. You might want to visit several just to get a feel for things. Even visit the ones that you think that you might not be into if you have time. Please post here and update us on how it goes!

[Anonymous]

Yes, I second the recommendation to visit. We thought we wanted coed progressive and ended up at Gilman, which is single sex and traditional. But it just felt right. You never know what will click!

[Anonymous]

Current parent of a Park middle school student here. Still a great choice!

[Anonymous]

We also have a student at Park and are very happy there.

We are from out of town but from what I understand it is different then it was a generation ago. The upper school is a pretty intense place with high academic standards, despite having an old reputation as somewhat lax. Park is also clear that they have an academic mission, not a sports mission. For us, that means that DC can play a high school sport without playing a sport year around. However, DC's class also lost some of its better athletes because of the sports.

There seem to be many parents who are academics or physicians from Hopkins. Park is much more diverse then it was a generation ago, but that is probably true for all of the Baltimore schools. The high school takes in students from more than 20 schools, I believe.

Visit the schools, we were surprised that Park was our first choice when we moved to B'more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will live in the suburbs. definitely want to do coed. We have 1 son but plan to have another child eventually. I think we would feel most comfortable in a progressive school- but our son is young so it's early to know what really will be best for him. We are Jewish- not sure how much that matters...

To the first pp- were you being sarcastic? We are very excited about this move. Baltimore seems like a wonderful place to raise kids. My husband had a really great childhood there.

Coed + progressive makes the list easy. Enjoy your time at Park or Friends. You might also check out the Waldorf school.

Park has a large Jewish population; Friends doesn't, but IMO you'd still be perfectly comfortable there (we also are Jewish and really liked Friends).

Don't listen to the haters. We love living in Baltimore. Come back with any more questions -- and welcome to Bawlmor, hon!

Agree with this, these are the options that best fit what you are looking for. Park is the more academic of the two, meaning it has better college placement and more national merit semifinalists , but is still very progressive. Waldorf is great but be aware, it ends in 8th grade in Baltimore.

[Anonymous]

Also wanted to add that there is far more single sex than coed privates in Baltimore so looking at only coed restricts the options slightly. However, Park, Waldorf, and Friends are still the most progressive options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also wanted to add that there is far more single sex than coed privates in Baltimore so looking at only coed restricts the options slightly. However, Park, Waldorf, and Friends are still the most progressive options.

On the other hand, all the single sex I can think of are more on the traditional side than the progressive side, anyway.

[Anonymous]

I am in Baltimore and my almost 3yo DD will be starting Glenelg in the Fall.