Beauvoir - what do you like? What don't you like?
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Anonymous
| Current or past parents what do you like or don't like about the school? It's on our short list and wanted to get some feedback. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| Bump. I'd like to know, too. |
Anonymous
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Beauvoir parent here: we love it, honestly I don't really any complaints. I think the biggest negative is that it ends after third grade. As the parent of a first grader, I'm not looking forward to it but Beauvoir does guide you through the process. We also got into a k-12 school but felt this was a better choice for our child at the time. Not sure being in the same school for 13-14 years would work for our kid or us. The path to the other Cathedral schools is definitely in play for some but not for us. We may go that route, may not.
My child adores the school, has made many friends and is thriving socially and academically (for a first grader!). The school is diverse, warm and welcoming. I think they strike the right balance between academics and play for the age group they serve. We (parents) like it too. You could reach out to admissions and ask to be put in touch with a current family. If you have specific questions, I can check back here. FWIW, I have friends at many independents and I think you can't really go wrong at the elementary level. No regrets for our family. |
Anonymous
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PP thanks! I've visited the school numerous times and we have applied. We can't find anything wrong with the school and we keep wondering if we are missing something. At the other schools we have visited, we like many things but can usually identify at least one con. With Beauvoir it may be as you suggest, that it ends at 3.
If we get accepted and attend I'm not sure we would be one of the families looking ahead to NCS. I've heard that if you aren't that could cause some tension. Have you experienced any of that or witnessed that? |
Anonymous
| Beauvoir parent here (Kindergarden). We started in Pre-K and DD could't love it more. We honestly don't have any complaints. And frankly, I'm surprised myself how great the school really is!!! |
Anonymous
| Though 80% of kids got on to NCS/STA. While many of those families prefer that, it is not that easy to get into the other similar peer schools and many kids don't. Theye do a good job guiding folks through, but just know that it is definitely not a sure bet. |
Anonymous
Your response lost me. Are you saying that it will be harder to get into a school that is not NCS or it will be hard to get into NCS? |
Anonymous
As a parent of a recent Beauvoir grad , that was not the case for DC's class or that of class before or year after. The numbers were pretty much 31 boys to Saint Albans 29 girls to NCS 5 to Sidwell 5 to Maret 2 or 3 to GDS 2 or 3 to St Pats 2 or 3 to Potomac and several girls to Holton don't know specifics on other years, but roughly same I am told |
Anonymous
Those numbers seem fair in terms of being apply to elsewhere. I don't know if NCS would be our choice, it's just that we aren't one of those families who are applying to Beauvoir because we think it's the best way to get into NCS. What we like about it ending at 3rd is the option to reevaluate our DCs learning style, interests, etc. and then make a long term comittment choice. So it could conceivably be NCS but we haven't looked that far ahead yet. |
Anonymous
| Your response does not address the pp's question. For example, there could have been 30 who applied to Sidwell and wanted to go to Sidwell but only 5 were accepted. |
Anonymous
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OP with the question being referenced above. The response gets to what I was asking for the most part. I figure if everyone who didn't want to go to NCS applied to the same school they all wouldn't necessarily get in. But I think if say 30 applied to Sidwell and 5 were admitted I would think that would be a decent number relatively speaking.
But this leads me to another question, does attending Beauvoir pretty much means you have a spot at NCD (assuming no major issues that would disqualify a child for admissions)? |
Anonymous
In my experience, having been a parent at Beauvoir for 9 years (3 kids, 1 current) this has not been the case. Kids go on to other top private schools if they do not choose STA/NCS. The outplacement at Beauvoir is excellent and they communicate with the schools on your behalf. For one of our kids we had a choice between Beauvoir and sidwell. We chose Beauvoir because, FOR US, nothing beats their early education experience and we figure there's a pretty good chance of getting into Sidwell in 4th grade. We all, parents and kids alike, love Beauvoir. My daughter who is currently there says its her favorite thing in all the world and this echoes what the 2 who went before her felt. |
Anonymous
Glad to know I'm not the only one who would choose Beauvoir over Sidwell (if we were so lucky as to get into both). When I tell people that I get the raised brow and "are you crazy?" look. I love the idea of being at a school that focuses on and puts all of its resources into the early years. We really hope we get in! We've been racking our brains trying to figure out of all the spots they technically have how many have already been accounted for with sibling preferences and legacies, so we can get a better picture of our actual chances. |
Anonymous
The bolded has not been true for about 10-15 years, PP. On my tour, I was impressed with the Science room and the art room and the Library, not to mention the vast space of the play ground and the wooded trails. I also noticed a lot of diversity in the classrooms and remember thinking that compared to my suburban school girl upbringing, it looked like a little U.N. in terms of every ethnic group. If it helps, here are some things I couldn't have known about Beauvoir, but that I came to appreciate only as a parent: 1) I am not a religious person and I wasn't sure how I felt about my child being in a school where he went to chapel. what I found: Episcopalian homilies can be pretty down to earth and , in some cases take a pretty courageous social position and were truly welcoming of everyone. On top of it, many of my fellow parents were not from a Chrisitian back ground. They might be muslim, hindu or jewish. What everyone seemed to have in common was education, professional careers, wide travel, interests and of course, we all had kids. And when tough things happened in the community, we were kind of glad we had that forum of a community service even if we were not religious. 2) I thought the school looked warm and seemed the educators had a good handle on how to provide a nurturing classroom. what I found: my child LOVED that school, was truly happy to go to school every day and actually told a co-worker once ( when he came ot work with me because he had pink eye and had to stay home for one full day that , no, he didn't " feel luck to have gotten out of school, I like going to my school" 3) I didn't worry if the other parents would be snobby as the rumors say because I really did not care . After all, it was my child going there, not me. I found: genuinely nice people , the vast majority and, refreshingly for a NW DC private, not everyone HAD to be a member of the liberal gliteratti and there were many friendships with people of differing political views and world views . What we had in common was strong enough : being a parent. Beauvoir is a very , very nice school. |
Anonymous
| I have a slightly different question: we are considering applying for our DS for the 2017-2018 school year (he is a late birthday 3 year old), and will need some financial assistance. Can anyone speak to how generous they are with FA or if they have limited financial resources so it's not a realistic option unless you can afford the full tuition? |