Getting into Flint Hill for middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - does anyone know the answer to my initial question? This discussion has gone a bit off the rails.

OP our DD started in middle school (7th), from public school. It was a very smooth and easy transition. She came in with a lot of other new students. She's a sophomore at the US now and we cannot say enough good things about our experience at FH. Our daughter is happy and thriving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Flint Hill is the closest private non-religious school to us, so we are hoping to send our current third grader there for middle school. From the website, it says that they have entry points at fifth and seventh grades. How difficult is it to get in at either of those entry points? Is one easier than another?

If you can pay the tuition, you will have no problem getting into the middle school. It isn't hard to get into.

I wouldn’t say no problem, as they have full middle school classes.

They are full, but that is because it isn't hard to get in if you are full pay. Many students in the middle school would not get into many of the schools discussed on this forum. That is why it is referred to as "the public school you pay for."

This is true and part of why we send our kids there. My kids are high achievers but I don't know where else they might have gotten into because we didn't even look. We've lived in this area for a long time and had no interest in subjecting our kids to any of the grinder schools. Yes, it's closer to a bell curve of learners (like a public school but without any truly disabled or low functioning students). It's all the benefits of a private without a stressed out, hyper competitive culture. That's a win:win in our book.

Same here. Oldest son was always in gifted in public elementary. When we decided to move to private for middle and high school, we didn’t even think about the Big 3 or Big 5 or whatever, even though he would have had a shot. He has anxiety and we didn’t want to put him in a hyper competitive pressure cooker. He thrived at Flint Hill and is now at a very good college. Who knows, but I don’t think his outcome would have been much different at one of the other privates. Daughter is there now and similarly loves it.

Thankfully it has been a good fit for your children, but that doesn't change the fact FH academics are not well regarded and certainly not worth paying for unless you live in a very week public school piramid. There are much better schools to choose from.

FH got several kids into Top 10 schools in the past few years, and they were not recruited athletes. Those families thought the academics were just fine. The families who don't think its worth the price obviously stick to other schools.

We did. Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

That’s too bad. Our experience last year was very smooth and positive. The rep assigned to our family was lovely and very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

That’s too bad. Our experience last year was very smooth and positive. The rep assigned to our family was lovely and very helpful.

It ended up being for the best. Our DD is at a better school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

+1 admissions rep was awful. So glad my dc did not go to flint hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

+1 admissions rep was awful. So glad my dc did not go to flint hill.

That's funny, because we had the exact opposite experience looking at schools for our middle schooler several years ago. Potomac admissions people were strangely snooty and dismissive and Flint Hill staff was professional, open and friendly. We didn't end up at either school for that particular child, but I definitely had a terrible impression of Potomac after our visit there, and my DD chose not to apply at all after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

+1 admissions rep was awful. So glad my dc did not go to flint hill.

That's funny, because we had the exact opposite experience looking at schools for our middle schooler several years ago. Potomac admissions people were strangely snooty and dismissive and Flint Hill staff was professional, open and friendly. We didn't end up at either school for that particular child, but I definitely had a terrible impression of Potomac after our visit there, and my DD chose not to apply at all after that.

We got the same impression of Potomac looking at HS last year and also didn’t apply. Flint Hill application process was great, although we ultimately ended up at SSSAS—very close decision between the two. I think DC would have been happy at either.

[Anonymous]

What is the school community like! I imagine that students come from all over the DC area. Do students and their families see each other much on evenings and weekends?

[Anonymous]

Community is almost entirely NoVa and mostly Fairfax County- Fairfax, Oakton, Vienna, Reston. Some McLean families. There are buses.

We saw parents at carpool, school events and sports games. In high school, families aren’t hanging out as much.

[Anonymous]

Any recent experience with Flint Hill acceptance for middle and high schools?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This is from their website. It may be helpful re: entry points. Good luck!

Our natural entry points are grades JK, K, 5, 7, and 9. JK has one class; we add a second section in Kindergarten and a third section at 5th grade. In middle school, each grade includes approximately 100 students. Our largest entry point for new students is 9th grade. Our 9th grade class is generally comprised of 60% returning students and 40% new students.

Although ninth grade takes more students, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is more competitive than 5 or 7 because you have a lot of students coming from K-8 privates.

The strongest high school students at FH are the ones who go from strong K-8's like Little Langley and Nysmith. They are better prepared than the FH middle school students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

This is not our experience. My 8th grader is applying to a number of schools for high school and FH’s process has by far been the best. I am not sure it is where my 8th grader will end up attending, but the admissions department has been great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions department is incompetent at best. That is where they put previous incompetent administrators.

This is 100% true. The admissions department left such a bad taste in our mouth, that we chose not to enroll our DD.

+1 admissions rep was awful. So glad my dc did not go to flint hill.

That's funny, because we had the exact opposite experience looking at schools for our middle schooler several years ago. Potomac admissions people were strangely snooty and dismissive and Flint Hill staff was professional, open and friendly. We didn't end up at either school for that particular child, but I definitely had a terrible impression of Potomac after our visit there, and my DD chose not to apply at all after that.

That is how I would also describe the FH staff - professional but friendly. And the students we met were uniformly nice and friendly. I assume they choose the kids who are naturally like this to represent the school for tours and such, but they were noticeably better than some other students we met at different schools.

[Anonymous]

FH parent here.

OP, for your situation, 5th and 7th grade are not the sole entry points. Those are just the grades where they expand the number of students in the class. Family circumstances change every year, and not every student returns.

Ignore the typical DCUM haters who regularly attempt to bash the school. Go meet with the school and start to learn about it. If your child would start in the lower school, you also need to visit the middle and upper school (they're right next to each other - plus, the middle school is really nice as it was just built a couple of years ago).

Find the best fit for your child. It may be FH. It may not be.