Feedback on Holton-Arms (our experience)

[Anonymous]

Last year, we were fortunate enough to have our DD accepted at Sidwell, NCS and Holton. She was obviously going to attend Sidwell. I am fairly obsessed with branding and was imagining Sidwell to Ivy league route for our extremely bright child. She had SSAT scores in 90, a range of activities, and interviews really well. We applied to Holton as a back-up. But as the offers rolled in, we knew it was going to be Sidwell and if she was really keen on an all-girls option...we would consider NCS.

We let her do open days at all three schools and she fell in love with Holton. For a while, I thought she was kidding and she would come around. I did reason with her. It is not that she didn't like the other schools, she just liked Holton better. I was besides myself. My husband felt strongly that it was important we let her pick the school. So at the last hour, we accepted Holton. I cried a fair bit privately. In my heart, I was like... let her do this for a couple of years and we will switch to Sidwell for High School. What I didn't expect is how much our DD would love and thrive at Holton. The Holton staff has impressed us beyond anything. As bright as our DD is, she is awful at organizational stuff. Holton noticed that right away and put a program in place to help her get better at it. She did (and continues to) have some social issues (navigating friendships etc.,). Again Holton impressed us at how well it helped all girls navigate social issues. The program is quite rigorous. DD gets meaningful homework, enjoys her classes and is really happy to go to school every day. Her grade is honestly filled with really nice girls and families. It is diverse and for the most part, when you walk anywhere on campus, you notice happy girls. The campus is beautiful in every season. And honestly, the sense of community is really special. Perhaps all of those things would have also existed for us at Sidwell or NCS.... but we shortchange ourselves when we send our kids there for the wrong reasons. I think over Christmas it dawned on me that our DD will graduate from Holton. It truly won me over and I wouldn't risk moving our DD for anything. (And the school is doing equally awesome in college placement, so I feel a strong child from Holton will be on par with any student at another school).

As you wait to hear about decisions, my advice is to keep an open mind and heart. Sometimes our kids do know best. Something about a particular school resonates with them and it shouldn't be discounted. I would also say look at schools beyond DC-URBAN Mom's BIG 3. These schools are not resting on their laurels. And you may find a special community that works for your child better than you imagined at first.

Good luck to your family as you find out soon!

[Anonymous]

This can’t be real. And I’m not one to immediately call troll. But I’m calling it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This can’t be real. And I’m not one to immediately call troll. But I’m calling it now.

+100 Troll for sure.

[Anonymous]

As an actual and very happy Holton family, this made me groan and roll my eyes. While we (ironically) also chose Holton over Sidwell, my guess is this is written by someone hoping to deter people from Sidwell. GAH.

[Anonymous]

How sad for your kids you are such a snob.

[Anonymous]

you people are crazy

[Anonymous]

Actually a lot of people obsess about the Sidwell/NCS/St.Albans. This private school board is kept alive because of this obsession. I think OP is just being honest about her obsession with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How sad for your kids you are such a snob.

That was my first thought too. My daughter is a happy Holton student, but OP’s thought process on school choice is quite foreign to me.

[Anonymous]

We choose Holton as well over some other schools because it gave us the most generous financial aid. We are grateful and happy to be there and our DD is also doing really well. We were always going to go with the school that made it most possible for us to attend. So we didn't think twice about letting go of other offers.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing your family’s experience, OP. Not sure why others found it obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We choose Holton as well over some other schools because it gave us the most generous financial aid. We are grateful and happy to be there and our DD is also doing really well. We were always going to go with the school that made it most possible for us to attend. So we didn't think twice about letting go of other offers.

Its nice to post a great experience but this didn't come across that as much as other things. You are going to find happy and unhappy families at any school - public or private. We've done both. We had great experience in private (child aged out) but others we know did not due to their child's needs (we were lucky they took an interest in my and were very kind). Now we are having a terrible experience in public (want to go back to private but child wants to stay) but others just rave about the school. The best school is the one that your child and you are happy with. There was no need to slam Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

I think I know why her daughter has social problems.

[Anonymous]

What is WRONG with you people? OP shared her experience but because it’s not snarky or obnoxious, it must be false? How very sad that some of you live to denigrate and belittle others anonymously. I’m just waiting now for my share of insults to roll in, because, well, that’s what you lot do.

OP, thanks for sharing your story.

[Anonymous]

Seriously?!? Advertising for Holton on DCUM week before decisions come out!

[Anonymous]

I think OP makes a good point. There are lots of people who obsess over Cathedral schools and Sidwell and don't take their child's needs into account. I was one of those parents. We learned it the hard way and made the switch our DC is very happy at another private.