Relocating with 9th grade girl- serious student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard-Westlake would waltz in most anywhere in these parts.

As would Brearley or Choate or Exeter. So what? That doesn’t change OP’s target question.

At all those schools, you've "arrived" in life. At all the DC schools under consideration you are a "striver." This goes to the expressed desire for "kind supportive atmosphere." I'm with the "don't move" voters.

LOL-- you are the "striver" for being so impressed by LA + NYC wannabes.

[Anonymous]

Boarding school is fantastic. I have a senior at Garrison Forest who has boarded but has come home almost every weekend (because she has an unusual sport that she practices in Montgomery County.) The school has been great, my dd is a top student and they can always find a class to challenge her.


AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boarding school is fantastic. I have a senior at Garrison Forest who has boarded but has come home almost every weekend (because she has an unusual sport that she practices in Montgomery County.) The school has been great, my dd is a top student and they can always find a class to challenge her.


AMA

Garrison Forest is not known for being academically rigorous. It does have a beautiful campus and like Saint Tim’s, is a good option for girls who love horses. That doesn’t sound like op’s daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, in your shoes, I would seriously consider delaying your move until your DD graduates. Or have the parent changing jobs commute if that is your situation.

This is crazy. People move and switch private schools all the time. The lists above are a good start. If your daughter is as strong as she sounds, you’ll be looking for the best fit. Good luck!

Yes, they do. But in this case, the DD is happy at a school with a good fit and the alternative is to move to one of the schools on this thread. Why do that to a kid?

I'm sorry, but this is insanity. If the kid were a senior, I could see it. But we're talking about all of high school! If the kid is such a snowflake that literally no school in the DC area will work for them, then they are going to have a real tough time in life.

At the end of the day, OP, if you're DD is as amazing as she sounds, she'll make it work wherever she is as long as she has access to resources (which it seems like you'd provide no matter what). Sure, some places will feel better/worse, but it's rare that something will be egregiously wrong. Of course work to figure out the best fit beforehand, but living cross-country from her father for HS for no good reason is absolutely nuts. If she can't adjust to a new school, she will fail miserably in college and in real life (which, BTW, I don't think is really a risk from what you've written). Figuring new things out is part of what build skills for success in life.

[Anonymous]

OP—what did you end up doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are possibly relocating to the DC area with our daughter who is currently in 9th grade. Obviously this isn’t a great time to move and uproot a high schooler. She currently goes to a rigorous private school in our area and I realize we would need to have our headmistress reach out ti help find her a spot somewhere. She is a tip top student in terms of grades , honors classes, standardized tests and likes challenging classes but a kind , supportive atmosphere. She’s very committed to STEM, involved in two school sports, and involved in speech and debate. She is thinking about computer science as an area of interest for college or engineering, along with economics
If we make this move we could have some flexibility to try to live near a school that is a good fit. We’d consider both all girls and co-Ed schools. Any suggestions on where to look ?

Top of mind is Holton Arms (secular) and National Cathedral School (Episcopalian). Next tier for all girls would be Madeira (secular), Visitation (Catholic), and Stone Ridge (Secular).

For co-ed, there are a lot of choices. Sidwell Friends (Quaker), Georgetown Day, Maret and Potomac School are among the most sought-after. St. John’s College has a strong honors program. Basis Independent in McLean is super strong in STEM, but is not a “kind, supportive atmosphere” (gross understatement).

Stone Ridge and Madeira are firmly Catholic in identity and teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are possibly relocating to the DC area with our daughter who is currently in 9th grade. Obviously this isn’t a great time to move and uproot a high schooler. She currently goes to a rigorous private school in our area and I realize we would need to have our headmistress reach out ti help find her a spot somewhere. She is a tip top student in terms of grades , honors classes, standardized tests and likes challenging classes but a kind , supportive atmosphere. She’s very committed to STEM, involved in two school sports, and involved in speech and debate. She is thinking about computer science as an area of interest for college or engineering, along with economics
If we make this move we could have some flexibility to try to live near a school that is a good fit. We’d consider both all girls and co-Ed schools. Any suggestions on where to look ?

Top of mind is Holton Arms (secular) and National Cathedral School (Episcopalian). Next tier for all girls would be Madeira (secular), Visitation (Catholic), and Stone Ridge (Secular).

For co-ed, there are a lot of choices. Sidwell Friends (Quaker), Georgetown Day, Maret and Potomac School are among the most sought-after. St. John’s College has a strong honors program. Basis Independent in McLean is super strong in STEM, but is not a “kind, supportive atmosphere” (gross understatement).

Stone Ridge and Madeira are firmly Catholic in identity and teaching.

Madeira is not Catholic or religious at all.

[Anonymous]

Many great options from close to Chevy Chase area. Also local public high school BCC is excellent.

More realistic private options
St Andrews Episcopal (Potomac coed - high demand now but they do have limited rolling admissions. Diocesan school like NCS and St Albans)
Connelly School of the Holy Child (all girls Catholic Potomac)
Edmond Bourke (co Ed secular DC, high demand now but limited new additions)
Sandy Springs Friends (coed Quaker, strong in arts, higher demand now, but slightly less demand due to being far out in MD - but they have bus from Chevy Chase)

Long shots due to space limits and high demand
Holton Arms (all girls secular and very high demand)
National Cathedral School (all girls Episcopalian, highest ranked girls school in area. Very few spots open)
Stone Ridge school of Sacred Heart (all girls Catholic, Bethesda, great all round school but few spots open)
Sidwell Friends (coed Quaker pressure cooker - most elite school in area)
Georgetown Day School (coed secular pressure cooker - very sought after and hard to get into)
Maret (coed secular in DC. Very elite)


Some info on more realistic but still highly competitive options but OP can research themself. No harm in applying at all schools OPs DD likes.

Bourke
https://www.privateschoolreview.com/edmund-burke-school-profile
Grades: 6-12
Students: 308 students
Yearly Tuition: $42,305
Average class size: 12 students
Application Deadline: Jan. 8 / rolling

St Andrews Episcopal
Potomac
https://www.st-andrews.org/admissions/admissions-process
rolling applications
We continue to accept applications on a rolling schedule as space allows. If you are interested in applying for the 2022-2023 academic year, please contact the Office of Admission.

Holy Child Potomac
https://topprivateschools.us/school.asp?school_id=2711
Connelly School of the Holy Child 
9029 Bradley Boulevard 
Potomac, MD 
20854 
Phone: [phone] 
Email: [e-mail] 
Website: View Website
School Information:
Gender: All-Girls 
School Size: 300 
Grades: 6-12 
Boarding: No


Info on Less likely options due to very limited spots (many more but don’t have time to find info on them all)

Holton-Arms School - School Information
7303 River Road 
Bethesda, MD 
20817 
Phone: [phone] 
Email: [e-mail] 
 School Information:
Gender: All-Girls 
School Size: 655 
Grades: 3-12 
Boarding: No

Stone Ridge School of Sacred Heart
https://www.privateschoolreview.com/stone-ridge-school-of-the-sacred-heart-profile
Prek-12


Etcetera

[Anonymous]

It's Burke, not Bourke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are possibly relocating to the DC area with our daughter who is currently in 9th grade. Obviously this isn’t a great time to move and uproot a high schooler. She currently goes to a rigorous private school in our area and I realize we would need to have our headmistress reach out ti help find her a spot somewhere. She is a tip top student in terms of grades , honors classes, standardized tests and likes challenging classes but a kind , supportive atmosphere. She’s very committed to STEM, involved in two school sports, and involved in speech and debate. She is thinking about computer science as an area of interest for college or engineering, along with economics
If we make this move we could have some flexibility to try to live near a school that is a good fit. We’d consider both all girls and co-Ed schools. Any suggestions on where to look ?

Top of mind is Holton Arms (secular) and National Cathedral School (Episcopalian). Next tier for all girls would be Madeira (secular), Visitation (Catholic), and Stone Ridge (Secular).

For co-ed, there are a lot of choices. Sidwell Friends (Quaker), Georgetown Day, Maret and Potomac School are among the most sought-after. St. John’s College has a strong honors program. Basis Independent in McLean is super strong in STEM, but is not a “kind, supportive atmosphere” (gross understatement).

Stone Ridge and Madeira are firmly Catholic in identity and teaching.

This entire list is confused. Madeira is not a religious school. Stone Ridge is Catholic (the full name is Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in your shoes, I would seriously consider delaying your move until your DD graduates. Or have the parent changing jobs commute if that is your situation.

In your shoes I’d consider boarding school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are possibly relocating to the DC area with our daughter who is currently in 9th grade. Obviously this isn’t a great time to move and uproot a high schooler. She currently goes to a rigorous private school in our area and I realize we would need to have our headmistress reach out ti help find her a spot somewhere. She is a tip top student in terms of grades , honors classes, standardized tests and likes challenging classes but a kind , supportive atmosphere. She’s very committed to STEM, involved in two school sports, and involved in speech and debate. She is thinking about computer science as an area of interest for college or engineering, along with economics
If we make this move we could have some flexibility to try to live near a school that is a good fit. We’d consider both all girls and co-Ed schools. Any suggestions on where to look ?

I would say NCS or Holton. Both are good schools. 9th grade class at NCS is a great grade. It would be easy to make friends in that grade. It’s a very diverse grade racially, socially, and financially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS is way over-enrolled for the current 9th grade. They had the highest yield they've ever had this year and the class is about 95 girls (in contrast this year they just graduated about 75). Girls are having trouble getting electives and classes are large.
I've heard that GDS 9th is also overenrolled for 9th.
I don't know about Holton.
I know Sidwell 9th went to the waitlist so they may be a good bet because they managed enrollment well.
Debate is not a big thing at NCS. Sidwell has a team but the top schools for debate in the DMV are Potomac (the had the top debater in the US last year and she's currently a senior) and GDS.

There are not 95 girls in the 9th grade at NCS. Yes, it is a large class but still worth calling admissions.

There are 91.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about strength in HS computer science courses ?

Sidwell has the strongest CS curriculum of the schools mentioned.

Nope

When we looked Potomac seemed to with its SERC concentration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS is way over-enrolled for the current 9th grade. They had the highest yield they've ever had this year and the class is about 95 girls (in contrast this year they just graduated about 75). Girls are having trouble getting electives and classes are large.
I've heard that GDS 9th is also overenrolled for 9th.
I don't know about Holton.
I know Sidwell 9th went to the waitlist so they may be a good bet because they managed enrollment well.
Debate is not a big thing at NCS. Sidwell has a team but the top schools for debate in the DMV are Potomac (the had the top debater in the US last year and she's currently a senior) and GDS.

There are not 95 girls in the 9th grade at NCS. Yes, it is a large class but still worth calling admissions.

There are 91.

Agree with pp. We know many girls and families in the current ninth grade and it’s a great class. We also know many families that joined in seventh and ninth and they all have made friends easily. Worth looking into NCS for sure. Admissions director is great.

Other options are Holton and if you want coed I would look into Sidwell, Maret or GDS.