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hidden gems part 2(private schools in DC)
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Anonymous
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I know I put this topic on the general school discussion, but just in case:
Looking for private school in DC which falls bw the 12k to 20k tution fee bracket. someone mentioned Concord Hill school, any others? My husband will be working at Childrens' Hospital. Thanx. |
Anonymous
| Bump. |
Anonymous
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I have nothing against private school, but personally, I would choose an excellent public school over a less-than-excellent private school. I'm not saying that Concord Hill is less than excellent--I know nothing about it--but I do think that in general there are significant differences between the top private schools--and I don't just mean the "Big Four"--and the others.
In DC and MoCo, there are many excellent public school options: Janney, Key, Murch, Lafayette; Somerset, Westbrook, Wood Acres, Burning Tree, etc. Just my 2 cents. |
Anonymous
| P.S. You could always apply for financial aid. I noticed in the Beavoir state of the school document that someone else posted in the Private/Independent Schools forum, the average grant is something like $13,000-$15,000. |
Anonymous
We're in the Westbrook school district. While it is a good school, it's not for everyone. Socially, it is lacking in ethnic diversity. Academically, it is lacking in the arts. |
Anonymous
| Agreed. But I think you would find similar deficiencies in many of the less expensive private schools. |
bai
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| Well, this is my dillemma and maybe you can all guide me. My son is in a private school in LA. we're moving to DC. I spoke to his teachers and they do not recommend her repeat J-K. They recommended he advance to Kindergarten. The cut off here is also Sept 1. He had to take a test and interview. We were really looking into public schools and J-K Private for this year. Now I don't know what to do. |
Anonymous
| When is his birthday? What do you mean when you say he had to take a test and an interview? For what? |
bai
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| his birthday is october 29. so when we applied to the private school in LA, he was early for J-K. They decided to test him and interview and then placed him in J-K. so he's ahead one year I guess. I am not sure if schools in DC/MD would do the same, or he would just repeat J-K, |
Anonymous
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i'm sorry...but what is J-K?
didn't the DC school just change the cut off date to december? |
bai
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| J-K= Junior Kindergarten. did they change the cut off? I don't know, what about MD cut off? |
Anonymous
MD Cutoff date for school is Septemeber 1; with students having to be 4 for Pre-K and 5 for Kindergarten. In MD they do early admissions for Kindergarten in public schools with the birthday cut being October 15. You may want to contact area public school counties to determine whether the information provided is fact for all MD counties (I am positive it is accurate for Prince Georges County Public Schools) Hope this helps. |
Anonymous
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My daughter misses the cutoff and I looked high and low to figure out what to do.
For DC - the cutoff changed from Dec to Sept 30th back in 2006 (http://www.k12.dc.us/schools/procedures.htm) In Maryland the cutoff changed from Dec to Sept 1st back in 2002 and has been phased in over the past 5 years so in 2007 the cutoff for pre-K, kindergarten, and 1st grade were all Sept 1 (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/enroll/requirements.shtm). There is an early entrance process and I looked into it (live in Montgomery County). Basically per the website and I checked with my local school and Early Education Division, if you are outside of the Oct 15th cutoff for the early entrance kindergarten process there is nothing you can do. The website says "As of the 2008-2009 school year there will be no consideration, including an appeals process, for children with birthdates beyond October 15th." The process for early entrance to 1st grade works a little differently (for now) and basically your child is evaluated at the local school and starts out in kindergarten and they make a decision if he/she can move up to 1st grade within the first six weeks of the school year. There are only a few options I can think of. Most private schools in the Montgomery County area near me all follow the MCPS cutoff. You can look for a good Junior Kindergarten or Transitional kindergarten program that is designed for the kids that miss the cutoff or need an extra year before kindergarten. Two places that I started to look into were The Harbor School (http://www.theharborschool.org/) and Georgetown Hill (http://www.georgetownhill.com/georgetownhill_admissions_enrollment_maryland_school.php). I think maybe the way it would work is that your child is in Pre-K this fall but since they don't meet the cutoff go to Transitional K/Junior K next fall. Then in 2010 starts kindergarten in the public schools. I don't know much about Harbor school but I have heard good things from other moms about Georgetown Hill. If your child already had Montessori experience, there are a few Montessori that will use Dec 31st as a cutoff - but most won't take a child over 4 years old without prior Montessori experience and they really would want you to stay for 2 years. I talked to a few Montessori schools with the Dec 31st cutoff and some said that your child had to be 5 (literally the day of his/her birthday) to be eligible for the "kindergarten" afternoon schedule and before that it is only Montessori half-day with nap for 3 year olds and art/play for 4 year old/pre-K in the afternoon. Another said for the "kindergarten" afternoon schedule your child had to be 5 and it was at the invitation of the teacher - so I wasn't sure if that was 5 by the fall, day he/she turned five, or would be five by Dec 31st. Other places applied the Dec 31st cutoff but with that they were evaluated your child to see if he/she would be ready to be considered say Pre-K with no afternoon nap even though your child wouldn't be 4 until Oct or Nov of this year. There was also the Smithsonian Early Enrichment program (http://www.seec.si.edu/) that sounded amazing and may have worked for your situation but the selection is a lottery process and the deadline to apply was March 1st. Anyway, even with a Montessori or if you found some other private kindergargen to take a late cutoff birthday, you aren't guaranteed that the Montgomery County public school would put your child in 1st grade after the end of two years - you would have to go thru early entrance process to 1st grade. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, PP here - I kept assuming your child was turning 4 this October but it sounds like he/she will be turning 5 this October and you were hoping to start kindergarten. I think it narrows it even more to finding a place with a transitional K/junior kindergarten that is designed to be somewhat betweek Pre-K but not quite kindergarten unless you find that place that is willing to use a cutoff different from MCPS and only potentially have your child for one year and on top of this hasn't already filled the spaces/completed the application cycle. Many private schools not only follow the Sept 1 cutoff but you hear unofficially with summer birthdays they want those kids to wait a year (especially boys) so really there is an unofficial July cutoff. |
Anonymous
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I think maybe this post was meant to be here:
04/08/2008 08:31 Subject: Re:How many schools should we apply to? Anonymous I am the poster who posted about Prince Georges County policies regarding early entrance to Pre K and K. It sounds like Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties have similiar procedures regarding admissions to Pre K and K early. The process for early entrance to 1st grade is even the same. Good Luck |