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[quote=Anonymous]We had a DS there for middle school years.  It worked quite well for him (3 years total).  Classroom size was small.  His issue was mild ADHD.  My info is a few years old so I am giving you stale info.  But at the time of application, Mclean was very difficult to get into.  It is very picky about the nature of the learning disability that the student has.  They don't take behavioral problems   My son's best friend just graduated from there (high school) so I have kept up somewhat - but that individual's issues were sight only.  Some children had hearing aids.  Approx. 50% of the student body (again, this may have changed) were siblings who had no learning issues whatsoever.  Parents just liked the school for its excellent teachers.  I could not tell you which students had learning issues and which did not.  There is an on sight nurse, psychologist, counselors, etc.  We left due to cost and because we mainstreamed son into public.  The school is expensive and the add-ons, like bus, tutoring, etc. can really add up.

Last I knew, the school was looking for a new head since the current head, DArlene Pietro is retiring.  Also, they are looking for a new middle school head.  Changes like that can upset a school.

The facilities are large and nice, although I've read complaints on this site about the cluttered lower classrooms.  Check the archives on that.  The entire school tried to move into new space which would have been near Suburban hospital but that all (wisely) collapsed with the beginning of the recession.

My only gripes were with some old-school type teachers in the middle school who were surprisingly rigid  and demanding about homework - especially for a school that is supposedly for kids who need more support.  I wish we had had much less homework; complaints to the counselors on the topic went unanswered.

There is also a lot of wealth at the school.  And fewer intact families than we were accustomed to at our last private school.

I don't know if this matters to you, but because the school is in an eruv, there are a lot of Jewish students.  The school supports the children as they work their way through the bar/baht mitzvah process.  Counselors often applaud the children who are trying to manage homework and studying for bar/baht mitzvahs at the same time.  My son (not Jewish) must have gone to at least fifteen classmate's mitzvahs during his three years there.

Bullying is not tolerated in any form.  We had one incident where a child forcibly bullied our son and was caught in the act.  They were gone the next day.

Some bus transportation is available (tack on fee) from the Bethesda area and No. Virginia.

Please post if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer.[/quote]

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