Reply to Compare Mclean School vs. Commonwealth Academy

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]CA is actually a SN school.  McLean is not, but more inclusive than most privates.
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Depending on the severity of your kid's learning issues, CA might be a better choice.  (We are at a school that is specially SN and don't regret it.)

I would apply to both if you think your kid could go to either.[/quote]

I would not agree with that statement and I've had children at both.  Had I known about C/A, I most definitely would have sent first child there.  Instead DC went to McLean.  Second child currently at C/A.  We much prefer C/A.  MUCH!  Third child will go there as well.

McLean: pros and cons.  Much larger school.  Has busing (for a fee).  Accepts a number of learning disability issues (ADHD, Aspergers (although shying away from that now), legally blind, hearing issues, dyslexia, dysgraphia).  Does not take behavioral issue-kids. Half of the students come into the school with a minor LD or other, the other half are siblings who come along because the parents are already invested and the teaching is usually good.  The school is very expensive with large tack-on fees.  Classes are small.  The head of the middle school - whom we loved and is now at C/A - left soon after we arrived at Mclean, which created problems because the interim middle school director was not as strong.  There was far too much homework for a school supposedly helping kids with ADHD and exec. functioning problems and some of the teachers were so hard-line I have no idea how they wound up teaching at the McLean School.  Our pleas for organized, testing on alternate days, and reduced homework were ignored so we left.  The school was going to expand but the recession hit so it wisely stayed put.  The head of the school, Darlene Pierro, retired last year or two years ago.  The head of the middle school also was again up in the air, but a good guy from C/A came up to take that spot (these schools do rotate their personnel).  Read the archive threads on the McLean School by current parents.  There seems to be a lot of unrest about the new head and empty seats.  That was not the case when we were there - it was hard to get into and all classrooms were full.

There is a full-time nurse to dispense med.  The facilities are large.  The school tries hard to bring the "best" out of all the kids.  Lots of awards.  I did not like the therapeutic counselors.  Several completely missed a problem going on with DC which any trained therapist should have cause - instead they claimed our child had "mommy issues" and need therapy (theirs, of course, at a price).  No, DC didn't have mommy issues - she had Aspergers/autism and not one nurse, therapist,teacher, head, counselor caught it in the three or four years we were there.  We tested again before moving to public and got the correct diagnosis then.  So we came away feeling that the McLean School really just wasn't worth the money and wasn't delivering the promised help for the ADHD/anxiety kid.

[b]The school is expensive, as stated, and there is a lot of money at the school - and divorces, older parents, trophy wives, etc.  Expensive cars, facelifts, and skiing in Aspen seem to be the lot.  The school is in an Eruv so if you your child is 12 he or she will be attending a lot of bar and bat mitzvahs[/b].

Exmissons at the high school level are iffy, so many leave before then.

Commonwealth Academy - I disagree with PP that it is more of a SN school than McLean.  It's mission is solely ADHD and would not have taken many of DC's friends at McLean.  It shies away from any LD or other issue that it thinks it can't assist.  The school is extremely small (opposite of McLean School).  It is only @ 20 years old, having been founded by Mary Matalin and James Carville.  There is no gym but the school affiliates with a walking-distance YMCA so kids get gym daily.  The school's charter is for ADHD only so when I've called to ask if they will take a hearing or dyslexic child, I'm usually told "no".  The charter also strictly limits the no. of kids to a class.  I believe the limit is 11 at the high school level.  The teaching feels much more like a private-tutoring environment which really works for current DC there.  C/A is very high-tech (McLean had an xlnt computer lab when we were there but personal laptops were not allowed); all kids at C/A carry laptops.  We entered in middle school and DC was in heaven.  Graduated 8th grade with honors and recently finished his sixth quarter with Honors, straight As and A-s (also ranked 94th percentile nationally on PSAT).  DC loves to go to school; diligently does homework; is in charge of his own life and his own homework.  I believe the homework is more reasonable than at The McLean School and the teachers really understand kids with ADHD and know how to teach.  I have no idea what C/A does right but they have so changed my supposedly ADHD kid around that I'm beginning to think he isn't ADHD at all.  C/A is less expensive than The McLean School.  There is no bus service but we haven't found the drive to be a problem (The Mclean School was much more of a problem).  Yes, they are in polar opposites of the DC Urban area.  The McLean School is in Potomac.  C/A is in N. Alexandria.  A brand new college counselor was brought in a year ago to raise the profile of the school with colleges and unniversities (I think from Sidwell?  can't remember) who is excellent, Mr. Macyznski (sp?).  And the parents are all very friendly.

Post back if you want to know more.  It's really like comparing apples and oranges so you will have to visit and decide for yourself, of course.  Josh Gwilliam is the admission director at The Commonwealth Academy.  He's extremely approachable, easy to talk to, and can answer all your questions.
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Your information about McLean is several years old and stale.  Why did you not admit that?  McLean has a new Head of School (former assistant head and CFO at Sidwell) and there are new heads of lower and middle schools. In fact, the head of the middle school came from CA.  And, I don't know what huge homework load you are talking about. My DCs are in the middle school and they get all their homework done in study hall and play on the sports teams.  When they get home, they can relax after a long day.  The rigid teachers must have left 10 years ago when your kids were there.  I have not found the teachers inflexible but quite opposite.  You should have just stated McLean did not work for your child(ren) and left it at that instead of trying to malign the school and persuade readers to apply to CA.  And, why is the highlighted portion significant in noting to people.  There are divorces, face lifts, fancy cars, bar mitzvahs at most private schools.  McLean is no exception.  No school is perfect but you sound bitter as you have in other postings about McLean.  Yes, you are being outed because it's obvious that you post over and over again negative feedback about McLean.  So glad you are gone.  But, please do us all a favor and get over it and move on.[/quote]

Uh-she mentioned that the new head of the MS came from CA and that Darlene retired Not sure what is stale. While it must be exciting to think Mclean has arrived with the new HOS coming from Sidwell, the guy has no experience in teaching, has no background in special education nor in curriculum development. His background is in finance and fundraising, a curious choice for a school that focuses on teaching kids with learning differences.

We left 3 years ago and we had the same experience with rigid teachers who made life terrible for DC As another poster mentioned above, the curriculum is boring. Lots of other schools that help kids with learning differences, have more interesting curriculum and offer more extracurriculras. Alternatives that offer a more full school experience include Bullis, St. Andrews, Field, Good Counsel and St. John's. Mclean defenders will say that only mclean understands these kids and will develop a profile for them but for kids with minor learning differences, most schools will work with you to help.

With any major issues, which Mclean does not want to handle, schools like Siena, Maddux, Auburn, Kingsbury and Lab would be alternatives. This is the problem for Mclean. Their niche is  so small that they have cut themselves off from many students and others have moved in to expand their student populations.

and before you go off that I am the same poster as above, I am not. There is a reason that Mclean lost so many kids in the last few years and it is not just the economy. Maybe the new heads will turn things around but they have lots of ground to make up.[/quote]

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