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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We were zoned for a really excellent elementary school in APS.  The teachers were all top notch.  I was just going through my kids' old school work and was really amazed by the assignments, their writing and the things they were doing back then.  At the time, I knew it was above and beyond based on nieces/nephews in schools across the DMV--but didn't realize how much.  Both of my kids were so far ahead when they arrived at Middle School.  Then, we found the public middle school experience to be under-whelming.  My oldest had horrible, horrible math teachers.  There was very little writing.  Looking at writing samples, they regressed from where they were at the end of elementary school/5th grade.

Also, we were disillusioned with the County and the lack of foresight to the high school crowding and direction.  What was the real kicker was when my oldest took an Algebra Exemption exam for one of the private high schools in 7th grade after completing a year of Intensified Algebra I (which he appeared to breeze through and get all As)--and he scored a 58% on the exemption exam.  Holy wtf?  This was also after scoring very high on the math SOL.  His writing (and the actual hand writing) had grown so poor at this point.

So--we enrolled him in a private HS where he is thriving and very excited about his teachers and course work.  I was worried he might not have drive because by 8th grade he was doing very little, the bare minimum and pulling in all As and just didn't seem to care or be interested as much in school.  What a difference Freshmen year, he would come home talking about teachers and courses and have the text book open on the table at dinner in front of him.  He joined a bunch of Clubs which I never would have predicted.  He always played a travel sport and continued in that sport at the high school.

The services and attention are night and day to what we experienced in APS.   My spouse and I aren't involved at all because the school prides itself on making the students fully independent from the minute they start day 1 Freshmen year.  He handles everything and I have never even seen assignments, don't have access to his Canvas and have never talked to a teacher or administrator.  There is also a very heavy community service element that is built into the school.  The values that are taught and the forming of a 'good person' were important to us.

I am also amazed at how the school prepares the students for college application time.  Incredibly supportive and guiding with a plan rolled out that starts in 10th grade and follows them through 12th.

It is not a 'pressure cooker' environment with kids stressed out and taking 7 APs each year, but I feel the education is at such a deeper level and the transformation in his writing in this short time has been miraculous.

Covid and the talk of standards-based learning in public just reinforced how happy I am we made the switch for high school.  2 years in I have zero complaints or any faults with the school and neither does he.  And, I am someone that can be pretty critical.[/quote]

This is almost exactly our experience! 
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This is why we are hoping to bail out at middle school.  Does the school you chose also have middle?  Trying to narrow down from context clues, because I would be very happy to be able to have a similar experience for DC.[/quote]

9-12[/quote]

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