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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Congressional School in Falls church (close to Arlington) is a great place. Have a kid graduating from there this year (who started in pre-school). It meets all the priorities you list below. Focus on studying and learning, hands on, great teachers, very warm atmosphere with emphasis on kindness and social values.

[quote=Anonymous]I’ve been looking through the forums and past posts as I try to get a general idea of the private school landscape for our Northern Virginia family. We’re in Arlington and thought the kids would go to public schools because ‘the schools were great’. At some point in time we learned that the high schools were not as great and we might want to consider private for that. We made ourselves to the idea that we would apply private for middle school or high school.  And then the last two years happened and now we’re wondering if we should consider private sooner since it sounds like admissions have gotten much more competitive.   I’m trying to come up to speed on this earlier than I expected.

My questions:
a) I kept reading about going to school close to where you live. Obviously there is Potomac. What are other options in this area? Madeira is all girls so that’s not an option for one of our kids. Langley sounds great, but I’m weary about doing the application again in HS especially for my kid who is not super social - seems rough to pull them out of public, then Langley, then somewhere else for HS but maybe people do It and it’s fine.  We like where we live and moving for a school seems daunting 
b) Are there set “entry years” when more spots open up usually or does it vary at all schools? Does it make more sense to apply for K (missed that boat), 6th, or 9th grade?
c) We’re Catholic but I hadn’t really considered Catholic schools - I’m not sure why. I think maybe I inadvertently ranked schools in my head as public, then Catholic and then independents like Potomac and if we’re gonna pull them out of public then try to go all the way. But I’m open to suggestions if there are exceptional ones to consider. Is it common that catholic school families would apply /  get into Potomac type schools for HS?

We want solid academics with less emphasis on devices and more emphasis on textbooks. Child loves learning and is not an athlete. We’re big on social Justice values (I feel a little guilty about potentially going private) and educating the whole child / inculcating values. And we’re minorities so a bit concerned about that as well, though I’ve mostly come to terms that private schools will not have the level of diversity I would prefer in an ideal world.

All suggestions welcome but please be kind to this newbie [/quote][/quote]

Congressional does seem wonderful. 
The teachers there seem to have a lot of job satisfaction.

Someone transferred from our K-8 (SMALL) there and found their people. They wound up at a top HS.

Not in our budget, but great place, and also, horses.[/quote]

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