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[quote=Anonymous]Current LS family at Holton. We have been very happy with the school and would absolutely recommend it. The teachers have been really amazing; the small class size and personalized engagement are excellent. I didn’t have strong views on all-girls education before, but I can see DD really blossoming and boosting her confidence. Perhaps it sounds silly, but at least at this age, it also means that despite small classes, the (girl) friend pool is actually larger than at her old school. Likewise, I didn’t have strong views about uniforms, but I can attest that they make mornings so much easier, as do the included breakfast and lunch. It feels very safe and comfortable, and she values traditions like Blue/White teams. Someone once called Holton a “warm nest” to me, and that feels right — but DD is really academically focused and has been very challenged.

There is a lot of diversity — more than at our local MCPS school where we came from — but there are indeed a lot of people with a lot of money. I have not, however, felt that people are snobby or rude about it, and we have never felt left out because we don’t belong to a country club or anything. We’ve found some good friends (and some people who are nice but not our people), and I feel like there is a good range of backgrounds, etc., and I never dread conversations at school functions.

DD generally does her homework during “resource time” at the end of the day while waiting for pickup, so I don’t usually see it at home. My understanding is that math is on her computer — IXL and MathFacts. She does have some non-required, harder (“tangy”) math problems on paper that she works on in her own time. I love that they don’t have so much homework that they are overwhelmed for hours every night. Her sibling is at MCPS and brings home worksheets for math, and I don’t feel like she’s learning any more than she would doing the same work on a computer (and she hates them). Holton’s LS math specialist is awesome, and I am super impressed with what they’ve learned.

The HAS program (I think it stands for Humanities and Social Studies?) is amazing. They do a lot of reading and writing, and I’ve seen very clear improvement in both comprehension and writing for my book-loving kid. For homework, they often annotate books, which I kind of love. They have a planner where they record their homework, and I feel like the school’s emphasis on developing executive function is really great.

I’ve read about various issues with the administration on DCUM, but it hasn’t been something we have seen or experienced. We aren’t alums, so I didn’t come in with particular expectations or nostalgia, and perhaps that helps. There has been a little “moving the goalposts” for things that used to be included, like “homework zone” (now $10 a day), but I don’t know that that’s the new administration per se.

I can’t speak to GDS, but we have a lot of friends who are happy there. Being co-ed is an obvious difference, but it also seems somewhat less traditional in terms of formality. I do think there’s a lot of money there too, so if that’s an issue for people, then private school in the DMV is generally going to pose a challenge.[/quote]

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