Anonymous wrote:Anyone considering Barrie should visit “Greatschools.org and read the reviews. Lots to be concerned about.

I don't know a whole lot about Barrie, but I know that lots of families of color seem to be looking to go elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone considering Barrie should visit “Greatschools.org and read the reviews. Lots to be concerned about.

Bumping this. Any specifics? Took the tour recently and felt that the grounds and buildings are top notch.

Anonymous wrote:Would you choose Barrie over Sandy Spring?

Not for upper school. I am a Barrie alum. My close friend was miserable and bullied mercilessly by both students and teachers at Barrie, which had (and per GreatSchools seems to still have) an environment of a total lack of supervision of kids.

My friend moved to SSFS, was super happy, and did not experience any of the issues she had at Barrie.

Anyone considering Barrie should visit “Greatschools.org and read the reviews. Lots to be concerned about.

Barrie also offers a millennial scholarship of 20,000 per year guaranteed for rest of time in the school. It’s significant. SSFS does not offer the same.

Anonymous wrote:Would you choose Barrie over Sandy Spring?

From poking around the websites:

SSFS is Quaker and Barrie is secular with Montessori.
SSFS has a much larger HS and Barrie's largest division is LS.
Barrie is all local and SSFS has some boarding options.
$7K difference in upper school tuition.
Silver Spring v. Olney

I don't have a connection at either, but I can see how either would be a great fit based on your needs.

Would you choose Barrie over Sandy Spring?

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone heard of Barrie? Is it easy to get into? They have a beautiful campus but have no idea about their academics.

What grade level? The Lower School (infants through 6th grade) is a Montessori program that is generally full or close to it most years. If you're not familiar with Montessori education, that means mixed-age classrooms (4th-6th grade, 1st-3rd, age 3-kindergarten, age 1-2, infants) where the kids have a lot of latitude to explore learning on their own. The middle and upper school is much smaller right now (probably easier to get into) and is a project-based learning model. It's a very diverse school, and they also run a very popular summer day camp (a friend of mine sends their kid to that).

Anonymous wrote:Do you know why he is leaving?

Moving to be closer to family (West Coast).

Do you know why he is leaving?

They are searching for a new head now.

I really liked Barrie when we toured it last year for our rising 6th grader. I thought they presented a dynamic academic program. In the end, we did not apply because we decided that getting our 11 year old who is not a morning person to a school that far from us (we live in DC) was just not going to work. It is small and that might not work for every kid.

Beautiful campus but very small. I believe the graduating class has 25 or fewer students.

I’ve heard of it but really don’t know anything about it. Hopefully someone can give you some insight, but it doesn’t get mentioned often on DCUM.

Has anyone heard of Barrie? Is it easy to get into? They have a beautiful campus but have no idea about their academics.