Anonymous wrote:OP, I gather you want Catholic? Lots of NOVA types bus or drive their kids to the Heights in Potomac. XLNT classical education. We sent our non-catholic boy there. 3-12.

You sent a non-catholic boy to a school run by Opus Dei? Why? Surely there are better options for a classical education without being in religious whack job land?!

OP, I gather you want Catholic? Lots of NOVA types bus or drive their kids to the Heights in Potomac. XLNT classical education. We sent our non-catholic boy there. 3-12.

Anonymous wrote:The current headmaster at Bishop O'Connell is a former headmaster at St. Anselm's Abbey. He will readily admit the two schools are quite different, but both have their strengths and both are well-run schools with thriving students.

O’Connell is very much a school that can be as rigorous (or not) as a student wants, depending on course choices. But if OP really wants the “vibe” of St Anselm’s, I don’t think it’s a match. But it can’t hurt to visit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you mainly want the rigor and nerdiness, maybe Basis McLean?

Definitely use the search bar on this site to research more as there are lots and lots of negative posts, but they do generally let kids go as rigorous as they want to and I think have their fair share of nerdiness.

+1. BIM gets a lot of hate on this board and it would not be a good fit for my kids who are bright and STEM focused but also very athletic and social. We know two families there, though, who love it. Their kids are smart and very focused on academics and don’t seem to mind the lack of sports and some other activities. One of the boys had trouble making friends at his previous school and found his people at BIM.

+1. Finding the right “vibe” is definitely where visiting the school is absolutely essential.

Anonymous wrote:If you mainly want the rigor and nerdiness, maybe Basis McLean?

Definitely use the search bar on this site to research more as there are lots and lots of negative posts, but they do generally let kids go as rigorous as they want to and I think have their fair share of nerdiness.

+1. BIM gets a lot of hate on this board and it would not be a good fit for my kids who are bright and STEM focused but also very athletic and social. We know two families there, though, who love it. Their kids are smart and very focused on academics and don’t seem to mind the lack of sports and some other activities. One of the boys had trouble making friends at his previous school and found his people at BIM.

The current headmaster at Bishop O'Connell is a former headmaster at St. Anselm's Abbey. He will readily admit the two schools are quite different, but both have their strengths and both are well-run schools with thriving students.

If you mainly want the rigor and nerdiness, maybe Basis McLean?

Definitely use the search bar on this site to research more as there are lots and lots of negative posts, but they do generally let kids go as rigorous as they want to and I think have their fair share of nerdiness.

I think any private (and public for that matter) is going to have a nerdy contingency. Some more than others, but I don’t think STA is worth the commute. We live in Alexandria and know a family that started in middle and switched out after 2 years because the commute was just too long

Yeah, there’s nothing out Vienna way similar to St. Anselm’s.

Nw DC is a long commute from Vienna. You might consider STA and having your son board. Many people don’t know that STA has a boarding option for 9-12. There are families whose kids live far away who board to manage the commute. The kids live in the dorms during the week then go home Friday to Sunday.

I am a St Anselms alum. Nerdy is fine, but the student needs to have academic ability not just an interest in dungeons and dragons. The common factor at the school is academics over other factors and while that will skew the student body toward “nerdy”, nerdy isn’t the gating criteria. The abbey has also dialed up the Catholicism in recent history, which you need to be comfortable with…

In general, I think the school gets an unfair reputation for exclusively “nerdy” and in reverse, a few other schools get unfair reputations for not being accepting of nerdiness.

With that in mind, it’s not single sex but I’d look at Potomac. I’m good friends with several of my contemporaries who attended and I have friends kids who went there/go there and I think most abbey boys would do well there and be challenged.

Another one is STA, again, I know a good number of families with ties there. The school is academically rigorous and have groups of boys each year who fit the abbey profile. They also have a very traditional approach and environment that is similar to the abbey.

The biggest problem with the abbey is the fact that it’s NOT well rounded. If you want balls to the wall academic rigor, then sure… but that’s rarely the only answer for most boys.

If I lived in Vienna I don’t think I’d drive further than Potomac and STA to get to the Abbey unless my boy fit the abbey profile to an absolute T and was likely to be in the top 5 of his class.

Anonymous wrote:Whoops yes that’s a typo, I want a 9-12 and not a k-12 thanks I did see the information about the bus, but the bus stop is a little far away from where we are unfortunately

I suspect that in NoVA there are fewer 9-12 options than K-12/1-12 options. For example, Potomac, SSSAS, and Flint Hill are in the K-12 group.

There also are several K-8s or K-6s in NoVA, which will make admission anyplace in 9th more challenging (more demand for desks than openings).

The Catholic HSs in NoVA (O'Connell, Ireton) might be an option for some families. I encountered some O'Connell grads when I was in college back in the day. They seemed well prepared in STEM courses.

Whoops yes that’s a typo, I want a 9-12 and not a k-12 thanks I did see the information about the bus, but the bus stop is a little far away from where we are unfortunately

St. Anselm's has a Virginia bus, if that helps.

Anonymous wrote:St Anselms sounds like it would be a good fit for my nerdy son but it is too far away (we are in Vienna). Anyone know of a school with a similar vibe in northern va? It would be nice to have one where everyone is new (so hs, not 9-12) and it’s not too big. Coed is fine.

I’m confused by HS not 9-12. Is that a typo?

But also, nova really doesn’t have a St Anselm’s equivalent.

St Anselms sounds like it would be a good fit for my nerdy son but it is too far away (we are in Vienna). Anyone know of a school with a similar vibe in northern va? It would be nice to have one where everyone is new (so hs, not 9-12) and it’s not too big. Coed is fine.