Anonymous wrote:You’re better off homeschooling. Anyone who thinks that the better schools in the area are unqualified for the academic prowess that is your child is bound for disappointment. You’ll be annoyed by the school and they will bitterly dislike you.

Try again. Homeschooling for kids that are gifted rarely works. Parents are not teachers. They are one sided as well.

All of my children were at min 4 years ahead in math from elementary school on.

MCPS did a fabulous job of educating my children. MIT, Stanford, CMU, Princeton graduates.

OP you want public school.

Only like 0.1% of the world is truly gifted and the rest are below average to very smart.

Your kid doesn’t sound like they are the top 0.1%…those are kids reading at 15 months and doing algebra at 5. Parents with kids like that don’t usually view it as a positive because they are besides themselves trying to figure out what to do.

Sidwell will be plenty for your kid.

Our DC was doing 3rd grade work in prek which I soon discovered is not unusual. In K-5 we focused on peer relationships, and by 6th the work was starting to become “new” and interesting. In high school DC was challenged with 14 APs. DC graduated last year and went to an excellent private college, not an Ivy. DC attended the Whitman pyramid.

My point is to enjoy the experience. Bright kids will do well wherever they go so find the right fit. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

There are a lot of reasons to send a gifted kid to a private school, especially one with a progressive model that allows kids to do deep dives on topics and doesn’t single them out.

But you also need to supplement— art, music, foreign language not offered in the school, chess, etc.

Even then, your kid may be bored sometimes.

OP,

You're not going to make many friends with that attitude. I say this as a multicultural foreigner whose oldest is majoring in international affairs. Don't give me "global citizen" and "values at the dinner table" for a 4 year old. One of my children has a very high IQ. Don't start dissing schools. NO SCHOOL CATERS TO THE TRULY GIFTED. You've got to accept this right from the start.

Primary programs, in both public and private, are never accelerated. The teachers will be busy addressing the needs of the lowest-performing kids in the class. My kids went to first grade with large books from home and read by themselves while the teacher taught other kids how to read. They were taught to count to a thousand in their Montessori preschool.

In elementary, YOU are your child's best teacher. Plenty of us have indeed taught our children how to read and write and do math. If you don't want to, you can join the other group who has paid tutors and after school centers to do so. Or you can join the majority who do nothing and rely solely on schools.

Sidwell is indeed one of the very best private schools in the DC area. My kids attend, or have attended, public schools in Bethesda, which are very good for free. We know kids at Sidwell, and other privates, and public magnets in MCPS, and Thomas Jefferson (TJ) in FCPS. It's a small world here.

Maybe you're independently wealthy and money is not a concern. If it is, consider the cost of private K-12, and then the cost of university. It adds up to a fortune. Some public schools are just as good as the best privates, which means you can invest your money during their childhood, and have more later.

You’re better off homeschooling. Anyone who thinks that the better schools in the area are unqualified for the academic prowess that is your child is bound for disappointment. You’ll be annoyed by the school and they will bitterly dislike you.

Anonymous wrote:Went to Sidwell open house, there's a lot to like but couldn't get a whiff of the "rigorous" academics they are supposedly known for... children are supposed to count to 100 by first grade, something my PK3 child does already? The focus was overwhelmingly on social justice. In the art class the students were not doing art but rather being led through a slide presentation on allyship.

As an international development worker, I feel global citizenship is vital and these are values I will impart to my children at the dinner table. However I will not teach them art and algebra.

What is the best school in DC for academics?

Thanks!

New-in-town

Awwww!

Go to regular Google, put in dcurbanmom and each school name and you'll surface lots of threads faster.

Thanks for these answers! Am I right that "Blair or TJ (if math and science interest), OR RMIB, Walls, Stanford Online" are all high school options?

Would be interested to know what the academically outstanding elementary schools are. I like what I am seeing about "personalized instruction" at Maret but hard to tell if what's in brochures is just marketing. Since I wasn't raised in DC I'm curious for the informal knowledge/reputation. Thanks for the help.

Anonymous wrote:Went to Sidwell open house, there's a lot to like but couldn't get a whiff of the "rigorous" academics they are supposedly known for... children are supposed to count to 100 by first grade, something my PK3 child does already? The focus was overwhelmingly on social justice. In the art class the students were not doing art but rather being led through a slide presentation on allyship.

As an international development worker, I feel global citizenship is vital and these are values I will impart to my children at the dinner table. However I will not teach them art and algebra.

What is the best school in DC for academics?

Thanks!

New-in-town

Count to 100? That’s the standard for cheap pre-k’s in this area

Blair market,TJ, Walls, Stanford Online

Not private

Truly gifted? Only 3 schools but all in public. Blair or TJ (if math and science interest), OR RMIB.

I think the social experience of being in a classroom is important, but I'd like there to be academic rigor in that classroom.

Truly gifted kids do best in homeschool. Time to hire a governess. HTH.

Went to Sidwell open house, there's a lot to like but couldn't get a whiff of the "rigorous" academics they are supposedly known for... children are supposed to count to 100 by first grade, something my PK3 child does already? The focus was overwhelmingly on social justice. In the art class the students were not doing art but rather being led through a slide presentation on allyship.

As an international development worker, I feel global citizenship is vital and these are values I will impart to my children at the dinner table. However I will not teach them art and algebra.

What is the best school in DC for academics?

Thanks!

New-in-town