Two years ago, several families left Grace and went to Immanuel Lutheran School. The reason they all said they left was that the curriculum was weak at Grace.
Immanuel is Jr K-8th with an accelerated classical curriculum. Tuition at Grace is $17K - tuition at Immanuel is $10K.

Wow, I wished I applied to Grace, I don't live that far from it. The thought of having to apply to school three times was a little intimidating (K, 6th, and possibly 9th).

The school seems to have strong links to the Grace Episcobal. Does that mean their is a stronger religious influence than other similar schools?

It's too late for me to apply, but I was just curious. I noticed parishioners get discounted tuition, so I'm guessing the church subsidizes their cost (probably why they can have such small class sizes).

Anonymous wrote:I would stay away from Blessed Sacrament also.

So what's the deal with Blessed Sacrament? I felt like I saw tons of promising posts about it for the past couple years but have seen several negative posts in the last few months. Have you previously posted your negative experience with Blessed Sacrament (just trying to get a feel of whether there are several people posting consistently negative things or one person sharing their bad experience, which is still helpful of course)? Can you tell me what you or your child didn't like about it?

What is the wait list movement like at grace? Do they place everyone not accepted on it, or do they actually reject some?

I would stay away from Blessed Sacrament also.

Grace Episcopal will beat out Blessed Sacrament's academics by a long shot. Also, I'm assuming you are Catholic--several Catholic families choose Grace. You will feel comfortable there being Catholic or Episcopalian.

I have experience at both an Alexandria public school and GES. Grace is the Place! Education is exemplary. Kids are happy ... small and nurturing.

I don't know much about the Fairfax Co. schools but Grace will be your best bet when matched up against Alex city schools. It is one of the most affordable options in the City of Alex as well.

I have two girls who attend GES and one girl who graduated 2 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:What is the Catholic school and the public school that you are considering?

Potentially Blessed Sacrament and a public school in the Alexandria section of FFX County.

What is the Catholic school and the public school that you are considering?

We were told on our parent tour that they intentionally keep the school and classes very small, that they know they will lose some to attrition over the years, and that they purposely do not necessarily replace those children. They WANT the classes to get smaller as they move up.

To the extent anyone else has experience or knowledge about the school, I'd love to hear it. We're really struggling with a decision between this school, a Catholic school, and public school. Particularly whether it's worth the cost (we loved the school but is it really worth it if it will be a bit of a stretch financially?)

With such an attrition rate, why is it so hard to get into post kindergarten?

Your best bet is to get in at preschool year. Kindergarten is VERY DIFFICULT to get into and junior K--forget it. You need to get them in at the 3-year-old year.

The 2 kids year was not normal. My oldest daughter's class had 9 and this year's class has 7. There have also been 12. Just depends on the year. LOTS of individual attention which makes for fabulous education. My daughters got into everywhere they applied, except NCS, but many other grads got into NCS. Well-respected school. And to answer a previous post, No it is not one where you need to be in the parish to be accepted. Some parish families go there, but it is not Most.

Small nurturing school with virtually no teacher turnover...teachers have been there forever and most are excellent. Very good head of school who came from st stephens st agnes. Excellent education w a lot of teacher one on one teacher interaction. EXCELLENT Exmissions...the year my DC graduated every child got into their top choice school.most go on to st stephens, Alex Country Day,Burgundy and DC schools as well. Religion is not over the top if that matters. Down side.....VERY small so if class dynamics are off, can be very rough socially...also girl/boy ratios are sometimes off so you may have a class w 8 girls and 3 boys...this leads to kids transferring out before 5th grade so by 5th, some of the classes are pretty small.one year there were 2 kids in the graduating class. Overall a very nice school just depends on the dynamics of your DC's class. We were happy there.

We strongly considered it a couple years ago. We were not part of the parish and I never go the impression one needed to be to fit in. My biggest concern with the school was that it ended at 5th grade meaning we would have to try and apply somewhere for 6th - 8th or 6th - 12th.

Wondering if any parents or graduates of Grace Episcopal in Alexandria (not the MD one) have any feedback they would want to share on the school? Also, is it the type of school where if you are not a parishoner your chances are slim to none?

THANKS!