The answer to the above question is very few, however, part of the reason for that is that Alexandria kids are not eligible for TJ. So only Fairfax County kids who attend St. Stephens are eligible ... not sure how many kids that would be, but clearly would not be the entire population.

Regarding St. Stephen's, I've heard from a reliable source that over 25% of last year's seniors were admitted to UVA, and Ivy, or Stanford. I'm not sure what the numbers are like from other schools, but this seemed pretty decent to me. Also, I think it's hard to look at exmissions of the private schools drawing largely from Fairfax County since so many of the brightest kids in the county go to Thomas Jefferson, the magnet school, which starts in 9th grade. One question for St. Stephen's might be how many of its students transfer to TJ for high school.

grace episcopal school - great small school in the alexandria area you might want to check it out

Does anyone know how competitive admission is at these schools?

I have a 2 year old and we are torn if we should move to N. Arlington, McLean, or Falls Church City, or go the private school route. I have bad memories of my sister trying to get her child into a good private school in NYC (or a special public school program) and don't want to go through all that.

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We started kindergarten this year and have been very happy with the strong community feeling the school provides new families.

Wow. My dd is at SSSAS (came in at a non-entry year), and I haven't found the parents or other kids to be snobby at all. We are NOT country-club types at all, and there are many families like us. My dd has been included in tons of birthday parties, from the beginning of her first year - with a group of kids who had been together for two years already.

It is only from reading this board that I have any clue that the school is perceived this way. My dd is happy as a clam, even if I won't let her get UGGs.

Yes, Browne is snobby and its facilities are not so great. It is also more of a traditional curriculum.

Is Browne also snobby? What about Grace Episcopal?

My impression, growing up in Alexandria and knowing many kids who went to SASS, and now having friends who send their kids there, is that while the elementary school is good, the high school is not that great academically. The focus is much more on sports and social status. College placement isn't great, which may not matter is the environment was nuturing, but unfortunately, the school lacks in that area as well.

I have heard great things about Burgundy and knew 8 kids who graduated from there - all were very well-prepared for high school (Gonzaga, Visitation and Saint John's.)

Anonymous wrote:I have heard not-so-great things about the culture of the school when it comes to high school-- words used like snotty, countyr club set, etc-- but I don't know if these are fair, or true in the lower school as well?

A friend of mine pulled her daughter out after one term for this reason and lost her fees. She was in K. She said that her daughter was ostracized because she was not part of the country club set. Invitations to play dates were simply ignored and she was excluded from birthday parties.
I must caveat that my friend is quite a sensitive person but she is also very frugal so I would surmise that her daughter, who is a delightful girl, must have been very unhappy for her to forfeit the fees.

We are also at Burgundy and do hope that your child gets in, because it truly is a special place. We didn't consider St. Stephens or Agnes, so can't comment on those. But we did take a look at Alexandria Country Day and Browne. Browne we weren't so impressed with. Alexandria Country Day seemed solid, though it just didn't speak to us like Burgundy did and so we ended up not applying. But we are pretty into the whole progressive thing, we already knew Burgundy families, and just were in love with the campus. We also applied to Capitol Hill Day; if you or your spouse works in or near the hill this might be an option. In the end we liked Burgundy better and so opted for it over Cap Hill Day but there are many families who are pleased, as I understand it.

The culture you describe for St. Stephen's definitely matches our perception ... and we looked at the elementary school. I agree with the PP ... Burgundy sounds like a really good match for your child.

What about Alexandria Country Day School? We are at Burgundy (which we love, and hope you get into) but we also looked seriously at ACDS. It is not as progressive as Burgundy, but the student:teacher ratio is great and we know some very nice families who go there. We didn't like St. Stephen's & St. Agnes for the reasons you list.

Any parents here who can comment on St Stephen & St Agnes? We have a daughter in public school in Alexandria and have mixed feelings about it, and are beginning to look into local private schools. We love our neighborhood and don't want to have to drive her into DC every day or move into DC, so we're restricting our search to local schools at this point. We're very high on Burgundy-- think the progressive approach would be a great fit for our family-- and would probably send her there if she gets in, but she won't be applying for an intake year, so we feel like we can't count on having that as an option. Anyone have a sense of St Stephen's for elementary (she'd be going into 2nd grade). I have heard not-so-great things about the culture of the school when it comes to high school-- words used like snotty, countyr club set, etc-- but I don't know if these are fair, or true in the lower school as well? And is it very traditional/rigid curricularly? Our daughter is an imaginative, artistic child-- does fine on the academics, but nothing stellar, and we'd lie her to be somewhere where her creativity and curiosity will be rewarded. Any comments appreciated (or suggestions of other schools?)