Hello all -

If it's not too intrusive, I'll jump into the conversation...

First - yes, I used to post on this forum, but I withdrew a little while back. As much as I wanted the forum to be about discussing educational topics, it often felt as if there was unnecessary / unproductive anonymous sniping, which was too distressing to read on a regular basis. I also didn't want to post for the purpose of school promotion, but to engage parents in educational topics. I use my full name on posts as a point of authorship, and while I hadn't connected my name to the school, astute readers figured things out pretty quickly, so my "cover" was blown.

I do appreciate the feedback on this particular thread, both the positive and the negative. Distressing to hear that we sent out communications with typos - we'll try to avoiid the mstake goingg fowrfd!

I welcome any or all of the posters on this thread to give me a call here at school to share their experiences in the admission process or learn more about what we do. Phone number is on the website, my extension is 226, and I'll do my best to speak to all who call. That way we can take these conversations offline and I won't muddy the waters of a parent blog with "official" school information, and leave to you to learn directly from one another about Barnesville.

And to the original poster, I appreciate your interest in us, and wish you well in the school search process!

- John Huber

Just a few responses to some of the comments:

Seneca is ending 6th grade after next year and will only go to 5th. They used to have a 7th and 8th program but enrollment went way down and they did not have enough students to sustain the program.

Seneca's classes in K-6th are the same size or smaller than Barnesville's. Seneca has a larger preschool program, but a smaller elementary program. Seneca is NOT a special needs school.

Barnesville's middle school, which starts in 5th grade, has increased quite a bit in the last few years. Each grade has two home rooms.

Barnesville has very little turn over in their faculty. Many of the teachers have been there for 10+ years. They are very passionate about teaching and really know and understand each individual child.

Barnesville also just launched a new 5 year strategic vision that positions the school to move forward with greater emphasis on the humanities, arts, math and science. You can read the vision on their website. For a small school they offer students a lot of opportunities that would not usually be found in schools of comparable size.

What about Butler if you are looking at upcounty schools?

Anonymous wrote:I've heard Barnesville is a "comer". They are improving the school in a lot of areas and in a few years I think it will be one of the best schools in the area. Just my opinion.

I thought Seneca was a school for special needs students. If I'm wrong, I need to go back and do my homework.
I've heard a lot about Christ Episcopal School lately. I've seen their online ads everywhere and they have a new program with Johns Hopkins. Extremely impressive academic program.

I'm targeting Christ Episcopal and Barnesville with the slight advantage going to Christ Episcopal because of the very impressive Service Learning component. Both schools have great academics.

Happy searching!!

Maybe you are thinking of the Siena school in Silver Spring?

I've heard Barnesville is a "comer". They are improving the school in a lot of areas and in a few years I think it will be one of the best schools in the area. Just my opinion.

I thought Seneca was a school for special needs students. If I'm wrong, I need to go back and do my homework.

I've heard a lot about Christ Episcopal School lately. I've seen their online ads everywhere and they have a new program with Johns Hopkins. Extremely impressive academic program.

I'm targeting Christ Episcopal and Barnesville with the slight advantage going to Christ Episcopal because of the very impressive Service Learning component. Both schools have great academics.

Happy searching!!

Anonymous wrote:PP - what made you decide to go to Seneca rather than Barnesville?

I looked at Barnesville, Seneca Academy, Christ Episcopal in Rockville, and a little quirky independent called Thomas Jefferson Preparatory in Gaithersburg. I felt Seneca Academy fit my educational philosophy the best. And it just felt "warm" and welcoming. And that warm and welcoming feeling was critical when I was thinking of sending my baby off to kindergarten. That's still important, but not a HUGE factor now that my child is a bit older.

I like its IB program. We are a multi-cultural family and I want my child to grow up learning about other world cultures. The school is great at focusing solidly on American culture and concepts and then expanding out to include other cultures (so it's not anti-American as some people seem to view the IB program in general). It features an inquiry-based learning style (part of IB I think), which is GREAT for my child in partcular and has really enhanced my child's natural curiosity and critical thinking skills.

Lots of outside time (2 recesses a day), lots of movement in the classroom. Lots of focus on character. Practically speaking, it's also cheaper. And it's closer to my house. The big drawback for me, though, is it's K-6 and I really wanted to find a K-8 home for my child.

Barnesville says it does a lot of the same things -- academics, character/social responsibility, movement -- and I'm sure it does. And it has/had a bus service that runs near my house. It has more robust sports leagues for older kids. And I like that it's K-8. It just seemed colder and less personal to me.

We've been at SA a few years now and still love it. However, I still need to figure out 7th and 8th grade. Possibly 6th because it might just be easier to transfer to public in 6th.

In my ideal world, Seneca Academy will expand to include 7th and 8th grades. Otherwise, we will be looking again at Barnesville and Christ Episcopal in Rockville, as well as middle school magnet programs.

We looked at Barnesville, as one of our neighbors had sent their kids there and loved it. We had two concerns, which is why we sent our kids to a different independent school. First, the class sizes are small, very small, especially in middle school where we felt it could be an issue. Second, many of the communications we received from the school had typos and grammatical errors. That is one of my pet peeves, and if typos and errors were coming through to prospective parents, what is going on in the classroom?

PP - what made you decide to go to Seneca rather than Barnesville?

Anonymous wrote:I looked at it several years ago for my dc. Lots of kids there with issues. Wasn't impressed plus it was far from our home.

What kind of issues? I've heard some negative things about the administration, but never about the kids.

We were looking for an upcounty private school too and went with Seneca Academy, which has been great so far, but it only goes up through the sixth grade. I'd love to see more k-8 options.

I looked at it several years ago for my dc. Lots of kids there with issues. Wasn't impressed plus it was far from our home.

The Head of School used to post on here a lot.

Anybody know anything about this school?