Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You
Might reconsider Catholic schools. my kids who are good athletes begged to go to Catholic schools because of the sports programs. The Catholic schools in the DC area have quite a few non Catholic kids. The best Catholics can meet the needs of a top student but will also have kids of average abilities too.
Schools like Sidwell and GDS may be academically stressful for your son. HoltonLandon might work too but I am
Not sure about their basketball
Programs. But both schools value athletes. Holton seems stronger academically than Landon. I personally felt
More comfortable with the Jesuit schools because of their philosophies of developing the whole
Person. And a serious commitment to community service. We
Looked at Holton and Landon but didn't
Like the
Vibe. They seemed too waspy and a little superficial to us. Especially Landon. In the end we sent our son to a Catholic and our daughter to Sidwell. Both are happy. Sidwell has good girls basketball and top
Notch academics. It can be stressful because of the amount of homework but my daughter was
Both have had truly inspirational teachers.

Were your children in high school at over-lapping times and where did your son end up if your daughter was at Sidwell? We have struggled with this, too.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Sidwell is under consideration for DD and we know it's a long shot for DS. After having a talk with DS, he says that he doesn't care if he goes to Catholic school just as long as he gets to play sports and get into a good college. We were able to tour St. John's and we enjoyed the campus, it seems like a good fit. Although not for DD as she'll only be in 7th grade next year. I feel like putting her in public until high school may be feasible, but she is thriving in private so we are stuck.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Sidwell is under consideration for DD and we know it's a long shot for DS. After having a talk with DS, he says that he doesn't care if he goes to Catholic school just as long as he gets to play sports and get into a good college. We were able to tour St. John's and we enjoyed the campus, it seems like a good fit. Although not for DD as she'll only be in 7th grade next year. I feel like putting her in public until high school may be feasible, but she is thriving in private so we are stuck.[/quote

You might check out St. Albans as well for your son. If he's a really strong basketball player as opposed to a modestly talented player who loves the game (not being dismissive, this would describe my family) then the basketball could help with admissions. They also really value multi-sport athletes (because the school is relatively small they need some good multi-sport athletes) so, for example, if he would also be willing to play football that could be a good angle. Another option would be Bullis. They've got a really strong basketball program (they recruit a lot and get transfers) so he'd have to be really good to play there, but that's also the case at a school like St. John's. People take their shots at Bullis (there's a lot of sniping that comes out of athletic rivalries) but the parents I've met with kids there have said the kids have had very good experiences. Bullis is about 8-9 miles away from the DC city line, in Potomac, MD.

For your daughter as well as your son, make sure to reach out to the coaches/athletic directors. Girls' basketball is definitely a sport that is given some weight in admissions.

You're not local and it may sound over the top but I might try to get some game tape of both your kids (easy enough to post privately on YouTube and send coaches a link). For area kids, girls and boys' basketball coaches definitely go watch them play in middle school so game tape is a substitute.