Northern VA is not a mecca for good private schools OP. You'll need to go elsewhere as an earlier poster has written

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have loved ACDS for middle school. Cannot imagine that a commute into DC is worth it. No kid should have to endure that.

Agree, commuting takes a toll and is unecessary for a young child to endure a 40-60 min commute each way each day every day. Every kid is different, but our children would not do well in this type of situation. I see small children taking the bus to Flint Hill, Potomac, Burke, etc. and it just seems like child abuse to me to get this kids up at 5:30-6:30 AM, dressed, fed, rushed out the door to go stand in the cold for a bus. We have very pleasant mornings where we wake up at 7, eat a nice warm breakfast, leisurely dressed in uniforms, and out the door at 8 for 10 min drive to school.

Child abuse?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have loved ACDS for middle school. Cannot imagine that a commute into DC is worth it. No kid should have to endure that.

Agree, commuting takes a toll and is unecessary for a young child to endure a 40-60 min commute each way each day every day. Every kid is different, but our children would not do well in this type of situation. I see small children taking the bus to Flint Hill, Potomac, Burke, etc. and it just seems like child abuse to me to get this kids up at 5:30-6:30 AM, dressed, fed, rushed out the door to go stand in the cold for a bus. We have very pleasant mornings where we wake up at 7, eat a nice warm breakfast, leisurely dressed in uniforms, and out the door at 8 for 10 min drive to school.

Wow, just wow? Thanks for your uninformed & ignorant post. My kids take one of those buses but don’t wake up much before yours. They don’t wait in the cold bc the bus gets to the stop 15 mins early. They adore the bus ride bc it’s either a time to review what they need for the day or hang out with friends, particularly those in different grades. My youngest thinks it’s essentially a play date. They don’t want to ride with us, they love the bus ride. The morning trip is quick bc it’s before rush hour. The afternoon one can be 30 mins but they often do a chunk of homework. I’m not being defensive, just think you shouldn’t judge without knowing how the buses work. Plus, we did look hard at all of the Alexandria options and, particularly for high school, couldn’t find anything comparable.

Anonymous wrote:We have loved ACDS for middle school. Cannot imagine that a commute into DC is worth it. No kid should have to endure that.

Agree, commuting takes a toll and is unecessary for a young child to endure a 40-60 min commute each way each day every day. Every kid is different, but our children would not do well in this type of situation. I see small children taking the bus to Flint Hill, Potomac, Burke, etc. and it just seems like child abuse to me to get this kids up at 5:30-6:30 AM, dressed, fed, rushed out the door to go stand in the cold for a bus. We have very pleasant mornings where we wake up at 7, eat a nice warm breakfast, leisurely dressed in uniforms, and out the door at 8 for 10 min drive to school.

Anonymous wrote:We have loved ACDS for middle school. Cannot imagine that a commute into DC is worth it. No kid should have to endure that.

How narrow-minded of you.

We have loved ACDS for middle school. Cannot imagine that a commute into DC is worth it. No kid should have to endure that.

There are few private high school options in Alexandria. A lot of Alexandria families send their kids to DC private schools for HS. GDS, Burke, Sidwell, Field, NCS/STA, etc. Some families also send their kids to Madeira, Potomac and Flint Hill. If you don’t want Ireton, TC or SSSAS you are basically looking at saddling your kids with a 45-60 minute commute each way. Our kids do it and it’s not horrible (they have a morning bus and metro home) but it’s a pain, and makes after school activities harder.

OP, if you don’t want Catholic school, your options are SSSAS, Browne, ACDS and Burgundy. All cost about the same. All give financial aid so don’t assume you can’t afford it. SSSAS has a high school, the others don’t. Burgundy is a progressive school; the others are more traditional. SSSAS has a reputation for having a lot of country club/super sporty kids. Burgundy is more earthy crunchy. Browne and ACDS have no particular reputations - they are garden variety private schools. Kids from Browne, Burgundy and ACDS all seem to go on to more or less the same types of high schools.

Anonymous wrote:OP said she wasn’t interested in Catholic.
Look into Alexandria Country Day, Browne, or Burgandy Farms... although I am not sure they are really any cheaper than SSSAS

They are not cheaper.

Anonymous wrote:https://www.potomacwaldorf.org/

This school ends in 5th grade. OP is asking about middle and high school.

OP said she wasn’t interested in Catholic.
Look into Alexandria Country Day, Browne, or Burgandy Farms... although I am not sure they are really any cheaper than SSSAS

Some options in and near to Alexandria:

Elementary/Middle school:
St. Rita's
Blessed Sacrament
Our Savior Lutheran
Rivendale
St. Anthony's

High school
Bishop Ireton
Bishop O'Connell
Trinity Meadow

The area of Alex that I’m talking about is near the seminary or near Fairlington, but we could drive a bit if we need to.

I am not interested in Catholic school but might be open to other religious schools. Cost is a major concern so St Stephens/St Agnes is probably off the table. Are there others that are less expensive?