Anonymous wrote:I am not sure why anyone would not tell the truth about attending or not attending a school when voicing his or her opinion. If you’ve had no personal experience with the school, then why would you care?

Because they're an internet troll. Because they like to rile people up. Because they think it's funny. Because they have too much time on their hands. I don't know, but I do know that I have seen some posts on DCUM that are definitely written by people who are lying. No idea of their motivation, but you'd have to be a fool to take everything you read on here as the actual truth.

I am not sure why anyone would not tell the truth about attending or not attending a school when voicing his or her opinion. If you’ve had no personal experience with the school, then why would you care?

OP, Flint Hill has a reputation for being a sub-par private school. This is due to many things, one of which is people's belief that any school not in DC proper can't possibly be good. Some of the other things are a little more specific and not based on where the Potomac flows. If you don't care what people think of your kids' school, then a good portion of the DCUM hate won't bother you. I would see if you can find people whose kids actually go there now and also any families who left and see what they have to say. My kids don't go to Flint Hill, FWIW, and we never considered it for multiple reasons, so I don't have a dog in this fight. I am aware of criticism about my kids' school and I think some of it is baseless and some of it is true. I think the same can be said of what you'll find about Flint Hill on here. (And don't believe anyone who says they had or have kids there - they could be a troll for all you know, so it's better to get your information in the real world).

Our daughter is about to graduate after fours years in the Upper School. Overall we've been happy with our experience at FH and felt is was a great fit for her. She was in FFC's AAP program but deals with ADHD. So we wanted an environment with smaller classes and a strong learning center. It's not a high-end type of academic school, where every student is at the top of the class, but caters to a wider range of students. There are certainly those who go to Harvard and Duke while others go to more middle of the road colleges. It actually makes for a nice social environment where people do their own thing. She's also an athlete and liked their athletic program. She will be playing a sport at a college that is a great fit for her. so at the end of the day the school was a big part of her meeting her goals. Don't buy into the hate you see on DCUM until you have checked it out for yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flint Hill is a decent school, better than public, but below average in academics compared to other area privates.

In regards to honest feedback from current families, that'll be difficult because confirmation bias runs across the board, all schools.

It's difficult this year but tours and insightful questions give you best data for making the decision thats best for your family.

Current family. Our kid is thriving, but don’t feel that it is an academically rigorous school. We have other complaints, but those might be the same at other schools (really unkind teasing and social norms, etc)

We are disappointed with the academic environment there, but it may be that other families are not - people choose private schools for many different reasons.

What grade? Lower school or high school?

Anonymous wrote:Flint Hill is a decent school, better than public, but below average in academics compared to other area privates.

In regards to honest feedback from current families, that'll be difficult because confirmation bias runs across the board, all schools.

It's difficult this year but tours and insightful questions give you best data for making the decision thats best for your family.

Current family. Our kid is thriving, but don’t feel that it is an academically rigorous school. We have other complaints, but those might be the same at other schools (really unkind teasing and social norms, etc)

We are disappointed with the academic environment there, but it may be that other families are not - people choose private schools for many different reasons.

We’ve been part of flint hill family for 4 years starting at 8th grade. It has been a great experience for us both socially and academically. The new middle school ( Peterson middle school ) was built completely by parents' contribution. With the Peterson family contributing half of the 20 million dollars budget needed. Socially, it's a zero-tolerance environment. You'll get booted out quickly if your child is a ’problem child’ and break certain rules. Some of these parents use this site to bash the school.

Flint Hill is a decent school, better than public, but below average in academics compared to other area privates.

In regards to honest feedback from current families, that'll be difficult because confirmation bias runs across the board, all schools.

It's difficult this year but tours and insightful questions give you best data for making the decision thats best for your family.

Wondering the same. We applied to FHS this year for all of our children. It was the only school that we applied to due to geographic constraints. Hoping to get honest feedback from current families.

We are at Flint Hill and are having a great experience (lower school). Quality teachers, good classmates, warm parents. One of our others is at a different private school, which is also very good - but we are very happy with Flint Hill.

Which person posting is a troll?

Troll

We were very disappointed with Flint Hill and pulled out our children several years ago, which would make us relatively recent FHS parents. We know many disgruntled former FHS parents. The Lower School is much, much smaller than it used to be. There is a reason for that.

Was wondering this exact thing this morning. Been there 6 months (middle and lower) and very happy as is every family we know. Was curious about constructive things we should be on the look out for versus just generalisms. I saw in one post someone say many FH parents aren't on this board so maybe the negative isn't from current families?

We are new to NOVA- Flint Hill fits well for us geographically and it looks solid. The most recent post on FH- for younger kids - I saw a few negatives and some good positives. When I went back through other Flint Hill threads- there was a good amount of negative posts- more than other Privates. What's the deal on the FH hate- are the complaints the same for k-8 as HS? Are there a few posters who had a bad experience and post a lot - or is there something to be concerned?