In case it gives anyone hope, we moved our child during the summer due to unique circumstances. We contacted three schools and two of the three were able to make a spot (if we moved quickly) even though both were on a waitlist. I have found that if there is a unique and compelling reason that you need to move (and a school closing certainly counts), then the schools -- even the top ones -- do try to help. It wouldn't surprise me if there are spots available later this year as families who are employed by the federal government may lose jobs/relocate.

The downside to moving quickly is that I don't think we would have made the choice that we made if we had more time to evaluate. For those of you with younger ones, public school might be a good option on a temporary basis.

Anonymous wrote:What about Springwell?

I need a middle school that is inclusive to gender non conforming kids and isn’t too far from SSFS area.

Sigh…

Try Green Acres for middle school. DS attended and had a trans classmate. The school was supportive. They usually have middle school openings and historically have sent a few kids to HS at SSFS each year as the philosophy is similar.

I just want to encourage the families of SSFS children to be cautious when signing on at a new school.

A few schools mentioned here are known to be in as precarious a financial position as Sandy Springs itself. For sure, attracting enough new full-pay students from SSFS might help them to stabilize, even if temporarily. But it's also possible that families who choose badly might just have to go through this twice. That's not fair to the children.

Do your due diligence. Schools can't support themselves on tuition alone. Ask about the size of the endowment, debt, the annual giving program, and auxiliary income. How many students are receiving financial aid? A school that has to discount tuition for more than a third of their students is untenable.

Templeton (downtown DC) is a great environment, mainly 9-12 with a small middle school cohort too. Easy to access by Metro. And for anyone financially constrained… it’s $24,000. Half as much as many private schools. (Relevant for FA families… if the schools everyone is mentioning have already distributed their financial aid.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had nice and quick responses from Barrie, Green Acres, Norwood, and Sheridan. Barrie is having an Open House for SSFS families on Friday (looking forward to that). Green Acres said they are doing their best to accommodate everyone for tours (HOS seems really kind via email). Norwood and Sheridan (though far out) were nice too. GDS was unhelpful, and cold (no spots).

Terrible news for SSFS families! We are a Green Acres family, DC attended and graduated (lifer). DC is an accomplished student at a T25 university. We are certain, DC's experience at Green Acres is the reason. Really happy to hear they are working to help SSFS families. Not surprised to hear of GDS attitude. We were turned off by their attitude for High School.

Thanks for this response - nice to hear from a happy alumni family. Dug into their website more and saw Mister Rogers visited, very cool. Looking forward to visiting. Sorry you had a bad experience with GDS also but I guess it all worked out in the end

If anyone at SSFS has a child with dyslexia or dysgraphia, I highly recommend the Chelsea School in Hyattsville. It's grades 4th - 12th. I'm so sorry all of you are going through this.

Anonymous wrote:We had nice and quick responses from Barrie, Green Acres, Norwood, and Sheridan. Barrie is having an Open House for SSFS families on Friday (looking forward to that). Green Acres said they are doing their best to accommodate everyone for tours (HOS seems really kind via email). Norwood and Sheridan (though far out) were nice too. GDS was unhelpful, and cold (no spots).

Terrible news for SSFS families! We are a Green Acres family, DC attended and graduated (lifer). DC is an accomplished student at a T25 university. We are certain, DC's experience at Green Acres is the reason. Really happy to hear they are working to help SSFS families. Not surprised to hear of GDS attitude. We were turned off by their attitude for High School.

We haven’t toured yet but another SSFS family told us that Green Acres is waiving their application fee for SSFS families in light of the situation. Apparently they have a lot of ties to the school - a lot of their middle schoolers go on to HS there, staff at Green Acres have kids at SSFS, etc.

Anonymous wrote:In response to the SSFS closing thread, I can't imagine what those parents are going through, especially those with current juniors. This community could be a really good resource for them. Please comment if you have information about schools that are underenrolled.

This is … wow!

I used InspiredED to find a school that best meets my kids needs. SSFS parents please look into https://inspireedlc.com/.

Wishing you the best of luck. I can’t even imagine.

Nora Schools was also very responsive and helpful when we called today.

We had nice and quick responses from Barrie, Green Acres, Norwood, and Sheridan. Barrie is having an Open House for SSFS families on Friday (looking forward to that). Green Acres said they are doing their best to accommodate everyone for tours (HOS seems really kind via email). Norwood and Sheridan (though far out) were nice too. GDS was unhelpful, and cold (no spots).

Anonymous wrote:In response to the SSFS closing thread, I can't imagine what those parents are going through, especially those with current juniors. This community could be a really good resource for them. Please comment if you have information about schools that are underenrolled.

Barrie School is nearby and covers students of all ages (even infants now). I understand that they have some space at several levels, especially middle and high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone looking for a welcoming community for kids who are gender non-conforming:

Field (6-12)
Burke (6-12)
Green Acres (Pk-8)

Absolutely are welcoming and foster a beautiful environment for kids to be themselves in any form that may take, whether the kids are out or stealth or figuring things out.

+ Lowell PK-8 to this list

++ Lowell is really supportive and has different affinity opportunities for students and families. Definitely worth giving them a call.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Springwell?

I need a middle school that is inclusive to gender non conforming kids and isn’t too far from SSFS area.

Sigh…

Lowell

Definitely reach out to Lowell. Really welcoming and supportive community…the staff, the families and the students. It depends on the grade, but they might have openings. admissions@lowellschool.org

I saw Springwell mentioned earlier. I recommend you visit. Small sure, but engaged and child-led. Not affiliated with the church they rent from