Harbor was great for one of our kids. Went on to one of the top schools mentioned on this forum. It was great for her reserved yet type-A approach. Gave her great tools to be more balanced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:not religious; mediocre teaching staff

Do you have first-hand experience with the Harbor School?

We do. It has been a dynamic, nurturing environment for DC. The teachers and administrators are invested in helping each student live up to his or her potential. They are focused on early childhood development and they know what they are doing. I can't imagine a better environment for DC.

I second this. We have had a fantastic experience there and our daughter will be continuing on into K next year (and through completion - 2nd grade).

I am a parent and have been so for years. Harbor is a wonderful nurturing place. The families take nurturing and warmth seriously but dont take themselves too seriosuly. Their is good self-selection here in that parents all have a similar philosophy including not being snooty. They have all the money and power of other families, just dont like to flaunt. The honest assessment is Harbor is a place that is not intense. If you are looking for your child to be a mensa uber learner and leave second grade ready for the Ivy league - Harbor is not the place.

I think Harbor is a nurturing warm environment. The HOS and her lieutenant are lovely warm people. They care and are extremely personable and accessible. Full of shit? No. Salesy - yes. They believe in early childhood education being unique and distinct and either you buy that or you do not.

You will not get prestige of Beauvoir, Sidwell or PDS. But the motivated children and parents have nice acceptances to essentially everywhere they could reasonably desire. Holton, Landon, Norwood and Bullis are the top feeders and I think 100% of the applicants got into at least 1 of these 4. Usually 2 of the 4. I think Sidwell is only by exception (have to have a sibling or hook) and GDS and other top DC privates are rare. But that may be based more on its Potomac/Bethesda location more than anything else. Many others choose public.

There are a range of learners here and I would say that you will be prepared (though not exceptionally well prepared) for third grade academically. The fundamentals are not taught to the top 10% here. In some cases, they need to push more and step up their game. But....

Its 2nd grade and earlier people....so isnt it nice to have a safe warm nuturing private for the tender years? Most children leave understood and fall in love with learning. That is likely more important than anything you could get at this age.... we recommend it and think it is still a hidden gem. Shhhh - dont tell anyone.

I have never posted before, but saw this thread and read the negative comments from one poster (I've seen that poster on another thread about Harbor where he or she also bashed the school) and had to chime in.

My children have had a wonderful experience at Harbor. The environment is warm and nurturing, learning is creative and fun, and we love the teachers. (I completely disagree with the poster who called the teachers "mediocre.") The HOS is engaging and dynamic, and is current on all the research on early childhood education, which is the reason we have sent our children to a school that focuses on the preschool to 2nd grade years. Have you ever seen Spiral Night? That is Harbor at its finest. (Every year, the entire school studies one topic -- this year it was the human body -- and each grade tackles it at its level and does numerous projects around the topic. One night in April, all of the classes show off the projects they have been working on. The creativity and work of the teachers and kids is very impressive, and the kids love diving deeply into the Spiral Night topics.)

In terms of exmissions and the comparison to Primary Day, Primary Day is known as a feeder to Holton and Landon. So, it is naturally self-selecting. I also agree with a previous poster's comment that Harbor is smaller and also sends kids to a variety of schools -- public and private. So, using exmissions to Holton and Landon as a basis for claiming that Primary Day is superior is absurd. (Not to mention the fact that some couldn't care less about sending their kids to Holton or Landon, and so wouldn't choose a school on that basis.) Moreover, Primary Day may be a great fit for some, but certainly not for all. Friends have sent their kids to Primary Day, and they have described their kids as "color within the lines" kids, so it suited their children. But, one friend with an off-the-charts bright and creative kid HATED Primary Day for her son and pulled him. My children are not "color within the lines" kids, and I wanted an environment that sparked creativity and inquisitiveness. I have found it at Harbor. Those who are not happy there, for whatever reason, should leave and find a better fit.

For the poster who wanted to know how it went with the administration to pull a child prior to 2nd grade, my experience has been that while they would love children to stay through 2nd and extol the benefits of a preschool to 2nd grade model, they understand that for various reasons, people will and do pull their child earlier and they certainly don't hold it against them.

Yes would like to know. Pls be as objective as possible

My son applied and was accepted. Even though he did not enroll, we found the school to be very impressive and liked the administrators too.

Anyone have experience leaving this school earlier than the second grade? Want to know how well this went over with administration.

We found the administrators at this school to be professional, warm, and thoughtful. We felt they really had our child's best interest at heart.

We love both the school and the HOS. Great, communicative teachers, small classes, and fantastic administrators.

Anonymous wrote:We did.

Wow! Hope your current hos lives up to your expectations! And I suspect a troll - the school is so small that you would be outing yourself.

We had a completely different experience than 14:52. Loved the school and the Head.

We did.

Anonymous wrote:NP here and I agree that the head of school sucks. Completely full of shit, no substance whatsoever, and has no idea of what goes on in the classrooms. The teachers are extremely mediocre at best.

Why don't you leave the school?

NP here and I agree that the head of school sucks. Completely full of shit, no substance whatsoever, and has no idea of what goes on in the classrooms. The teachers are extremely mediocre at best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harbor School is smaller than those other schools - something most view as an advantage, in that it leads to more individualized attention.

You would think so, but no. Also Head of School is so full of it. Great bullshit artist.

Really? Never heard anyone say anything but great things on this forum about the HOS.....could you elaborate?

Obviously a troll!