I'd look at Sheridan for middle school if you're looking for a smaller school.

I think Sidwell would fit the bill, if your child is ready to put in long hours of homework in Upper School. The school is structured in the sense that the curriculum is set, and the expectations are very high. But the classes are progressive in the sense that there is a lot of small class discussions and the emphasis is on students developing their own opinions and being able to express them orally and in writing. The student team approach is used in the lab sciences. Mathematics is more of a traditional class structure, but there is more emphasis than in MCPS on understanding the derivations and connections of basic concepts versus just working on applications. The curriculum is enriched immensely by guest speakers, research outside the classroom, internships and study abroad for a summer, semester or a whole year. The arts are appreciated and choir/ voice training is superior. This is one reason the school seemed like a good fit for our DC. In the other arts, they classes are very good, bur the expectation seems to be that those with a special ability will pursue this through private lessons in addition to what is offered at school.The big downside is the pressure cooker academic environment, which is largely imposed by the students themselves, combined with grade deflation. The student must have a strong ego and work ethic to keep pushing, and be willing to miss some sleep, which I personally believe is too much at times. The compensation for this is that the students really support one another, because they are all going through the same things. All in all its an excellent school for the right kid. If you think it is a good fit, do not be put off by those who say you need connections to get in. For the middle and upper schools this is not true.

Anonymous wrote:We left a more traditional independent for Sandy Spring Friends School and have been very pleased. I know that the location can be daunting at first but they have a bus program that covers a wide swath of the the DMV and beyond. I don't know if it's just the change in grades but the academics seems allot more rigorous than where my child came from. They're very committed to providing a progressive education---lovely community of teachers, parents, and students.

+1

Capitol Hill Day School. Best choice we ever made.

St. Andrews is a wonderful place and fits the bill to a tee.

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend taking a look at lots of schools. Having been at a progressive school for many years, we were told time and time again that only progressive schools offered progressive teaching. Turns out, some of what our school offered was progressive, but some of it was extremely traditional (think worksheets, worksheets, worksheets). Once we started looking around, it was eye-opening. Many schools now offer progressive elements in their curriculum. We are now at Sidwell and yes, it is considered traditional (yes there are weekly vocabulary quizzes in middle school). It's structured and has grades and high expectations of students. However, the teachers are very creative, hard working and passionate. I have been very impressed with the quality of the assignments, and those assignments are far more progressive in character than much of what we were offered at our former progressive school. I will give just one example>>in language arts, the kids were reading a novel this fall, and the teacher was evidently trying to teach them the skill of going to the text to find evidence to support their assertions. She came up with the idea of using a real debate around some topic in the novel. It was an outstanding learning experience for our child and really fun and challenging. From our observations thus far, the focus of the education at Sidwell so far has been on problem solving and critical thinking. The whole progressive vs traditional debate can start to feel meaningless. My recommendation would be to observe carefully on your tours and see what is happening in the classroom. Do you feel good energy in the classroom? Do the kids seem engaged? Does the teacher seem to be enjoying himself/herself? Would the learning environment suit your child?

This. Our experience exactly. Couldn't be happier with our new "traditional" school which employs many progressive and creative ideas in the curriculum.

Maret.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the questions and feedback. This would be for 4th grade and beyond. To clarify, by structure I mean reasonably high standards for classroom behavior, work product etc, while still providing an education that encourages some creative thinking and project work with classmates. Sidwell and Maret are at the top of our list -- would these fit the bill? Obviously we will have to apply more broadly but I am confident that DS could handle the work and thrive at both of the above, he does very well academically where he is now and scores well on WISC/ERBs - for whatever they are worth! Thanks for any suggestions and especially feedback on Sidwell and Maret.

They might, but they would not consider themselves aligned with the progressive school philosophy. GDS and Green Acres are both affiliated/identified as progressive schools. I think it depends on what you want.

I think you can gain a lot from visiting schools. How much freedom/emphasis do you want placed on creative endeavors? How important is experiential learning v. lecture style? All of the private schools enumerated/listed are great schools, but they each have their own philosophy. I would make a list of qualities/values you are prioritizing, & it will be apparent in visiting/assessing which schools prioritize closest to your values!

I would recommend taking a look at lots of schools. Having been at a progressive school for many years, we were told time and time again that only progressive schools offered progressive teaching. Turns out, some of what our school offered was progressive, but some of it was extremely traditional (think worksheets, worksheets, worksheets). Once we started looking around, it was eye-opening. Many schools now offer progressive elements in their curriculum. We are now at Sidwell and yes, it is considered traditional (yes there are weekly vocabulary quizzes in middle school). It's structured and has grades and high expectations of students. However, the teachers are very creative, hard working and passionate. I have been very impressed with the quality of the assignments, and those assignments are far more progressive in character than much of what we were offered at our former progressive school. I will give just one example>>in language arts, the kids were reading a novel this fall, and the teacher was evidently trying to teach them the skill of going to the text to find evidence to support their assertions. She came up with the idea of using a real debate around some topic in the novel. It was an outstanding learning experience for our child and really fun and challenging. From our observations thus far, the focus of the education at Sidwell so far has been on problem solving and critical thinking. The whole progressive vs traditional debate can start to feel meaningless. My recommendation would be to observe carefully on your tours and see what is happening in the classroom. Do you feel good energy in the classroom? Do the kids seem engaged? Does the teacher seem to be enjoying himself/herself? Would the learning environment suit your child?

Maret would definitely fit that description. The academics are rigorous, and the expectations are high, but I have found that their approach to their curriculum is creative and they will change things up if they think it will work better. Arts are very strong.

Take a look at the Bullis School website. The school is a pleasant mixture of traditional and progressive. Good luck!

St. Andrew's is exactly that mix of traditional and progressive, but they will never use that term as it represents and entire educational teaching philosophy on which schools like Lowell were originally based. St. Andrew's is very much into best practices for teachers -- very heavy on continuing education workshops etc. They couch what they do in terms of adopting neuroscience practices, but INMH that isn't really what matters at all -- they just have a really good group of strong teachers who take great personal interests in their students and are encouraged to plan, innovate, use technology, etc. Students do both individual and group projects. The lines of what is traditional /progressive get blurred these days. There aren't so many traditional schools left in the independent school world. But I will note St. Andrew's teachers have been asked to do workshops for teachers at other schools, including some named on this board.

Yes SFS is structured, so that fits the bill. But the arts are not that strong.