The best is the one that your child thrives in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WIS offers the hardest high school diploma anyone can obtain. The dual IB diploma. And the school has kids in top colleges in the US and around the world.

So I would definitely have them in the top five.

This.

WiS is a global brand. Others, day GDS for example, have zero recognition outside the DC elite bubble.

There is no way anyone can name a top 5 independent school. You can try to use college matriculation as a measure but honestly, we know that’s not very helpful. Also, WIS college matriculation looks no different than Maret, Gonzaga, or Prep for that matter.

In the world of DCUM the top schools will always be the most popular/elite schools.

Which will always be
NCS/STA
Sidwell
GDS
Maret
Holton

Anonymous wrote:WIS offers the hardest high school diploma anyone can obtain. The dual IB diploma. And the school has kids in top colleges in the US and around the world.

So I would definitely have them in the top five.

This.

WiS is a global brand. Others, day GDS for example, have zero recognition outside the DC elite bubble.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d put Holton under St Anselms and Potomac

There is no ranking in the world that would put Holton under Potomac and SAAS

Testosterone per student.

This question clearly is from a non-private school parent. Those who grew up at independent schools know that it is the whole package that is what makes a school great.

LOL and college admissions from public wins.

Anonymous wrote:The Basis bots earning their yuans on this thread. Likely a meaningless thread started by them as well to bring Basis in the conversation

+1

Looks like the Basis marketing team is using the DCUM channel. Jeff needs to look at this.

Basis is the simple answer if you look at the AP exams and standardized tests (purely academic criterion). No way around it. College acceptance is a distorted measure. In top privates it reflects legacy and also the fact that there are more families with money so kids go to top choices without regard to scholarship.

WIS offers the hardest high school diploma anyone can obtain. The dual IB diploma. And the school has kids in top colleges in the US and around the world.

So I would definitely have them in the top five.

The Basis bots earning their yuans on this thread. Likely a meaningless thread started by them as well to bring Basis in the conversation

Which lower school is best for instilling critical thinking skills while also teaching solid foundational skills?

Anonymous wrote:WIS and BIM at the top, with college acceptances to match, though the two philosophies disagree entirely and both turn off a lot of people

WIS has the same colleges as Maret (minus the Princetons)

Anonymous wrote:I'd put GDS number one. And nobody in my family attended it. Several people in my family (including my kids) went to Sidwell and we had some STA and NCS as well. GDS has a great combination of rigor and encouragement of critical thinking.

How do you know GDS is number one if no one in your family attended it?

The teachers giving those kids rigorous educations probably don’t have Ivy degrees. Any kid can become a rigorous thinker. Any kid at any school can fail poetry. As if this is what matters in life. Please

Anonymous wrote:I'd put GDS number one. And nobody in my family attended it. Several people in my family (including my kids) went to Sidwell and we had some STA and NCS as well. GDS has a great combination of rigor and encouragement of critical thinking.

Hmm, we were so disappointed in its rigor, academics and communication we left before upper school. It’s total dysfunction from what we saw year and year earlier on. We never know what our kid was being actually taught or learning or doing or how they were doing. Just high level, vague comments twice a year.

Where Maret on this for a high achieving student?