Anonymous
12/08/2023 08:27
Subject: Re:Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of school are your kids coming from? What grades are they in?
Australian progressive is very different than US progressive politically. GDS is considered liberal but for this lifetime progressive they are a bit too out there and have brought in a lot of the divisions around race in an incompetent way. Friends there tell me it can be tough to be a white kid there.
The educational culture in the US is very different. If your kids are in the lower grades and just want a good education you may not want the drill and kill and excessive homework of NCS/STA, Sidwell, and GDS. keep in mind there is also a snobbery and classism in many NW DC schools that is alien to Aussie culture.
Burke is a lovely progressive school, warm & inclusive culture which would be a good fit for for kids coming from Australian schools.
You know, if you had just posted your first and last paragraphs and resisted the private school forum imperative to tear down other schools to build up your own, you’d be a lot more credible. As it is, you actually put Burke in a bad light by association.
Some asinine people make assumptions based on little knowledge.
I don’t have a child at Burke. I have children who have attended or are attending all of the schools I decried as having drill and kill cultures.
I have close friends at Burke and think it’s a lovely school. I wish my children were enrolled there and not at the soul-crushing schools they currently attend. They are now too embedded in their respective schools to remove them but I would if I could.
These schools are the epitome of the race to the bottom. NCS and Sidwell are particularly cruel to their students in the name of rigor.
To the poster who assumed that the high pressure drill and kill and grade deflation only starts in upper school. Nope.
All that and yet you won’t identify the schools your kids go to even to save the OP and others from sending their kids there.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 23:54
Subject: Re:Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of school are your kids coming from? What grades are they in?
Australian progressive is very different than US progressive politically. GDS is considered liberal but for this lifetime progressive they are a bit too out there and have brought in a lot of the divisions around race in an incompetent way. Friends there tell me it can be tough to be a white kid there.
The educational culture in the US is very different. If your kids are in the lower grades and just want a good education you may not want the drill and kill and excessive homework of NCS/STA, Sidwell, and GDS. keep in mind there is also a snobbery and classism in many NW DC schools that is alien to Aussie culture.
Burke is a lovely progressive school, warm & inclusive culture which would be a good fit for for kids coming from Australian schools.
You know, if you had just posted your first and last paragraphs and resisted the private school forum imperative to tear down other schools to build up your own, you’d be a lot more credible. As it is, you actually put Burke in a bad light by association.
Some asinine people make assumptions based on little knowledge.
I don’t have a child at Burke. I have children who have attended or are attending all of the schools I decried as having drill and kill cultures.
I have close friends at Burke and think it’s a lovely school. I wish my children were enrolled there and not at the soul-crushing schools they currently attend. They are now too embedded in their respective schools to remove them but I would if I could.
These schools are the epitome of the race to the bottom. NCS and Sidwell are particularly cruel to their students in the name of rigor.
To the poster who assumed that the high pressure drill and kill and grade deflation only starts in upper school. Nope.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 23:42
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:OP, if you will be returning to Australia in a few years I think you’re on the right track with WIS. The IB curriculum should (at least in theory) make it much easier to transition between school systems for your kids.
The IB is for 11th and 12th grades. Her kids are 9 and 12yo. The younger one would probably be joining the full immersion program.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 22:28
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much for all the responses! So much good information.
We will be living near the Naval Observatory in north west DC. So Sidwell, WIS campuses and the British School are close by. Other schools in the area appear to be Maret, Edmund Burke, National Cathedral girls, Sheridan. Very open to travel if it means the kids feel happy and safe!
We will be in DC for a few years only.
Kids commute to Potomac in McLean, VA from Upper NW. There is a bus owned by Potomac.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 19:53
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
OP, if you will be returning to Australia in a few years I think you’re on the right track with WIS. The IB curriculum should (at least in theory) make it much easier to transition between school systems for your kids.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 17:17
Subject: Re:Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of school are your kids coming from? What grades are they in?
Australian progressive is very different than US progressive politically. GDS is considered liberal but for this lifetime progressive they are a bit too out there and have brought in a lot of the divisions around race in an incompetent way. Friends there tell me it can be tough to be a white kid there.
The educational culture in the US is very different. If your kids are in the lower grades and just want a good education you may not want the drill and kill and excessive homework of NCS/STA, Sidwell, and GDS. keep in mind there is also a snobbery and classism in many NW DC schools that is alien to Aussie culture.
Burke is a lovely progressive school, warm & inclusive culture which would be a good fit for for kids coming from Australian schools.
Is there drill and kill in the lower and middle schools at those schools? I've heard the opposite although it seems it's definitely the case in upper school.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 17:17
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
There have been several Aussie ambassadors who have sent their kids to St Albans and NCS over the years, in part because it is so close to the ambasaddor's house and I think in part because it is somewhat similar to a day-school/boarding school environment they might have back home.
I think the bigger question I would have is what are your long-term plans. Do you want to stay in the USA for many years, or will you repatriate back to Australia in a few years? That might affect your decision of US curriculum vs. IB-based or British based schools.
I think the bigger question I would have is what are your long-term plans. Do you want to stay in the USA for many years, or will you repatriate back to Australia in a few years? That might affect your decision of US curriculum vs. IB-based or British based schools.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 17:15
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:Maybe the British school has changed in recent years, but when we toured the kids looked miserable. I didn’t see a lot of smiles. They also do not have good outdoor space.
For your location there are plenty of good schools. Washington Episcopal and St. Patrick’s come to mind. Washington Episcopal has a decent sized population of kids from overseas.
But people are right you need to be doing a lot of homework now and getting applications in ASAP.
Come on. I hardly think your impression during a tour some years ago is worth mentioning. I don't have kids at BIS but know people who are happy with it (that said, more people are happy with younger grades than HS).
WES is a good option.
Since OP's kids are young and they plan to only stay a few years, a K-8 might be a good option. They can be a bit more academically rigorous as they have to worry about placing their graduating 8th graders into their next schools. At some K-12s, friends tell me the middle schools can be a bit overlooked.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 15:21
Subject: Re:Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of school are your kids coming from? What grades are they in?
Australian progressive is very different than US progressive politically. GDS is considered liberal but for this lifetime progressive they are a bit too out there and have brought in a lot of the divisions around race in an incompetent way. Friends there tell me it can be tough to be a white kid there.
The educational culture in the US is very different. If your kids are in the lower grades and just want a good education you may not want the drill and kill and excessive homework of NCS/STA, Sidwell, and GDS. keep in mind there is also a snobbery and classism in many NW DC schools that is alien to Aussie culture.
Burke is a lovely progressive school, warm & inclusive culture which would be a good fit for for kids coming from Australian schools.
You know, if you had just posted your first and last paragraphs and resisted the private school forum imperative to tear down other schools to build up your own, you’d be a lot more credible. As it is, you actually put Burke in a bad light by association.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 14:13
Subject: Re:Australian needing advice on schools
OP, what kind of school are your kids coming from? What grades are they in?
Australian progressive is very different than US progressive politically. GDS is considered liberal but for this lifetime progressive they are a bit too out there and have brought in a lot of the divisions around race in an incompetent way. Friends there tell me it can be tough to be a white kid there.
The educational culture in the US is very different. If your kids are in the lower grades and just want a good education you may not want the drill and kill and excessive homework of NCS/STA, Sidwell, and GDS. keep in mind there is also a snobbery and classism in many NW DC schools that is alien to Aussie culture.
Burke is a lovely progressive school, warm & inclusive culture which would be a good fit for for kids coming from Australian schools.
Australian progressive is very different than US progressive politically. GDS is considered liberal but for this lifetime progressive they are a bit too out there and have brought in a lot of the divisions around race in an incompetent way. Friends there tell me it can be tough to be a white kid there.
The educational culture in the US is very different. If your kids are in the lower grades and just want a good education you may not want the drill and kill and excessive homework of NCS/STA, Sidwell, and GDS. keep in mind there is also a snobbery and classism in many NW DC schools that is alien to Aussie culture.
Burke is a lovely progressive school, warm & inclusive culture which would be a good fit for for kids coming from Australian schools.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 13:31
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Check out Oneness-Family School, it's a Montessori school in Chevy Chase, MD and goes up through Middle School (there's a high school too, but different location). It's a very international school - my 9 year old is there now and doing great - relaxed, nerdy, and pretty progressive are definitely words I would use to describe his classmates/families! And, it's pretty easy to get into too
Different PP here, question, is it true they blend the classrooms, and it is really unstructured?
Mixed age classrooms - which is Montessori thing and has actually been great for my kid. So, 1st-3rd grade are together, 4th and 5th grade together and 6th-8th grade are together. Unstructured - not at all! There's lots of structure - curriculum, benchmarks, lots of executive functioning work with time management etc. there is just freedom within that structure - letting kids do projects on subjects of their choosing for example or letting them pick the order they do work in
Anonymous
12/07/2023 12:38
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
I would do the inbound DCPS and hire tutors if needed.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 12:16
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
Maybe the British school has changed in recent years, but when we toured the kids looked miserable. I didn’t see a lot of smiles. They also do not have good outdoor space.
For your location there are plenty of good schools. Washington Episcopal and St. Patrick’s come to mind. Washington Episcopal has a decent sized population of kids from overseas.
But people are right you need to be doing a lot of homework now and getting applications in ASAP.
For your location there are plenty of good schools. Washington Episcopal and St. Patrick’s come to mind. Washington Episcopal has a decent sized population of kids from overseas.
But people are right you need to be doing a lot of homework now and getting applications in ASAP.
Anonymous
12/07/2023 10:37
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:Potomac School is disliked by the NW DC crowd, probably because it is (just barely) across the river in Virginia. It has good school bus service to NW DC, ith a regular schedule. There actually are a fair number of Potomac students who live in NW DC. So it might be another option.
Potomac is much easier to get into if you reside in DC / MD than VA. It really struggles to obtain “geographic diversity.”
Anonymous
12/07/2023 09:18
Subject: Australian needing advice on schools
Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much for all the responses! So much good information.
We will be living near the Naval Observatory in north west DC. So Sidwell, WIS campuses and the British School are close by. Other schools in the area appear to be Maret, Edmund Burke, National Cathedral girls, Sheridan. Very open to travel if it means the kids feel happy and safe!
We will be in DC for a few years only.
You are also close to Field School. Keep in mind that Sheridan goes through 8th grade. Go onto the DC Public Schools forum to ask about neighborhood schools.