Anonymous wrote:Oakcrest and the Heights do this. Politically, they both lean extremely conservative. So that’s either a wonderful thing or a terrible thing, depending on your views.

+1 for Heights and Oakcrest

Think about how you might prioritize or weight certain "requirements" over others if you can't find a school with everything you describe, or start off being open to every school within reason and cross schools off your list as you learn about them. High schooler at Edmund Burke has had at least a couple textbooks kept at home for reference, reads physical books, takes handwritten notes, and does quite a bit of homework on paper. But that homework is turned in through an online portal that's also used for assignments, academic and sports calendars, teacher comments, and grades, and is accessed through the iPad each student receives for the school year. It's great for my kid for a number of reasons, but it sounds like the emphasis on the online portal would be a deal breaker for you.

Transplant_1 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Privates vary by school and by grade. Some talk low tech, but use tech more than their website or marketing will admit. Not all privates are as low tech or appropriate tech as some posters here are claiming.

OP should visit and tour their candidate schools in person to get the reality.

Thank you. But, there is only so much time one has. So everyone's comments have been helpful to narrow down a bit. More recommendations, sharing of experience, one's own "characterization" of what they see is still welcomed.

Wise to double-check your short list none the leas, because a few posts here have been a bit misleading, describing a school as low tech when it really is not.

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell does not allow computers in middle and high school. Students take hand written notes unless they have an accomodation.

Students might not be allowed to take class notes on computers but Sidwell certainly allows computers - they provide them. The lower school students are issued iPads and the middle and upper school students are issued laptops. Sidwell is not low- or no-tech by any means.

https://www.sidwell.edu/academics/technology

Sidwell does not allow computers in middle and high school. Students take hand written notes unless they have an accomodation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Transplant_1 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was very happy coming out of back to school night earlier this school year. For the first time in at least 5 years, I heard several teachers say they are relying on textbooks more than previously. Never heard this mentioned in previous years. The whole-cloth adoption of tech in the classroom based on no data or previous experience means our current students are the guinea pigs here and losers for sure. Teachers are finally getting real-life data sustained over a period of years so moving away from this stuff.

It's tragic that the schools at large (public, diocesans and majority of privates) all went 1:1 based on NO DATA. Amazing to me how they rolled the dice with our kids. Some will be okay. The vulnerable students will suffer for years to come.

Was this a public or private school, and if you don't mind sharing, which one?

This was at Bishop Ireton in Alexandria. Across the board - teachers shared they were working more book / paper based than recent years.

We're on child #3 going through BI and while some long-time teachers are still notoriously no- or low-tech (looking at you HN World History 1), others work only with digital textbooks and online submissions now when just a few years ago most things were turned in on paper and they used a hardcopy textbook (e.g. HN Biology, 9th grade Theology). It's definitely lower tech compared to the average public but I wouldn't say it would be a perfect fit for someone who really doesn't want to submit work via the portal or use digital textbooks.

100% I'm not suggesting they are "low tech" - just that was a noticeable shift in attitude as conveyed by teachers we saw this year. We will see how it pans out. But - it makes me hopeful that a tide is turning generally speaking.

Anonymous wrote:

Transplant_1 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was very happy coming out of back to school night earlier this school year. For the first time in at least 5 years, I heard several teachers say they are relying on textbooks more than previously. Never heard this mentioned in previous years. The whole-cloth adoption of tech in the classroom based on no data or previous experience means our current students are the guinea pigs here and losers for sure. Teachers are finally getting real-life data sustained over a period of years so moving away from this stuff.

It's tragic that the schools at large (public, diocesans and majority of privates) all went 1:1 based on NO DATA. Amazing to me how they rolled the dice with our kids. Some will be okay. The vulnerable students will suffer for years to come.

Was this a public or private school, and if you don't mind sharing, which one?

This was at Bishop Ireton in Alexandria. Across the board - teachers shared they were working more book / paper based than recent years.

We're on child #3 going through BI and while some long-time teachers are still notoriously no- or low-tech (looking at you HN World History 1), others work only with digital textbooks and online submissions now when just a few years ago most things were turned in on paper and they used a hardcopy textbook (e.g. HN Biology, 9th grade Theology). It's definitely lower tech compared to the average public but I wouldn't say it would be a perfect fit for someone who really doesn't want to submit work via the portal or use digital textbooks.

Our Saviour Lutheran in Arlington, VA is low or minimal tech in the early grades with textbooks, worksheets, cursive, and writing in notebooks. I am not sure about the older grades but it seems age appropriate as they start to introduce technology for learning. Video here and there. Library time and required reading time. Multiple recess periods.

Anonymous wrote:Privates vary by school and by grade. Some talk low tech, but use tech more than their website or marketing will admit. Not all privates are as low tech or appropriate tech as some posters here are claiming.

OP should visit and tour their candidate schools in person to get the reality.

Thank you. But, there is only so much time one has. So everyone's comments have been helpful to narrow down a bit. More recommendations, sharing of experience, one's own "characterization" of what they see is still welcomed.